secondary gi stasis - help

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grover

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Hi!
Long time lurker. Great info here. I need help. : -( Long post.
My 2 year old bunny (10 lbs) stopped eating on thursday night after eating his dinner. he is fed 1/2 cup timothy hay based pellets through out the day, all he can eat timothy hay, and a otn of kale and other greens. i took him to the vet friday morning at 9:30.

They told me he had pasteurella/respiratory infection and that was causing him to not eat, because he didn't feel well. They put him in an oxygen tank for 4 hours and he ate a piece of kale while in there. The doctor sent me home after giving him fluids and some gut motility drug - I believe it started with a C, i'm unsure. His directions were to try and entice him to eat and that his future looked bright. He also prescribed 1.1ml metacam 1x a day, 1ml baytril twice a day. I called him a few times once I got home with my bunto let him know he ate a piece of kale when i held it up to his face, that he had begun pooping a little, etc. He said these were all good signs.

Fast forward to Sunday and I realize he is not eating as much at all again. some veggies, no hay or pellets, no poops. I make up my mind to take him to a 2nd vet for a 2nd opinion. I take him in 8:30 Monday morning to a vet that was recommended by another rabbit owner. She tells me all she can do is give him some fluids, that she seconds the respiratory infection after being around him for a few minutes (he was not breathing heavily or anything), and to just syringe feed him critcal care as he also has secondary GI stasis. She sends me home without critical care and with one 3ml syringe.

I was trying to figure out how to syringe feed my 10 pound bunny, and how much he would need, and was constantly reearching GI stasis, as the $600 I spent obviously wasn't going to get me any help. So, it's tuesday now, and I am able to get about 35cc of critical care in him a day . I work 9-5. That's with waking up at 3 AM after going to sleep at 11 PM to feed him more. I called my vet to follow up and she told me 40cc a day was no where near enough and I would need to be doing over 200cc a day. I wish she told me that yesterday and showed me how to syringe feed him, as most of yesterday was spent trying to figure out HOW to do it without hurting him. I also only had a 3cc syringe..!!!

I need help. I don't know what to do. He is still active but I worry the stress of me trying to syringe feed him might be making this worse. Neither vet did any kind of test on him that I am aware of, they just looked at him. I am worried about taking him to ANOTHER vet in such a short period of time and stressing him out, especially if they don't do anything to help me. Today I only managed to syringe feed him about 38CC total during about 5 feedings. I also took it upon myself to syringe feed him 1/2 water and 1/2 pedialyte (unflavored.). He managed to get about 20cc of that thru out the day. I also have been giving him the baby gas drops as his tummy is rumbly. Today he has not pooped very much and they have been very tiny. I noticed him eating a lot of greens (it made me SO happy - he ate a lot of cilantro, kale, and baby spinach. well, a lot for how sick he has seemed) and picking at his hay. It seems like he does not want to eat his hay. I have tried 3-4 different varieties since Saturday. I just want my bunny to be ok. Can anyone please help me?
 
OK, so from what you said nobody gave you mobility drug to take home? I've dealt with stasis several times during the past two years and from my experience and the numerous articles i've read about the subject treating stasis is like this : you have to keep the rabbit warm, as the stasis makes the temperature drop, by providing a cushion or a blanket on which he can lie down (a hot water bottle even if the rabbit isn't moving around too much except if there is a chance he will eat it ^^) ; you have to hydrate the guts to help them moving (I generally give two syringe of 1ml, to avoid drowning the rabbit, everytime I have to give something else) ; mobility drugs every 6 hours (Reglan or Emeprid, around 0.2 ml by pound of rabbit - Aki is 1,4 kg and gets 0.7ml), they are safe and work really well, the best is to keep giving them until the poop looks about normal and to taper off the dose over 2 or 3 days by giving it every 12 hours, then every 24h and then stop ; massaging the belly every 4 hours, softly, putting a hand under the rabbit's belly and lightly raising his hindquarter that way to encourage the gas and waste to move (it's a good occasion to provide a bit of water too) ; Metacam, I generally give on the first day but I stop it as soon as the rabbit doesn't show any sign of pain anymore as it can slow the guts down.
I generally avoid critical care if I can help it. I only give it if the rabbit doesn't it by himself but with the above treatment the appetite generally begins to resume after 12 hours. If I do, they have 15ml syringes at the vet, made for critical care - you have to ask for them.
If I were you, I would go ask for Emeprid or Reglan (metoclopramide) and correct critical care syringes over the counter at your vet and try implementing that regimen. It can take a few days for things to get back to normal, especially after taking antibiotics. Dealing with GI stasis is nerve-wracking, but it can be done!
 
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Get some unsweetened applesauce or mashed banana. Make this recipe to leave with her when you go to work. 2T pellets, 4T warm water, let sit a minute. 1T applesauce or mashed banana. Mix well. If you have critical care, you can sub for part or all the pellets. The fruit will make it exciting and she will eat it out of a bowl.

If you have a vitamix blender... fill with Timothy hay and add 2 cups water. Blend to a fine mush. Scoop out 1/2 cup mush, add 1T applesauce, mix well. Or you can throw in a whole peeled orange in there to mush up with the hay. Just something to make it exciting. Leave a bowl out.

Use only fruit to sweeten. No honey, no sugar, as you probably know. Keep a bag or two of critical care on hand for the next time it happens. Buy a larger feeding syringe in advance. You can get everything on Amazon. Also...hydration is key. I give mine subcutaneous fluids when needed, but the wet food will get some hydration in there.
 
It is too bad you got what appears to be subpar vet care. I recommend finding a vet on House Rabbit Society web site rabbit.org
 

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