Bun Ate Rubber--Now What????

[Jenk]

While my bunnies were boarded at someone's home, my one bunate the 4"-long rubber casing on his carrier's handle. (He has a PetMate 2-door Deluxe, in case anyone knowswhat that is.) He also ate one rubber tip that was on the door lock.

What's worse, there was a death in my husband's family this weekend; we're due to travel out of state for two days' (Tues./Wed. of next week) forthe wake/funeral.

Now I'm terrified about traveling; I worry that my guy couldhave astasis issuefrom eating all thatrubber material. How concerned should I be that he ate it?

I'm also left to debate where I can/should board him while we're gone; that's another stressor....

Thank you,

Jenk

 

[tonyshuman]

As long as he's eating and pooping still, no worries. My guys have eaten a lot of rubber in their day, without any problems. To be honest, it should pass through ok, and by next week he should be out of the danger zone.

 

[Jenk]

tonyshuman wrote:

As long as he's eating and pooping still, no worries. My guys have eaten a lot of rubber in their day, without any problems. To be honest, it should pass through ok, and by next week he should be out of the danger zone.

What really gets me is that, at the moment, he's not acting like himself. Granted, he just came back from a strange environment.

He had fecals in his litter box (at the boarder's) from last night; but he hasn't passed anything since arriving home today (between 12:15 and 3:45 pm). I realize that that means nothing, but I still worry that all that rubber may not pass through his system with flying colors, though I'm trying to retain some hope.

 

[tonyshuman]

hmm, that's a but concerning--the not pooping. Do you have an emergency or weekend vet that you like? Maybe feel his belly for an obstruction? Perhaps after 8-12 hours of not pooping he may need a vet visit. My guys have eaten rubber, but never stopped pooping.

 

[Spring]

He may have just chewed it and spat it out? He may not have eaten all the rubber. Even if he did, it looks from the pictures to be a thin coating of rubber on the handle, and then on the knobs, just a bit. So to me it doesn't look like a huge amount of rubber to start with.

I really wouldn't worry too much unless it's gone 12+ hours without pooping. Bruno has eaten a huge chunk of coroplast that he'd chewed off without my knowledge, and he was just fine. And I would think rubber wouldn't be too difficult to digest if he chewed it into small pieces. If he handles veggies, I would give him them soaked in water for more fluids and hopefully with him being hydrated and eating hay, he'll push anything right out. Other than that, I would just let him settle back in and not fuss to much, he should be alright.

Good luck! I'm sure he'll be just fine.

 

[Jenk]

tonyshuman wrote:

hmm, that's a but concerning--the not pooping. Do you have an emergency or weekend vet that you like? Maybe feel his belly for an obstruction? Perhaps after 8-12 hours of not pooping he may need a vet visit. My guys have eaten rubber, but never stopped pooping.

The no pooping has only been from 12:15 pm until 3:45 pm; that could just be because it's his normal resting period. I'm not overly concerned (about his poop) just yet. Now if he produces nothing tonight, into tomorrow morning, then I will be extremely worried.

Sadly, no rabbit-savvy E.R. vet clinic is close to me. (The nearest is about 45-50 min. away.) And my husband and I are choking over the idea of paying three times a normal vet bill just to get rubber moving through his system. (Keep in mind that we've paid $9K+ in about 18 months' time for four animals'; we're a bit financially burned out.)

 

[Jenk]

Spring wrote:

He may have just chewed it and spat it out? He may not have eaten all the rubber. Even if he did, it looks from the pictures to be a thin coating of rubber on the handle, and then on the knobs, just a bit. So to me it doesn't look like a huge amount of rubber to start with.

I don't think that he spit it out; we looked all around his boarding pen, and there was no sign of any rubber pieces. They're simply MIA (i.e., MIA because they're inside of my guy's digestive system).

I really wouldn't worry too much unless it's gone 12+ hours without pooping. Bruno has eaten a huge chunk of coroplast that he'd chewed off without my knowledge, and he was just fine. And I would think rubber wouldn't be too difficult to digest if he chewed it into small pieces. If he handles veggies, I would give him them soaked in water for more fluids and hopefully with him being hydrated and eating hay, he'll push anything right out. Other than that, I would just let him settle back in and not fuss to much, he should be alright.

If he produces no fecals tonight (and especially none overnight), I'll need to take him to an E.R.--much as it'll pain me to have to do so, due to the cost.

I'm trying to remain hopeful that he'll pass everything with no issues. I've already planned to soak his veggies to provide extra fluids to help moisten/move whatever is inside of him. Still, I'd feel better if we didn't have to go out of town early this upcoming week....

Good luck! I'm sure he'll be just fine.

I'm trying to feel as optimistic as you sound. :twitch:

 

[Jenk]

I'd grown very concerned; he'd been home for six hours' and hadn't passed any fecals (except for one, half-sized ditty). Ten minutes' after finding the half-sized fecal, I found a few (nearly normal-sized) fecals in his box. They're a little oddly shaped, but I'm chalking that up to the rubber that he's likely passing (or soon will be).

Seriously, though: Why does this stuff have to happen at the worst possible of times? Our vet'sclinicis closed until Monday; we don't really have the money to (comfortably) spend on an E.R. vet's care; and we're due to go out of town this Tuesday morning.

Until at least a week goes by, my nerves are gonna be rather shot....:nerves1I'm going to ask my vet to keep him for the evening that we'll be gone. If she has the space to house him, I'll feel better knowing thattreatment (i.e., IV fluids)could be on hand for him, should he need it.

 

[Pipp]

Just keep pushing a lot of hay, getting him running around, rubbing his tummy and watching the poops, but my guys tend to not poop much most of the day -- especially when you're watching for it!

They really can digest some odd stuff. The chances of a blockage are pretty small.


sas :clover:

 

[Jenk]

Pipp wrote:

Just keep pushing a lot of hay, getting him running around, rubbing his tummy and watching the poops, but my guys tend to not poop much most of the day -- especially when you're watching for it!

They really can digest some odd stuff. The chances of a blockage are pretty small.

Sas,

You make a good point (about them not passing fecals when you're most hoping/praying for them to do so). Stubborn buns!!!

Believe me, he'll have all the hay and exercise that I can manage to give him before we leave (early Tues. morning).

So far tonight, he's passed some more normal-sized fecals, which makes me feel better (for the time being).

Also, my megacolon girl is passing some odd stuff, which makes me suspect that the boarder may have (again) fed her greens that I expressly asked that she not be fed....I may just feed her hay for a few days' to see if things regulate a bit more for her....

 

[Spring]

Glad to hear that he's pooping!

I'm sure by Tuesday if nothing abnormal happens in the meantime, he'll be fine. Maybe someone else knows, but I think a rabbits digestive system would take a relatively short time to empty out, with how frequent they eat/poop! I tried to look online to see an approximate time from beginning to end, to see how long it might take for everything to be worked through, but didn't turn up with much.

 

[Jenk]

Spring wrote:

Glad to hear that he's pooping!

I don't know when he ate the rubber casing; it was sometime between Thursday morning and this afternoon. I don't think that I'll feel at ease until he's pooped normally for the next two weeks'!

I'm sure by Tuesday if nothing abnormal happens in the meantime, he'll be fine. Maybe someone else knows, but I think a rabbits digestive system would take a relatively short time to empty out, with how frequent they eat/poop! I tried to look online to see an approximate time from beginning to end, to see how long it might take for everything to be worked through, but didn't turn up with much.

There seems to be differing info. on this subject. One bun owner once told me that it can take quite a long while for a non-food item to pass through a bun's digestive tract. Others seem to think that it takes the same four hours' during which food passes through it. Honestly, I've no idea....

 

[tonyshuman]

Glad he's pooping some. Don't expect to see the rubber in his poo. I have had bunnies eat rubber type things and not have any problems. I think since he's been pooping, he should also be fine.

 

[Hazel-Mom]

According to articles I've read, it takes normally about 8 hours for food to completely clear the system, not four.
Not sure about non-food items, they never come up in those articles
But since he seems to be pooping fairly normal so far, I think he should be ok.

 

[Jenk]

Hazel-Mom wrote:

But since he seems to be pooping fairly normal so far, I think he should be ok.

My fingers are crossed....

My latest worry is my girls. After returning from the boarder's home, my megacolon girl is passing very odd-shaped, slick-looking fecals. (It took me four months' to get her fecals looking nearly normal; now I fear that she was fed things that I stressed that she not be fed. :cry2) And my very stasis-sensitive girl is showing early stasis signs: small, dry, tear-shaped fecals.

Keep in mind that we're due to go out of town this Tues./Wed. I don't want to leave them again with this boarder; my only hope is to beg their vet to "board" them. If she can't/won't, I don't know what I'll do; it won't look so hot if I don't attend the wake/funeral of my husband's (maternal) aunt. :cry2

 

[tonyshuman]

Boarding at the vet may be the best option. Most of the vets I know of that board don't do as much out of cage exercise time as I like, but they will certainly keep a good eye on your guys, and if it's just for a couple of days the cost won't be too prohibitive. The stress of moving around may also be causing a bit of GI upset, so it may not in fact be due to veggies. Do you give them critical care when you see these warning signs?

 

[Jenk]

tonyshuman wrote:

Boarding at the vet may be the best option. Most of the vets I know of that board don't do as much out of cage exercise time as I like, but they will certainly keep a good eye on your guys, and if it's just for a couple of days the cost won't be too prohibitive. The stress of moving around may also be causing a bit of GI upset, so it may not in fact be due to veggies. Do you give them critical care when you see these warning signs?

At the moment, I have it set up that our regular cat sitter will also feed/water the buns (between three visits on those two days).

Still, I'm calling the vet tomorrow to tell her of the situation. Perhaps she'll say that I could have at least Emma stay at her clinic--though a part of me thinks that Emma may still do better in her own environment. She's clearly been stressed enough from having been boarded just a few days' ago.

I don't give Critical Care if I still catch her eating and drinking a decent amount of water. Oh, yeah...I also make sure that she's still passing fecals, which, technically, she is; so I've not resorted to C.C. yet. Seeing what she passes overnight tonight, though, will give me something more concrete to describe to the vet tomorrow morning (to see what she may suggest).

 

[tonyshuman]

I'm sorry. I meant Bene-Bac. (brain fart)

 

[Jenk]

tonyshuman wrote:

I'm sorry. I meant Bene-Bac. (brain fart)

:biggrin2:

I don't even know that Bene-Bac is necessary at this time. I checked her box early this evening and see that she's passing some better-looking (slightly larger) fecals. If she continues to do so overnight, I'll feel much better about taking a two-day trip away from the house (rather than feeling tied to it).