Completely at a loss???

[Farmer Steve]

About 4 months ago I had Nibbles my at the time 6 month old bunny spayed. She seemed to make it through the recovery well, and after a week she appeared normal again. Well, 2 months after the spay she began having difficulty making stool. The next day, she stopped eating. When I took her to the vet, she diagnosed Nibs w/ GI Stasis. We did an x-ray and all that, and it seemed that we caught it early enough. She prescribed metoclopramide and trimeth-sulpha. After another week, it seemed she was on the mend, but as soon as the meds ran out... it started all over. We did another round of meds, again she got better. When they ran out, sick again. No we're on the third round of antibiotics and every time I attempt to discontinue the metacloprimide, she starts all over. It looks like she's trying to poop but can't, and if she does it's runny. She gets lethargic, and she grinds her teeth and makes this weird chirping sound. I don't know what I'm going to do. I feed her almost exclusively greens and hay. I give her meds twice a day. She still isn't getting any better. I can't afford to take her to the vet anymore. My wife's in school, and I have a mortgage. It's to the point of deciding whether to buy groceries or take her back to vet. I'm kinda at the end of my rope. I love this rabbit, and if I knew there was something I could do that would defiantly work, I'd do it. We've been trying everything to get her better for two months, but I'm not sure it's fair to her. Any advice is appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

have you tried Baby Gas-Ex? (Simethicone) You can get it at your local grocery store/drug store like a walgreens, Target, walmart whatever like that. That helped our bunny through GI stasis. She had a weird issue for weeks were she wouldn't finish her food, and wouldn't poop during the day but over night, she would. Anyway the Simethicone really helped.

 

[kirbyultra]

When the vet took xrays of Nibbles, did you actually see that there was a blockage in her GI tract? I wonder if it is persistent gas or something else bothering her. Is your vet trained in exotic vet medicine? Reason I ask is because rabbit diagnoses and treatment is often very different for rabbits than with other typical household pets. If something else is going on with the bunny causing her to not want to eat, a rabbit-savvy vet is your best bet to catching it.

The drug that she has been taking is a gut motility drug, often used as a treatment for a genuine stasis problem to literally move the gut along... there is some debate as to whether a motility drug is helpful or harmful to a sensitive blockage situation, though. (a good read: http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html)

At this point, how long has she not been eating? Is she making any stool at all? If she drinking? The tooth grinding is a sign of pain

 

[kirbyultra]

Bunnylova4eva wrote:

have you tried Baby Gas-Ex? (Simethicone) You can get it at your local grocery store/drug store like a walgreens, Target, walmart whatever like that.

Baby dose of liquid simethicone is indeed very helpful if your bunny is not eating because it is suffering from gas. Some classic symptoms of a gassy bunny include but are not limited to:
- Not eating or pooping
- Sitting in a "loaf" position with feet tucked in close and tight to its body for long periods of time. Looks uncomfortable and different from a relaxed, sleepy loafing position.
- Tooth grinding/chattering due to pain from a gassy tummy

For a gassy bunny, a tummy massage could help break up the gas bubbles inside. However, if the bunny is suffering a *blockage* of stuff inside that it cannot pass, do not give the bunny a massage as it can greatly aggravate the GI tract. A couple of baby doses of simethicone might give you hint as to whether it was gas. My own bunnies see improvement within an hour or two if it is gas.

But since this has been going on for 2 months... I don't know. What does Nibbles' diet look like? Maybe something she is eating is bothering her stomach.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

ray:

 

[CCWelch]

It is possible that with all the meds the sensitive bacteria were removed from her intestines. Along with the baby Gas x(1/2 cc) add some benebac or probios. Also try her on a mostly oats and hay diet and slowly add her pellets back in.

 

[Pipp]

Farmer Steve wrote:

About 4 months ago I had Nibbles my at the time 6 month old bunny spayed. She seemed to make it through the recovery well, and after a week she appeared normal again. Well, 2 months after the spay she began having difficulty making stool. The next day, she stopped eating. When I took her to the vet, she diagnosed Nibs w/ GI Stasis. We did an x-ray and all that, and it seemed that we caught it early enough. She prescribed metoclopramide and trimeth-sulpha. After another week, it seemed she was on the mend, but as soon as the meds ran out... it started all over. We did another round of meds, again she got better. When they ran out, sick again. No we're on the third round of antibiotics and every time I attempt to discontinue the metacloprimide, she starts all over.

Did the vet tell you to slowly wean her off the Reglan? (metoclopramide).

I think she could have become dependent on the drug, which I've seen happen before and is one of the main reasons I recommend avoiding Reglan.

All I can suggest at this stage is feeding her Critical Care, plenty of fluids (put a crock of juice-flavored water to encourage her to drink), canned pumpkin, etc, doing a lot of tummy massages and make sure she's getting a lot of exercise.

Maybe a few oat flakes. Not sure what else at this stage.


sas :clover:

 

[Farmer Steve]

Thank you everyone for your help. I'll try some gax ex. There was undigested food w/ her x-ray, but no blockage. My vet's rabbit trained and all that. All Nibs eats is timothy, cilantro, Italian parsley, and maybe some mustard greens every once and a while. No pellets at all. She gets all the exercise she wants. We always let her out of her condo after work to roam the house... but when she's sick, she just hides under a bed and won't come out. The vet says maybe there is some residual infection from the spay, but she really doesn't know. She mentioned doing an ultrasound. I haven't really wanted to ask how much that will cost. Our vet does seem really knowledgeable and kind tho. She's already given us 2 x-rays 4 free and a bottle of antibiotics. Anyways, thank you so much everyone. Nibbles and I appreciate the well wishes.