easing bunny pains for them
- Thread starter littleboo
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Carolyn wrote:
Generally, I agree with everything Lissa and Gypsy said except the pain issue, and that depends on exactly what treatment the bunny has already had, as Gypsypointed out. I'm not sure about this vetmostly because he thinks the rabbit will still be around in a week without aggressive treatment even though he's haddiarrhea,hasn't eaten or pooped in a couple of days and he's in severe pain, so to be fair, I'm basing this on pretty sketchy info. But if he's not bunny savvy, maybe he found the pasturella bug (which the majority of bunnies carry) and assumed it was active, who knows?
Also in general terms, here's a couple of related pain med references. I don't take any articles or expert advice at face value, there's too many variables and differing opinions on this, but from personal experience, I knowmany bunnies who almost instantly came back from near death thanks toa shot of pain meds (banamine or metacam).
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.pdf(from Exotic D.V.M.Magazine)
and an excerpt from GastroIntestinal Stasis, The Silent Killer...
Pain Relief: The key to keeping the bunny fighting to live.
The importance of analgesia to a rabbit's recovery cannot beoverstated. A rabbit suffering from GI stasis will sometimes just seemto give up and die, possibly because of the sometimes extreme abdominalpain. Although officially approved only for use in horses, flunixinmeglumine (Banamine) is an excellent NSAID (non-steroidalanti-inflammatory drug) for use in rabbits. Although this drug canproduce gastric ulcers in some species, substantial anecdotal evidence(involving many hundreds of rabbits over a period of many years)suggests that Banamine is tolerated well by rabbits, even whenadministered daily for several weeks. We have observed no adverse sideeffects from Banamine in our rabbits, some of whom have had to receiveit daily for a week or longer.
Meloxicam (metacam) and Rimadyl (carprofen) are other NSAIDs which have been used with good results in rabbits.
[align=justify]Torbugesic, an opioid analgesic, provides good painrelief at relatively low doses. Although some practitioners fear thatan opioid might contribue to GI slowdown, pain can certainly do thesame. We have used opiods repeatedly in cases like this, with goodresults. We also have had success at relieving colic pain andinflammation of the intestinal lining with sulfasalazine, a combinationsulfa antibiotic and NSAID compound. Sulfasalazine works topically toreduce intestinal inflammation. [/align]
[align=justify]Barium also may be useful as an intestinal "tonic" torelieve pain and help stimulate peristalsis, but its action is slow ascompared to that of the aforementioned analgesics. As always, yourveterinarian is the one best able to decide which type of pain reliefis appropriate for your rabbit, given the specific conditions ofhis/her illness.[/align]
I wouldn't think that in this specific case there'senough info to make that call. (What has he already been prescribed? Isthere kidney, liveror stomach involvement?)Althoughthis poor little bun is so close to a total shutdown,I still personally think its humane to try anything on hand, so while the its best torequestmeds from the vet, ifits the middle of the night,I'd probably take the risk and go for the baby aspirin. But that's just me. I'm personally notcomfortable withforce feeding muchwithout knowing the problem and the cause --aside from the ingestion of the wrong food,handlingthe bunnyin a certain manner could be detrimental, depending on the ailment -- butI know it may be necessaryin a pinch.
Generally, I agree with everything Lissa and Gypsy said except the pain issue, and that depends on exactly what treatment the bunny has already had, as Gypsypointed out. I'm not sure about this vetmostly because he thinks the rabbit will still be around in a week without aggressive treatment even though he's haddiarrhea,hasn't eaten or pooped in a couple of days and he's in severe pain, so to be fair, I'm basing this on pretty sketchy info. But if he's not bunny savvy, maybe he found the pasturella bug (which the majority of bunnies carry) and assumed it was active, who knows?
Also in general terms, here's a couple of related pain med references. I don't take any articles or expert advice at face value, there's too many variables and differing opinions on this, but from personal experience, I knowmany bunnies who almost instantly came back from near death thanks toa shot of pain meds (banamine or metacam).
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.pdf(from Exotic D.V.M.Magazine)
and an excerpt from GastroIntestinal Stasis, The Silent Killer...
Pain Relief: The key to keeping the bunny fighting to live.
The importance of analgesia to a rabbit's recovery cannot beoverstated. A rabbit suffering from GI stasis will sometimes just seemto give up and die, possibly because of the sometimes extreme abdominalpain. Although officially approved only for use in horses, flunixinmeglumine (Banamine) is an excellent NSAID (non-steroidalanti-inflammatory drug) for use in rabbits. Although this drug canproduce gastric ulcers in some species, substantial anecdotal evidence(involving many hundreds of rabbits over a period of many years)suggests that Banamine is tolerated well by rabbits, even whenadministered daily for several weeks. We have observed no adverse sideeffects from Banamine in our rabbits, some of whom have had to receiveit daily for a week or longer.
Meloxicam (metacam) and Rimadyl (carprofen) are other NSAIDs which have been used with good results in rabbits.
[align=justify]Torbugesic, an opioid analgesic, provides good painrelief at relatively low doses. Although some practitioners fear thatan opioid might contribue to GI slowdown, pain can certainly do thesame. We have used opiods repeatedly in cases like this, with goodresults. We also have had success at relieving colic pain andinflammation of the intestinal lining with sulfasalazine, a combinationsulfa antibiotic and NSAID compound. Sulfasalazine works topically toreduce intestinal inflammation. [/align]
[align=justify]Barium also may be useful as an intestinal "tonic" torelieve pain and help stimulate peristalsis, but its action is slow ascompared to that of the aforementioned analgesics. As always, yourveterinarian is the one best able to decide which type of pain reliefis appropriate for your rabbit, given the specific conditions ofhis/her illness.[/align]
pamnock
Well-Known Member
Here's an excellent link discussing painmanagement.
http://www.rabbit.org/journal/3-10/pain.html
Pam
http://www.rabbit.org/journal/3-10/pain.html
Pam
Thanks for the reply, Radar.
That did help me understand more where you were coming from.It seems likea 50/50 risk, no matter how you cutit. Agreed that the baby is almost in totalshutdown. Personally, I would give some baby aspirin to takethe edge off in this instance.
:sad:
-Carolyn
Gypsy: Excellent suggestions!
That did help me understand more where you were coming from.It seems likea 50/50 risk, no matter how you cutit. Agreed that the baby is almost in totalshutdown. Personally, I would give some baby aspirin to takethe edge off in this instance.
:sad:
-Carolyn
Gypsy: Excellent suggestions!
JimD
Well-Known Member
Any updates?
