Help! I need advice for a sick bunny with weird behavior! Not sure what to do!

[doodlebugger]

I have cared for sick bunnies before, but this is different. We have a rabbit savvy vet who has years of experience in both her practice as well as in rescues. She seems even stumped at this one.

Ginger was diagnosed first with GI stasis. Then after they were able to get a poo sample, they said she had coccidia. They put her on metoclopromide and Albon. She was just not eating, drinking, or pooing hardly at all. They gave her sub q fluids. Then, we tried to figure out what could be the problem because she would just sit and rock like she was in pain. Vet gave her a pain injection because she said Metacam with Albon can cause some kind of ulcers. Ginger came home, perked up a little, and was eating hay, some greens, and a few pellets. But as soon as she got metoclopromide, she would act like she was in pain again. So, we adjusted the Albon into two doses instead of one big one, and we did away with the metoclopromide. We saw an improvement. She was pooing more, eating more, and seemed like she was trending upward. Until she got the next dose of Albon, but this time, her spells are short lived, and she seems to snap back out of it.

Here's where I just can't figure things out - she won't eat anything except Timothy hay, cilantro, and the occasional dandelion green. And it's not a lot in quantity. But she is a little lion head, around 4lbs or so. I'm worried because she lost some weight in a week's time (around a tenth of a pound I think they said). And she is just not her sassy self. She just seems like she can't get comfortable at times. The vet can't find anything clinically wrong besides coccidia and GI stasis.....but her X-rays looked good two days ago and they observed her and saw nothing other than she just isn't eating or pooing like normal. She doesn't want us to give pain meds, but said we could come back and get her another injectable pain med in a few days if it keeps up.

How much cilantro can she eat? Will it hurt her tummy? Should we give simethicone to see if that helps? Would you keep getting sub q fluids every couple of days (even though the vet says she is not clinically dehydrated)? I just don't know what to do!

 

[Thumperina]

how old is she and is she spayed? I don't want to throw this out, but could she possibly have some sort of cancer? did the vet do blood work for her?

 

[doodlebugger]

how old is she and is she spayed? I don't want to throw this out, but could she possibly have some sort of cancer? did the vet do blood work for her?

She is about a year and a half old. She was spayed when we adopted her. The vet did not do blood work, but all of this started last week when it was really hot at our house. We thought we had all of the bunnies cool enough, but we found out she wasn't getting cool enough. The vet thinks this stressed her out and caused the GI stasis. But then they said she had coccidia (from a fecal test) and started treating her for that. We have had a bun with a tumor before, she isn't acting the same way. I am thinking maybe it's the Albon that is keeping her from being able to rebound from the stasis maybe?

 

[doodlebugger]

I am assuming it was the metoclopromide because after we stopped using that and started offering some random different greens, especially cilantro, things kicked in and she started eating and pooping again. She is still on the split dose of Albon but is tolerating it well. Yesterday she started eating pellets again. Whew! So thankful to have our old girl back again. She isn’t 100% but has improved drastically!

 

[JBun]

Metoclopramide can have some nasty side effects and can affect the CNS, so could have been that, or sometimes the syrup it's mixed with can be the problem and cause digestive upset. Glad you figured it out.