Moxie's Spay

[cleverpony]

Moxie went in for her surgery on Thursdaymorning. Her vet said that she had come through the surgery itselffine, but had only a handful of poops in the entire 24hrs she was there(although she did nibble at her hay). She suspected stress and told meI could take her home but to call later in the day if she wouldn't eator poop. Sure enough, the afternoon rolled by and no poops. The vet hadme pick up some metacam for pain, metoclopramide to keep her gutmoving, and Critical Care. Moxie was being very antisocial; unususalfor her. I got the first two meds into her without incident but when itcame to the critical care, NO WAY! I managed to get a measly 10ccs orso into her, but she was interested in some leafy greens so I left itfor the night. This morning; still no poops. Another dose ofmetoclopramide and this time I was able to get about 20ccs of CriticalCare into her. Her vet should be calling shortly, please keep yourfingers crossed that the bun will start eating and pooping again! I amnew to bunnies and this is all very overwhelming and scary for me; Ijust want my friend to feel better.

 

[Pipp]

I've moved this into the Infirmary...

The Medacam takes awhile to work, but it really should help.

My bunnies hate Critical Care. I have better luck soaking myown pellets for awhile and mixing it with some pumpkin and/or carrotjuice and giving them that. I really would not want to'force' her, especially after surgery, so before having to resort tothat again, try enticing her withotherthings. Sometimes mixing it with bananaworks. My vet also said to resort to honey if you have to.

A VERYimportant thing is hydration. Did the vetsuggest a SubQ (under the skin) infusion?Theyprobably gave her one there. (You can also doit at home with a kit and some instructions from the vet).

Failing that, grab some Pedialyte (sort of an infant Gatorade) and see if she'll take some of that.

Something else that may help is Nutri-Cal. It's a calorie andnutrient paste made for cats and dogs but works great for anorexicrabbits. It's especially good because it's usually prettyeasy to get them to eat it -- you just mash a ribbon of it on theirfoot and they'll lick it off.

If she's eating even a little, that's great.

Good luck and let us know how it goes!



sasand the warren

 

[naturestee]

:yeahthat

Hydration is very important. They won't eat if they feel too sick from being dehydrated.

So your vet kept her there overnight? I don't think any of mythree girls would have eaten after their spays if they had been kept atthe vet's. They generally only ate food that I held for them,even their favorite treats, the spoiled things. It does makethem feel special though and is a good way of encouraging them toeat. After surgery I pretty much give them whatever they wantas long as I know their stomachs can tolerate it. Cannedpumpkin, oats, raisins, and their favorite veggies are the first thingsI try. As long as they nibble something, anything, I'm happy.

As far as the Critical Care goes, 30 ccs in the last 24 hours isactually pretty good. I've only ever been able to get 1-2 ccsin Mocha or Sprite at a time. When Mocha (2 lbs) was in tothe vet for GI stasis, he said 15 ccs pellet mix per day and 30 ccswater or Pedialyte. The idea is to keep them hydrated butonly give enough food to keep the intestines working. Thatway they won't feel so full that they ignore their food.

I do agree with using Nutri-Cal. The morning after her spayMocha still wouldn't eat anything, so I put some of that on herpaw. She started eating almost immediately, probably to scrubthe taste out of her mouth because she hated it so much. Butit has calories and B vitamins which can stimulate theappetite plus it's supposed to be banana flavored. If Moxielikes the taste of bananas, she might like it.