Not pooping!!!

[cassnessxox]

So on Christmas Eve my boyfriend and I went away to return late the next night. Because it is very hot here we had Cleo housed in the laundry with a divider seperating her and our not yet bonded but neutered Bambi. When we came home Cleo had done some very runny poos in various places on the floor and one in her litter tray. She seemed a little stressed out so we put her straight back upstairs and she was fine.

The other day I noticed the extreme lack of droppings in her litter tray. I'm really concerned that she hasn't been to the toilet since christmas! There are other places that she could have gone, we have a tray that both Bambi and Cleo use downstairs and she does spend most mornings outside. But usually I would have had to change the litter at least once by now. She is still weeing and acting as normal. She doesn't seem upset or less energetic which is why I didn't notice sooner.

I fed her up on veggies and a bit of fruit yesterday hoping that it would help her and I think there is a few fresh droppings in her tray but not as many as I would expect. Do I need to rush her to the vet? :nerves1

 

[cassnessxox]

I should probably add that it doesn't look like her pellets are going missing either, she has a box of hay in her room but she has never been in the hay much and only seems to eat it in very small amounts when you play with her with it and shove it in her face

 

[JBun]

Not eating and not pooping are usually the start of GI stasis. Is there a way you can keep her in one area with a cleaned out litter box so you can see if she is pooping and eating at all? You'll want to avoid sugars and carbs for now. Leafy greens and hay are usually the best to get the digestion moving again and back to normal, so really try to get her to eat some hay. Avoid veggies that may cause gas.. See if she'll keep eating the veggies. Is she showing any signs of pain like tooth grinding, sitting in a corner hunched up for quite a while, laying down and immediately getting back up repeatedly, or laying down with her butt up in the air a bit like she is trying to press her belly to the floor. If she is showing any of these signs of pain, and isn't pooping, and really won't eat, then you should probably get her into the vet, especially since this has been going on for several days. Depending how long it's been since pooping and eating has stopped, would determine how urgent this is. If it's been more than 12 hours, it's usually considered a good idea to get the rabbit in right away. If you have some simethicone you could give some of that. What we use here has 20mg/0.3ml, and the dosage using this for a rabbit is 1cc per hour for 3 hours then every 3-8 hours as needed. If you have some metacam give some of that as well. If she's not eating because of gas pain, then this will help get her eating again. Also you need to make sure she's getting enough fluids.

 

[pamnock]

I also start giving Nutri Cal for cats/dogs ASAP.

 

[cassnessxox]

She is acting completely normal! This morning she was digging and flopping and running around the backyard quite happily. My boyfriend swears he has seen her eat and poop but Im not sure if he is just being reassuring. I just don't have anywhere to keep her cooped up while it's this hot...

 

[Imbrium]

I would get her to the vet just in case - even if she *is* eating and pooping, doing less of that than usual is still a red flag. they'll most likely give you a motility drug to help get her GI tract moving more and a pain med in case she's in pain (which is good to have with your first aid supplies even if she doesn't need it right now).

 

[cassnessxox]

I just got home from the vet. Ouch that hurt my wallet :expressionless but if she will be ok it's more than worth it.

I started doing some research on GI stasis when I got home today because I still hadnt seen anything in her litter tray. About 2 hours ago I grabbed her and pulled her downstairs to check if she seem bloated. Her tummy felt fine but when I put her on the kitchen floor she just sat there on her tummy...Cleo doesn't do that...not ever. I shifted her a little and she just layed straight back down on her tummy again. I offered her some veggies and cool water straight away and she wasn't interested at all. So I panicked. The vet I took them both to to get neutered was closed so with an hour till close I called the vet that treated my guinea pigs for mites. They took me in straight away thankfully.

There doesn't seem to be a blockage, he said her stomach felt mostly empty. She has lost half a kilogram since her spay about 2 months ago. Which I think is like 1 pound? I wasn't sure what he meant exactly but I think she has a slight infection from the spay. He said her uterine stump felt inflamed and he gave her an anti biotic injection and some oral anti biotics for me to give her for the next 10 days. He also gave me Oxbow critical care which I was quite surprised and happy to see that we have it here because I have heard it is the best stuff to feed her.

Does that sound like a decent treatment? Im still worried for her, I have put a pen downstairs in the living room and a fresh litter tray. She has just nibbled slightly on her veggies but is far from eating them like she normally does.

 

[Imbrium]

wow, that's a lot of weight loss! hopefully the antibiotics fix her up. did he give you any probiotics? if not, I highly recommend trying to track some down at a feed store or pet store - they should always be given with antibiotics, plus they can help with tummy issues on their own (you need to wait a couple hours after a dose of antibiotics to give them).

also, did he give you anything for pain? not sure what all you've got down there, but baby aspirin, baby ibuprofen and low dose aspirin are all safe for bunnies if the vet didn't give you pain meds (dosing info: http://www.medirabbit.com/Safe_medication/Analgesics/safe_analgesics.htm )... if you have trouble getting the critical care into her and she's not getting her appetite back within a day or so, you might administer some pain meds to see if that helps.

 

[cassnessxox]

I just looked at the Oxbow, the vet just said instructions are on the pack, nothing specific. It says 3 tbsp per kg of body weight so that's 6tbsp because she is 2kg. Then later it says Divide into 4-6 feedings. Prepare fresh at each feeding.

Does that mean 6 tbsp per feeding? Or 6 tbsp divided and fed throughout the day?

 

[cassnessxox]

Probiotics specifically for rabbits? Hmm Ill have to have a hunt I think, not sure when I will get a chance thought with New Year just around the corner.

She was pretty awful at syringing the metacam after her spay but it might be easier this time because I will feel comfortable holding her a bit tighter without stitches in. I was about to give it a go now but baby painkillers shouldn't be too hard to find.

 

[cassnessxox]

Ok yea, obviously they mean 6 tbsp over the day, I thought it sounded like a lot but then I thought about how much hay and whatnot they probably eat and thought it could be plausible. But how am I supposed to prepare fresh every feeding? Id be throwing it all out! Should I just mix about a tbsp at a time?

 

[Imbrium]

hmm... I usually base it on how much they're willing to eat and/or when it stops being worth the struggle to force more (man, did mine HATE the anise flavored!). I'd say get at least 2-4 Tbsp into her every 4h or so... if she's not putting up a huge fight or better yet, is eating it willingly, give as much as 6 tbsp per feeding. after every 2-3 syringes full of critical care that you feed, you want to switch off and do one syringe of water (or pedialyte), as they need the extra liquids with so much critical care. you can store mixed-up critical care in the fridge for up to 24h, btw, so if you end up with extra, you don't have to throw it away.

the probiotics won't be specifically for rabbits - they're just for small animals or even cats/dogs. I'm not 100% sure, but I think even the stuff for livestock is ok, you just (obviously) want to use a smaller dose. it's possible to "under-dose" with probiotics, but not "overdose", btw. benebac and probios are two of the brands in the US.

 

[Imbrium]

6 Tbsp over a day would suffice *if* she's eating veggies and hay very well and you're only replacing pellets... but if she's not really eating on her own, she needs a lot more than 6 Tbsp per day. she'll most likely make it obvious when she's had enough - she'll stop taking it willingly if she was before and put up a tougher fight if you're having to force-feed it.

here's a good video on syringe-feeding if you haven't seen it - [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iGZVYVm5Bg[/ame]

also, I highly recommend a towel when you're syringing liquids, as it gets quite messy!

 

[cassnessxox]

Yep that video helped me get the metacam into her. I just gave it a shot, she isn't taking it easily but I have gotten a bit into her, most goes all over her face though lol. It will be tough feeding the whole 6 tbsps though :expressionless: and it will be interesting teaching my boyfriend how to feed her when Im at work tomorrow.

If I get home early enough tomorrow I might be able to run to our local pet shop but I have a feeling Ill only find probiotics at the big pet store kinda far away.

She has been nibbling her veggies since she got home but not eating with the normal speed an enthusiasm. She has drank some water, and left a few dark, small and roughly shaped pellets in her litter tray.

 

[Imbrium]

well, as I said, 2-4 Tbsp will suffice if that's all you can get into her - just do the best you can. if you have some canned pumpkin (plain, NOT the pie filling stuff) or preservative-free fruit flavored baby food, you could mix some of that in with the critical care to make it tastier. I'm glad she's still nibbling and drinking... and poops are always good, no matter how few or odd-shaped! once you've gotten some practice syringe-feeding, it should get a little easier to get most of it in the rabbit - my main problem with it wasn't getting it in them, it was getting the syringe to their mouth in the first place! I got bit (well, nipped - nowhere near hard enough to leave a bruise or break the skin, just enough to say "quit it, mom!") numerous times while trying to give the critical care after my girls' spays.

 

[cassnessxox]

Haha yea, she just sort of shakes her head and backs up when I touch her mouth. If I hold her against my chest I can get it in the side but sometimes she won't actually eat it so Im scared to choke her by squirting it in too fast and it just runs out all over her chin lol.

Poor baby, I just really hope whatever it is that is wrong gets fixed real quick =( She is acting quite normal now but that just bothers me because she might just be pretending and hiding her illness. I am enjoying having her right here in front of me though. She isn't super happy about the cage lol but at least I know she is drinking enough and having a nibble of her veggies here and there. And it's cooler down here so I don't have to worry about her overheating.

 

[cassnessxox]

Thanks Imbrium, you always seem to be my number 1 helper

 

[Imbrium]

happy to help, lol - I'm fairly nocturnal, so I tend to be around answering questions for people in vastly different time zones from the US after everyone else here has gone to bed like a sensible human being

you shouldn't have to worry too much about choking her as long as you're squirting it in sideways and backing off to let her chew/swallow after each good squirt. even if she's spitting it out, the process of moving her tongue around to get it out of her mouth will lead her to swallow at least some of it.

it really sucks when they're sick... you have no way of explaining that you're forcing icky stuff down their throat because it's going to make them feel better

hopefully you can find some probiotics today - they should help not just to counter the antibiotics' effect on good bacteria, but with any bacterial imbalance she might have in her GI tract as a result of the infection she's got. with any luck, it'll settle her tummy a bit and she'll feel more like eating on her own.

 

[pamnock]

A benefit of the Nutri Cal is that you only need to give a small amount.

 

[JBun]

You could call your vet and ask if they have any probiotics, and maybe pick up some metacam while you're there, if you don't already have some. Though the others will work, I think metacam is considered a better pain med to use for rabbits. If you already have the metacam, you'll want to be giving it to her each day as getting the pain under control will help her to want to start eating again on her own.