PLEASE HELP! Possible gut slow down - Resolved

[~*sAbRiNa*~]

Sabrina has not gone to the bathroom since about 5 pm (it is 11 pm now). She also has not had anything to eat except for treats which I have given her about 4 since I just want to get something in her belly. She has not had anything to drink which is not unusual at this point in the night because she usually has a big drink at around 11:30 or so.

I have tried giving her Simethicone but she refuses to let me get it in her. I will try again when I am done typing this. She usually goes nuts over pumpkin but tonight she lost interest after about 2 licks. I have tried getting her up to move a bit but all she wants to do is sit in her hidey box or on her shelf. Her stomach was still soft at about 9:30 but is a bit more firm now.

I have called the emergency vet near me and they do not have anyone with rabbit experience but they are willing to take a look at her. Unless she needs sub-q's though I think that I would be better treating her at home. Can someone please give me any advice. I am going to put her in a burrito and try to get some simethicone in her and then try and force her to go for a run in the hallway.

She is my baby and I can't stand to see her sick please please help me. Either message me back or if you want to telephone/text/email/skype/msn/facebook to help me please send me a PM and I will give you my number/email address

Thank you so much in advance


- Location: Ontario, Canada

- Description Holland Lop Doe approx 3.5 lbs.

- Age: 8 months

- spayed/neutered? Yes

- Notes on Fecal and Urinary Output
- are the bunny's poops and pees normal? No
- When did they last use their litterbox? last known time was approx 6 hours ago
- Any unusual behavior? Lethargic and disinterested in anything but certain treats

- Medical History -- has s/he been to the vet or been sick before? No

- Diet - what does your bunny eat? ZuPreem Timothy pellets (1/4 cup 2x per day)
- when and what did s/he eat last? her veggies about 5 hours ago. escarole, red pepper, cucumber, parsley and a little bit of pumpkin on top

- movement - any unusual movements? Is s/he hopping normally? No, just wants to sit but is usually active at this time of night

- any weight loss? Not that I have noticed

- are there any plants, chocolate or other substances within reach? No

- has the rabbit been outdoors? No

 

[~*sAbRiNa*~]

Update: Sabrina made a small pee and produced a few cecals which she did not eat. She also had 3 small hard poos.

She is still unwilling to eat hay or pellets and has not had a drink but she did eat a bit of banana when offered.

I am still very worried though. Normally at this time of night she has had a big drink and has eaten about 1/2 of her pellets (which she hasn't even touched yet).

Edited to add that I still cannot get her still enough to get Simethicone into her. Any tips?

 

[Mrs. PBJ]

First take a deep breath

Not sure if any infirmary mods are on so bear with me I am not a infirmary mod.

Have you tried a bunny burrito get a towel and wrap her up so she cant kick out. Kinda like swaddling a baby.

I would very slowly give her the meds.

And maybe put some water on her paws and the top of her nose so she can lick it off. Pretty much she will clean her self.

I would also do some tummy rubs rub from ribs to tail. Very gentle.

Try to get her moving don't stress her any more but try to get her moving if you can.

I would also give about 5 cc of water. The dropper that comes with the gas drops is 1 cc if you fill it all the way.

The drops are 1 cc every hour for three hours.

I am going to find a infirmary mod for you.

 

[~*sAbRiNa*~]

Thanks Kat, the deep breath reminder helped a lot!

One of my friends who lives in my building came up and held her in a burrito while I got some Simethicone into her. Not much but at least it was something. She is not keen on the tummy rubs but I will work on trying to get some water into her.

She passed another cecal just as I was typing that first part. She seems a bit more alert but I know that until she gets some fluids we are not out of the woods.

 

[Mrs. PBJ]

Do you have any pedalite (sp)? I would add some water to it and try to see if she will take that more willingly then just plain water.



I think the comment randy also say hydration before nutrition applies here.

You want to get her gut moving first thing.

Do you have pineapple? I know when Storm went into stasis fresh pineapple juice helped him but it has to be from a pineapple.

You will need to give her the gas meds again in a hour.

I would say if she is not better by morning call a vet. I hope someone with more info can come along soon. I see randy is on hopefully he will chime in.

I would try to get her moving get the gas moving around. If you could get her to hop around.

I hope this helps remember stay calm she can feel your tension.

 

[Mrs. PBJ]

I wanted to post the library thread on Stasis.
So you could read it I think Pipp is on so she should be by soon.
http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=28622&forum_id=10

 

[Pipp]

Good advice from Kat.

Is she acting uncomfortable or just lethargic?

If she's having a gas attack, she may shift around and press her tummy to the ground.

If that's what it is, it should be over in 12 hours or so.

If she's pooping hard poops, she could have a tummy upset. Not eating her cecals may be from the stress, or an upset.

Is she molting?

How was she when she peed? She may have a urinary tract infection that's causing pain and stress.

I don't think no poops is a reason to panic (even though we all do). At this point its wait and see. It may be gas, she may have a slow gut from hair or an imbalance, or she may have an infection somewhere.

Was she eating normally before this? Any chance she may have tooth issues? She'd probably have slowed down a bit previous to this, and may be dropping certain foods or drooling a bit.

But at her age and from the description, I suspect its just a bit of gas. If she seems to feel better at least for awhile (before the gas reforms) after a tummy rub, that's usually it. You just have to make sure the gas isn't a byproduct of a bladder infection, injury, blockage or something else.

I bet she'll be back to her old self soon.

Keep us updated.

sas :clover:

 

[Mrs. PBJ]

I am headed to bed my phone will go off if you reply so I will check. I know your in great hands with Pipp.

I will check I soon as I wake up in the morning.

Good Night
Kat

 

[Pipp]

A few things to add... If you're giving her fluids, make sure they're room temperature or warmer, and keep her warm as well.

Pineapple won't do much, it just adds fluids and sugar, the Pedialyte or warm water is better. I don't like giving anything sugary to a bunny with a possible gut imbalance, and although this probably isn't her problem (its more often marked by 'poopy butt'), and sometimes the calories will perk 'em up, best to not go there.

The tummy rubs should be very long. I find they work better than the simethicone. A little mild exercise is good, too.

A bunny in pain won't be eating and pooping, but the not pooping (a stasis symptom) isn't the cause of the pain if its only been a few hours. Stasis means the gut has stopped moving. That means not eating or pooping for at least a day.

Warm fluids gently administered will help in pretty much all cases. Gassy bunnies will usually drink when encouraged, but they won't eat. That said, I've had bunnies with short but terrible gas attacks who will let fluids dribble out of their mouths and will pee on themselves -- very scary! -- mostly from the pain. But then they snap out of it and start munching on hay.

If she really seems to be having a lot of pain and you have managed to get some fluids in her, and she still has food in her tummy (or you can get her to eat just a bit), then I'd try some Metacam or if you don't have any, a quarter of a Baby Motrin tab, or a bit of Ibuprofen.

How is she?


sas :clover:

 

[~*sAbRiNa*~]

Thanks Kat and Pipp.

She does not like pedialyte, I tried giving it to her after her spay but she had no interest what so ever. I have also notice that she is stretching out really weird...like full body stretches that she holds for several seconds. Maybe she is trying to get it moving around....

I have sent my friend over to the grocery store to get some fresh pineapple. Hopefully that will get her to drink. I did offer her some really wet lettuce and she nibbled at it a bit but not too much. I offered her a rice sock but she isn't that interested.

She did go off her hay last week but when I got her a new batch she was right back on it. She is not in a molt either. She did spend a few minutes time in her litter box when she went pee but she usually eats when she is on there so I don't know what her "normal" time would be.

I hope that it is just a gas attack but this is the first time since the night of her spay that she has been sick so I am just taking it hard. But at least now I know the early signs and hopefully will catch it if it happens again.

 

[Pipp]

Yup, the full body stretches are a sign of gas. Best just to offer her hay and tummy rubs, simethicone and let it pass. Maybe a pain reliever as noted above.

Gas attacks come on suddenly after totally normal behavior and full meals. Sometimes its a veggie that they have a sensitivity too, or too much of one type of veggie, or most often around here, just an unseen little rotten bit hidden away and inadvertently eaten. (Bunnies in the wild can pick and choose but our pampered house pets are used to eating everything we give them). Its also possible there's a food borne bacteria in there somewhere from the farmer's field. Who knows.

That's the only downside of showering them with love and big salads!! Well worth it, sez my guys.


sas :clover:

 

[~*sAbRiNa*~]

Oh no. She just ate pellets because I thought that it would be ok. I hope that it is ok. Oh I am freaking out now. She did drink some of the juice that I made out of pineapple and water. I will take the pellets away and try to just encourage hay for the rest of the night.

Thanks Pipp

 

[Pipp]

Hey, anything she wants to eat is fine. Most of mine will go for hay first, that's all.

And bunnies with excess cecals should have hay, but pellets will be fine in this case, just encourage hay as well.

Sound like she's fine.


sas :bunnydance:

 

[~*sAbRiNa*~]

Ok so she has started thinking about eating hay...she went over and took a few nibbles but nothing major. It is progress though. I switched out the pineapple juice for water with a little but of pineapple puree in it. Plus of course she has regular water as well. She ate a bit more pellets and seems a lot perkier since the second dose of Simethicone.

She is still not to happy about me touching her tummy but I will try for a bit longer before heading to bed for a few hours (I need to be at work for 830).

I will update again in the morning unless anything changes. Thanks Kat and Sas for all of your help and encouragement. I don't know what I would have done without your support!

 

[Pipp]

Sounds good.

Always best to put down a crock of water AND a bit of flavored water. The flavored will go back very quickly, it really should only be put down for a few hours.

Your welcome.

Get some sleep! :sleep:


sas :bunnydance:

 

[~*sAbRiNa*~]

She is much more alert this morning. She is actually eating some pellets right now but I cannot tell if she drank anything or not. She made some more tiny hard poos but I hope that once she gets some hay into her they will be back to normal.

I am going to throw out all of the veggies I gave her yesterday and start fresh just in case something is off.

Thanks again Kat and Sas! I will update again after work.

 

[Mrs. PBJ]

Your welcome I really hope every thing is fine when you get home.

We want this little lady when you mom gets home.

:litterhealthy: not this :litterfew:

 

[~*sAbRiNa*~]

I just got back from work and there were normal poos and it appears that she drank a little bit!!!! I gave her a big bowl of soaking wet parsley. I have to run out for a little bit but I think that we are nearly out of the woods!!! Thanks again!!!!

 

[~*sAbRiNa*~]

Well, Sabrina finally ate hay and took a big drink! (only 24 hours later) She is running around and even chewed a hole in my pants when I was taking a nap.

Thanks for your help ladies, I think that we can now mark this as resolved!!!!!

 

[Mrs. PBJ]

Mark Resolved per poster request