Possible gas pain.......

[Sweetie]

My female lionhead mix, Sweetie, has been having pain for a few days now. Not really enough to warrant a vet visit yet. I am keeping an eye on her. I have massaged her body and she has relaxed when I have done this. I have given her some gas meds, simethicone which expires next month so I have to get some more. She has grinded her teeth that tells me that she is in some kind of pain. When she feels better she licks me as if to say "thank you". I will be keeping her in my room tonight as I found out that she is cold. I covered her up and she enjoyed it, she didn't fight it at all.

Sweetie is 2 years old, spayed, she eats hay and drinks water. When I get the money I buy veggies and fruit. Nothing out of the ordinary, except the pain. She is pooping and peeing normal, also drinking and eating normal.

I am doing what I can for her at home and she does seem okay after the massages, but if she does get worse I will take her to the vet.

I have been talking with Randy about Sweetie's situation. He suggests just hay and water for a few days and see if she improves, and also to give her the gas meds. I don't want to give her too much gas meds.

What else can I do for Sweetie until I can get her to the vet which will be next month unless she gets worse?

 

[Maureen Las]

How is she?

What do you think could be causing the gas?.; if it is continuing it possibly could be some other problem other than gas.
let us know...

 

[tonyshuman]

Yikes, sorry nobody has responded yet. I would definitely try some probiotics, which may help get her GI bacteria back in balance and stop the bad ones from overpopulating and producing so much gas. The simethicone doesn't really have side effects except possible diarrhea if you really overdose it. It isn't absorbed by the body so it doesn't put stress on the liver or kidneys. I would make sure you're giving enough--often we under-dose our bunnies with simethicone--and use a probiotic in addition to the hay and water diet.

This site is good for dosing:
http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/rx/drugcalc.html

 

[Sweetie]

Well right now she isn't in any pain. She is doing okay at the moment. When she grinds her teeth I know that she is in pain, I give her .3 mL of simethicone about every other day. Last time I gave her some was last night and a couple days before that. She is eating, drinking, pooping and peeing normal. I will call the vet on Monday if they are open and see if I can get her in that day or week. I want to get this checked just in case it is something else. I am keeping an eye on her. Her pain happens around night time before I go to bed.

How much is too much simethicone? Would .3mL a day be too much? I only give it when she is in pain, when she grinds her teeth.

 

[tonyshuman]

0.3mL is a really small amount if you're using the typical baby gas liquid you can get here in the states. 1mL is a usual dose for that, but it's a bit low. 100mg is a normal dose for a 1kg bunny, and 0.3mL has only 20mg in it. It should be fine to give her up to 1mL every day, but it would be good to try to change her GI so that she doesn't need it every day, which is why I think probiotics are good.

 

[Sweetie]

I have some probiocin(sp) left from when I had to give it to Prince for his leg. The expiration is January 20, 2011. How long should I give it to her, I only have 3 1/2 grams left of it?

 

[tonyshuman]

Sounds ok. I'd give 1g daily.

 

[Sweetie]

Ok. I am emailing my vet right now to see what he says also. I will ask if he wants me to bring her in for him to check her. Thank you very much for your help Claire!

 

[Sweetie]

Well Sweetie has an appointment to see the vet at 4pm tomorrow, the 18th of January to see what is going on with her.

At 7:30pm she was feeling so much pain that she was being frantic, I was so scared because I was trying to help her and she would not let me. I was trying to massage her tummy area and she kept moving around and grinding her teeth. I finally was able to get her calmed down and she felt better.

The vet suspects something that is affecting her cecum, not real sure what it is called but at the vet appointment he will do an exam and an xray to see what is going on.

As I was petting her, she tooth purred, it was so cute.

I just hope that she is okay and it is just gas and not something else. I don't know if I can handle if it is anything else but gas.

 

[Sweetie]

Update on Sweetie: She is now okay. She had an appointment today with the vet and the vet did an exam and xrays. The xrays showed gas bubbles. So her problem is that she is having gas. The vet also said that she has mild GI stasis. The vet said to do the simethicone for three treatments, 65-130mg every hour for three treatments and give Sweetie pineapple juice to help prevent hairballs for 5 days, I have to give 10mL. I don't know how I am going to get 10 mL in her when I can only get 5mL a day in her.

Well I just thought that I would update everyone on Sweetie. I am so glad that I can breathe.

 

[tonyshuman]

It sounds like a good treatment plan. She may like the pineapple juice enough to drink it easily from the syringe.

 

[Sweetie]

Yes I will be giving her the pineapple juice through syringe. I have to get into my savings and take out the money I have in there and get her some pineapple extract, sugar free. I cannot find anyone with a juicer to freshly squeeze the pineapple that I bought.

 

[MiniLopHop]

I'm glad she will be feeling better. Gas in a bunny can be frightning.

 

[Sweetie]

You havd that right. I always know when something is wrong when I cannot get Sweetie to relax.

Thank you for the replies!