question about Lactulose

[Tam O Ham]

at the beginning of the month, Fizz and I moved to a different state and during the move (a 12 hour drive that turned into a 24 hour one) she stopped pooping and eating. We ended up at an emergency vet halfway between here and there and Fizz got some fluids and some meds and made a quick recovery. We've been on what I consider 'stabilize/detox' since with giving her critical care for several days and the meds about a week and a half and then weaning her off them a little at a time. One of the meds was Cisipride which I was already familiar with, so we took that for a week and a half regular and then knocked it down to every other day and now we're past our last dose. The other med we were given though is lactulose which I haven't used before. The instructions on the bottle is to give Fizz 1 ml every 12 hours until gone. But its a BIG bottle and I really don't feel Fizz needs to continue. She's down to one dose a day at this point but when I skipped it yesterday, now her poops have gotten very small and nowhere near the amount they should be. She's not a big water drinker to start with (about a year ago she stopped drinking out of her water dish or at least stopped doing it when I could see) and I think she gets most of her liquid intake from the pretty decent amount of wet greens I give her everyday. Obviously I've given her a dose tonight and I'm going to call the emergency vet - and my vets back home - about this and see who I can get through to once everyone's open but I figured I'd also hit up here as well so I've got as much information as I can get.

Does anyone here have any experience with lactulose (and milk thistle) and what are your experiences/recommendations for weaning her off it? We're currently going through a heavy shed as well and I'm doubly worried about her poop patterns (and messing with them) because of it.

 

[Tam O Ham]

okay, figured I'd give an update in case anyone searches 'lactulose' at some point. I called three vets, one didn't call me back, I had one of the girls that answered the phone walk me through how to wean Fizz slowly off it (cut the dosage a bit and keep on cutting it as time goes until its done) but had nothing to tell me about lactulose specifically other than it was a lubricant and I also talked to the emergency vet that proscribed it. The EVet said that it was a healthy suppliment without side effects and that I could keep Fizz on it indefinitely. She said that she had several buns (and several birds) that were taking it long term. Its healthy for Fizz's liver as well as helping her poop. From what I've read it does this by drawing moisture out of the rest of the body to focus it in the intestinal track. Now Fizz doesn't seem to get much water beyond her wet plant food each day so dehydrating her is a worry for me - however when I syringed her 3 ml of water this morning as a precaution, her poop was on the runny side tonight so I'm going to go with the thought that she is, indeed, getting enough water either via the plants or sneaking it from her water bowl. Anyway, between her excessive fur and the fact her poops have always been on the small side and she's actually been pooping good size and well since she's been on the milk thistle and lactulose without any eating issues I think I'm going to stick with a single dose of 1ml a day for her at this point. She's seven years old and if she has something that seems to be helping her stay healthy I'm just going to go with it unless I learn otherwise at this point. Still open to hear if anyone else has any experience or thoughts about this but that's where things are at this point.

Bun in question

 

[JBun]

Sorry no one had a response to your question. I've never had a vet prescribe it so have no experience with it's use. If there are no side effects, it seems like it might be a good solution for your rabbits health.