Rory has a distended and firm abdomen, seems to be in pain- please help!

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From what I understand he's pooping, peeing, drinking and eating, he was just acting a 'off' and seemed a little gassy. That may be concerning given his other problems, but I honestly don't think there needs to be this much fuss.

He went to a vet, there was nothing critical or at this stage even out of whack after x-rays and an exam.

(And on that note, the vet prescribed the amount of fluids he thought was necessary after physically examining him, and I think that protocol should be followed).

The only other thing that may help is a mild sedative -- for the bunny mom!! :laughsmiley:

Honestly Shiloh, he sounds fine, at least for the short term. He may still need a blood test or whatever from your regular vet, but I'd honestly not worry so much. He may even be reacting to the underlying stress, medications, etc and actually slowing down his progress.

It may have been just a bit of gas or the UTI's normal progression, or something yet to be diagnosed, but he's not in any danger. Good to keep an eye on it and have him looked at if he doesn't bounce back soon, but as Randy always says, 'steady the ship', you're full steam ahead!

I know its really hard not to worry (I have the same problem :nerves1 ) but I really think he's okay.


sas :hug2:
 
Ugh. I just gave him the sub q fluids. First I stabbed my thumb with the needle really hard (I had everything ready and was putting the needle back in that little plastic tube so it would stay clean while I got Rory, didn't realize the plastic tube had soft sides and the needle went through it), then we had to use pliers to get the cap off the screw end of the tube that is attached to the butterfly needle. The worst part was poking the needle into him. He did fine and didn't even flinch, but I was whimpering. The feeling of the needle going through his skin made me shudder. I would fail at being a vet! The actual administration of fluids was without incident thankfully, and now he has a 35 ml bubble of fluid.
 
Hey Sas, I somehow missed your reply before. The reason I'm so worried is that he weighs a good 12 ounces more than he did a week ago (he's gained almost 1/4 of his normal weight) and his abdomen is very full and firm. His abdomen is so full that when he's sitting or lying down I can see it sticking out on the sides. Also he's pooped less today than he did yesterday :( I was interested in giving him more fluids because the vet who saw him isn't a normal rabbit vet and my regular vet told me over the phone back when Skyler wasn't drinking at this time last month that I should give Skyler 50 ml of fluids at a time if he needed fluids. Rory is bigger than Skyler.
 
The vet is correctly being cautious about fluids because there hasn't been a diagnosis and he's not presenting as dehydrated. If he's pooping and drinking a little he really doesn't need a lot of SubQ fluids.

For all you know he's heavier because he's RETAINING fluids. His kidneys look normal on the x-ray, but there may be 'numbers' to be had from a blood test, I don't know.

Bunnies (and people) fluctuate somewhat, just like they don't poop all day long, they have their cycles. It will take more observation.

But he is not critical by any stretch, don't do blind treatments or treat for common bunny ailments like stasis when there is no evidence at all he has it.

Just make sure he's eating and he has output and that he's not lethargic (different from being a little low-key).

Other than that, take notes.

Just don't treat him in a panic for stuff none of us know anything about. No pain meds or any other drugs and no more fluids than were prescribed.

This stuff is FAR more complicated than can be dealt with on the Internet -- if it's anything at all beyond 'something he ate'.

The only thing that my own extensive research has proven (over and over) is how little we really know. We have a little envelope full of issues we keep hearing about, but its 5% or less of what can go wrong (or be right) in the real world of rabbit biology.

Over-treating can be as bad as not treating.

Just steady the ship!


sas
 
Rory's the same as he was pretty much. He still weighs as much as he did before. He's still running around and doing the occasional binky, eating, drinking a little, pooping, peeing, lying with his tummy pressed to the floor, and spending more time in his cage than normal (this is his own doing). I'm still feeding him lots of veggies and hay, plus Benebac. I hope things start to move along for him!
 
I was personally worried about the distended stomach. It sounds like he's doing much better, but still has a way to go to be 100%. Sounds like you're doing the right stuff for him. :)
 
Information is spread over two threads because of his previous issue that may be related to this one, it's hard to follow.

What did the Vet say about the weight and extended stomach? Gas? Fluids? Or just a lot of food that he hasn't passed?

Any testing of the urine? Any comments about the possibility of EC?

Randy, if you're reading this...

Rory just had an x-ray at the ER Vet, it would eliminate anything obvious/critical I assume, but what more information can a blood test (and another urine test, etc) give?

Hopefully you can get to the bottom of any on-going problems.

Otherwise all I'm saying is that because its not clear what you're dealing with, you got him to the Vet to eliminate anything immediately life-threatening, I really wouldn't treat beyond what you have to, and don't dismiss the recommendations from the Vet that examined him. People here are getting information third hand, there is a lot of room for misinformation.

Also, one problem can lead to another -- stress of any kind can lead to a GI slow-down. (FTR, GI slowdowns are not stasis; and stasis caught early is almost always treatable, don't panic).

And as Tamsin so aptly put it in the Annabelle thread, "you might need to rule things out rather than find an instant answer."

(ETA: I meant to combine posts, ended up deleting my previous post). :sigh:


sas :clover:
 
I think Pipp's right--I talked a lot about what I think the best way to look for EC is in the Annabelle thread. The problem is that Shiloh's vet is hesitant to use Marquis.
 
Pipp, I know he has two threads- I created this one because it was a different issue and I was afraid it would get lost in his other thread. I hoped people experienced with GI slowdowns would see this instead of skipping over his other thread. I've been trying to keep this thread only for his GI issue.

The vet said that his stomach and cecum are full of compacted food/poop, not gas or fluids (at least not as far as she could tell). The urine test he had with the other vet 2 weeks ago today showed that there was "a lot of bacteria in clumps" to quote the vet. He was prescribed Baytril for it. I did ask her if it was possible he has EC too but she wanted to just treat for the UTI and take things as they came, at least for that vet visit. He has another appointment with his regular vet (the one who did the urine test, NOT the one who saw him on Saturday and did the x-ray) on Friday, where he will have another urine test done and I'm going to ask for a blood test as well. The vet office where the x-ray was done said they would let Rory's regular vet know about the x-ray so she could have a look at it too. Hopefully they will be able to give a copy of the x-rays to his regular vet (they got a new x-ray thing that's digital and the vet didn't know if she could e-mail the x-ray or put it on a disc).

I don't know how Rory is doing today because I've been at school for the past 6 1/2 hours. I'll be home in about 5 hours. This morning before I left, I saw him drinking out of his bowl again. I woke up in the middle of the night because Rory was in the bedroom (Paul stayed up late and was doing a bad job of "babysitting" him in the living room!). When I picked him up, he still felt heavy (and weighed the same), but his tummy felt softer and he didn't look as distended. Hopefully when I get home he will be even better!
 
Just make sure they really do give it to the other vet--I took my hammie to the University Vet School Hospital thing and they were great. They said they'd send my regular vet the report, but the regular vet didn't have it the next time I visited, a month later. Luckily, I had the copy they gave me with me for them to see.

Let's hear it for squishy-er stomachs! Cmon, Rory, poop that out!!
 
Good news, everyone! Rory is at the vet right now, she kept him there to try to get a urine sample. The vet agrees that while Rory still has a lot of extra stuff in him, his stomach and cecum don't feel too super full or firm and his intestines are good. She thinks he will be over this GI slowdown within the week! I'm very relieved. She talked to the vet from the clinic who treated him on Saturday too.

I'm going to update his other thread too with some pertinent info regarding his UTI.
 
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