URGENT: Bun sick & no bun vets in 60 miles!

[bonelady29]

My bun Finn is a 3 year old jet black dwarf rabbit and something is wrong with him. His poops are BB size and he's weak. He's perks up a bit after a rest and then gets weak again. He's still eating hay and drinking for me but he looks miserable and he was grinding his teeth really hard earlier. We have him Critical Care in a syringe and he took it fine, we've added a tiny tiny bit of electrolytes in his water (the kind you give to baby chicks), and we haven't done it yet but we have a bag of saline ready to administer. We're just not sure if we should give it yet. Me and my husband are firefighters & EMT's and we've had to do all this before on another rabbit so we know how to do it right. And we both grew up on farms.

I'm not sure what is wrong with him or what else we need to do. We don't have access to a rabbit vet, nearest one is 60 miles away or so. He's still eating hay like a champ and he's drinking the water. He's improved from earlier when he looked almost dead and tooth ground like crazy. That part I haven't been hearing in a while.

What could be going on and what else do I need to do for him? Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[RavenousDragon]

It seems like ileus, but without a vet there is no way to be sure. If he's eating on his own, then it might not be ileus. With rabbits in general, food is very important- even more than fluids almost. Keep feeding him, but I would, if at all possible, at least call a vet and talk to him/her.

 

[Blue eyes]

We don't have access to a rabbit vet, nearest one is 60 miles away or so.

Why is that not accessible? Our rabbit vet is 53 miles away. We go when we need to go.

 

[bonelady29]

Because I live in the middle of nowhere in Alabama and it's almost midnight here.

 

[JBun]

If you have any meloxicam prescribed for your rabbit, I would want to give pain meds til I could get to the vet in the morning. Otherwise, infant gas drops or gas x sometimes help if it is gut upset due to gas.
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html

It's impossible to know if it's just an upset stomach or if something else is going on. Gut upset is pretty common with rabbits, but simple cases of it usually resolve in a few hours. More complicated ones like blockages and bloat, often need the proper meds from the vet, and sometimes surgical intervention. Then there are more complicated issues like liver and kidney problems, heart problems, bladder sludge/stones, etc, that are going to take having things like xrays and bloodwork done by the vet to find the exact cause. If by the morning your bun is still really unwell, I would say get him into the vet.

 

[bonelady29]

We were able to run an IV and get him fluid last night and continued the Critical Care mix and electrolyte water. It perked him up a lot and it seems his poop is trying to normalize. He's devouring hay like it's going out of style and drinking water good. His balance is a ton better, he can keep his balance when cleaning himself again. He's been continually cleaning his paws and everything like usual. He couldn't keep his balance to clean his paws yesterday. His ears have been alert and his movements are a lot more normal.

 

[Happi Bun]

That's great that he is improving so much!

I noticed that you haven't mentioned anything about him eating pellets. Is that because he is not wanting to eat them or does he not get any?

Usually small poops, pain and lethargy are signs of GI Slowdown.

 

[Aki]

If he is doing fine, it's OK, but if not a vet even not specialized in rabbits is a lot better than nothing. If I were you, I would keep Metacam (pain meds) on hand considering you are far from vets : rabbits' condition can go downhill really fast when they are in pain as even a stomach ache can make them shut down and stop eating. Sometimes, especially with slow guts problems (which are unfortunately pretty frequent), just relieving the pain really helps the rabbit to perk up. I always have a bottle at my house (it's cheap and you can keep it for 2 or 3 years) and I give it immediately when I notice that something seems wrong. Rehydrating was a good move, it's really important to help the guts pass things (fibers and hydratation are my mantra when it comes to bunnies ^^). Considering your rabbit was still pooping you didn't have any blocage so the treatment you went with should work. Now, it would be good to find what caused the problem - guts slowing down or stopping is not an illness, it's a symptom. The problem might have been provoked by moulting, considering the season - my rabbits currently shed like mad and I really keep a close eye on their litterbox and hay intake to avoid problems. But it would be better to make sure that there is no other underlaying condition which could cause other bouts of stasis or more serious issues down the road. It can be anything: one year ago my Aki had stasis because her eyesight was getting bad... it took me almost a month to find why she kept having repeated small poops episodes... Once I pinpointed the problem, I could make the necessary changes in her environment and she has been fine ever since.

 

[Alek]

Because I live in the middle of nowhere in Alabama and it's almost midnight here.

I totally empathize with you. Even though I live in a decent sized city in my state, there are almost no Vets with rabbit care experience, and most of them are either very expensive $1000 no kidding for minimum emergency stabilizing care, but most of them simply shrug and say 'buy a new rabbit if it dies'. Rabbits are seen more as food animals around here, and not pets, and certainly viewed as replaceable.
I'm glad to hear your bun is improving. It's so scary when you have a pet get sick and you have no way to care for them.