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› Forum › HOUSE RABBIT Q & A › I think Abby is sick and no vet until tomorrow. She’s coming home!!
Abby has not had anything to eat/drink or gone to the bathroom in over 12 hours now and will only lay down. She won’t even take any fresh foods or treats. Nothing in her enviroment or diet has changed. The emergency vet is the only place open on the weekends about here and they know absolutely nothing about rabbits.
I’ve never experienced these types of issues with rabbits before. What should I be doing until I can get her to the vet? What should I be looking for? Could it be a blockage, is she sick, or could it be her teeth?
Thanks for any input and thoughts. Sorry if I wasn’t very clear as I’m really upset right now.
Could be so many things! Do you have critical care or can you make a pellet slurry and try to hand feed her until you can see your vet tomorrow?
It could be teeth or a blockage. some times if it is teeth they can get stasis from not eating. Try rubbing her belly to try and move things along a little. also do you have any critical care or baby gas medicine?
I don’t have any critical care or the gas medicine. I also have no syringes at the moment either. You’d think after what I went through with Hugo I’d be more prepared. I will be able to get those things around lunch time. I did rub her tummy last night and I haven’t heard any gurgling noises from her at all. I’m going to try that again. I’m very worried about the lack of liquid she’s had in the past 24 hours.
Please read this article. It has a lot of VERY helpful information in it about GI stasis how to detect it and how it can be treated.[code]http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html[/code]
Thanks Mocha. I already had it open all morning.
Can you hold her? When Meadow first gets like this, I hold her upright with one hand under her arms and kind of snuggle her into my side. With the other hand I massage her belly. This is the only time she won’t fight being held. I also do “bunny calisthenics” where I gently move her hips up and down, holding for a moment, and then releasing. Get the simethecone. There’s no guarantee it will help, but it cannot hurt to give it to her. And medicine syringes. I don’t know how much I would feed her right now, but you can use them to give her a bit of water.
I sent you a pm amy.
Mocha: I didn’t get a pm from you.
Thanks Beka. She is pretty lazy right now so she is very easy to hold. That is how I was massaging her tummy last night.
I heard back from the rescue I got her from this morning and they told me to hold her on her back to rub her tummy. She trances very well. They also said to get the Simethicone and if that didn’t work to try and syringe feed her some baby food. They also told me to pinch the skin on her back to see how quickly it fell back down (dehydration test?) and said she was slightly dehydrated.
yes, try feeding her baby food with a syringe. you can also try giving her a little bit of water with the syringe.
Hope she’s doing better Amy. I do much the same as Beka. Hold them and encourage the gut to move. Sometimes they get comfort from a gentle heat pad on the tum.
{{{Abby!}}}
I will try to send it again when I get home. Sorry about that.
Let us know Amy!
I re sent the message. Please tell us how she’s doing!
Mocha: I still didn’t get a message from you.
I did crush up some pellets to syringe feed her. I didn’t give her much though since I’m not exactly sure what is wrong. I also gave her the Simethicone and have been doing tummy rubs. She still only laying down and will hop a few steps and lay back down. She hasn’t gone to the bathroom or eaten anything on her own but she did just take a drink of water. Yay!
I also noticed while I was holding her that her nose was a little crusty and running. I will be calling her vet first thing in the morning so she can be seen. I’ll update everyone after I know what’s going on.
If she gets worse over night- keep in mind that although a ER vet may not be a rabbit vet- they can give SQ fluids to prevent dehydration (which only compounds blockage or stasis) and could potentially admin pain meds though some pain meds can slow down the gut (so it is a toss up for some ER vets to know exactly what to do).
Short of an actual blockage that requires surgery to remove a blockage- keeping pellet slurry or CC going “in” is a good thing as it keeps the gut moving. No input equals no need for the GI stasis to change. If this is a Flemish giant she would be able to take a lot of slurry- as there is a lot of water in it. My 9.5lb according to CC directions takes almost a pouch a day!!! That is a lot for anyone who has ever tried to force feed an uncooperative bunny.
How’s Abby? Any updates?
She doesn’t have much strength right now and all she will do is lay down. Still hasn’t eaten anything on her own or gone to the bathroom but has taken a few small drinks on her own. I have 45 minutes until the vet opens.
Can you just take her there? Call and leave a message on the machine that you are coming in case somewhere is already there, and leave and wait outside for them to get there.
Thanks Beka! I forgot I could do that. At this point I think that’s a good idea. This is an emergency now.
((hugs for you and Abby)) I hope the vet is able to help her and she gets well soon! Keep us updated.
I always just bring my rabbit in case of an emergency and drop off for the vet to look at. Keep us updated.
I just got home. Abby had to stay. They did x-rays and her stomach is severely impacted and she has a nasal discharge. They said she’d be there for 2-3 days. They started her on Baytril, Cisapride, pain meds, fluids and food. All we can do now is hope that the medicine will work and that she’s a fighter.
Vibes to Abby! She sounds like she’s in good hands. Please keep us updated.
Abby will be in my thoughts- get better vibes to Abby!
I went through this just last week. (The vet said he sees this most frequent;y at this time of year because of the season change.) Bingley’s stomach was impacted and he was acting the same was Abby is. My vet inserted a tube through his mouth and into his stomach and through the tube he pumped some saline and mineral oil to break up the mass. This helped him within hours. Do you know if this was an option on the table for Abby? I don’t want to tell anybody what to do and I’m not a vet, but I saw results when my vet did this. It may not work for all bunnies. my guy is four pounds and Abby is a flemish.
Positive thoughts for Abby! And hugs to you, I know how stressful it is!
{{{ Abby }}}
Springtime definitely seems to bring on these bouts with stasis. I don’t know if it is the huge sheds they go through, or the change in the weather, but this seems to be the season for tummy problems. Good luck Abby!
*vibes and hugs*
So sorry to hear about Abby. Stasis is so scary. Hope she pulls through quickly!
That is an interesting point brought up about spring being ‘stasis season’. My bunnies must be odd, because they seem to go through ‘tummy episodes’ more likely in fall or winter…(of course, when it’s freezing cold out and the only road to the vet is covered in snow!)
Anyway, just wanted to pop in and add some (((((((((((((((((((((((((((healing vibes))))))))))))))))))))) for Abby! Hang in there, Amy! (((((((((((((hugs))))))))))
Biggest bunny (((((vibes to Abby))))) and bunny **hugs** to you. I know how scary this must be for you. Just hang in there! I dealt with a similar emergency with Bindi and it was very rough but he pulled through.
Please let us know as soon as you hear anything.
Just an update. The vets office said she was much more active this morning and there was a substantial amount of stool in her kennel from overnight but she still isn’t eating on her own. My vet is out of the office today and will be back tomorrow at 3. After that I will be able to talk to her and possibly bring Abby home. I miss her so much.
Good luck to Abby and many healthy bunny vibes!
Continued vibes to Abby. Sounds like she is getting better!
That sounds so scary. I hope that she gets well and gets to come home soon!
We’re sending healing hugs!
I really hope Abby pulls through, I’m glad she was doing a bit better this morning.
Best wishes, she looks like a sweet girl.
That’s good news!! I hope she makes a full recovery! <<>>>
Poop is good! Very good! Glad to hear she’s more active too. Keep it up, Abby!!!
{{{{{{{{{Added special healing vibes, Abby!}}}}}}}}}}}}}
Update: Abby is doing much better. She is starting to eat and drink on her own now and has a lot of energy now. They said she even passed a hairball with her stool over the night. It’s going to be a long wait till 3 to hear from the vet now. I can’t wait to bring my baby home!
Great news! I hope you have her back soon in perfect health.
Glad for the good news!
My Abby is coming home tonight! Yay!!!!!! She will be on all 3 medications still and the vet wants me to start giving her laxatone 3 times a week while she’s shedding. I’ll have to syringe feed her food and water for a little while still but I’m so happy to have her coming home. I’m also cutting down her pellets and switching to a higher fiber pellet.
Thank you guys for being so supportive through this. It has really made it easier on me. =)
Thats great! I am sure she will be glad to be back to!
Oh that is fantastic news! ^_^ It will be so good to have her home I’m sure!
((((((((((((((((((((((continued healing vibes)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))
Great news! I have been thinking about her all day, glad she is on her way home soon.
Yay! Glad she is well enough to come home. Tell her Monkey says to stop worrying her mama
Awesome! Glad she is home.
Amy? How’s she doing?
Eager for an update! Hope all is well!
Yay! Glad to hear Abby’s doing better. I hope all is going well now that she’s home.
yay! Keep us updated!
(((Continued vibes for Abby!))) Hugs for you!
› Forum › HOUSE RABBIT Q & A › I think Abby is sick and no vet until tomorrow. She’s coming home!!