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Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Ms. Rabbit’s GI stasis (7/2 update – back to normal!)

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    • FluffyBunny
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        Yesterday morning, I went to give my daily lettuce and carrot treats to the bunnies. I immediately noticed that something was wrong with Ms. Rabbit – she was hiding in the maze haven and refused to eat her lettuce. I checked her over, and she seemed to be fine, except for a very bloated belly with a very hard upper section. I’d given her broccoli for the first time the day before, so I wasn’t too surprised. I partially separated her from Mr. Bunny and did all the normal steps for taking care of gassy bunnies – I gave her simethicone, did some belly massages, and  managed to get her to eat some pellet and hay dust mush after a while.

        By yesterday evening, her belly was still a little bloated, but she had eaten a few handfuls of lettuce and cilantro, as well as more pellet mush. She also had a lot more energy than she had earlier. She had also started pooping again; the poops were small, but she was making a good amount of them, so I wasn’t too concerned about that. I left her alone for the night, sure that she would be fine in the morning.

        This morning, she seems to be right back where she was yesterday. She’s still pretty lethargic, and her belly is very bloated (and gurgling) again. She’s refusing to eat anything but raisins, and she’ll barely take those. Her poops have gotten slightly larger and there’s some new piles of them in the litterbox. Also, she drank a whole bowl (3 1/2 cups) of very diluted orange juice since last night.
         

        I’m a little concerned that the normal treatments haven’t done much to get her eating again. Also, I’m concerned about how the upper part of her belly seems a lot firmer than the rest. Is this something that would warrant a vet visit, or should I keep trying to treat her at home?

         


      • RabbitPam
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          I think it does warrant a vet visit since you have done a good job of administering home treatment that should have shown better results by now, but she’s still in distress. It might require an xray or some other method of diagnosing that only the vet can do. I would bring her in today.
          {{{{{{{Healing vibes}}}}}}}}}}


        • Sarita
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            Yes, definitely take her in! That’s alot of water. I would have the vet do a thorough check including a UTI and dental. It may not be gas at all, and many times gas is secondary to whatever may be going on with her.


          • FluffyBunny
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              Thanks for all your help!

              It turns out that she has full-blown GI stasis. The vet doesn’t know what caused it, but she said that she didn’t suspect that it was because of any blockages or other health problems. She told me that it was probably at least partially caused by her gas episode. She gave Ms. Rabbit some subcutaneous fluids and did a blood test to check for any infections or health problems that might have caused the stasis. In addition, I’m supposed to force-feed Critical Care every four hours until she starts eating on her own. She also gave me a bottle of metoclopramide (gut motility drug) and trimethropin sulfa (to help kill bad bacteria in her guts) to give a few times a day. She told me that I should also try to get Ms. Rabbit to drink as much water as possible.

              Does anyone here have any tips for taking care of a bunny with GI stasis?


            • Sarita
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                Try to entice her to eat some fresh wet greens. Break the greens up if you have to so that it releases some scent to entice her.

                Make sure you take all medications as directed by the vet too.


              • Sarita
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                  Did she also check her teeth?


                • RabbitPam
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                    I’m sorry to hear it, but I am glad you got her in and are getting her thorough treatment.
                    Just remain vigilant and follow instructions for the full duration even if she shows great improvement. If you want to make any changes, call your vet first for confirmation, and alert her to any new problems or if she just seems to be getting worse.


                  • FluffyBunny
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                      A little update – I managed to get her to eat a small handful of cilantro a little while ago, and she took about 2 tablespoons of Critical Care without any problems. She hasn’t pooped since early this morning, but she did make a few small cecals in the litterbox since we got home. She doesn’t seem to be in a great deal of pain (no tooth grinding or heavy breathing), although I can tell by how she acts that her belly’s a little uncomfortable.

                      Sarita, to answer your question, I’m really not sure. I saw the vet checking her front teeth and gums, but I’m not sure if she checked the back teeth. She was in the private treatment room at the vet hospital for a good 20-25 minutes, so it’s certainly a possibility.


                    • jerseygirl
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                        {{{{{Ms Rabbit}}}}}


                      • Monkeybun
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                          You mentioned in another thread you had to separate them, is that what the vet recommended?

                          I personally wouldn’t, it would stress her out more. And there’s the possibility that the bond will be broken if they are not together for too long.

                          Poor bun


                        • LittlePuffyTail
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                            (((((((Ms. Rabbit))))))) Feel better soon!


                          • FluffyBunny
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                              They’re really only partially separated. I have a big dog crate from back before the bunnies were free runners, so I put that in a dark corner of the bunny room and put Ms. Rabbit inside. They can still see each other and touch noses, but it’s a lot easier to monitor how much Ms. Rabbit is eating and pooping. The vet actually recommended that I totally separate them, but I know that Ms. Rabbit gets very depressed without Mr. Bunny around, so we decided that it would be fine to just keep her in the cage.


                            • Sarita
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                                How is she doing now?


                              • Monkeybun
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                                  Okay At least they get to see each other! Hope she gets better soon


                                • FluffyBunny
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                                    She’s doing fine right now. She seemed to be hitting a slight plateau in her recovery from since last night – she had switched back to making only 2-3 poops at a time, she was grinding her teeth a tiny bit, and she entirely stopped eating on her own. Fortunately, in just the last couple hours or so, she’s been feeling a little better again. I got her to eat some salad and banana skin (one of the bunnies’ favorites) earlier today, and her belly has been on-and-off making soft gurgling noises again (it was completely silent at the vet yesterday). Also, she made a small pile of poop after I gave her Critical Care a few minutes ago. It must have been bothering her, since she really perked up after pooping.

                                    Thanks for all the vibes and good thoughts. Between those and her medicines, I’m sure Ms. Rabbit will be back to normal in no time.


                                  • Sarita
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                                      Sounds good! More vibes to Ms. Rabbit.


                                    • Lani
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                                        Glad to hear she’s feeling a bit better today. Vibes to Ms. Rabbit!


                                      • FluffyBunny
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                                          I just got a call from the vet a few minutes ago. Ms. Rabbit’s blood test results came back, and everything seems completely normal. Her kidneys and liver seem to be functioning fine, and there’s no sign of any bacterial infections – which means that the only necessary treatment is for the GI stasis itself.

                                          Ms. Rabbit is doing fine. She’s still not herself, but she’s starting to get exited about treats and lettuce again. She still isn’t pooping normally, but the poops that she’s making are gradually getting larger. She’s also starting to get more energy – she put up quite the fight while I was force-feeding her today.


                                        • BinkyBunny
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                                            Oh whew. Sounds like she’s making a gradual improvements to recovery! Yeah! Was there any cause of the gi stasis that you know of?


                                          • FluffyBunny
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                                              We’re still not sure what caused it. She might have had a blockage that passed through, or it could have just been triggered by very painful gas, or it could be a mix of both. We haven’t completely ruled out another health problem either, although that seems much less likely now.


                                            • jerseygirl
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                                                Good to hear she’s doing better FB. : )
                                                Is she or Mr Bunny shedding more at the moment? Sometimes they might be ingesting more hair then the norm.


                                              • LittlePuffyTail
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                                                  Most of the times my bunnies have had stasis we had no idea the cause. Sometimes it’s just a mystery.


                                                • FluffyBunny
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                                                    The bunnies were both shedding lightly about a month ago, but they both stopped about two weeks ago.

                                                    A little update on Ms. Rabbit: She was doing really well all day yesterday – she was eating everything I gave her, making large piles of poop, doing big binkies down the hallway, etc. She started really disliking the syringe feeding, so I only fed her about 2 tbsp. of Critical Care and encouraged her to eat lots of fresh veggies and hay instead.

                                                    She’s not feeling quite as good today. As far as I can tell, she hasn’t pooped since late last night, and the only things she’s eating are carrots and small amounts of cilantro. She also seems to be slightly lethargic and a little uncomfortable again. I’m going to let her run around the downstairs hallway with Mr. Bunny in a few minutes, so I’m hoping that that will make her perk up a little.

                                                    I’ve got three questions: First, is it normal for a bunny to still be recovering from stasis in a “three steps forward, two steps back” sort of way after several days of treatment? Second, I’m a little concerned that she hasn’t been drinking very much water…do you think that she’s getting enough from her veggies and Critical Care? And third, if she’s starting to eat some normal food on her own, should I continue to decrease the amount of Critical Care she’s getting?


                                                  • Tate
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                                                      Well, metoclopramide can take up to two weeks to cause full motility in the gut. You may have been seeing the body’s initial reaction to metoclopramide, and I would think it’s fairly normal for that to taper off as the body gets accustomed to using it efficiently. You may want to call your vet tomorrow morning and ask about adding in some Pedialyte. There shouldn’t be any interaction with the metoclopramide, but I’d make sure just to be safe. The electrolytes are essential for muscle contractions, so it might help her muscles “naturally” contract in stead of relying on the drug. Also, the Pedialyte will add a bit of fluid to her.
                                                      I would think that she’s getting “enough” water from the veggies and critical care… enough for a healthy rabbit. It’s like when you get a cold or the flu and the doctor tells you to drink lots of fluids- more than you really feel like you need- but you just have to keep drinking! Continue to encourage her with some orange juice in the water or pineapple juice- or if the vet ok’s the Pedialyte.
                                                      I wouldn’t keep her on the Critical Care for too long after she begins eating normally. They are really the same thing, so she probably won’t need too much extra food.
                                                      It’s good that you are getting her out to play. Exercise also aids in muscular contractions.


                                                    • Sarita
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                                                        Tate gave great advice. And do call the vet tomorrow with an update and tell him your concerns. We want Ms. Rabbit to feel better.


                                                      • FluffyBunny
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                                                          Sorry for not updating! (Could swear I posted a couple days ago. I suppose that I was either dreaming or having computer problems. )

                                                          Ms. Rabbit is doing fine. I’m happy to say that she’s well enough to be a free-runner with Mr. Bunny again. I did start adding Pedialyte to her water, and that’s been working great to help her drink more. She’s now off both the sulfa and the metoclopramide, and she’s still doing very well; since a few days ago, she’s been eating all of her veggies and pellets normally and has even been starting to eat hay normally again, and she’s returned to being her mischievous, curious little self. Her poop is still a little bit smaller than normal, but she’s been making much larger amounts of it.

                                                          Also, I’m not sure if it’s significant, but I found a gigantic poop (about the size of a large mashed marble) in the litter box right after I let Ms. Rabbit back into the bunny room. I’m not sure who made it, but it wasn’t dark brown like Mr. Bunny’s poops, so I’m pretty sure that it was from Ms. Rabbit. It was a little softer and lighter than normal, but otherwise seemed to be normal on the inside.

                                                          Thanks for all of your advice and support! It definitely helped me get Ms. Rabbit through all of this. Hopefully this will be the last time it’s needed.


                                                        • LittlePuffyTail
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                                                            Glad Ms. Rabbit is feeling better.

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                                                        Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Ms. Rabbit’s GI stasis (7/2 update – back to normal!)