Forum

OUR FORUM IS UP BUT WE ARE STILL IN THE MIDDLE OF UPDATING AND FIXING THINGS.  SOME THINGS WILL LOOK WEIRD AND/OR NOT BE CORRECT. YOUR PATIENCE IS APPRECIATED.  We are not fully ready to answer questions in a timely manner as we are not officially open, but we will do our best. 

You may have received a 2-factor authentication (2FA) email from us on 4/21/2020. That was from us, but was premature as the login was not working at that time. 

BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately! Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES

The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

What are we about?  Please read about our Forum Culture and check out the Rules

BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately!  Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES 

The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet.  It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Humphrey and GI Stuff

Viewing 16 reply threads
  • Author
    Messages

    • Hannah
      Participant
      274 posts Send Private Message

        So, firstly, I need to STOP only posting to this forum when I have an emergency!!! I feel like such a jerk. : (

        You may remember that last time I was here I was trying to bond Humphrey and Otis– I was waiting for news to post about the bond, and then they just decided to magically bond themselves, so I did no work! They’ve been cage bonded for about 2 1/2 months now.

        However, on Tuesday when I came home from work, Humphrey was acting very sluggish and refusing food. To make a long story short, we went to the emergency vet a few hours later after home care (tempting with treats, belly rubbins, simethicone) wasn’t working. They were very unhelpful and sent him home with a shot of pain meds. He eats a little bit of hay and seems more himself. Humphrey and Otis sleep with a divider between the halves of the cage so I can tell who is eating/pooping; Humphrey does neither.

        Cut to Wednesday morning: I am supposed to be going to work, followed by driving to my mom’s house for Thanksgiving, but Humphrey has gotten lethargic again. I call up work and drive Humphrey, Otis and Poe (chinchilla) down to the South Shore, and call my mom’s vet. He’s not on. My mom’s emergency vet is ALSO not on. I call something like FORTY vets before I find one who is willing to see rabbits– and their rabbit doctor wasn’t even on, this was just another vet who actually said she’d be comfortable seeing a bunny. We drive forty minutes to West Bridgewater– Humphrey and Otis are exceptionally displeased. The vet is very sweet and surprisingly knowledgeable, and after a physical, x-rays and lots of waiting, she decides that she would be most comfortable keeping him over night, as the real rabbit vet would be coming in in a few hours. At this point Humphrey is exceedingly grumpy, and his x-rays show that his stomach is full but not his intestines (leading the vet to worry that there’s a legitimate blockage), but his vitals are totally stable. No poop, but his hay consumption has increased. Though I’m loathe to seperate Humphrey and Otis, my gut feeling tells me to leave him with the vet.

        Thursday morning: the vet calls back and says that Humphrey has been active, eating and stable throughout the night, but STILL HASN’T POOPED. She says she thinks he’d be more comfortable at home, and so to keep him as long as he seems stable. We bring him home and he and Otis are THRILLED to see each other. He is on 1/2ml of meloxicam every 12 hours, 3mls of tramadol every 8 hours, sub-q fluids every 8 hours (which is a problem– I’ll get to that), and I’m still sporadically giving the simethicone. He’s still eating hay and drinking on his own, but not pooping.

        During Thanksgiving dinner (which because my family is oldschool South Shore Irish Catholics is at 2pm… ), I walk back from my grandparents’ to my mom’s (they live four houses away) to check on Humphrey and there’s POOP! Not much, and very small and misshapen, but poop nonetheless. I feel much better. After Thanksgiving dinner he and Otis spend a bunch of time out playing together, and Humphrey eats some hay and poops a few more little poops, though mostly he wants to rest– he seems exhausted, and as it creeps towards when the next dose of pain meds are due, he gets more lethargic and tooth-grindy. He takes the oral meds reasonably well, but around 9pm I’m supposed to do the sub-q fluids, and I manage to get about half a dose into him before he FLIPS OUT and starts trahsing around everywhere and pulls the needle out of himself. I’m glad to see him feisty, but much less glad that I can’t hold him still enough to administer the fluids. (I was supposed to give another dose about an hour ago with more pain meds and simethicone, but I’m too bleary eyed to contemplate needles in my rabbit right now. I’m supposed to cal the vet at 7:50 or something anyway, so I think I can wait until then to ask what the heck I should do. Since he IS drinking I’m not ridiculusly worried, but I definitely don’t feel GOOD about not getting the fluids in him!) He poops a little more around 11:30pm. It’s kind of slimy and EXTREMELY foul smelling.

        Anyway, I checked on him around 2:30, 3:15 and just now at 5, when I gave him more pain meds, and though he has drank plenty, he seems to have gotten a little worse again. I can’t really tell how much hay he’s eaten and the 11:30 poops were the last ones I saw. He’s also hunchy and grindy again (although hopefully the 5am dose of pain meds should help with that). I know ileus sometimes recovers in fits and starts, but HE’S FREAKING ME OUT. I haven’t really slept since Tuesday, either, so my brain is melting out my ears and I’m taking every little thing he does as a cosmic sign that he’s about to die.

        So, partially I’m posting just because I’m in serious need of bunny-person talk (unless it really isn’t, someone please tell me this is sort of recovery is normal and I’m overreacting) and feel shaky and awful and sick to my stomach, but I also have a couple of questions.

        Mainly, can I assume that if he keeps eating and has pooped, that he couldn’t possibly be fully blocked, and therefore should probably be on something like reglan? I’ve been trying to convince someone to give me reglan since Tuesday, but I’ve been shot down (unnecessarily by the first vet, and understandably by the second) continuously.

        Secondly, is there anything else I should be doing to speed his (hopeful) recovery along? He’s giving me absolute palpitations, and anything I can do would help.

        Thirdly, and pardon my language, how the *HELL* do you keep a rabbit still for sub-q fluids? Sticking him with needles already makes my knees buckle and feel like I’m going to throw up, but more importantly I have no desire to repeat last night’s debacle and have him pull the stupid thing out of himself.

        Finally, since I should be talking to the real bunny vet around 8, do you think there’s anything I should be asking other than what I’ve already asked here?

        I just want Humphrey to poop and be okay!!!!!!


      • LittlePuffyTail
        Moderator
        18092 posts Send Private Message

          Sorry to hear Humphrey is unwell. I can relate because I’ve been in the same situation with both my Mini-Rex and My Mini-Lop many times. It’s frustrating to not know what’s wrong. We did Sub Q fluids with Bindi and it required a helper. We sat him on a towel on the table and he was pretty good about it.

          You need to keep him eating to keep his GI mobility going. Do you have or can you get “Critical Care”? How often are you doing the Sub Q fluids?

          It might not be a blockage. What is his diet like?


        • Hannah
          Participant
          274 posts Send Private Message

            Thanks. : / He’s actually eating a good amount of hay on his own, which is pleasing. The vet said not to bother with critical care unless he stopped, and unfortunately my supply of it is at my own home in Waltham. Sub-q fluids is SUPPOSED to be every 8 hours, but I skipped the 5am one (for now) because I didn’t think I was, in my drowsy state, capable of safely using a needle around Humphrey. He is however peeing and drinking pretty normally.

            Humphrey’s diet is unlimited timothy and sweet meadow grass, a big ole’ salad of things like romaine, chicory, kale, collard, parsley, and so on in the morning, and a TEENSY TINY palmful of pellets at night. He is usually an excellent eater and has not had many GI problems, however, he and Otis have both been shedding like crazy, so I would not be surprised if hair played a factor in all this. Still no poop since 11:30pm, but he seems much more comfortable than he did at 5am, so it seems like the pain meds helped. I’m about to cal the vet per their orders!


          • Hannah
            Participant
            274 posts Send Private Message

              Also, sorry for the double post– we HAVE a helper for the fluids! We burrito’d Humphrey and both held him still, but he’s a very big, very willful rabbit and he managed to buck himself up out of the towel and pull the needle out. It was utterly terrifying.


            • Hannah
              Participant
              274 posts Send Private Message

                So, still no litter box poops since 11:30, but he just ate cecals for the second time this morning, so he is still expressing stuff.


              • Hannah
                Participant
                274 posts Send Private Message

                  Still no litter box poop since 11:30 last night. He’s totally sick of hay. His activity level is up and down, and he is increasingly belligerent about getting meds. Do you guys think I should ignore the vet’s orders and give him greens, which he is absolutely ravenous for? Should I get him put on reglan? I’m totally falling apart– every minute he’s not actively improving I feel more sick to my stomach. D :


                • Hannah
                  Participant
                  274 posts Send Private Message

                    So, Otis’s foster mom just called me and said that something had been bothering her since I got back from the vet– tramadol’s #1 side effect in rabbits is CONSTIPATION. D :

                    So…. no more tramadol!!! Metacam only from here on in!


                  • Dee
                    Participant
                    704 posts Send Private Message

                      I’m sorry Humphrey isn’t feeling well- and I completely relate to that nervous, shaky “nothing is right” feeling and the horror of giving subQ’s to an uncooperative bunny! About the greens, unless the vet has a specific reason for not giving them, I would think that the fluid in the greens would be helpful right now. I’m no expert though, so I could be very wrong. When BunBun got GI stasis, I fed him anything he would eat normally plus gave him more treats than usual- little pieces of apple and banana (but only because he was used to eating those- I didn’t give him anything new). We had the “treat test”- I would offer BunBun his favorite food, banana or papaya, and if he wouldn’t eat it, that’s when I knew he really felt awful. I know the hay and water is the main thing though.
                      I would ask about the Reglan again- since there isn’t a complete blockage, why aren’t they giving it to him? I thought that really got everything moving and helped them poop. Ugh, it’s so awful when you’re scared already and then you’re not sure if you’re getting the right treatment from the vet either. I’ve been there.
                      Hopefully he will start pooping more once the Tramadol leaves his system. As for the Critical Care, I used to try to get a big syringe full into Bun every time I gave him his meds. It was always a struggle, but Critical Care is supposed to help their stomachs so I kept trying.
                      When we gave the Sub Q’s, we found that the best way was to take BunBun into an unfamiliar room (our bedroom) and for my husband to hold him firmly while I inserted the needle. I kept one hand on the needle the whole time so that if Bun struggled, I would be able to pull it out quickly. Sometimes he would just be crazy and I wouldn’t be able to get any fluids in him, other times we would do fine. I had to give the Sub Q’s every night for over a month, and my hands still shook every time.
                      I hope Humphrey is feeling better soon and will do lots of nice poops! Hang in there.


                    • KatnipCrzy
                      Participant
                      2981 posts Send Private Message

                        I would definitely talk to the rabbit vet as soon as you can. Pain can stop a rabbit from eating- so that is probably why the pain meds including Tramadol. Hydration is important as it also helps to keep the gut moving also because you want the contents of the stomach to stay moist and able to pass easier.
                        As per the “no greens”- the most important thing is to keep the bunny eating to try to get the GI tract moving normally. After not eating normally and not pooing for a while it will be normal that the poos will be mushy, mis-shaped or abnormal at first since the GI tract has not been acting normally so abnormal poo is to expected as things get back to normal.


                      • Hannah
                        Participant
                        274 posts Send Private Message

                          Dee– I agreed with the greens– there was no particular sign of blockage and greens tend to be *good* for gut mobility, so hey. Luckily Humphrey was eating hay quite well, so at least I wasn’t starving him. I gave him some greens a few hours ago, though, and he DEVOURED them. Poor baby must’ve been hungry!

                          Katnip– I probably should have mentioned that this was not my normal vet by a long shot, and not actually a rabbit vet to boot. Just the only person who was around less than an hour and a half away the day before Thanksgiving. I’m not sure they would have known that that particular sedative/opiate can have adverse affects on rabbits– particularly because they ALSO prescribed metacam, which I am still giving. : /

                          Anyway, excellent news– after having a very active, playful, normal day out earlier today (complete with attempted destruction/consumption of all my mom’s furniture– guess she de-bunny proofed the basement since I moved out!), my family had tickets to a play. I wasn’t super-thrilled about leaving him, but we came home to POOP! There are about 12 almost-normal-size and basically normal shape poops in his litterbox now and they were NOT there when we left. : D He’s also still ravenous for greens and his normal, active self. I know he’s not out of the woods yet, but this is good news!


                        • LittlePuffyTail
                          Moderator
                          18092 posts Send Private Message

                            Isn’t it funny how happy you are to see poop after a bout of stasis????

                            I agree with the others about greens. When my buns have a GI issues I try to get them to eat whatever they are willing. They are most often willing to eat fresh herbs before anything else.

                            It sounds like Humphrey eats a great diet. My vet is very adamant that bunnies, especially those with past GI issues, should have only a tiny amount of pellets. My buns only get 1 tsp of pellets daily.

                            (((((continued Get Well Humphrey Vibes))))))


                          • Hannah
                            Participant
                            274 posts Send Private Message

                              Humphrey status report: a decent amount of poop last night overnight, but none but cecals yet all day today. He is however very interested in food and love, and seems to be doing fine (not hunching or grinding) without the tramadol. Sigh. Too bad I have to drive back home tonight– he and Otis are going to be just thrilled about another 40 minute car ride!!!


                            • RabbitPam
                              Moderator
                              11002 posts Send Private Message

                                I’m sorry this has been so stressful for you (and Humphrey) during the holiday. I wouldn’t be too concerned about their opinion of the car ride. I’m guessing that being back home will genuinely thrill them much more.
                                I hope he continues to progress and is right as rain in another day or two.


                              • Hannah
                                Participant
                                274 posts Send Private Message

                                  Thanks RabbitPam. : ) It has been pretty nutty- I’m a first year teacher and was really hoping to catch up on my sleep over Thanksgiving, but Humphrey had other plans. Oh well! Rabbits come first. Anyway, he came out to play before packing up to go home and pooped a couple of times– and BINKIED! I think he’s almost fine. : D


                                • RabbitPam
                                  Moderator
                                  11002 posts Send Private Message

                                    Poop! A genuine reason to binky.


                                  • Hannah
                                    Participant
                                    274 posts Send Private Message

                                      Mr. Humphrey Bumphrey is back home in Waltham and seems much better– took his last dose of Metacam last night and has been eating and pooping pretty normally. Some of the poop still has hair in it, so I’m still watching, but I think that threat of immediate death is over, at least. : )


                                    • LittlePuffyTail
                                      Moderator
                                      18092 posts Send Private Message

                                        Glad he’s feeling better.

                                    Viewing 16 reply threads
                                    • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.

                                    Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Humphrey and GI Stuff