Winchester’s GI problems.

[gakmstegall]

Hey there guys, first post here because I don’t know where else to go. My two year old dwarf rex Winchester has been eating less and less over the past two weeks and we noticed his poops were stopping as well. A week ago he stopped eating/drinking/pooping entirely at which point we brought him to the vet. I had done some reading and figured that he had developed GI stasis (without an obstruction since the reduction in eating/pooping was gradual over a two week period). The vet took some x-rays and came to the same conclusion. The morning of the vet appointment, Win also had a little bit of blood in his urine in the litterbox. 

So we left the vet with metoclopramide and an antibiotic (for suspected urinary problems) as well as a subcutaneous fluid injection and directions to give him 3ml of pineapple juice and as much baby food as he would eat via syringe. The next morning he was alright, so I did some work around the house, came back inside and Winchester was laying flat, breathing very heavily and making a wheezing sound with each breath. I quickly got him to the vet for more diagnosis. The doc thought maybe he aspirated some of the meds which led to the difficulty breathing. At this point, he was given a diuretic to try and deal with that. 

We took him back home, and Win finally peed several times (essentially undoing the subcutaneous fluid injection in the process) and left a few poops in his litterbox overnight. The heavy breathing went away, but he is still wheezing every once in a while. I have to admit, as well, that I initially was giving him 1/10th of his prescribed dosage of the meds (1ml of metoclopramide and 1.4ml of the antibiotic) because I misunderstood the volume of the syringes I was given. So he started getting the proper dosage 3 days ago (Sunday). The vet said it would take 48-72 hours for the motility drug to start taking effect, and that is where we are at currently. In the past 2 days, he still has not pooped (nor eaten any cecum that I’m aware of), he has not eaten any hay, only a few snips of parsely and several syringes full of water (he’s not using his waterbottle at all right now). I’m starting to become very concerned at this point. He isn’t moving from a certain spot very often. He’s still perky and when we let him out in the back yard he hops around and chews on the grass and comes to greet us when we get home, but his eating/drinking patterns are non-existent except for the force feeding baby food and water. Is there anyone that has had this type of experience that has some words of advice for us? We know the underlying cause is a poor amount of fiber in his diet via hay, and we are going to do our best to try and remedy the bad diet, however we’re not sure what else to do between a recovery and now.

[tobyluv]

I’m sorry that your bunny is having GI issues. I wonder how rabbit savvy your vet is, since he told you to feed baby food to Winchester. That is not going to have the nutrients that a rabbit needs. A rabbit who is not eating should be given Critical Care. You can mix a little baby food or canned pumpkin (plain, not with pie seasonings) into the Critical Care to make it more tasty to your rabbit, but you do need the vitamins and fiber that Critical Care has.

Did the vet check Winchester’s teeth? Rabbits will often stop eating or only eat certain foods if they are developing molar spurs or other tooth problems.

Rabbits with Gi stasis or gas, will often benefit from a tummy massage. You can also give baby simethicone if you suspect your rabbit has gas.

I hope that Winchester will be better soon.

[jerseygirl]

I have a few thoughts to share but I’m on limited time so I’ll just briefly touch on 2 things.

1) if he’s eating grass at the moment, I’d honestly encourage that. It’s giving him the essential fibre and his hopping around (mobility) grazing will help gut motility.

2) I would request some pain medication. Particularly if he peed some blood. If he has something like cystitis, it’s painful. Pain can trigger further gi stasis.

Sorry to run!

{{{Vibes}}} for your rabbit.

[jerseygirl]

I just read tobyluv’s reply and wanted to add:
If you’re unable to source Critical Care, Supreme science Rabbit Recovery is another alternative. I get the impression you are in the UK?

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Did the vet check his teeth? Rupert having GI issues was our clue his teeth were bad, and he now needs them done regularly or he’d have a repeat. They can get sores on their tongue or cheek which will also keep them from eating-so until that’s resolved they don’t really turn around.

I ditto Jersey’s suggestion-pain medication is very important to turn them around from GI episode-see if you can get some Critical care is great too. Or pumpkin-the canned stuff and not the pie filling.

[gakmstegall]

The baby food is spinach based. He did an overall check of Win which included looking at his teeth. I’m not sure how in-depth it went, though. He also gave him a little tummy massage, and I’ve been trying to massage him a bit as well. I’ll definitely keep giving him the fluids and try to sniff out some Critical Care. I’ve read an article about not using too much, if I recall correctly. I’m going to try and get another appointment on Saturday to do a teeth check and a pain med recommendation. We’re living in the US at the moment, not the UK. I just wonder why he’s not producing any kind of poop when we’re giving him food (albeit not the best kind at the moment). Should that be the case if it’s a tooth problem? Could he still be producing cecum and getting anything from that? We’re adding things to his body, but nothing is coming out!

[Bam]

Take him off the spinach-based baby food. Spinach is not good for bunnies except in very limited amounts, it has too much oxalic acid/oxalate.

It’s not good that nothing is coming out. If nothing has come out for 2 days, you need to call your vet again. Something is definitely very off.

It’s important that you syringe him water.

If you can’t get CC, try and mash up pellets with water and feed it to him in a syringe. He needs fiber, CC has a lot of fiber. (It’s very difficult to get the bunny to eat as much CC as is recommended on the package, so over-dosing CC is seldom a problem).

You can also take the “powdered” hay, i e the crumbles found at the bottom of the bag, and grind it through a metal sieve with a spoon, then mix the powder you get with water and feed in a syringe.

Pain meds like Metacam is probably needed since he does seem to be uncomfortable, but it does lower the bunny’s body-temp so you need to keep him warm with a fleece blankie or by having him in your knee with a blankie on him, even.

You can also give him a probiotic. If you are in the UK, fibreplex would be attainable, my vet recommends that.

I also give baby gas drops (simethicone) when my bunnies have tummy-trouble. I find it helps. It breaks up gas-bubbles and I also suspect it acts as a bit of a lubricant since it’s not absorbed by the body. It’s safe according to Medirabbit and the HRS.

Here is a video on bunny massage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnuxGLa2reg

[gakmstegall]

Winchester passed away this morning sometime between 9 and 10:30. Thank you all for your quick replies and helpful suggestions. I can’t help but feel responsible for it happening this way. Hopefully someone can learn from this and have some preventative measures on hand in the house before things get too bad. I can only hope it wasn’t too painful for him. Once again, thanks for the replies.

[jerseygirl]

I am saddened to see this update My condolences to you.
Binky Free Winchester!

[Bam]

I’m so sorry. It’s so, so sad.

You did all you could for him, you took him to the vet and you got him meds and you really tried. You obviously cared a lot about him. So don’t feel responsible for his death, GI stasis in a bunny can be fatal whatever you do to try and remedy it.

[tobyluv]

I’m very sorry that you lost your sweet Winchester.

[JackRabbit]

So sorry for your loss. GI stasis can be so hard to fix sometimes.

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