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Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Metacam Question

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    • Andrew's Mum
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        Hi everyone,

        I am new, so please forgive me if I mess anything up. I have a 6.5 yr old Holland Lop named Andrew, and he’s the love of my life. Since he was about 3, he’s had on and off bouts of GI stasis. 2 years ago it was diagnosed by our vet that he had dental issues, and he was put under an anesthetic to file the teeth down. We did another one of those last year. This year they tell me that his teeth look fine (it’s spurs on the cheek teeth btw).

        On Friday of last week, he stopped eating and was clearly in pain. I was out of critical care, so I called my vet at lunch time (about 6 hours into his anorexia) to make an appointment. My vet’s office promptly told me that they no longer have a rabbit vet (they used to have 2) and didn’t feel the need to call regular customers to warn us we’d have no vet care (GRRR). Anyways, I’ve come to find out that there are NO rabbit vets left in my city at all. Out of the 125+ vets, not a single one can see bunnies. So I had to take him 45 minutes outside of the city to get him some care. The vet at that clinic gave him subcutaneous fluids, and gave me critical care food again.

        Saturday morning his stomach was rock-hard, so I rushed him back to that clinic and they finally gave him a metacam shot to relieve the pain. She also gave me 3 more syringes with more metacam, to be taken daily. He was lethargic on Saturday, but by 2pm he had gotten up, started drinking, had eaten some hay, and wolfed down some dill/parsley. We thought he was improving. We saw a few droppings by the end of the day, and a few more the next morning, including one nasty mucousy one that we think was the blockage passing. Sunday was continued improvement, although he seemed uncomfortable again in the morning so I gave him his metacam and it seemed to help. 

        Monday morning he got another dose of Metacam around 6am since he seemed uncomfortable. My parents came to watch him on Monday around 10am, since we both had to work, and they updated me with pictures all morning, showing him up, eating, pooping EVERYWHERE (albeit small hard poops, but still, progress). When I got home at 4pm, though, he seemed lethargic and a little wobbly, so we decided to let him sleep for a bit. By 5pm he was completely listless, couldn’t life his head, wouldn’t take the syringe of food or water at all.

        My husband stayed up with him all night on Monday night, syringing him water every hour, but he wouldn’t eat at all. I stayed home with him on Tuesday, and he seemed to be dying. I gave him water mostly to wet his lips and his mouth, and waited for him to pass away (hardest day of my life). When my husband got home on Tuesday at 5pm, he syringed some more water and we grabbed a nectarine from the kitchen and syringed the juice from that. Within 10 minutes we saw improvement. He was up, moving around (very wobbily), and started eating a little bit (mostly greens, and a teeny bit of hay). He wouldn’t drink on his own, but he’d let us syringe a ton of water for him. He then slept for a little while, and I was worried he’d die overnight.

        At bed time we tucked him in, and my mother stayed over again to do the night shift. This morning at 5am she told me he’d been much better again, walking around, eating hay and pooping. He’d peed on my shirt (which I left him for comfort). He was still hiding in corners, but he seemed to be improving and I saw him eating hay on his own. I should specify here that he HATES Critical Care and so we are hesitant to force it on him if he’ll eat hay and greens.

        We decided this morning not to give him the metacam, as he seemed much perkier off of it, but when I went to leave at 6:15am he started breathing really heavily and squealing in pain, wanting to lie on his side. I decided to give him a small half-dose, to relieve the pain, but hopefully keep him active.

        So my questions are:

        1) Has anyone ever seen metacam cause extreme lethargy and almost sleep-drunken behaviour in their pets, when only on it for 2-3 days?

        2) I have had 2 bunnies before, but this is the first with GI problems. Is it common for these kinds of ups and downs, with progress and then a backslide when a bunny is passing away from GI stasis? Or do they normally just decline and then go? 

        I don’t want to keep forcing him to go on if he’s in extreme pain and can’t come through this. He won’t handle the 45 minute drive to the vet again, and I still have no vet care here in the city. 

        Any ideas? I will be devastated to lose Andrew, he’s the best bunny and so loving. We are expecting our first human baby in 7 weeks, and I really want him to be around to meet her. Please help!


      • Muchelle
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          First of all: how much does he weight and how much metacam he got? Is his belly still very hard?

          I have a bun with bad dental problems as well and he was on metacam and altadol/toradol every 12 hours during his worst crisis (bad GI stasis after dental surgery). He was lethargic because of the altadol, that is very very strong, but never had side effects to metacam. If he’s not eating, it can be he’s weakened by that and by the belly pain. Is he on intestinal movements meds (symethicone, motilex, plasil…)? Do you know if he’s in pain because of his teeth? Are you giving him belly rubs to help things move along?

          If he hasn’t improved substantially, risk the trip to the vet and have him stay there overnight so that they can assess him better, monitor him and run the necessary tests to determine if he needs another surgery or not.

          I know, it’s hard. I’ve been there recently…. keep fighting! Keep trying!


        • Andrew's Mum
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            Thanks Muchelle, for replying.

            He was 3.5 lbs on Friday when we took him to the vet, after about 8-12 hours of no food. He’s normally about 3.8 lbs. He’s definitely lost more weight since then.

            The metacam dose they gave him was 0.5ml. We gave him only about 0.3ml yesterday because he was struggling to swallow, and so i gave him 0.2ml this morning after the squealing to try to relieve some pain.

            I am giving him simethicone (1cc) every hour, with breaks after 3 hours since there is not a lot in his tummy. His tummy is soft, not hard at all. Even despite the lack of eating and movement yesterday, he still passed about 10-15 small hard poops. It seems like the digestive system is working again, but he won’t eat because he’s so tired from the meds. and then when we lower the dose of meds, he’s in pain and won’t eat or sleep or drink.


          • Muchelle
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              0.5ml for that weight seems about right (my bun had a 0.68 dose for 1.8 kg). He never had to take metacam before now?

              With a dental problems bun, I’d be more inclined to say he’s not eating because of his teeth, rather than a 0,2ml dose of metacam… does he eat using both the sides of his mouth? does he licks weirdly in his mouth? (sorry, I don’t know how to explain it… mine would try to lick his molars) Does he pull away if you apply some pressure to the larger side of his jaw?

              Prepare some firmer critical care (or make a mush by watering hay pellets), add a drop of honey or mix in some banana and see if he eats by himself… If he’s not drinking consider giving him subcutaneous fluids. He’s a little fighter, he’ll do whatever he can to make it.


            • Andrew's Mum
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                He’s had metacam numerous times before without this reaction. Once with the first dental surgery, and he had diarrhea from it, then again last year with the second dental surgery and had no reaction to it then.

                The problem is the vet is saying his teeth are fine this time. They even showed me with the scope, no spurs this time around. So it’s got to be something else. 

                I forgot to mention that his tummy is now soft and squishy, not blocked any longer. I’ve just never seen him so lethargic and wobbly, aside from when he was on pain meds after being fixed. He seemed almost drunk, and then just exhausted. I am thinking maybe the metacam was stronger because he had so little in his tummy? 

                He won’t take the critical care at all (he hates it), but i did manage to slip him some in the pureed nectarine slurry I made him. Not enough to make a big difference, but he got up and ate some hay and some greens afterwards.

                I wonder if the vet 45 mins away would let me do the sub-qs myself…he gets very stressed in the car, so i don’t want to make it worse by dragging him out there. Damn my stupid vet for not looking after bunnies anymore!


              • jerseygirl
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                  I wonder if the vet 45 mins away would let me do the sub-qs myself…he gets very stressed in the car, so i don’t want to make it worse by dragging him out there. Damn my stupid vet for not looking after bunnies anymore!

                  This is definitely something worth looking into. You could even have them speak with your old clinic in town and pick up supplies through them. Because his poops are smaller and hard, hydration and fibre are his best friends at the moment. It’s great that he sought out the hay.

                  He’s had metacam numerous times before without this reaction. Once with the first dental surgery, and he had diarrhea from it, then again last year with the second dental surgery and had no reaction to it then.

                  The first time he had a reaction may have been due to the sorbitol it unfortunately contains. If it was the oral liquid form he had. If he was hypersensitive to metacam, I think you would have seen a reaction to it much sooner. The first time you saw the lethargy was around 10hrs after the metacam dose. Rabbits metabolise and eliminate the drug very quickly, compared to cats and dogs.

                  I think from what you were describing, he may have been hypothermic or hypoglycemic – both which can happen with stasis. Do you have an appropriate thermometer so you can monitor his rectal temperature?

                  We decided this morning not to give him the metacam, as he seemed much perkier off of it, but when I went to leave at 6:15am he started breathing really heavily and squealing in pain, wanting to lie on his side. I decided to give him a small half-dose, to relieve the pain, but hopefully keep him active.

                  How scary! He must have been experiencing some acute pain. Did the metacam help? I wonder if it was sharp gas pain or perhaps something else like kidney stones?

                  Healing {{{vibes}}} for your little one.


                • jerseygirl
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                    Just wanted to add, if you are feeling wary of metacam, you can certainly request an alternate medication.


                  • Andrew's Mum
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                      thanks Jerseygirl, i think he might have been hypothermic. His ears were on the cool side, but not freezing. we had him in a towel and blanket all day and rubbed his ears to warm him up, and when he perked up he did seem to be warmer. I will have to go get a thermometer so i can check him.

                      i think the acute pain was in his belly, because he really wanted to lie on his side, and it seemed to be relieved after about 2 minutes like that. He had been trying to lick there right before too, and i was helping him to stand up since he’s so wobbly.

                      my mother is with him today, and she tells me he’s resting well, and has hobbled around a bit. she’s working on syringing him with what she can, but he’s just exhausted right now.

                      I am waiting for the vet to call back and confirm if we can lower the metacam or switch to a different dose. My normal vet’s office will dispense the meds as long as the doctor at the one 45 mins away faxes a script, so that’s not too bad. they might have an answer about the sub-qs too, i will try that.


                    • Muchelle
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                        Keeping fingers crossed… sub-q is rather easy to do at home, you will only need to buy physiological solution and pediatric butterfly IV inlets. But the vet needs to tell you what dose to admininster, so that you don’t risk to overdo it (if so the bun would just pee it out and it would be useless).

                        Do keep us updated!


                      • LBJ10
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                          I agree with Jersey. What she said is spot on.


                        • Andrew's Mum
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                            I just managed to find a closer vet! He is back off vacation, so i can get Andrew in to see him in just a few hours. My mother thinks he pulled a muscle or broke a rib this morning, because of the extreme pain in his belly. She says his gut is moving, she sees some small droppings, and he did respond well to the metacam originally. the vet hopefully can help!


                          • Andrew's Mum
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                              Sad news to share. Andrew unfortunately passed away about a half hour ago. He died peacefully in my mother’s arms. I don’t know how to go on without him, but i am 33 weeks pregnant, so i am going to focus on our human baby. RIP Andrew.


                            • Benthebunny
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                                That is horrible. I am bery sorry for your loss. Right now, igs best to focus on the baby and not have an extra rabbit to take care of. RIP Andrew, gone but never forgotten 


                              • Muchelle
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                                  So sorry be strong


                                • jerseygirl
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                                    Oh I’m so sorry for you and your family. : ( It’s clear that you loved him very much. Binky Free Andrew Bunny!


                                  • LBJ10
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                                      I’m so sorry.

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                                  Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Metacam Question