Poorly bunny, reassurance needed

[Snowleopard]

Hi everyone, apologies if I haven’t posted in the right place. One of my bunnies (Chewie) stopped eating yesterday evening and exhibited all the classic symptoms of GI stasis.  Brought her to the vet this morning and she was given some gut motility meds (I stupidly forgot to ask what medication it was, I was in a bit of a state). Have been syringe feeding her critical care every two hours and given her some simethicone drops (1ml every hour for now). She looks so poorly, out of my two bunnies she’s the more energetic and it’s so quiet without her bunny 500-ing around.  I’ve only had her a month and feel devastated. Luckily my other bun has been giving her lots of bunny kisses and grooming and he is healthy. I have another vet appointment on Monday. Really not sure if she’ll make it through, just needed somewhere to get it all out. 

 

[Mikey]

Is she eating her CC well? Is she drinking well? Is she starting to poop a little more often since seeing the vet? Im sorry you both are going through this (((((VIBES)))))

[Snowleopard]

Thank you Mikey, much appreciated. I think you replied to my other post last night; I had no idea her foot + water flicking would lead to this (though I know by no means is foot flicking a symptom of GI stasis). She’s managed to get about 5-10ml CC each time I feed her. I’ve added quite a bit of water to the CC as I couldn’t get it into the syringe otherwise, but no, she hasn’t touched her water bowl and no poops at all. I’ve been leaving her alone as much as I can between feeds so as not to stress her, but just put her on the sofa next to me for her most recent feed. Should I keep her nearby me like this, or would she be better off by herself? I really don’t want to stress her any more than she already is, but I also don’t like her being alone right now. 

[Mikey]

I did post in your other thread I dont think the water flicking lead to this however. My nethie (he has constant stomach problems) loves to play in water and as long as his diet stays the way it needs to be, hes always fine. He likes to flick water as a way to play. But her constant foot licking could be a sign that she was feeling uncomfortable

Thats good shes still eating her CC pretty well. You can try to get her to drink water by adding a bit of apple juice or pure cranberry juice into her water. Did the vet show you how to give little tummy massages? When my nethie has tummy problems, he has to have multiple little tummy massages throughout the day. It helps pop the gas and get things moving a bit. You can find a ‘how to’ video on youtube from HowCast. I would keep her wherever she seems most comfortable

[Snowleopard]

Thank you so much for the tips Mikey. I have tried giving her massages, but she doesn’t seem too keen. I’m pretty sure I heard some gas moving a couple of hours ago, but nothing else since then.

[Mikey]

No problem! If her tummy isnt as gassy any more, thats a good sign! I hope she continues to eat and hope she starts eating on her own soon

[Snowleopard]

Update! Chewie was more active today and although I can’t get her to eat any hay, she’s had roughly 2 cups of fresh veg and herbs (basil, mint, coriander, spring greens and kale). I’ve fed her CC only twice today as she’s putting quite a fight when I administer it, definitely more so than yesterday; hopefully it’s a good sign, though I would have felt more comfortable if she’d had more of it. So far, no more tooth grinding, which I hope means she’s not as in as much pain. She’s done quite a few poops, but they’re very irregularly shaped (huge and soft + very hard and small). But again, I’m hoping it’s a good sign as they’re better out than staying in.

[Bam]

I’m glad to hear she’s eaten more! Fighting is a good sign. Pooping is of course great. That the poop looks weird is of minor importance now, it will take some time for it to get back to normal.

[sarahthegemini]

It sounds like she’s doing better so that’s great, I am so pleased! I bet tomorrow they’ll be even more improvement!

[LittlePuffyTail]

Also glad to hear she’s eaten!!!

[Snowleopard]

Thanks so much everyone She’s eaten another cup of kale and has been much more active this evening, she’s just started whizzing around and even did two big bunny flops. She still won’t eat her hay, but is chewing her cardboard + grass boredom breakers. Fingers crossed everything keeps improving.

[sarahthegemini]

That’s brilliant news I wonder if you could entice her to eat hay by chopping up the veggies really small and mixing them in?

[Mikey]

Yay for eating more!!

[Snowleopard]

Thanks so much again guys. She’s slowly getting back to her usual energetic self, I’m so relieved. Sarahthegemini, thanks for the tip! I gave it a go, but she’s doing a good job of still managing to separate the fresh veg from the hay.  I’ll try cutting it into even smaller pieces. That being said, she seems to be eating one or two strands of hay every so often and has also eaten a couple of pellets. Really hoping the hay consumption will increase soon. I noticed that she’s taking longer than usual to chew the pellets, it made me think she wasn’t eating hay because maybe there’s an underlying dental problem. I asked the vet today and he said it was possibility, however he didn’t want to go down the route of anaesthetising just yet as she’s shown improvement in her pooping. He gave her some more gut motility meds and said to keep an eye on her hay eating and if it didn’t improve in a couple of days to book her in to get her teeth properly checked. Will continue to keep updating here.  

[Snowleopard]

Update! Chewie’s started eating hay again! She’s running around and back to her usual self. Thank you all for your kind words and advice.

[LittlePuffyTail]

Yay!!!!

[Author]

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