GI Stasis diagnosis

[Southern]

Hi all,

So I woke up this morning and noticed our bun Tiny hadn’t eaten any of her hay or pellets. I immediately offered her some alfalfa hay (which she can never resist) and also a small piece of banana, NOTHIN. She was also acting pretty lethargic, and overall just not right. 

I immediately got her in her carrier and headed toward the vet. After waiting most of the day as a walk in, her vet finally squeezed us in and said he could feel that her belly was pretty firm in one area. He took and x-ray, and revealed that she had a big gas bubble and some pellets in her tummy. He put her on Reglan, Ditrim, Meloxidyl (anyone familiar with these?) and went ahead and administered her first dose of all three while showing me how to give her the meds through a syringe.

So anyways, we’re finally back home and we put her in an xpen in the living room so we could keep a close eye on her to make sure she’s eating/pooping. She seems to be eating some hay now!! And there’s been a few soft, mushy poops. Is this normal? I also took some of her pellets and water and blended it up to make a soup.

 I suppose I’m just looking to hear to feedback from other’s experiences with GI stasis. Any advice, tips, or things to look out for? The vet told us it was good we caught it so early, and that he felt really confident that she would get over it! We still don’t know what caused the death of our last bunny, Minnie, so we’re just trying to make sure we’re doing everything right with the two babies we have now. Just really scary.

Thanks everyone,

Southern

[tobyluv]

Reglan is a motility drug that is commonly prescribed for GI stasis. Meloxidyl is a pain reliever, which may also be given for GI stasis. It’s good that Tiny has eaten some hay. Make sure that you have her favorite greens on hand to tempt her to eat too. Keep encouraging her to eat hay. You can rub greens or hay across their mouth/nose area to tempt them to eat. If she’s not eating much on her own, you may need to keep feeding her the pellet mash. It is common for rabbits coming out of stasis to have some soft, mushy poops. You didn’t mention infant gas drops. Those are good to keep on hand and they are harmless. The brand that I use is Mylicon. Make sure that Tiny stays warm. If you think she might be cold, you can hold her in your lap or use a hot water bottle wrapped in fleece. Also try to keep her moving around. Movement helps rabbits to expel gas.

I hope that she’ll be back to normal very soon.

[Southern]

Thanks, tobyluv. Tiny is only about 5 months old, so we haven’t introduced veggies to her yet. I did not know that about infant gas drops! Great to know. I’m going to try and pick some up this evening. Do you know what a good dosage would be for a 3lb bunny? Now her poops are very, very small. They are like dippin dots ice cream size lol Is this normal? I guess it’s good she’s pooping. She’s actually eating alot of hay now! I haven’t seen her drink any water/pellet soup yet, though. Should I try and syringe her some water if she continues to not drink?

[Luna]

I agree with everything tobyluv said . Make sure you get the baby gas drops that aren’t artificially flavored. Dosage will be 1ml (1cc) – administered usually every 3-6 hours when a bun is in stasis, but since Tiny already has meds and is doing better then I would just do 1ml a couple times a day until she is eating normally. I would syringe her some water (very carefully) if she doesn’t start drinking, but hopefully you won’t have to because it sounds like she’s on the right track. After going through stasis, it might take a while for Tiny’s poops to return to normal size and firmness. It’s fine as long as it is not diarrhea.

[Azerane]

Seems like she is on the mend which is good Sometimes with stasis they can get quite cold too, so it’s worth checking ears to see if they feel cold and bundle her up or pet her ears to warm them up. Sometimes gentle tummy massages can help too.

In regards to simethicone, dosage depends on the strength of the solution. 1-2cc (per 20mg/ml suspension, some are stronger at 40ml) can be given every hour for three hours, followed by 1cc every 3-8 hours as needed. (Per Dr Dana Krempels, http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html scroll a short way down to mechanical treatments). The brand I use is 100mg/ml suspension, meaning that I only give 0.2-0.4cc per the initial dose.

[Southern]

Thank you so much, Luna and Azerane!

Just a little update… 

Tiny has been eating lots of hay, drinking water, and her poops looks pretty close to normal now. I’m so happy we caught it early; she seemed to turn around really quick! I called her vet and told him that she’s eating and pooping again and asked him if we should continue her meds and he advised us that we should at least continue over the weekend with the Reglan & Ditrim. However, we have had SUCH a difficult time giving her the medicine. She is not havin’ it.. any tips on giving her syringe medicine? We’re supposed to give her the two meds twice a day and lemme tell ya, it’s been a struggle. We’ve been attempting the “bunny burrito” method where we wrap her in a towel and try to administer it that way, but she keeps getting loose, moving her head, closing her mouth tight, grunting, etc. Poor baby. My wife and I feel so bad but we know it’s going to help her..

Thanks again, everyone!

[Luna]

Aww little digital sun hat! I’ve never given meds to Luna using any “conventional” method – she too escapes the burrito. When she sees the syringe, she will run towards me and sit in front of me while I hold out the syringe and push out drops like a baby bottle and she licks it all up, kind of like how buns drink out of a water bottle. I think she is an exception though because she absolutely loves the taste of meds lol – especially critical care.

[Southern]

Haha, we have way too much fun with instagram stickers.

See, we have two buns who are currently on meds. Teddy, our other lop, loooves his meds! Every time he sees the syringe he also runs towards me and stands on his back feet waiting to lap it up lol. Tiny, on the other hand..Man oh man.. Its like pulling teeth with that girl. As soon as she sees the syringe she either runs and hides in her hut, or charges at me and grunts :/ my wife is going out of town this weekend and I don’t how I’m going to manage attempting to give her the meds by myself! It’s already darn near impossible with the two of us.

[Wick & Fable]

There’s a gap by rabbit front two teeth, so if Tiny keeps a shut mouth, you can use your syringe to feel where the front teeth are, the kind of wiggle to the gap on the left or right of those two front teeth.

I do a neck-lock with my thumb and pointer finger (Wick is only 1.5lb at 5.5mo, so very small. I suggest using longer fingers to grab any other neck so you don’t choke the bun!). I get a hold around the neck between the jaw and shoulder blades. Since it’s between those two bones, Wick can’t move forward since his shoulder blades can’t get through my finger hold, and he can’t jerk backwards out because his jaw can’t get through the finger hold either. Your rabbit will probably squirm and kick back, so have her back legs against your knees (you’re sitting down behind her) so she can’t kick back far. Hold your neck-hold hand firm in place though. You’re stronger than she is, so just keep your hand where it is in the air space as best you can until you get the medication in.

This is just a suggestion that’s worked for Wick. He’s on his 4 month of antibiotic treatment, which requires two syringe medications every day. He’s starting to get a bit peeved, haha, but this method still works for him and he still chatters his teeth when pet afterwards.

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[Southern]

Wick- Thanks for your reply. I’ve been trying what you’ve suggested with no luck. Every time she sees the syringe now, she goes into defense mode. She will NOT let me get near her when she knows I have her medicine. She bit me 3 times already. Even if I hide it, she knows what’s up. I honestly don’t know what to do! The more I try, the more pissed off she gets! And I don’t want to stress her out any more… 

Anyone else have any suggestions on syringe feeding an unruly bunny? Or maybe there’s something I can put the medicine in that she can eat? I feel like the only way I’m going to succeed is to hold her down, and like I said, I know that’ll stress her out and I don’t want it to put her back into stasis or something 

Ugh, this is frustrating…

[Luna]

It’s hard to think of something to hide the meds in since she hasn’t been introduced to veggies yet. She probably won’t go for this, but maybe dribble the meds over some pellets? Well at least you’ll be done giving her meds after the weekend .

[Author]

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