Please respond asap!!

I heard this weird squeak sound and noticed Duncan made it, he keeps making gagging type of motions, he looks like he feels like crap, he's not eating and he is trying to hide

my dad is leaving for a meeting in an hour and a half to be 5 hours away. we won't have a car, meaning no way to the vets if something happens.

what can I do? is he choking or what??

Vet NOW!

OH noo what timing.  I really hope you can get him to the vet ASAP. 

oh my gosh, WHAT a day!! I'll start out by saying that Duncan is alright now! Now for what all happened(I'll warn you now, this will be long!).

After I got those first few replies, I called our vet. I was put on hold real quick and then told that our normal doctor was out of state and Dr. Taylor, who was in, didn't do rabbits. She gave me the number to a clinic that was 30+ miles away(but the next closest). I called them immediately, and they let me know that Dr Allen doesn't see rabbits. They direct me to Dr Taylor, saying he saw rabbits. I told them they told me that he didn't, and asked if there were any other vets around..they said no. I get off the phone with them and am trying not to start crying because now I'm stuck with NO vet and NO medical care for poor Duncan. I told my mom and we looked things up online. I came across how to give a bunny the heimlich maneuver. I was terrified to try it because of how fragile they are, but we really didn't have any other options and he was only getting worse(heavier gags, trying to throw up and grinding his teeth). My mom is a retired labor and delivery nurse, and she has done the same maneuver that you do for rabbits on infants many many times(including me, I almost choked to death on a barbie shoe when I was an infant!). I told her about it and she was willing to do it..not to say she wasn't nervous..she was so scared she'd hurt him herself. We wrapped him up snug and secure in a bunritto and she did it. The first time there was no sound, the next times though you could hear SOMEthing being tossed out. We let him go back in his cage and at first he was even worse, he couldn't swallow normally without severe pain, he had his eyes squinted so hard that they were nearly closed and he was gagging without a break.
I was panicking and called the local animal shelter to see if they had ANYBODY who could help. Well apparently there was another vet 30+ miles away!!!! I called and they told me to bring him in right away...I could have cried I was so happy! except shame on the other vet, I can't believe they didn't tell me about them!!!

When I put Duncan in the carrier, he stopped gagging and grinding his teeth. He was still a little squinty-eyed, but a lot better.
The vet was a lady named Mary and she was AWESOME!! I'd never met her before so I was worried at first, but she was really great with Duncan. She told me flat out that she did not know a lot about exotics and she'd do what she could, but for anything serious, she referred me to the A to Z Vet clinic in Midland(3 1/2 hours away from us, unfortunately). She used a tool that I don't know the name of and looked down Duncan's throat, or rather as far back as she could with that(it wasn't an endoscope) and didn't see anything. Said his teeth and gums looked good. His temperature was normal, too. He hadn't gagged since he was put in his carrier either. She was going to give him an anti-inflammatory shot but then she called the A to Z veterinary clinic's vet to get a consult(I am super impressed. I didn't ask her to do that and I didn't expect her to do it on her own) and the vet there said to give him an injection of Medicam(a painkiller) and send us home with 3 days worth(1 dose a day) of medicam to give him orally. Mary said because he wasn't eating/drinking/pottying, she'd just give us enough for tomorrow's dose, but if he was still not eating/drinking/pottying, to take him to the A to Z clinic instead of waiting 3 days for painkillers to fix him. She did say that if he was in pain the day after tomorrow and he WAS eating/drinking,etc then to come pick up the rest of the medicam. As long as he wasn't gagging.

We got home about an hour ago and he's doing a lot better. Bright eyed and hoppy again! he's really tired though. BUT! I put him in his cage and he hopped into his litterbox and went pee! He also nibbled at some of the alfalfa and a little bit ago he laid down on his belly with his legs stretched out behind and in front of him - definitely not a sign of pain! anndd, he hasn't gagged at ALL, YAY! Right now he's asleep laying with his legs under him(but not hunched up like he's hurting). I just have to keep a very close eye on him for the next 24 hours to make sure he stays okay. I really think my mom's heimlich manuever dislodged whatever was there..thank god! Poor boy is probably pretty traumatized though, it got a little hectic lol!
I am so emotionally exhausted now, but I am so happy he's alright.

PLEASE continue sending vibes that he will heal quickly and he won't need anymore vet intervention!

Thank you all!! BB, my dad had to come home before he left to ho to Lubbock, I told him what was going on and he stayed home and drove us to the vets. He left afterwards for Lubbock, but almost 4 hours late!

Duncan is doing great this morning! He has a few runny poo's, but quite a few normal ones. He didn't eat any pellets and I don't think he ate much hay, but he did eat all his celery. I don't think he drank last night, unless it was just a sip. But because he ate the celery, which I soaked in water, I decided I was gonna give him until about 12pm to start drinking. No need for that now though, he is drinking!

Thank you all for the healing vibes and very nice compliments!

I logged on here right away this morning to find out how Duncan was.  What a day!  I'm glad it looks like he's going to be okay.

I thank my lucky stars that I have a local exotics vet that has an in-house 24-hr emergency clinic!

What good quick thinking about the bunny heimlick.  We did have a post about that previously and am sorry I never thought to mention it to you.

Glad you picked it up on your own somehow. Excellent.  Whew what a situation. Glad it Duncan is better now.  Poor fellow. He must be relieved.

I also breathed a big sigh of relief at the end of your post. Poor Duncan and how scary that must have been. I think there is NOTHING worse than seeing my buns in pain and not knowing what to do to help, especially when there is no vet help around. So glad to hear everything turned out okay.

Interesting point MM, about the breed.  Maybe it's to do with their face shape. From what I've been reading, dental probs, mainly molar spurs are the cause of many seemingly respiratory issues. Coughing, gagging...who would have thought!  So I guess a good rule of thumb is - when at the vet, always get the molars checked.

Beka is right it is so wonderful when parents can help especially in emergencies.  You have terrific parents.  They need a congrats too and a peck on the cheek and a big hug.

Yeah, I love my parents! They aren't real rabbit-savvy but they trust me enough to take my word for things and they love animals as much as I do, so my pets are always important to them too!

I'm sorry to report that Duncan is NOT doing well anymore. He started going downhill again yesterday, what sucks though is that a few hours before that he actually did the bunny 500 around his cage and binkied a little! But now he's not pottying nearly enough, not drinking enough water at ALL and he's not eating enough either. He's not eating much/any timothy but he's eating alfalfa leaves and some softer stems. He has not touched his pellets. I picked up some Pedialyte at the store today and this afternoon I gave him 1cc of Simethicone in case he was having a case of GI Stasis from the stress of his choking incident. The simethicone didn't seem to do much of anything.
He's squinting his eyes again and looking/acting in more pain. He's also now sneezing a few times a day and has a runny nose from only one nostril. I'm so worried about him I could cry! I feel so bad because he's not yet formed a great bond with me since I've only had him a bit over 2 weeks, and now I'm doing all this nasty medication/vet visit stuff to him and he feels like crap..my poor little dude

It looks like my dad will be taking the day off work asap and we'll be travelling the 3 1/2 hours to take him to the A to Z vet clinic to get looked at by a very rabbit savvy vet.
I have a question - do I syringe feed the Pedialyte straight or diluted with water? How often should I feed it to him? If I dilute it with water, how much of each?

edit: rabbitsmba; sorry I forgot to explain the bunny heimlich maneuver! here it is:
1. Put bun in a very secure(you don't want them falling out onto the floor!) bunny burrito
2. Hold them at about a 45 degree angle from your chest/stomach with your arms running like poles down their back, with their back feet feet(at least where their feet would be if they weren't wrapped up) touching your stomach
3. Swing them towards the floor, NOT TOO FAST! but not too slow either! just in a smooth downward motion.
basically when you swing them, pretend like your arms are on hinges at your elbows, so you stay with your elbows touching your stomach the whole time. Don't swing them so they are 100% upside down with the floor, just enough to dislodge something stubborn!

That is the best I can describe it. That's what my mom did. In case the holding them thing is confusing, I mean hold them so that your hands could cup the backs of their heads easily.
I hope that is understandable...maybe I should make my mom make a video to post here lol

Thank you all for keeping Duncan in your thoughts!!

My dad is taking the day off work tomorrow and my mom is driving me and Duncan to the A to Z vet clinic. I called there this morning and got him an appointment with them at 2:00pm tomorrow, so we'll leave here sometime around 10:00 - 10:30am.
Wish us luck!! It's going to be nervewracking!