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Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A New bunny- Stasis

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    • kmurphy
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        So we adopted a new bunny and that night when we brought her home she wasn’t eating, drinking, or pooping. It was late in the evening and we though she just needed time to settle in. We fed her wet veggies, pellets (we got Manna Pro pellets from the rescue), timothy hay and fresh water. The next morning she hadn’t touched any of the food and still hadn’t pooped. We took her to the emergency vet as our rabbit vet wasn’t open. They gave her subcutaneous fluids and gave us Metacam to give to her. We are also supposed to syringe feed her water every 2 hours and food every six. About 5 hours after vert visit she pooped a few tiny poops. The next day (yesterday), she ate a bit of a pellet mush we made ( we heated it up so it smelled pretty appetizing). Last night she started drinking a little water on her own. She has not eaten any veggies yet. With hay, I have seen her pick up a strand but she kind of just tosses it and doesn’t eat it. She is also very spastic which I can’t figure out. She might be scared at times but she kind of just darts everywhere. Even when she is in her hidey area, she will circle the place. She will dart into her litterbox and then jump out etc. She doesn’t behave like my holland lop who has a purpose when he hops (he will hop to explore, or hop for food). 

        She also had an eye irritation. It was like a mucous goopy thing that was directly on her eyeball. The EVet said that it was because she was a lion head and her hair irritates her eyes and to use a saline solution to rinse it out. Does that sound normal? 

        With regards to the Manna Pro she came with, what should I be feeding her now? She is eating a bit of the warm pellet mixture which I used a bit of the Manna Pro and a bit of Oxbow. When she heals from stasis should I just give her Oxbow? Or transition her over to Oxbow? Our other bunny is on Sherwood forest, but it took him a while to like the taste of it so I’m hesitant to give it to the new bunny because we want her to eat! Let me know you thoughts on how to get the new bunny to eat, what food to have her on, her erratic behavior, and her eyes. Sorry for all of these question but it’s super difficult to treat a bunny when you don’t know what is normal for her… 


      • jerseygirl
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          Sorry you’re off to such a bumpy start with your new bunny!

          How is she doing now? Hopefully soon you can start enjoying her instead of worrying about her.

          She also had an eye irritation. It was like a mucous goopy thing that was directly on her eyeball. The EVet said that it was because she was a lion head and her hair irritates her eyes and to use a saline solution to rinse it out. Does that sound normal?

          Very possible that’s what happened. Or some other irritant caused it. If you see the goo keep coming back, then I’d schedule a visit with your normal vet. You might like to trim back some of the longer fur around her face. It will help with her vision also.

          Sending some healing {{{Vibes}}}


        • jerseygirl
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            Regarding your question about pellets, I do you normally buy 2 types of pellets (Sherwood and Oxbow) ? If prefer to stick to just the one, I would start transitioning her onto the Sherwood pellets. So mix with the Manna Pro which she’s familiar with. Just do very slowly if the nutritional contents vary greatly.Is she a young bunny? How is her weight?

            She is also very spastic which I can’t figure out. She might be scared at times but she kind of just darts everywhere. Even when she is in her hidey area, she will circle the place. She will dart into her litterbox and then jump out etc. She doesn’t behave like my holland lop who has a purpose when he hops (he will hop to explore, or hop for food).

            Does she manage different types of flooring ok? We had a member here once whose rabbit used to spin and binky in the litter box. She called them stinky-binks lol. After a while, she moved them to a new living area with different flooring and suddenly he was hopping around everywhere and much more active. She thinks the vinyl floor in his former condo was why he only binkied in his litter tray. Because it provided the traction he needed.

            My other thought as to why she acts a bit spaz is she’s catching sight of her long mane hair in her peripheral vision? idk !!
            Maybe it’s just her.. Sounds entertaining anyway! It’s good for her to be moving during a gut slow down. It should help get things moving.


          • kmurphy
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              She still isn’t really eating very well but we are monitoring her closely. She did some more tiny poops last night which was good. The goop in her eye seems to have come back but I don’t think she is ready to go back to the vet as I would like to get her eating a little more before we stress her again. But you’re right, that goopy eye should probably be looked at by a vet.
              With the pellets, we just switched Kraken over to the Sherwood Forest pellets so we had some Oxbow left over. Because she wasn’t eating we gave her Manna pro (which she came with) and some oxbow because Sherwood forest seems to taste funny at first to our bunny. We will now just use the Manna Pro and transition to the Sherwood forest once she starts eating. That does make the most sense. She still isn’t eating dry pellets. She are wet and in a mush. She still isn’t eating vegetables, or hay as well.
              She is housed on carpet covered with a few memory foam mats with fleece over the whole thing. I think she may have something wrong with her vision or seeing out of her mane because yesterday when we let her out of her pen for some exercise, she ran into a table leg….
              She is really quiet this morning and hasn’t really moved much and isn’t eating her pellet mush so I will keep you guys updated on how she is doing.


            • jerseygirl
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                Is she taking in lots of fluids?

                Definitely get her checked out when she’s a bit more stable. A dental check would be wise. If she has any teeth issues, it could be reason for this bout of stasis (along with stress) and the goopy eye.

                Or something going on with the eye is causing discomfort and leading to the gut slow down… 


              • kmurphy
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                  We stopped force feeding her water and she seems to be drinking on her own alright. I also thought I could be her teeth but the rescue said she had her teeth checked during her spay which was a little over 3 weeks ago and they were good. But I trust my own vet so I will definitely get a second opinion soon. I’m a little concerned because the rescue said that she was being free fed Manna Pro pellets and I read up on Manna Pro and they seem to be more for large scale rabbit farms and not recommended for house rabbits. Also we don’t free feed because I know Kraken would get fat and not eat enough hay.
                  When the new bunny got spayed three weeks ago she weighed 2.6 lbs and on at the EVet she weighed 2.4 pounds. She also came into the rescue with a litter of kits but they were weened and adopted quite some time ago. I think she might be a bit under weight due to the stress of everything.

                  She actually just ate a few strands of hay so that makes me excited!


                • jerseygirl
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                    Was the weight at her spay before or after the spay?

                    She actually just ate a few strands of hay so that makes me excited!


                  • LittlePuffyTail
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                      Nothing to add on top of JG but just want to send some ((((Get Well))) wishes.

                      How long have you had your new bunny?


                    • kmurphy
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                        That was her weight before the spay. We got her on Friday evening.


                      • kmurphy
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                          I talked to one of the people at the rescue about our bunny and they recommended to try plain oats and banana baby food. What do you guys think of this? Would it be ok to give that a try? 

                          Also I came home and there were no new poops and she hadn’t touched her pellets  


                        • LittlePuffyTail
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                            I’ve heard of using small amounts of rolled or steel cut oats to help add weight but I would be wary of banana baby food because of the sugar.


                          • Bam
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                              Agree with LPT, banana has a lot of sugar and should only be used as a treat or to entice a bunny who’s refusing to eat altogether. Oats are traditionally used when a bun needs to put on weight, it’s easy on the tummy and often greatly appreciated.


                            • kmurphy
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                                Thanks for helping me out. New bunny still isn’t back to normal but she did eat more of her pellet mash over night. She also had a few poops in her pen. She is still quite spastic in her movement. I will try to get a video tonight to show you guys and see what you think. She also runs into things, sometimes when she is scared and other times… I don’t know why. We haven’t tried oats yet but I will when I get home. It looks like she drank some water last night but it’s hard to tell because she also runs into her water bowl or runs through it.


                              • kmurphy
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                                  Here is a picture of the goop in her eye. Sorry I couldn’t get a good picture she doesn’t stay still much and she is pretty afraid of people still. 


                                • Brambino
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                                    Hi there. Sorry your bun is off to a rocky start. You are very caring – she is lucky to have you.

                                    My bun had a similar eye problem when we first got her. She had red eyes that were always weepy and sometimes a little white discharge too. Our vet suggested it was conjunctivitis caused by stress of moving and gave us fucithalmic eye drops. This did little to improve Brambles eyes despite being applied twice daily for two weeks.

                                    What really made a noticeable difference was changing her hay a few weeks later. By chance we bought a much better quality rye hay that was on offer. It is completely dust free. She hasn’t had any recurrence of problems since and her eyes are much brighter. She likes to bury herself in the hay so I’m sure this didn’t help! Maybe worth a shot to see if it improves things?

                                    We buy bramble’s hay now from Dee Millen and dustfreehayco.uk. They’re expensive but have made a big difference to bramble who is clearly sensitive to something! Other people in the US have recommended oxbow hay to me as a dust free option, though I haven’t tried it myself.

                                    Just a thought!


                                  • kmurphy
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                                      The eye issues could have been something in her environment at the foster home. I didn’t get to see where she lived as they brought her in from the foster home. It could also be our hay but our other bunny Kraken doesn’t seem to have any issues with it. Also, unfortunately, she hasn’t really eaten any hay . We are definitely closely monitoring her and when she is more stable (or if she starts declining), we are planing on taking her to the vet to have her teeth looked at and her eyes as well as an overall evaluation.


                                    • Cynthy
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                                        Hello kmurphy, I’ve just registered to the site, but as a rabbit owner have often returned to get info I may have a question about. As soon as I saw you bun’s eye photo, had to respond. I had the same issue with one of mine. Finding a good small animal pet vet is trial & error. First vet went to for ‘goop eye’ said eye just irritated, use eye drops. Two weeks later bun’s eye worse, with a cloudy-like white film in eye. Same vet upon return, said ‘slight infection’ in eye, gave us a tube/gel antibiotic, 3 times daily in affected eye. THREE days after this his eye was full of a white, cottage-cheese like goop! The more we cleaned it, even more came out! That same day went to different vet & turned out he had a very serious infection! Vet put him on a strong ORAL antibiotic & it cleared up beautifully, never to return. The eye problem your bun is experiencing, in addition to stasis may be ‘connected.’ I’m not a professional, but I would highly recommend a vet visit asap. Wish you & bun the VERY best! Hang in there.


                                      • kmurphy
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                                          Thanks so much for letting me know Cynthy and thanks for your kind words! I’m glad your bunny healed up well! We have a pretty good rabbit vet that we take our other bunny Kraken to. To be honest I don’t know what the best thing would be in my scenario. Do I take her to the vet and stress her out even more or do I just keep monitoring her and make sure we are giving her fluids and food to keep her digestive system working. She has not seen our normal vet as she had to be rushed into the emergency vet when she got so sick last week. Her eye is worse today so I suspect we do have some sort of issue. I will probably schedule an appointment for our normal vet beginning of next week and hopefully her condition will be more stable by then.

                                          On a slightly different note, what kind of feeding syringes do you guys recommend. We have tiny 1 ml ones that work because they are small but they are super annoying to fill up and you have to do it multiple times.


                                        • Cynthy
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                                            We were provided with the small syringes. Although you may have to ‘fill’ more than once, they were easier to slide into our bun’s mouth; considering he didn’t like it to begin with! Lol. I’m holding onto good thoughts for your newest family member. Getting to your vet next week is great news. As long as your bun’s getting water & even a little food is HOPE that all should be OK. Until the visit, you can try rinsing the affected eye once or twice daily with tepid water & gently pat dry. ~Prayers~


                                          • Q8bunny
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                                              Cooled chamomile tea is also a wonderful rinse for eye infections (or any irritation of mucous tissues). It has mild antibiotic properties and soothes at the same time. (((heal soon, bunbun)))


                                            • jerseygirl
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                                                You’ll probably need something like a 10ml syringe. One with a wider nozzle too.
                                                She won’t eat the pellet mush out of a bowl?


                                              • kmurphy
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                                                  Some days she will, other days she won’t touch it. I also need to have feeding syringes on hand because this definitely caught me off guard. So I am ordering critical care and syringes for the future.
                                                  Last night she didn’t eat much but drank some water. I am going to get some different types of hay for her to see if that might interest her. And if she turns her nose up at those hays, Kraken will definitely enjoy them!! I was thinking Oxbow botanical hay and Oat hay. Does any one else have any recommendations? I’m just going to the Pet store so Oxbow would be the best brand there I think.

                                                  Would a syringe like this work? 

                                                  http://www.amazon.com/Innovet-10cc-…cc+syringe

                                                  or this 

                                                  http://www.amazon.com/Pack-Tsp-Medi…2470955011


                                                • kmurphy
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                                                    Just wanted to give an update.
                                                    We have named our new bunny Jitterbug!
                                                    Right now she is eating a few bites of pellet mush. Less than what she was eating a few days ago which is a bit worrisome. But she is now eating some Cilantro and Parsley. We also give her kale and romaine but she has yet to eat them. She is still pooping tiny poops often stuck together with hair. Today is the first day she will be off of the pain meds (Metacam) so we will see how her appetite is. She doesn’t really eat hay. I have seen her nibble a little on the hay but not much at all.
                                                    How much cilantro and Parsley should I give her? I have been giving her a few springs morning and night and sometimes it is eaten and other times it is not. She does drink some water.
                                                    She is also super terrified of us. She will hide when we try to get her to give her meds and she will kind of squeak when we pick her up. Hopefully it gets a bit better now that we don’t have to give her metacam. How do we get her to trust us if we can’t bribe her with food


                                                  • kmurphy
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                                                      Jitters has been doing a little better. She almost finished 2 tablespoons of soaked pellets in 24hours. She also munched on a few dry pellets.  But she has stopped eating lettuce the past few days. I have been giving her a pinch of oats on her food which entices her to eat sometimes. We were told to supplement her food intake with a little bit of syringe fed weight gain critical care. Last night was the first night we started that and she officially hated us…. But this morning I saw her eat a few strands of hay. She was binkying in her pen last night which was adorable! (before we syringe fed her. After that she was super mad)

                                                      She has been eating her cardboard house which makes me think she wants fiber but doesn’t want to eat hay. I’m not sure what’s up with that but I will keep an eye on it. She is doing fine off of the metacam.


                                                    • Q8bunny
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                                                        I’m glad to hear she’s a bit more chipper. Poor buggy. (((munchy vibes)))


                                                      • Bam
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                                                          It sounds good she’s eating more pellets. And even if she does hate you for force feeding her, a bunny putting up a fight in such a situation is a good sign. Weak buns don’t fight. Lettuce is not sth she absolutely needs like she needs pellets, CC and hay, so if she doesn’t want lettuce it’s not a big deal.
                                                          My buns love oat hay and will eat orchard, but want nothing to do with botanical. But I’ve read about other buns here that prefer botanical. There’s just no telling with a bun =)

                                                          I have to say she’s terribly cute! (Saw her in the April photo thread).


                                                        • Q8bunny
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                                                            Bam’s right… when Chewie first came home, I had oat hay and orchard grass for him, because I read that these two types are considered bunny faves. Well, he will eat orchard grass, completely ignores oat hay, but (as I found out later) LOVES botanical hay. He will literally spend hours each day, in his hay box, noshing on the stuff.

                                                            So try different kinds with her and she’s bound to find one to tempt her whiskers.


                                                          • blubudgie
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                                                              Hope your bunny improves soon!!

                                                              For syringe feeding I usually see vet techs use 1ml syringes at the hospital I intern at. It’s annoying to keep filling so usually someone is filling while someone else is holding the rabbit. I assume they do it because they found it works better since it obviously isn’t more convenient lol.

                                                              For the eye goop I would keep an eye on it and see if it moves, goes away, or if the eye changes (redness or pus or mucous, etc). My rabbit has white goop in her eye but it doesn’t bother her at all. It’s actually some fur that just gets into her eye so maybe you can trim the fur around her face. It sometimes stays there for a day, sometimes more than a week. In any case her eyes are otherwise normal so I haven’t worried about it.

                                                              If she doesn’t seem to want to eat hay maybe you can try mixing in some alfalfa. I would think alfalfa hay i better than no hay? Not sure though.


                                                            • kmurphy
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                                                                Thanks for the advice blubudgie! We needed up getting a 35 mL syringe and then filling a bunch of 1 mL syringes with it as that was the easiest for us. The eye goop seems to come and go and I think it has to do with all of the hair around her eyes. She will definitely need a trim in the future. 

                                                                Bam- we have 5 types of hay that we are offering but no oat hay as the store was out. We have Small pet select Timothy, Oxbow botanical hay, Oxbow orchard grass, Alfalfa timothy mix, and part of a bale of mixed grass hay (for horses). We set around little piles to see which one she will eat  

                                                                I just wanted to give a quick update. Jitterbug has been doing a little better. Last night she finished most her pellet mush and this morning I woke up to some nibbled lettuce. We will see how long this lasts as she has shown improvement in the past and then gone back down hill but I’m fairly optimistic. She ate a few pieces of hay yesterday when she saw Kraken pigging out on hay. I think she was like “yeah I guess these things are edible”. Jitters and Kraken had a very brief face to face meeting yesterday that went well. I might post about it on the bonding forum although we aren’t really bonding them yet. 

                                                                Thank you everyone for your help, support and advice. She has been is stasis for a little over two weeks with multiple vet visits but she was binkying last night so at least I know she is happy.


                                                              • jerseygirl
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                                                                  I watched the video Bam mentioned also. Im relieved to see her moving around like that. Very cute too! She has a young spirit.

                                                                  Reading over this thread, I wondered if anything cropped up post-spay that could be causing some discomfort. But not after seeing the video and from how you say she moves about.
                                                                  It’s just the eye and eating that are the issues? She breathes well?
                                                                  Honestly, it sounds like teeth issues despite what the rescue said.


                                                                • jerseygirl
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                                                                    Also, just wanted to ask her age? Did the rescue say whether she’d had any dental work done previously?


                                                                  • kmurphy
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                                                                      She is around 2 years old. She came in to the rescue pregnant and had a litter at the rescue. The babies were weaned about a year ago and they were adopted super quickly. She was spayed with 2 other bunnies that we were interested in (Kraken was going to go on dates with all three of them). They found during the spay that one of the other bunnies that we really liked has teeth issues and while she was under they clipped them?…filed them..? I don’t really know much about teeth but they fixed them but they said the rescue said that it could be an ongoing issue so she didn’t want us adopting her and then having large amounts of vet bills. 

                                                                       
                                                                      So I feel like she would have said something if she knew Jitters had teeth problems. They said she had never had any teeth problems or dental work done. The only vet visits were her initial visit, getting her kits checked, and her spay. I think we will probably go back to our vet and have an overall health exam.
                                                                      Do they have to be put under for a full oral examination?


                                                                    • jerseygirl
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                                                                        I think they can sedate with a bit of gas to get a good look.

                                                                        One time I left Jersey at the vet for dental check/work. I got a call 15-20 minutes later from the vet to report. I was shocked how quickly they’d done it.

                                                                        Jitterbug had been eating okay when in foster care, after the spay? 


                                                                      • kmurphy
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                                                                          Ok that’s good to know. 

                                                                          Here is a little video of how Kraken’s and Jiterbug’s first face to face meeting went. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLU…e=youtu.be


                                                                        • jerseygirl
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                                                                            That looks great! Run with it. You know, he might get her eating too. Fingers crossed!


                                                                          • Bam
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                                                                              I totally second Jersey, a little bit of “competition” for food is often helpful. You do that with dogs that won’t eat, you bring in another dog. Suddenly the food becaomes a valued asset. Company can also inspire eating, f ex in highly strung race-horses that won’t eat unless they have a companion, often a goat or rabbit.


                                                                            • kmurphy
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                                                                                I just wanted to give an update on Jitterbug. She is now eating more solid pellets, and she eats most of her lettuce overnight. She is not a big hay eater yet. She will pick at a few strands but then run off to do something more important she thinks . She has been nibbling on a few apple twigs which is really nice to see. I can confidently say she is starting to recover from this three week long ordeal.


                                                                              • Bam
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                                                                                  Really good to hear! Thanks for the update! 3 weeks is a long time with a poorly bun, they really do their best to keep us humans in our toes!


                                                                                • Autumn's Dad
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                                                                                    Glad to hear she is doing better while I have not had to deal with stasis with autumn, I have seen it before and I know for future reference (hopefully not needed) 1- pineapple dissolves fur blockage, 2- blackberry leaves help flush out any nasties (bacteria from fermenting food), 3- coltsfoot is a great easy to eat roughage that can help kick-start the gut like an old engine and try to source the greenest hay you can find as the strong aroma helps bring up the appitite in sick buns.


                                                                                  • kmurphy
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                                                                                      Hmm I thought the whole pineapple thing was an old wives tail. I don’t think that pineapple can dissolve protein (hair) in their gi track. I just thought it people thought it worked because it rehydrated their rabbits. I will definitely have to look at studies done! But thanks for all of your advice I will have to research some of that and learn more!


                                                                                    • jerseygirl
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                                                                                        Glad to hear she’s doing better. Breathing a big sigh of relief on your behalf. Time to start fully enjoying her instead of worrying about her.


                                                                                      • Autumn's Dad
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                                                                                          kmurphy- while I am not sure exactly how it works, I know of peoples success with treating blockages with it, I could just be the hydration as you say

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                                                                                      Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A New bunny- Stasis