Third day of presumed GI stasis, tummy hurts every time she eats

[Dumbo the Bunny]

First of all I am really glad to have found this forum, it has been very helpful and it’s nice to see so many dedicated bunny owners.

So I have been reading everything I can on Binkybunny about other rabbits with GI stasis, but I cannot find a case quite like mine, so I thought I would post my case and hoping for inputs.

So my 7 1/2 year old bunny Dumbo got spayed a month ago. Yes, we should have done it when she was young, but I was very scared of surgery and if I had known what I know now I would have done it earlier. They found a tumour in her uterus, so we spayed her and removed the tumour, the vet said everything went fine. She recovered quickly accept for one thing. Ever since the spay she has had a period during the day when she is pretty lazy and doesn’t poop. Yes, she’s older and not as spry, but there has been a change in her behaviour and not pooping for about 6 or 7 hours everyday was not normal. I have been calling the vet a lot about this. She told me to only give Dumbo hay and the good kind of pellets as well as critical care and semethicone. I did all that but on Friday she just started acting really strange, throwing herself down on the floor on the side mostly and just tossing and turning. She didn’t want a pellet or a piece of lettuce, so I knew it was really bad, because she always wants food, so we went to the vet immediately.

At the vet they gave her some medicine and IV, they checked her glycol levels and liver, it was fine. The vet saw that Dumbo was breathing pretty quickly which she said was most likely due to pain. She also felt something in her abdomen, but said we would do x-rays in two months time. I don’t know why we had to wait. She said it could be scar tissue or a new tumour. Dumbo got all the medicines for GI stasis and was sent home.

Since Friday I have been giving her her medicines and critical care. She is pretty happy during the morning and evenings. She eats everything I give her, today she also ate a lot of hay, there’s not really anything wrong with her appetite. But the pooping, it’s not as it should be. The poops are still very different in size, sometimes they look good, nice, big and round, but sometimes they are very small. They are also much fewer than usually. And she mostly sits and just poops a big pile and then nothing in-between. 

After I give her her medicine she eats but she doesn’t poop for quite some time. Today she actually pooped about an hour after the medicines, but before that it could take hours. She was munching on her hay right after she got her medicine today and after awhile she had to lie down and she breathed fast and grinded her teeth. She is very obviously in pain everytime she eats and something is happening in her tummy which the medicine is not helping. Has anyone been through something like this?

I have no idea what it could be. I am waiting for the vet to call, she was off today, and is supposed to call me tomorrow, I’m going to be on her now, because I can’t watch my bunny in pain everyday. I am wondering if whatever is in her tummy is pressing on her intestines or something. I have also read about surgical adhesions on here. What if it is that? Is there anything to be done if it is that?

Yesterday I had a bit of a breakdown because I really don’t know what I would do without my Dumbo, but it also feels like it’s more than just GI stasis and I don’t want to see her in pain. I really just wanted to write this because the wait for the vet feels very far away and it has been hellish these last two months really, since we found the tumour.

Any thoughts or ideas?

[Bam]

I haven’t experienced this, but pain after eating could perhaps be due to gastritis/ beginning gastric ulceration. What motility med is she getting? Is she getting Metacam? Metacam can be hard on the tummy.

[Dumbo the Bunny]

I live in Sweden, we seem to be getting different things than the ones I read about on forums. She’s getting something called Pimperan (metoclopramide), as well as Zantac (ranitidine) to protect her stomach. She didn’t get anything for the pain. But she was on Metacam for four or five days after the spay.

[Luna]

Other members (Bam included ) are more knowledgeable than I, but I’ve read that post-surgical adhesion can occur within hours of the surgery though I have no idea whether or not it can still occur 1 month after surgery? Adhesion is fixed only through surgery I believe. I agree with you about re-voicing your concerns with the vet, and maybe getting a second opinion if she still does not address it? I hope Dumbo feels better ((((Dumbo)))).

[Bam]

Hi Dumbo, I live in Sweden too =) Ranitidine is good for protecting a bunny tummy against too much gastric acid, plus it acts as a motility drug as well. So that’s great. Metclopramide helps against nausea as well as acting as a motility drug. So both those would address a gastritis-like problem.

Scar tissue can of course cause trouble. But I don’t quite understand why you need to wait 2 months for new x-rays? Do you go to a specialist rabbit vet? (I know there aren’t very many in Sweden).

[Dumbo the Bunny]

What about metoclopramide? I read some bad things about it. Should I maybe just give her the medicine for gas tonight? And try massaging her belly? I found a good video on youtube for that, however she really doesn’t like me touching her tummy, but I can give it a try.

She eats a lot of hay now so that’s good I hope.

There aren’t many rabbit vets in Stockholm, where I live, it seems to me there is only one place really. Bam, maybe you know about vets in the Stockholm area, apart from Roslagstull?

But I will barricade myself at the vet’s tomorrow if they don’t give Dumbo the help she needs, because I can’t take another day with her having this pain. 

Then maybe it’s not adhesions then. She has been mostly okay during this month, except for a couple of hours during the day like I said, so that might be a sign it’s not adhesions I hope.

[Dumbo the Bunny]

Sorry Bam, didn’t see the last part of your message. Yes, I go to Roslagstull djurklinik, which as far as I know is the only specialist in the Stockholm area. I’m not quite sure either about the wait for the x-rays, I didn’t get a good answer about that and I am going to push for an x-ray tomorrow.

[Bam]

Metoclopramide is supposed to be the best motility drug available for rabbits. Medirabbit says to not stop it abrupty but taper down the dose. http://www.medirabbit.com/Safe_medication/GI_stimulation/metoclopramide.htm This document says metoclopramide doesn’t affect gastric secretions, which I take to mean stomach acid. Zantac (ranitidine) does reduce production of stomach acid, and that has a good protective effect on the stomach lining. I know we have members that have been prescribed both drugs together. My bunny Bam was recently prescribed ranitidine together with Metacam solely for stomach-protective purposes (he had an airway infection so no tummy issue). I think ranitidine is very safe, but I remember a member we have whose vet always gave metacam together with motility drugs because the motility drugs can cause painful GI spasms. (That was a megacolon bunny though, and they’re of course extremely sensitive.)

I’m not familiar with vets in Stockholm. I’m in Skåne so I’m lucky enough to have access to Fågelkliniken i Lomma. Roslagstull has good ratings though, and their homepage says they have specialist rodent vets, and that probably includes our sweet lagomorphs. From what I’ve heard and read, good rabbit vets are practically nonexistant north of Stockholm, so I’m glad you are in the south =)

[Dumbo the Bunny]

Yes, they do have specialists in rabbits and they have been mostly helpful. Hopefully I will get some more info tomorrow and be able to help Dumbo. Thank you for the help and support. I’ll get back with an update!

[Bam]

An update will be very much appreciated.

Many good healing vibes for (((((Dumbo)))))

[SuperBunnyto]

I’m not sure if this will help, as I haven’t had a bunny with that particular issue, but my first bunny had problems with his kidneys and I used to give him chamomile (tea or flowers) to make him comfortable when he wasn’t feeling great. I still use it with my current two bunnies regularly, because they love the taste. It helps with pain and tummy issues. It’s not a cure, but maybe it can help?

[Dumbo the Bunny]

Thanks for the tip! I will definitely try while waiting for speaking to the vet. Anything that can help poor Dumbo with the pain right now.

[Dumbo the Bunny]

Okay, so I got to talk to the vet today and she says they need to open her up, because of whatever she felt in the abdomen and that something seems to be wrong and it won’t show up on the x-rays. So I got Metacam for the pain to give to Dumbo right now and I got an appointment on Friday. The vet said that if it is a tumour they won’t wake her up, so I should say goodbye and be prepared. But she also said that they usually don’t feel pain from that kind of tumour so it could be something else. Anyway, all of this is really really scary.

Bam, you said Metacam is hard on the tummy, but if I give it with the Zantac (ranitidine) is it better for her then? It’s three days of pain, so I really would like to help Dumbo with the pain.

[Bam]

I’m so sorry they have to open her up again. I sincerely hope it isn’t another tumor.

My rabbit got Zantac (ranitidine) to protect his stomach while he was getting Metacam for inflammation and pain. He was on both meds for a week, and he was fine. He was a bit sleepier than usual the first few days though, but that seems to be a common side effect when you start an animal on NSAIDs. I got Metacam for dogs, it seems to taste better to a rabbit than cat-Metacam. But the dosage-syringe in the package is graded for dogs. Bam was 2.5 kg (he’s been on a diet since) and got 0.7 ml, about the same dose as a 10 kg dog, once a day. It’s still the right dose because buns metabolize meloxicam quicker and more efficiently than dogs and cats do. He got the Zantac twice per day.

According to Medirabbit Metacam is well tolerated by buns even for longer term use (like for arthritis pain), so it’s considered a bunny safe drug. http://www.medirabbit.com/Safe_medication/Analgesics/safe_analgesics.htm

[Dumbo the Bunny]

Yes, I have the dog Metacam and a lot of smaller syringes. I’ll also keep on giving Dumbo the Zantac to be on the safe side. And I will hope for the best. 

[Bam]

We’ll be hoping for the best too. Please update if you feel up to it.

Get well (((((Dumbo)))))

[Luna]

How upsetting . I hope they can help her in the surgery, and also give you some answers. Sending hugs ((((Dumbo))))

[LittlePuffyTail]

I’m so sorry you are dealing with this…..I’m very sad for you. I want to offer my support and well wishes for your bunny’s coming appointment.

[Dumbo the Bunny]

So here comes an update. I didn’t dare to write yesterday, but after a very long day I actually got to pick Dumbo up. I only spoke to the vet on the phone afterwards, sh’e suppose to call me today as well. But it seems it was an abscess in the abdominal fat, she was 90 % sure, but sent it to the lab to be totally positive and to rule out that it might be a tumour. So that’s good news I think.

I had really lost hope a bit yesterday, I left Dumbo at the clinic in the morning and when I hadn’t heard anything from them by four in the afternoon I was really sure the worst had happened. But now she’s home. I slept on a mattress in the kitchen and got up a couple of times to check in on her and force feed her a bit of critical care. When I woke in the morning she had eaten a bit of parsley and mint on her own, so I gave her some more and she ate that plus a couple of salad leaves. And she’s peeing and pooping, they’re small and few but it’s just good that her stomach seems to be working consistently right now.

[Bam]

I’m glad she’s home again and has eaten! It does sound very hopeful now.

[jerseygirl]

Thank you for the update. Im happy to read she is home with you. I hope now that it’s removed, she’ll be more comfortable.
When I was reading you other update, I wondered if the vet could feel a hernia or something. Although Dumbo has to now heal from some more surgery, at least the vet would have gotten a good look at the area.
{{{Dumbo}}}

[Author]

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