Battling GI Stasis

[Luv them rabbits]

8 year old rabbit 4 .2 lbs
Hes moulting
Normally eats green leaf lettuce and cilantro little bit of oxbow timothy pellets little bit o hay hes never been a big eater.
Has a lump in mouth thats not infected and its not an absess but Doc thinks its the tooth that was extracted 4 years ago trying to grow back. It has some fluid.
Now hes not eating anything except some dried apples and of course the critical care. Hes just not interested :tears2:
Hes been sleeping but will hop around if I persuade him


My rabbit Buffett Hes 8 this week (May 1st) has been through so much these weeks. He had an ear infection the vet gave him rabbit approved antibiotics orally and batril in ear. Well he develop mucous enteritis his poops were completely jelly. We got past that thank goodness but he had to go and get his teeth (burred?) grinded I forget what its called. But now with all the stress and the dental with anathesia (sp?) I think has gi stasis. Hes on simethicone 1ml reglan 1 ml twice a day, critical care 2 12ml syringes (most of it) 4 times a day we finally got poops but very small and hard. I also rubbed his belly today and he loved it fell asleep LOL and he passed some gas.. But my question is because I'm such a nervous nelly is hes not drinking any fluid that I have seen I have syringed a little into him I told the doc this he said that hes getting enough through the critical care. I did the skin test and it was quick to return. Should I take him into the vet office tomorrow and have them give him some sub q fluids I think it couldn't hurt the last time he had it was Thursday what do you think I dont want to unnecessarily stress him out and is small poops a good sign. THanks He has a girl friend named Kyrie whose loving him and cuddling up to him. YAY :bunny17:

 

[JBun]

Wow, that poor little guy is having a rough time.

Any poop is good after a rabbit hasn't been pooping at all, and it can take a few days for it to get more normal looking. Did the vet give you any pain meds like metacam, for him? It can help a lot, to help rabbits feel better and get them eating again on their own. You do want your rabbit to have lots of moisture, as that helps clear up the stasis. When my rabbit had stasis, I just mixed in extra water to his critical care, so that it was a more soupy consistancy, than pudding like, and just fed him more to compensate for the added water. I would have normally fed 6cc of thicker critical care, but with the added water I fed 9-12cc, each feeding. That seemed to work well, cause it was much harder to syringe my rabbit plain water. I also offered him leafy greens, like cilantro and parsley(gr leaf lettuce would be ok too). My rabbit would start nibbling on those before he would start eating hay. So it helped get him eating, and the moisture from the leafy greens was good to help break up the blockage from the stasis. It's best not to be feeding anything sugary though. Meds you have to do, but any treats and even pellets, should be stopped, as they just feed the bad bacteria in the gut. The best things are non cruciferous dark leafy greens and non grain grass hay. Your rabbit needs minimal sugars and carbs, and lots of fiber and moisture. Once he's all better and poops are normal, then you can gradually start adding pellets back into the diet, but just be aware, that pellets can cause digestive problems with some rabbits, after they have had bouts with GI stasis. My rabbit that had it started getting better, then I started introducing pellets back into his diet, and he got stasis again. It happened a couple times until I figured out that the pellets were causing him to get sick again. Since I've stopped the pellets, he hasn't gotten stasis again. So my rabbit only gets grass hay and some alfalfa hay, and specific leafy veggies. He doesn't get pellets anymore, and no treats. This website has some good info on stasis.

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html

And for future reference, if the vet didn't give you probiotics when your rabbit was on the antibiotics, make sure they do next time, or go and pick some bene bac up. It can help your rabbit from getting digestive upset from the antibiotics.

Has the vet proposed anything concerning the lump in your rabbits mouth? If it is causing your rabbit pain, it could cause eating problems, including stopping eating and drinking, and that can result in stasis.

 

[Luv them rabbits]

Hi yes hes on meticam and no we do not know any more about the lump. Do you think I should take him in for sub q's or just add more water to his critical care? I just do not want to stress him out... I think they are both tired of going to the vet but if the sub q's will help iff we will go. Hes a trooper he's giving me bunny kisses again.. I guess I'm somewhat forgiven. I am giving him benebac now... Thanks for the response... I bought some mint and basil which he nibbles at a little but baby steps and alot of patience on my part.

 

[PaGal]

I have read on Medirabbit that pinching the skin to check for dehydration is not very accurate when it comes to rabbits.