Fey is under the weather

[naturestee]

Somehow, despite how careful I am with her, Fey has an upset stomach. Last night I found that she hadn't eaten all of her veggies or pellets yet and was straining in the litterbox. She didn't feel gassy, she didn't feel totally empty in the way Sprite did either. She's not comfortable, but doesn't appear to be in severe pain and is still alert. Metacam hurts her stomach even more anyway (I still have Sprite's). She did pass the treat test last night and ate a raisin, but nothing else.

This morning she's still straining in the litterbox. She has a few cecals in the litterbox, which are slightly runny and more mishapen than normal for her. I syringed some Pedialyte into her and I have Critical Care absorbing water right now.

I don't think she needs a vet right now, I don't think there's much else they can do for her. She's not blocked up and they're only comfortable giving Metacam as a pain med which she can't have. This isn't the first time she's been like this, darn sensitive hotot intestines GRRR. If I really want to, I can use Sprite's sub-q fluid setup on Fey. So I'm just going to nurse her at home for now.

This for hotot intestines (megacolon)::banghead:grumpy:grumpy:grumpy

 

[Bunnys_rule63]

Oh no!:?Come on Fey - get pooping girlie!ray:

 

[Flashy]

I'm sending all good thoughts your way!

Come on Fey!

I hope she does ok. Just remember that it doesn't matter how careful you are, sometimes these things happen, it's not your fault, it just happens. She is gettingthe best care and you know what you are doing. If anyone can nurse her through this you can

Thinking of you both.

 

[JimD]

ray:

 

[cheryl]

Oh no,i'm sorry to hear that Fey's unwell...poor Fey

Get better quickly for your mummy sweetie

I'm sending lots of get well vibes

Cheryl

 

[TreasuredFriend]

c'mon little sweetheart Fey!!!!

Oh baby. :sickbunny:Everyone in Waukesha is sending love and recovery vibes. Please get well soon and give signs to your mom of what might be troubling your system.

Eons of TLC and Get Well Encouragement.

 

[polly]

hope she i sbetter soon she is in great hands with you

 

[maherwoman]

Sounds like you've got a great plan...prayers/good vibes from us...

:hug: :hearts

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

Sending vibes and well wishes:rose:. She's in good hands, that's for sure.

Good Luck Angela and Fey.

 

[Pipp]

Aw w w w, poor Fey (and Naturestee).

Sure she's straining to poop and not to pee?

Wishing yougood vibes andlots ofPedialyte either way.



sas :clover:

 

[naturestee]

The short: :litterfew:

The long: I was gone most of the day, but Fey did get Pedialyte and Critical Care in the morning. Banana flavored goop, and no rabbits in this house will even sniff banana. That has got to be the most grumpy I've ever seen the poor girl!

But when I came home tonight, she had eaten the veggies I had given her (her favorites, cilantro and collard greens) and some of her pellets. There is a small pile of poops in her box and they look relatively normal for her. A little mucous, but she always has poop mucous when her stomach is even a little upset.

Edit: And she was definitely straining to poop. Every time she's let out of her pen she leaves a pile of poops in Oberon's litter box. No pee. And try as she might, she just couldn't.

 

[Haley]

Oh no, not our Fey! How is she this evening?

Sending prayers, good thoughts, good luck and vibes. Come on Fey, get well soon!

Edit: We must have posted at the same time. Glad to hear she's ok. Still sending vibes

 

[HoneyPot]

You and sweet Fey are in my thoughts - any more progress?

 

[pamnock]

Nutri Cal has healthy oils (including vitamin E) that really seems to work wonders on Dwarf Hotot tummy troubles. We recently had a DH doe in stasis for nearly 2 weeks - whe's come out of it eating like a hog!

Pam

 

[naturestee]

Thanks Pam! I wasn't using that because I didn't know if it would upset her stomach more or not. You know how sensitive those hotot tummies can be.

Fey ate some veggies and a smidge of pellets again last night, and again she has a little pile of new poops. So we're the same as we were last night. More fluids on order.

Pam, have you used Benebac or other probiotics for hotot tummy problems? Did they help? I'm out of it, but I can go get some if it might be helpful. There are probiotics in the Critical Care but I'm not going to syringe feed more of that as long as she's eating a little on her own.

Oddly enough I'm out of canned pumpkin. I'll get some for Fey today.

 

[TreasuredFriend]

Sending ray:

 

[Marietta]

I'm so sorry for Fey's illness! I'm also a dwarf hotot mom (with the notorious megacolon problems...) and know exactly what you both are going through.

Is Fey drinking? I used to syringe feed water to mine, when he'd completely ceased eating, drinking and defecating, during a serious GI stasis bout last September. In our case Simethicone helped a lot with his gassy tummy as well as continuous light tummy massage. I don't know if Fey is going through heavy shedding, in the affirmative bromelaine powder helps also, as it dissolves the mucus and the keratinin the hair ingested (it's sold in health stores for human digestive problems in the form of capsule containing the powder -which you open and take the powder- or pills -which you crush- dissolve it in 10 ml of water and syringe feed it twice a day. Bromelaine is the enzyme contained in pineapple, (like papaine is in papaya) however it's in a much-much more concentrated form than in the fruititself and there's also no sugar, which further upsets the tummy (whenever I see string-of-pearl-like poops, I administer it once as a precaution and his poops return to normal right away). If you are absolutely certain that there's no blockage (via x-rays), and as a last resort, try using lactulose. Having followed almost the whole GI stasis protocol with no results (=my Vitto hadn't pooped for 14 days!), I gave him 0.5 ml of lactulose syrup (bought from a human drugstore) and within 5 minutes he pooped a huge mass of ingested hair glued with mushed pellets 3.5 cm X 2 cm long! Keep on the tummy massage also.

However, as you know THE most important factor is hydration (SQ and via syringe-fed human electrolytes -better than water, as the bunny gets the electrolytes he lacks out of not drinking and not eating).

Vitto and I send you and Fey all of our love and compassion.

Please let us all know how things are - if any better ? (PLEASE Fey, do get well!)

Marietta

 

[naturestee]

I looked up lactulose because I've never heard of it before. I don't think it's used in the US much. For those like me, here's a Wikipedia article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactulose

It's basicly a very high dose of synthetic sugar that draws water back into the intestines. But it does get digested, so IMO I'd be uncomfortable using it with rabbits as it might cause an overgrowth of bacteria. It's great that it worked for Vitto though.

Fey was quite happy to get pumpkin, it's a favorite treat of hers. I let her take as much as she wanted (only about 2 tablespoons), especially since she didn't eat all of her veggies from noon. No new poops. But she is a little more perky, and did lick my clothes a little earlier today after she forgave me for syringe feeding Pedialyte. (For Marietta, Pedialyte is a brand of electrolyte drink for infants in the US, it has very low sugar unlike the ones we can find for adults.)

 

[maherwoman]

Oh, I thought of pumpkin this morning, and I'm glad to see you've already got it and are using it. You're such a smart cookie...

:hug: :hearts :big kiss: et: :flowerskiss:

 

[Bo B Bunny]

How's she doing ???