Rune has GI stasis. :/ Yesterday I noticed he did not eat his full bowl of pellets in the morning, which is somewhat unusual, but not completely unheard of him for him. He free-roamed as usual throughout the day, and last night I put him back in his cage with clean litterbox and fresh hay, water, pellets, and spring mix. This morning the litterbox was fairly empty (~3 droppings that I could find), and the pellets and spring mix were untouched. I'm not sure if he touched the hay or water, unfortunately. I tried offering him some fruit, fresh lettuce, etc., stuff he generally goes nuts for, but he was completely uninterested.
He also normally runs out of the cage as soon as I open it, and he didn't bother this morning. If I poke at him he seems to hop around fairly normally and he's been washing his face. I'm not great at reading rabbit body language, but he seemed to be lying down like he usually does -- not super hunched in, not on his side, his ears are up and reactive. He does usually stretch out on his side when he is super relaxed and he's not doing that.
I got him into the emergency vet today, but unfortunately, all their rabbit specialists were unavailable. They gave him IV fluids and a prescription for cisapride and meloxicam. They also told me to syringe feed him some water when I got home and start him on Critical Care, which I fortunately already had, but I've never used.
He's taking the meds well, but the Critical Care is exhausting. He's a 9.5 lb rabbit -- do I really need to try to get over 200mL into him throughout the day? I can manage about 20mL at a time.
I don't know how soon I should start seeing results, but it has been six hours since I've gotten him home from the vet and he's still not making any attempt to eat, drink, or use the litterbox. At one point during the feeding he slipped away and we had a merry chase around the room so behavior-wise, that seems promising, but I'm really worried. It's been at least 24 hours since he's eaten or really pooped on his own and may have been even longer.
I saw online that simethicone should also be given for GI stasis, so I just gave him a dose of that about 30 minutes ago.
Also, from I can tell of his stomach, it does not feel firm, it feels soft and baggy.
Am I doing the right thing? How long do I wait before taking him back to the vet if he's still not eating or pooping?
He also normally runs out of the cage as soon as I open it, and he didn't bother this morning. If I poke at him he seems to hop around fairly normally and he's been washing his face. I'm not great at reading rabbit body language, but he seemed to be lying down like he usually does -- not super hunched in, not on his side, his ears are up and reactive. He does usually stretch out on his side when he is super relaxed and he's not doing that.
I got him into the emergency vet today, but unfortunately, all their rabbit specialists were unavailable. They gave him IV fluids and a prescription for cisapride and meloxicam. They also told me to syringe feed him some water when I got home and start him on Critical Care, which I fortunately already had, but I've never used.
He's taking the meds well, but the Critical Care is exhausting. He's a 9.5 lb rabbit -- do I really need to try to get over 200mL into him throughout the day? I can manage about 20mL at a time.
I don't know how soon I should start seeing results, but it has been six hours since I've gotten him home from the vet and he's still not making any attempt to eat, drink, or use the litterbox. At one point during the feeding he slipped away and we had a merry chase around the room so behavior-wise, that seems promising, but I'm really worried. It's been at least 24 hours since he's eaten or really pooped on his own and may have been even longer.
I saw online that simethicone should also be given for GI stasis, so I just gave him a dose of that about 30 minutes ago.
Also, from I can tell of his stomach, it does not feel firm, it feels soft and baggy.
Am I doing the right thing? How long do I wait before taking him back to the vet if he's still not eating or pooping?
He's eating on his own and pooping, so I am going to discontinue the syringe-feeding. I'm going to keep giving the prescription meds for the full seven days, but it looks like he's out of the woods!
