Gas attack or stasis?

[MPHF]

Yesterday evening when Harley had his pellets, he wasn't interested and didn't eat any. We thought it was another gas attack (Harley gets it quite often). My daughter stayed up all night with him and his partner Floppy to try and get him to eat. He had tummy rubs and infacol to try and get rid of the 'gas'.

It's 04.55 now and he still hasn't eaten anything. He has drunk some water and done a few small pee's but no poo's.

I'm really worried it's stasis because my rabbit Gizmo died from stasis last year.

Any ideas?
What do you recommend to do??

Oh and he's having a rice sock as well to keep him warm.

 

[NorthernAutumn]

I am not an Infirmary mod, by any stretch of the imagination. This thread should help you out though...
http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=28622&forum_id=10

Post back here if you need more help. I'll stay up for a while, K?

Hang tight, Harleyray:
Autumn

 

[NorthernAutumn]

If this is going on like 12 hours, I would promote you to see a vet ASAP..
Have you got any Critical Care or unspiced canned pumpkin about? Baby food?

 

[MPHF]

We have Critical Care and are going to give that to him in a bit.
Thanks for your help ray:

 

[TinysMom]

Have you tried using infant gas medication (simethicone) yet? I would try that first - I do one dropper full every hour for the first three hours - and then one dropper full every 8 hours after that (if I remember right).

Also - if your rabbit has favorite treats...try one of those.

Sometimes it helps to warm up some rice in the microwave in a sock (I think that is how it is done??) and then put the bunny on the warm (but NOT hot) rice sock....or you could throw a towel in the dryer....let it get warm and then take it out and let the bunny sit on it.

Sometimes if you can get the bunny to move around some - that helps also.

 

[NorthernAutumn]

If you have neither, you can mash up some pellets with water, and force-feed them to him as a slurry. Have you any syringes, or maybe a frosting piping bag?

Also need to get water into him.
When was the last dose of Infacol?

If you wave some parsley in front of his face, he may snap at it and eat it...

Have you got any Nutri-cal?

 

[TinysMom]

I'm sorry I didn't see about the rice sock when I was typing...DUH!

 

[MPHF]

We have no simethicone. We have tried all his favourite treats and he wont eat them. He also has a sock filled with rice and heated. Yeah we have syruinges and he has had regular water through that. He last dose was at 03:00 and we don't have any nutri-cal. He will probably see the vet later today.

 

[NorthernAutumn]

Infacol contains simethicone... you're good there.
Better start force feeding water and critical care. Pellet slurry would be good too.
I doubt he will eat on his own.. force feeding sucks, but has to be done

A few threads I'm reading indicate pineapple in case of a blockage of some nature... Only a vet would be able to tell you about a blockage, so I'm very glad you're going.

Has he gotten into anything weird/ any strange events that may have triggered this?

 

[TinysMom]

The pineapple could be good if the rabbit is molting a lot...and could have a blockage of hair from shedding.

I don't know that the infirmary mods would recommend this - but I mix banana baby food half and half with canned pumpkin and syringe that into them. They get some fluids (sorta) with the baby food - they love the banana taste - and the pumpkin seems to help them too. I swear by it based on my own experience...but once again - I'm NOT a rabbitry mod...just a lionhead breeder who can face stasis a lot during the molting season (which is almost all the time in our heat!)

 

[NorthernAutumn]

Old threads I'm reading agree with a baby-food banana/pumpkin mix, Peg.
Gotta get fibre into this guy, either way.

 

[TinysMom]

I really hate to say this cause some folks may yell at me....but here goes.

I've had rabbits in stasis barely eat for a couple of days...(but not because of a blockage) - and while that is scary...I often times figure that they'll start eating when they want.

My biggest concern with a rabbit in stasis is FLUIDS. They MUST MUST MUST have those fluids in order to live.

Whenever I handle a case of gas or stasis - I look at different things. In both cases - I give the baby gas meds just to be "safe". I also give painkiller that I keep on hand for situations like this (a small dose to help them relax - as long as they're not dehydrated). I figure if I can get them feeling better - they will often eat. From there - I go to treats like parsley and iceburg lettuce (normally a no-no but I want them to get the fluids from it). I also do the banana baby food/pumpkin. Oh and I do pro-bios/benebac to make sure their gut bacteria is ok.

Finally - one of my last ditch things is to give sub-q fluids. I've been trained to do this by a vet and many a time I've seen a rabbit that I was worried might not make it - perk up and fight to live because they got enough fluids in them.

I do have a link to a website that gives "shock dose" amounts...which is what I do when a rabbit is dehydrated - but I am hesitant to share it here because a person really needs to know HOW to do this first from a vet or vet tech teaching them.

The only thing my local vet will do that is rabbit-related - is to sell me the IV fluids for stuff like this.

 

[NorthernAutumn]

Just wanted to say that you can do another dose of Infacol now. 1cc.

How is Harley doing, Clare? Any teeth grinding? Movement?

 

[aurora369]

I second the fluids. Your first priority should be to make sure your bunny is getting lots of fluids. A well hydrated bunny can go a long time (days) with out eating.

Can you pick up a rehydrating drink for infants/children? Here it is called Pedialyte, but I'm not sure what it is called in the UK. This is normally found in a pharmacy. You can get a flavoured one and see if your bunny likes it. Syringe as much as he'll take to him. This will hold him over until a vet can administer some sub-q fluids.

If you do feed critical care or mashed up pellets, soak them for a long time. Allow the powder or pellets to soak up as much liquid as possible. Again, hydration is the most important thing, you don't want the critical care/pellets to soak up moisture once it gets in the bunny's tummy.

--Dawn

 

[MPHF]

Harley is ok, perked up a little bit. He has had Critical care and some water syringed in to him. After he had that done he also drank a good amount of water by himself. He is moving a little, with a lot of encouragement. No teeth grinding at the moment.

The fluids sounds like a good idea. He really doesn't seem interested in food at all .

 

[NorthernAutumn]

That's really great that he's drinking on his own... keep it up, Harley!
Some folks add a few drops of vanilla to keep them drinking (just in case he stops)...

He isn't going through a shed, is he?

 

[MPHF]

He is going through his shed and his partner Floppy is a longer haired breed as well...

 

[NorthernAutumn]

I would think that he has likely ingested a significant amount of hair during the shedding period...
Your vet would do x-ray to find out whether or not he has a hair blockage...

While looking in our library, I've found notes that indicate that if a blockage is present, a gut motility drug (such as Cisapride or Reglan) should not be used.
See here: http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=28622&forum_id=10

Here is Dana Kremples' protocol for in case of a blockage caused by hair:http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_post.php?post_id=551819

It may be worth your while to print these posts when you go to your vet today.


#1 is hydration, as everyone has said. Keep the water going in.

You're doing a great job; keep it up!:hug:

 

[MPHF]

He's going to the vet at 8.50 so about 20mins.
wish him luck!

 

[NorthernAutumn]

I will be praying hard... best wishes to you and Harley & your daughter ray: