GI slowdown

[Bunnylova4eva]

Seeing Taffy getting so much attention due to her tummy lump, Ripley must have decided he needed a health problem to get some extra attention from me. Anyway, so Ripley has never been a bigtime eater, where he leaves his food sit pretty much all day and nibbles throughout the day. (Except for papaya, that he'll ALWAYS eat.)

Maybe like 4 days ago, Ripley seemed a bit lethargic and laying around alot. I noticed some small poops in there in his cage and decided to give some simethicone and see what happend. The little guy was THRILLED about taking it and (and was begging for more...) and within a little while, was pooping like gangbusters. :litterhealthy:

Then yesterday I noticed around maybe 3:00 in the afternoon, he had seemed to barely touch his food, which didn't seem *that* weird since he normally leaves some at least. But then I realized the poor lil' dude was sleeping in his litter box and just laying around generally lethargic and panting like crazy (and it wasn't TOO warm outside) I figured maybe he was just tired, opened his cage and he jumping up and over and over again kept digging in his litter box and turn around but never went. Then all it occured to me to check his box and it looked like he had barely pooped since morning when I had totally cleaned it. The few poops there were, were tiny. Then all the pieces came together in my mind and I grabbed the simethicone and some papaya tablets and gave them to him. I also mixed pinapple juice into a bowl of water to encourage him to drink more and he was pretty exceited about that and drank a bunch of that. Anyway, so he seems to be doing ok again now, but I'm curious why this seems to keep happening over and over.

Any thoughts?


His diet consists of:

1/4 c. Nutrena premium/Naturewise rabbit pellets daily
LOTS of grass hay (we by a bale of "horse hay" which they eat alot of)
Papaya treats

Occationally a few veggies here or there but not frequently due to past issues with him getting an upset stomach with any new foods.

Also, I try to give a little fresh pinapple to each bunny like maybe 3 times a week.

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

Just went out to see the lil' man, and he was once again digging in his litter wildly but I don't know that he's really going. I gave some simethicone and pinapple juice-flavored water (which got him to drink a bunch) . Hopefully this will help keep things moving. Poor bunny is panting and laying down/around alot. Its in the 80's outside her today so he might just also be really hot but Taffy doesn't seem nearly as tire dout from the heat.

 

[hamsterfeet]

My vet told me (since Remi, my mini rex gets stasis frequently) that if he is not really molting, don't give him pineapple juice because is very likely that he has other problems that may get worse with the pineapple juice (more sugar that will upset his stomach).
Try to give him belly massages, continue the simethicone, and offer hay or pellets to keep his gut moving (you have to make him eat something). Try to keep him comfortable. Check his ears, if he is going into stasis his ears are going to be cold they should be hot since you think he might be hot.

 

[furrybutts]

when was the last time that you noticed he pooped??

 

[furrybutts]

and yes, i would definatley cut out ANYTHING with sugar, and make sure hes getting enough fiber.

 

[hamsterfeet]

I forgot to mention, do you have critical care by oxbow? if you do, and if he's not eating/pooping, I would recommend force feeding him.
I think you can also make something similar yourself with his normal pellets and pedialyte. Grind some pellets and add some flavor pedialyte I'm not sure about the exact amount, but the mixture should look like baby food).

Edit:
It's critical care not urgent, gosh my memory can be so bad sometimes

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

Well I do know that adding in sugary things aren't necesarily the best. He is molting and I don't think there is a blockage, but I figured if there somehow was, papaya tablets and pinapple-flavored water wouldn't do anything but help plus the pinapple in the water would just get him drinking more.

I'll stop giving him surgary things. I cleaned his litter just a bit ago so I'll go see if he's been pooping since then.

 

[hamsterfeet]

I understand what yo mean. I used to run for the pineapple juice every time Remi went into stasis, until my new vet told me that it wasn't necessarily the best idea for the reason I mentioned above. This was news to me since none of my other vets ever mentioned this. I was like "ehh, I guess that makes sense ":embarrassed:
Keeps us updated, hopefully your bunny feels better:hug2:, it's always worrisome when the buns get sick

 

[furrybutts]

any poop?

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

YEP! We've got poop! :yes: Looks like he just started going (maybe the simethicone helped?) He's barely eaten his food today, but is now starting to munch on it. Still panting alot, his nose is so wet since he's been panting all day.

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

Update:

Ripley's still having problems with his poor little tummy. This morning I found a "string of pearls" (about 8 pieces of poop strung together by fur) in his hutch so I think all this is due to hair as its his first molt and he's shedding like crazy.

My question: I know bunnies silently grind their teeth when they're really happy (some people say purring) but do they ever chatter their teeth in anything but pain? This morning he dies whenever I'd pet his tummy/sides, and it was LOUD tooth chatter.. I'm worried about him. He laid in his hutch hiding all day paing really hard and his whole nose seemed to be REALLY whe when Taffy's didn't look that tired from the heat, though she's the chubby bunny who usually would struggle it it was the heat. I'm really worried he's in pain; I have left over Metacam if you think I should do it to help him a bit.


I gave him simethicone (how much do you usually give? I did 0.3 mL) And lots of greens (2/3 c. packed Romaine plus a baby carrot) to hopefully keep things moving. I just really really feel bad for the lil' guy because it was like his 4th day in a row getting it. IT helps temporarily every time but never gets better.

He seems to finish his food by the end of the day, but the whole day is always spent panting, barely eating. He is eating his hay still relatively well.



I was reading SnowShiloh's topic in here and his symptoms sound alot like Kerensa's : http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=75261&forum_id=16


Input? I'd really appriciate ANY help. So would Ripley, I'm sure~


~Mia

 

[cwolfec]

It sounds to me like he may need a trip to the vet, because if he's LOUD chattering, that means he's in pain. Could be just bad gas...Did you give him the whole dose of simethicone? 1 cc once an hour for the first 3 hours, then 1 more dose after you wait another 3 hours.

What makes me worried if the wet nose. That I don't know about. Hope he feels better soon! Oh, and I wouldn't stop the papaya tablets. They are really good for blockage!

 

[Imbrium]

good luck to little ripley - I hope he feels better soon! ray:

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

No, i haven't been doing a full simethicone dose-maybe that's part of it. Just like 0.3 mL when needed (turns out to be every day). The package said dosing for infants unter 2 years old was 0.3 mL so I figured I shouldn't do more than that..

I'm heading out to see him, hopefully he's doing better. If not, I'll have to talk with the vet.

 

[missyscove]

That tooth chattering does sound like pain.

The Exotic Animal Formulary dosing for rabbits for simethicone is 65–130 mg/animal q1h × 2–3 treatments. The Simethicone I have is 20 mg/ml. I typically do 1 cc (1 ml) at a time following that once per hour for 3 hours and again 3 hours later suggestion. It's really tough to overdose on Simethicone.