GI Slowing

[Zeroshero]

Today I have noticed that Zero hasn't been pooping normally, I have had him out playing for several hours with no output! He is eating and drinking normally and does not seem depressed. I just gave him 1/2 a gram of Benebac and 3 ounces of Hydropet in a bowl. He still has free choice access to orchard grass and timothy hay (he is eating). Since giving him the Benebac he has pooped but not his regular amount. the pellets were varied two were the color and consistency of cecotrophes that were not in a cluster, there was some very small pellets, most were regular sized and round. He is going to the vet Monday for his follow up for enteritis. As long as he has output should I continue to watch him closely or take him in before Monday? Also, he has been on Simethicone for almost a month, (vets orders) I read that the body doesn't absorb it but what would be considered long term use? Thank you for your feedback

Edited to add that he is six weeks old and has a history of mucous/ bacterial enteritis.

 

[JBun]

Are you still feeding him his pellets or did you stop those? What about the critical care? If you didn't stop the pellets already, you may want to stop those since you thought they may have been causing the bloat problems, and as long as he continues to eat his hay and even poop a little bit, then just monitor, and you may be fine til Monday. Your pretty experienced with his problems, so you'll know when he isn't feeling well. If you think he was doing ok on the critical care, then you should keep feeding him that too, maybe up the amount if he doesn't seem to be eating enough hay. I'm not sure about the longterm use of simethicone, but with chronic gas problems, I'm not sure what other alternative there is until you are able to sort it out so he doesn't have the gas problems.

 

[Zeroshero]

Jbun thank you so much for your support and I am sure if my vet knew you saved her a Saturday emergency call she would thank you too! The Benebac and electrolytes worked, he is making quite a mess! Yay! I did intend to stop the pellets this morning, I noticed he wasn't pooping I watched him for several hours, and had him out running around and still nothing so I decided to give him some. (1/2 a TBSP I am weak!) I was reading Dr Kremple's article on ileus and she suggests using a automatic toothbrush to massage a gassy abdomen. I am going to work with him to get him used to it and see if it helps some.

He is still getting Critial Care three times daily.

 

[majorv]

In your other thread you mentioned that you think his problem is the alfalfa. Do you still think that's the problem? You may want to pick out a timothy based pellet you can move him over to once things settle down for him. Ideally, you don't want him to be on critical care and gas drops forever.

update: I see now that you found another pellet to switch to.

 

[Zeroshero]

Yes I do intend to switch him over to a Timothy based pellet, I imagine it would have to be a gradual process? How slowly should I make the transition if I stop the alfalfa pellets altogether? I am really concerned about him not eating enough during the day when I am at work and becoming hypoglycemic again.

He's not so sure about the vibration from the toothbrush but he let me do it for a little bit, I will try incorporating it with his am/pm routine and get him transitioning to a new pellet. Hopefully it helps.

 

[Zeroshero]

His tummy was eerily quiet, I ran the toothbrush on his abdomen for several minutes and it really broke up some gas! I just gave him more Simethicone .25 ml. He's still being his normal happy self. I wonder when this is ever going to end .

 

[Maureen Las]

It sounds like you are taking excellent care of him. Keep up the good work!

Ideally kits should be with their moms for a full 8 weeks prior to separation. These types of issues frequently occur with kits being weaned too early.

 

[Zeroshero]

Thank you Angie, I have had my heart broken so many times over the last 6 weeks with him. He definitely handles the setbacks better than I do.
He's such a sweet little guy, he stole my heart the first day I started caring for him.

 

[Zeroshero]

What a funny little bunny I have, I put a handful of orchard grass in his hammock and a handful of timothy that is mixed with orchard grass at the other side of his cage by his baby bed. (He stills sleeps in it but now only his butt fits inside LOL) Anyway, he keeps going back and forth between the two to graze and he is still pooping YAY! The pellets are a little larger than usual but it is hard to tell what is healthy for him because he has been on such a roller coaster.

 

[JBun]

I'm glad he's pooping again and seems to be feeling ok. I'm really hoping you are able to sort these health issues out for him. He sounds like such a cute little guy

If you feel that the alfalfa in his pellets is causing his digestive upset, it would be best to just stop feeding them right away, or as long as he's still getting them, there is the chance that he'll get sick again. If you need to, increase the amount of critical care you are feeding him a little, until you get him transitioned onto the new timothy pellets. I think with transitioning him onto the new pellets, that you will want to just start out giving him a couple pieces, two or three times a day for a couple days, then if he seems alright, gradually increase that amount. You may not have to go too slow in the transition, because the oxbow timothy pellets are very similar to the critical care that he is already used to. But you still don't want to do it too quickly since he has such a sensitive digestion. One week at least, two would probably be better. And pay really close attention to his poop, behavior, and digestion, to make sure that you aren't transitioning onto it too quickly and it is causing upset.

 

[Zeroshero]

Thank you Jbun, I haven't given him pellets today he is ravenously hungry. He has plenty of hay I know he will be fine with that. I will wait a bit and give him a little more critical care and go pick up the pellets once they open.

Can stopping the alfalfa pellets abruptly cause issues with bacterial overgrowth in his gut? Is it safer to wean off them? I understand that the alfalfa may be the culprit for his gass problems but I am also worried about another bout with enteritis.

 

[JBun]

I've never heard of stopping pellets abruptly causing any problems. I have heard of rabbits having digestive upset though, when running out of hay or veggies, and so stopping giving those abruptly can cause the upset. But usually when a rabbit is having digestive upset, it is advised to stop pellets immediately, since they are usually the cause of the digestive problem, and continuing to feed them is just going to continue to make the problem worse. Adding non grain grass hay and stopping pellets, seem to be the only abrupt diet changes that don't seem to cause digestive problems for rabbits, at least not that I've heard of. Bacterial overgrowth is caused by too many sugars and carbs(and a few other causes). And since grass doesn't contain much of this and pellets do, eating more grass hay isn't going to cause bacterial overgrowth to happen. It's more likely that keeping him on pellets will cause enteritis again, then it happening by taking him off the pellets.

 

[Zeroshero]

Okay so I stuck with it today and have not given Zero pellets, he lost 16g overnight of what seems like was a gassy belly. His tummy feels great it is not as large and feels more doughy than the airy spongy feeling before. He has had five of his new timothy pellets and an extra serving 1/4 TSP of Critical Care, he can't seem to get enough Orchard Grass today. Dare I start to feel hopeful

 

[JBun]

Yay!!! I'm crossing my fingers for success

 

[Zeroshero]

Okay since 8 pm his appetite for hay has significantly changed. I have given him a few Timothy pellets and he is eating them. His belly has definitely decreased in size he has lost 3 more grams since i weighed him this evening. I am getting worried

 

[JBun]

I think I'm not understanding exactly what you are saying. So does his belly seem not so bloated? Is he just not eating as much now, is that what you are worried about?

 

[Zeroshero]

Good morning Jbun, Yes he wasn't eating hay last night, he just kept moving it around with his nose and sittig in his baby bed. He laid on the toothbrush for a few minutes but wasnt his normal active self. I gave him some Simethicone at 1:00am because he sounded gassy and 1/2 a gram of Benebac which made him start nibbling. By 4:00am he was back to normal and had lots of nice round poops in his cage this morning. This bunny is giving me an ulcer!

 

[JBun]

Maybe wait a few days before starting the new pellets, and just feed him his hay and critical care. He'll still be getting nutrients from the critical care, so not feeding pellets isn't going to cause any harm. And it will give you a chance to see if being off pellets really helps, and if that really is the cause of the problem.

 

[majorv]

If he's still losing weight then he may not be getting enough to eat. Can you feel his hip bones and spine? It's also possible his system didn't develop enough to absorb nutrients as efficiently as it should. All this will have long term effects on him.

I may be misreading but it doesn't sound like he's had enough timothy pellets to know how it's affecting him. Isn't it also possible that the critical care might even be causing part of the problem? Only a true process of elimination can isolate what his system is having a problem with.

 

[Zeroshero]

Hi Majorv, thank you for your reply at this point I can't even begin to speculate on what the long term effects will be. Just the thought of him potentially never recovering is devistating. His body score was the same when he weighed 516grams (Saturday night) as it was this morning at 496grams minus the bloated appearance in his abdomen. I am dropping him off at the vet tomorrow he will be there all day for observation and a re-check. I sent my vet a detailed email this morning with the fluctuations and the steps that were taken and she has not phoned me to come in immediately or to say not to do them. Poor little guy.

Edited to add that he has only been off alfalfa pellets for one day. On 5/11 he weighed 494 grams before the bloat episode that evening where he reached 516grams, his weight was 496grams this morning which I feel is a more accurate number so in my mind I believe he is still gaining weight, he lost gas. Perhaps I am wrong though.