GI Stasis Treatment?

[kelilindsey]

Yes, he's on http://harvesthomesanctuary.org/vet-list

It's just that the new vet is thirty minutes one way from me, and the one I've been going to is forty minutes from me in the opposite direction. lol I'm going to pick up some more from him, anyway.

He picks through the pellets, and he's eating about a half cup of them a day on his own. I also grind them up and add them to the Critical Care for extra fiber.

I can't help but wonder if he's allergic to my new laundry detergent. He sneezes every time he lays down, and all of his blankets and towels have been washed recently in our new Gain detergent and fabric softener. It is highly scented. If the x-rays come back with nothing to show today, I'm going to be washing everything in Dreft. He awoke me last night with a sneezing fit while he was laying with me on my bed (30+ sneezes in a row!).

I'll try anything to get my sweet bun to feel better. :bunny19

 

[JBun]

1/2 cup of the hay pellets is pretty good. Do you think if you cut the amount of critical care he's getting, that he would eat more of the timothy pellets, or does he still seem to be reluctant to want to chew anything?

He could very easily be sensitive to your detergent. Instead of switching to dreft, maybe get a fragrence and dye free detergent, cause I think even dreft still has these things in it. Wouldn't that be great if that resolved his sneezing problems

 

[kelilindsey]

Yes, that would be wonderful! ray:

I had the x-rays taken earlier today, and the vet found nothing wrong. He thinks it's allergies.

So I'm putting off the antibiotic, and I washed everything in my room in Tide Clear & Free. The sneezing hasn't been as persistent. I've heard a few soft sneezes, so I hope this was the answer. He dug around in his timothy hay but didn't eat any of it. I haven't given him Critical Care because my vet only had a sample of the anise flavor left, and he turned his nose up at it. However, he's eaten some hay pellets on and off and some wet dandelion greens.

He seems to have lots of energy; he's running around my legs and exploring the room. He's been ripping fur from his feet, but I assume it's from the stress of so many car rides and vet trips lately.

 

[JBun]

Wow, I'm pretty surprised the vet didn't find anything! I wonder what Boots deal is with his hay right now :? Well, I guess as long as he's eating his hay pellets that's good. Good thing your feed store had some

That sounds like good progress on the sneezing. Maybe if the allergies clear up he'll start eating hay again. Who knows with rabbits? They can sometimes get so fussy about things I hope the feet thing doesn't become a problem.

 

[kelilindsey]

Yeah, I hope he gets better soon. He's turning his nose up at all food right now, and he seems really uncomfortable.

 

[JBun]

You could try some simethicone-1cc, in case he has some gas. Are you still feeding him critical care? What about veggies? Maybe one of those is causing the stomach upset. You could try cutting out the critical care, normal pellets, and the veggies and just feed him the hay pellets for a few days and see if it gets him feeling better, and eating and drinking better. Worth a try. Maybe one of those three things isn't settling well in his stomach.

 

[kelilindsey]

I've been giving him the simethicone, and it seems to be working well.

He ran out of Critical Care, but I'm giving him ground-up pellets and water. He eats it out of the bowl. He's been eating his dandelion greens and carrot tops, and I even caught him drinking regular water from his bowl. He seems to be feeling better. I've actually been administering the ear drops I'd gotten a while ago for his minor ear infection, as I suspected it might still be bugging him. He eats some pellets out of a bowl but still no hay.

At least he's excited about food again. His poops are large and numerous once more (yay)! He's also very active, but I'm guessing it's from frustration (he's not yet neutered and has been friendly with his teddy bear all day). I'm slowly directing him to a sugar-free, hay-based diet once again. He seems to be cooperating for the most part. He's still sneezing a bit, but I'm hopeful and optimistic.

 

[Imbrium]

yay, normal poops!

 

[JBun]

That's sounding really good, especially him drinking. I'm really glad the hay pellets have worked out. It sure saved me when my bun was sick and wouldn't eat hay.

If you've started the ear drops and they are an antibiotic ear drop, you'll want to finish the whole course of them, that's usually a week or more, to make sure all bacteria is killed off so the bacteria doesn't have the chance to become resistant. Did the new vet happen to mention anything about the ear infection?

 

[kelilindsey]

I cleaned the litter box out last night, and it was full by morning! He's also back to devouring greens in his usual wood chipper fashion. ;P

I'm glad they're working, too, though I'm afraid if he doesn't eat hay he'll need some other way to wear his teeth down.

It never came up. I didn't mention that he'd had an ear infection previously. I just guessed he still had it because he kept scratching. When I was originally given the drops, I was told to give it twice a day for five days. I believe they're called Tresaderm. Perhaps I didn't get enough drops down inside the ear the first time around. I'm using a syringe now, and that delivers the drops quickly without Boots noticing I have something in his ear.

 

[JBun]

Nothing better than a full litter box

I think once he's feeling completely better that he'll start eating his hay again. You could try chew toys, like willow or apple branches, but if he won't chew hay I don't know if he would chew those either. Maybe this whole ear infection thing is the culprit and once it clears up, he'll start eating hay again. If you have enough drops, you may want to give it to him for several more days, just to make sure it clears up this time round. You could ask your new vet whether you also need to be giving oral antibiotics as well. I always thought they did both for an ear infection, but I could be wrong. I try to avoid giving oral antibiotics just because it might upset the GI balance, but you definitely want this ear infection to clear up and not go on any longer, even if it involves having to give the oral meds.

 

[kelilindsey]

Boots is still refusing hay but devouring pellets, veggies, and ground hay pellets with water. His sneezing is happening more often, though. I want to start the Baytril, but I'm afraid he'll stop eating if I do. Why do antibiotics upset their tummies? Is it gas? Can I counteract the effects with simethicone?

His eyes and nose are moist, but no discharge is showing.

On the plus side, I can't see his spine anymore as when he was in GI stasis. He's quite a hungry bunny. Just now, he tipped over his bowl full of timothy hay pellets and is chowing down.

 

[JBun]

It's good to hear that he's putting weight back on. And it sounds like he's eating plenty. I still don't get the hay thing with him :?

Having the eyes moist along with the nose, makes me think either allergies or teeth(again). I don't even know if they would get weepy eyes with a bacterial infection. So if it's allergies or teeth, then the baytril isn't going to make any difference. The reason antibiotics can possibly upset their digestion, is because rabbits need to have a balance of good bacteria in their digestive system, and antibiotics can kill off the good bacteria along with the bad bacteria that they are targeting. So with the good bacteria getting killed off, it causes an imbalance, then food isn't digested properly which can result in GI problems. I would call your vet up and ask about the runny nose and weepy eyes. Maybe they will suggest giving the antibiotic. You may also want to mention about still trying to clear up the ear infection, when you call.

 

[Imbrium]

if you do end up putting him on the antibiotics, you should give a probiotic with them to help prevent tummy upset. sometimes vets carry probiotics; if they don't, sometimes pet stores or feed stores do. (you want to wait a bit, a couple hours maybe?, between giving the probiotics and giving an antibiotic dose)

 

[kelilindsey]

Oh, all right. I have that BeneBac that was given to me along with the Baytril.

My bun's hesitance to hay is really quite confusing, though. If it is just allergies, though, I don't want to introduce the Baytril. How would I help alleviate his allergies? I've already vacuumed, dusted, washed all the curtains and bedclothes in hypoallergenic detergent, and put an air purifier in the room. I haven't introduced anything new other than the Gain detergent that I will not be using again. Will it take some time for the fragrance to finally wear off, even though I've washed everything in Tide Free & Gentle?

 

[Imbrium]

yeah, the benebac's the right stuff - it gets the good bacteria back in balance so the antibiotics shouldn't upset his system.

I forget if it's been asked/mentioned... have you tried other types of hay? sometimes they just don't want to eat a certain kind (or cut).

I dunno about the allergies, never had a bunny with them.

 

[kelilindsey]

I've tried giving him other types of hay. Usually, I give him Kaytee Timothy Hay, and he used to eat it like crazy. Suddenly, he just stopped. I offered Oxbow Orchard Grass as well as fresh alfa alfa from my local feed store. He hasn't eaten any hay for weeks. I've been giving him pellets made completely from timothy hay meal from the feed store. He eats those a few times a day. I also grind them up and mix them with water.

Tonight, he made something that looked like broken up cecals, but he didn't eat them. :/

 

[tolstoibunny]

My bunny stopped eating hay when he was sneezing. He even looked as if he had difficult time swollowing specific food. He got different antibiotics and eventually started to eat normally after the sneezing got more occasional. He didn't have anything wrong with his teeth. His vet suggested that the eating difficulties might be from sore throat (never heard rabbit could have this) or phlegm that comes from sneezing. He never had any discharge from nose, though.

I think Tolstoi got some help from nebulizing treatment (just with saline solution) and saline nasal drops. He also had some medicine that was supposed to make the phlegm looser but I'm not sure it did any good. Have you tried boosting your bunny's immune system by giving him Echinacea tincture?

 

[kelilindsey]

No, I've never heard of using that on a rabbit.

Do you think a vaporizer with some saline could help his sneezing?

 

[JBun]

I think they were suggesting that maybe he needed an antibiotic. Maybe his reluctance to eat hay has to do with a sore throat. You could ask your vet about it. Though I don't like to give antibiotics unnecessarily, sometimes it is necessary to clear up an infection. Maybe Boots has some sort of infection and that's the cause of his strange avoidance of hay now. Just make sure to give probiotics 2 hours after antibiotics, if you do decide to do it. That will help with his gut not getting so messed up.