GI Stasis Treatment?

[JBun]

I had been wondering what happened with Boots.

Wow!!! I can't believe it. We were talking about it being his teeth all that time, and there you go, find a good vet, and sure enough it's his teeth. I can't believe that it took a specialist to figure this out, and that ALL those rabbit vets missed it. You should email them and tell them that they were wrong about it not being his teeth. I just knew that he couldn't be having those eating problems for so long, without there being an underlying cause. Well, I'm really glad that you finally were able to find a vet that figured it out, but that sucks that it is going to cost so much. Is there maybe another dental specialist within a few hours drive, that you could get a second opinion from? It might be worth it if you could even just save a few hundred off that amount.

 

[sarah222296]

If you got approved for care credit try calling them and asking if they can increase your limit, most card companies will do it as long as your credit is good. i doubt you'll get 3grand but at best they could increase it to 1000$. You could also try discover card, they have a card thats interest free for a year. Every dollar helps if your bent on having the dental done. Honestly 9 out of 10 vets don't know what there doing when it comes to more than an eye infection in rabbits.

 

[kelilindsey]

I wish I had found this specialist vet sooner. I had the money for it a month ago, and I feel so guilty for not getting this done. I shouldn't have trusted the veterinarian in Turlock. Boots had stopped eating for a week, and he couldn't seem to swallow his syringe feedings. He went into stasis pretty quickly, and I picked up some metaclopromide to get his gut moving again. I could hear stomach rumbles four days into using it, but he hadn't pooped in a couple of days. I figured he must have some hard poop stuck somewhere after his stomach.

I called the vet I went to a week ago and begged for them to do the procedure and set up a payment plan because Boots was obviously weak from his inability to eat. He acted hungry and thirsty, and begged for food but would only sniff his pellet mush and spit out his Critical Care and Pedialyte. He tried jumping on the bed twice and couldn't make it anymore. It took a long time to hear back from the doctor, so I called CareCredit to request an increase. Apparently, they're not open on Saturdays, so I could not get an increase. When I finally got a call from the receptionist at Bay Area Bird Hospital, she said there was no way they could do it without payment in full. She gave me the number to an emergency vet two hours away from me that may or may not have had a rabbit savvy vet. I gave Boots a few small enemas over the next 16 hours to try to hydrate the GI tract and possible impaction, but nothing came out. He started slumping on top of his plastic igloo, which worried me. It was a hard decision because he seemed to have some strength left, but I didn't want him to die in agony of starvation. I left at 5AM Easter morning and had him put to sleep at a local emergency vet.

I feel so guilty because I know I could have saved him a month ago, or possibly even then if I could get him to swallow something and start pooping. I don't know if I made the right decision, and I'll never get over this. He should have had another 6 to 8 years with us; it's not fair. I feel like I gave up on him.

 

[JBun]

I'm so sorry about Boots. I'm so shocked to hear that he didn't make it. He was such a trooper and hung in there so long. If he wasn't swallowing or pooping, I don't know that there is anything else you could have done. But this didn't happen for your lack of trying. You'd been trying for months to get him the help he needed, but the problem was these vets that don't know what they are doing when it comes to rabbits. You took really good care of him, you tried to get him the help that he needed, that's all you can really do. You loved and cared about him, and I'm sure he knew that.