Hairball caused GI stasis

[James + Ted]

Hi all,

We’ve had Ted for almost 4 years, and he‘s never had health issues. About 2 months ago he had a routine check up, and the vet said he was in excellent health. But ten days ago I noticed that he didn’t eat anything for about 12 hours, so I rushed him to a vet located about 90 minutes away. It turned out that he had a hairball that was causing GI stasis. He had an infection that was causing a fever, and a hairball that was blocking that couldn’t be completely extracted. So they performed surgery, with no guarantee that he would survive. They opened him, found twisted intestines, and corrected the problem. With the help of antibiotics they eventually got the infection under control, and I brought him home after 4 days in the hospital. So for the past week we’ve been giving him a couple different antibiotics and a couple different pain medications twice per day, and putting a salve on his surgical incision, and so forth.

He’s doing better now. Yesterday his ears finally felt like they were at a normal temperature, not warm, so he seems to be getting past the infection. And he gave us his first post-surgery flop yesterday! So things seem to be moving in the right direction. We will take him back to the vet for a follow up exam next Wednesday, to make sure that he’s good.

In the past we have brushed him occasionally, especially during shedding seasons. But now we’ve learned a hard lesson about the importance of brushing him every day, to remove excess fur. We almost lost Ted, and it cost $6,000 to correct a problem that might’ve been avoided, in the first place. We were so fortunate that we had such a good vet in our area that could deal with this problem.

 

[Blue eyes]

Glad he's doing better.

Extra hay consumption is also very helpful in preventing gut issues. Refreshing the hay a few times per day, especially during a shed, can provide the roughage to push everything (including ingested fur) through the gut.

 

[James + Ted]

Glad he's doing better.

Extra hay consumption is also very helpful in preventing gut issues. Refreshing the hay a few times per day, especially during a shed, can provide the roughage to push everything (including ingested fur) through the gut.

Thank you, I will remember that.

 

[ISAC QUIN HOOER]

Yes, its a miracle that Ted survived the surgery

Is ted by chance a longhaired/fuzzy rabbit?

 

[James + Ted]

Yes, its a miracle that Ted survived the surgery

Is ted by chance a longhaired/fuzzy rabbit?

Yes, Ted was very lucky to survive this problem. The vet made it clear that he might pass on during surgery. Afterwards he was very stressed and battling infection. We drove up there to bring him some of his favorite super soft hay, and they allowed us to visit with him for 10 minutes. The vet said he responded positively to that, and he’s been slowly improving since then.

I think Ted is called an American White rabbit, which is a shorter hair breed.



BTW I see that you are in Oregon. I just spent a week on the coast there, I liked it a lot. I will probably move there, in the future.

 

[ISAC QUIN HOOER]

Yes, Ted was very lucky to survive this problem. The vet made it clear that he might pass on during surgery. Afterwards he was very stressed and battling infection. We drove up there to bring him some of his favorite super soft hay, and they allowed us to visit with him for 10 minutes. The vet said he responded positively to that, and he’s been slowly improving since then.

I think Ted is called an American White rabbit, which is a shorter hair breed.



BTW I see that you are in Oregon. I just spent a week on the coast there, I liked it a lot. I will probably move there, in the future.

oh, i thought that only longhaired rabbits got hairballs... i probably need to start brushing my rabbits.

(BTW i like the beach too. i just spent a few days at Netarts, Oregon, and liked it a lot, the tide was too high so we couldn't clam, but we went crabbing tho. And a several weeks ago i spent a few days at Neskowin, Oregon. And in February i will go Mazatlán, Mexico with my grandparents for a week.)

 

[Moonshadow]

So glad your bunny has made it past surgery and seems to be recovering!

One thing I’ve found that works for me is plucking the bun’s fur out by hand with a regular fan going in a direction where it takes the fur and makes it fly away after being plucked. In other words being sideways to the fan (you and the bunny) and having somewhere the fur blows to (outside or a filter or something).

I usually do it in my dad’s work shop. The fan blows the fur away from my eyes and Min-Min’s eye and body then it flies into the air where the exhaust fan and dust collector picks it up. For people without a exhaust fan/dust collector, it works to just blow fur out a window. This method actually worked better for me than trying to brush the fur away.

 

[JBun]

That's so great you have a knowledgeable rabbit vet that was able to properly diagnose and save your rabbit! I hope he's continuing to do well in his recovery from surgery

 

[marilynpearson237]

Yes, you are very lucky yo have an experienced vet. Many/most aren't and then to be experienced enough to do the surgery. That vet is extra special!

 

[James + Ted]

So glad your bunny has made it past surgery and seems to be recovering!

One thing I’ve found that works for me is plucking the bun’s fur out by hand with a regular fan going in a direction where it takes the fur and makes it fly away after being plucked. In other words being sideways to the fan (you and the bunny) and having somewhere the fur blows to (outside or a filter or something).

I usually do it in my dad’s work shop. The fan blows the fur away from my eyes and Min-Min’s eye and body then it flies into the air where the exhaust fan and dust collector picks it up. For people without a exhaust fan/dust collector, it works to just blow fur out a window. This method actually worked better for me than trying to brush the fur away.

That’s a good idea, thanks.

I think we will use a combination of both plucking and brushing to remove fur, in the future

 

[James + Ted]

@JBun
@marilynpearson237

thanks, Ted is almost back to normal now.

yes, we are lucky to have such a great vet in our area. They have 13 vets on staff, and only deal with exotics like rabbits iguanas parrots toucans etc. they are like the Mayo Clinic for animals

 

[James + Ted]

oh, i thought that only longhaired rabbits got hairballs... i probably need to start brushing my rabbits.

(BTW i like the beach too. i just spent a few days at Netarts, Oregon, and liked it a lot, the tide was too high so we couldn't clam, but we went crabbing tho. And a several weeks ago i spent a few days at Neskowin, Oregon. And in February i will go Mazatlán, Mexico with my grandparents for a week.)

I think any rabbit can get hair balls . So that’s why I posted about Ted’s problem, to share my experience and pass along the importance of brushing rabbits to remove loose fur.

BTW Those areas that you mentioned are very scenic, nice places to live. I am in the process of trying to sell my house to move to Oregon but it’s not easy because of escalating interest rates. We’ll see what happens…….