Heather's poorly...

[Hollie]

Last night when I took the girls their dinnerin, greedy guts Heather was sitting on her chair and didn't move untilI went right up to her. When she hopped down, she just moved reallyslowly, as if it hurt her. She looked like she was trying to poop orwee, the hopped away - I went over to check but there was nothingthere. I picked her up and her belly's really hard - she's always beenon the chubby side so her tummy's normally big, but it seemed evenbigger whenI felt it, and there were gassy kinda rumblings.

I seperated her from the others and kept her in my room all night; thismorning when I looked in on her she still hasn't gone to the toilet butshe has managed to eat what I left down for her, for the most part; acos lettuce leaf, a few smallish pieces of carrot, some rocket and someparsley - I didn't give her too much, and there was still some parsleyleft over, which is odd cos that's her favourite thing. I believe she'sdrunk some of the water, too - it's in a bowl though, so not easy tomeasure.

She's not been grinding her teeth and she was definitely more activethis morning than she was last night, but still not her usual fiestyself. And she seems to be hot - her ears when I was holding her lastnight seemed purple, there was so much blood in them.

I'm trying to get hold of my vet for their opinion, but they're notreally rabbit savvy over here... I reckon she's got bloat, gas orstasis, but from reading the infirmary files I can't seem to figurewhich one it is. Will administering some Simethicone (if I can findit!) help, no matter which one it is? What about force-feeding waterwith a syringe?

 

[Hollie]

Right, I'm off to the vet... I'll let you all know what happens.

 

[Pipp]

Oh no, I missed this!

How is she?

If you weren't already going to a vet, I'd say definitely Simethicone,and quite a bit of it. I'm sure there will be some brand oranother over there. Any baby gas med should haveit. She may have been trying to pass gas.

And get her moving around, or give her a tummy massage.

That's always my first line of defense.

If she goes for awhile without poops (or if she has diarrhea) that's when to really be concerned about hydration.

Let us know what the vet says! (Better to be safe than sorry, the vet may find something totally different).

sas

 

[Hollie]

I took her to the vet and she's there nowgetting x-rayed in case she's got something stuck... when i went hometo pick her up, she had pooped (normal, too), there wasn't any tracesof hair or anything in it, and she'd eaten a bit more and was lessbloated, too... when i put her into the carry case i gave her somelettuce leaves (mainly for water), and she started eating straightaway! The first vet I took her to didn't specialise in bunnies (she's afriend) and she checked her out, but to be on the safe side sheforwarded me to their small furry-savvy vet and for x-rays. I'll knowthis afternoon how it goes...

 

[Pipp]

<whew>

sounds like gas. (that's the most common thing with my bunnies).

and sounds like she'll be okay. if she's eating and pooping, all is probably well.

gas attacks can really look scary. and they can getscarier. from my experience, sometimes if they're not dealtwith, they can get all shocky presumably from the pain, theirtemperature drops and that can spell trouble.

simethicone really is my best friend around here. it workswonders. quickly, too. if you make it the firstthing you try, you'll know if a vet is necessary within an hour ortwo. (it can't hurt).

a blockage is rare, you'd have to figure she ate something like plasticor carpet for a sudden blockage.a GIstasis situation doesn't develop that fast,and stasis isusually a symptom of something else.

If the appetite seems normal but the poops get small and disappear, youstill have to treat them for stasis and watch for ablockage.butsmall poops isalsoa natural occurance if theirappetite drops off for anotherhealth-related reason, at which point you have to get them eating andtreat for stasis and then try and figure out why they stoppedeating.

bloat is incredibly scary. it's really sudden and they getvery sick very fast. it's often accompanied by diarrhea,lethargy, tooth grindingand i believe it almostalwaysinvolves a temperature veryquickly.

and then there's a myriad of other things that are rarely obvious. they keep us on our toes!

nose pats and hugs to you both, hopeall continues to be well. :clover:

sas

 

[Hollie]

What a relief that it might not be somethingserious... it was the fact that she was off her food last night thatjust really worried me, knowing what a pig she normally is!

Last night she was definitely lethargic, hopping about really slowlyand once she'd stop she'd flop down, stretching her legs out behindher. When I picked her up her ears were so hot, she was shaking them tocool them down.

I know she's sneaky and still nibbles at the carpet occasionally, andshe's got a passion for cardboard (they all do; they rip it up and eatsmall pieces of it, too), plus they all managed to get hold of a candle(no idea where from!) and chewed that; maybe she's got a blockage ofone of those things.

If it is a blockage, what's the normal procedure? The vet saidsomething about giving her a pill that would normally be used to inducevomiting that would help her to pass it all by relaxing her bowels, ifit was a blockage, ...

 

[Pipp]

Hollie wrote:

Last night she was definitely lethargic, hopping aboutreally slowly and once she'd stop she'd flop down, stretching her legsout behind her. When I picked her up her ears were so hot, she wasshaking them to cool them down.

Classic gas symptom is the flopping and stretching. She'suncomfortable. With bloat,lethargy meansprettylimp and not moving at all. She needsSimethicone, exercise and a tummy massage, nothing more. (Andyou may want to check and see if one of her veggies is giving hergas). Simethicone takes it away prettyquick. Without it, it tends to hang in for awhile.But if she's eating a little, pooping and moving a little, she'scertainly not critical.

If it is a blockage, what's the normal procedure? The vet saidsomething about giving her a pill that would normally be used to inducevomiting that would help her to pass it all by relaxing her bowels, ifit was a blockage, ...

Is she home? Is that the rabbit savvy vet? Not surewhat he/she's talking about. But there's no blockage if she'spooping!

ss

 

[Hollie]

No, she's not home yet; this is what the first vet suggested before I took her to the other clinic for her xrays...

She didn't get any new vegetables the night before; do you think someof the existing ones could have suddenly done it for her? Thinkingback, the only thing that I gave her that might have caused gas werebroccoli (but only a small piece about 3" max wide, split between thefive rabbits and guinea pig) and green beans (probably about 15 betweenthe four girls), neither of which have ever given them problems before.

I'm waiting for them to call... they did say that they were really busytoday so it wouldn't be until this afternoon; it's 1.30 now and I thinkthey close at 4pm, so hopefully not much longer to wait! I feel so badleaving her there...

 

[Pipp]

brocolli and green beans never bothered herbefore? they probably won't now, unless she are more thanusual or there was a bit of a bad spot burried in theresomewhere. every bunny is different. all mine dogreat with broccoli and cauliflower, some buns don't.

i've been able to narrow dill's problem down to cilantro, although itdidn't appear to be happening all the time. although i thinkhe knows it bothers him and doesn't eat much of it (if any) unlessthere's nothing else. (i always give them five or sixdifferent veggies, and what he doesn't eat, sherry does).

sometimes he'll pick something up off the floor and thatwill give him gas.

sometimes it's not from the food,i guess they can pick up abug of some type, too, but I only worry about that if the simethiconedoesn't work. or if it only workstemporarly.

thevet usually just tests their poop under a microscope.

keep up with the updates!

sas

ps: just to make sure, check your pellets and hay to make sure they don't smell moldy or musty.

pps: did you mention simethicone to the vet?

 

[Hollie]

I mentioned it to her (the none-rabbit savvy one; I've not met the rabbit savvy one), but she'd not heard of it before.

Their hay's fine; they don't get pellets but a dry mix, and that's fine, too...

Still not heard back from the vet... I'm going to give them a call to see what's going on!




Ok, I called them, there was an emergency operation had to be performedso she's been put on hold; I'll get a call in about two hours :?

 

[Haley]

Oh your poor little Heather. Im praying for her.Sounds like sas has got you pretty well covered on this one. Hereshopng you can get her home soon!

 

[Hollie]

The vet just called...

They had to sedate her to take the xrays, and it turns out she's gotchronic bloat... her gut's full of stuff so they're keeping her inovernight to pump fluids into her and give her loads of hay to try andget it all moving. When she comes home tomorrow she's got to haveantibiotics and something else in her water; my poor baby!

 

[naturestee]

I hope she's okay!

ray:

 

[Hollie]

Me too!

Oh, and the vet recommended papaya and pineapple juice for her...

Which juice do you guys buy? Just typical off the shelve stuff, or what? What about sweeteners?

 

[naturestee]

The juice is worth a try. The enzymesdon't actually do anything to dissolve blockages, but it's very tastyhydration. I've heard fresh is better if you can get it,and avoid sweeteners because rabbits shouldn't get extrasugar. The juice has enough sugar as it is.

 

[Pipp]

How's Heather?

 

[Hollie]

She's good! Sorry I didn't respond yesterday,but I was off work and had no access. I picked her up yesterday morningand she sat in the carrier looking sorry for herself all the way home!When we got in I gave her some coriander and she wasn't reallyinterested, but she did run around, which was good. I think she washappy to be back with the other girls. I gave them all a few treat barsand some millet, and Heather was in there scoffing with the rest ofthem, as usual

I'm giving her .6mls of Baytril once a day, and she's also got to take1/4 tablet dissolved in water twice a day (can't remember what thetablet's called, just that it begins with an M). This means that poorbaby's got to be force fed them through a syringe, which she's beingreally good with. I think she just likes the raisins I've been givingher afterwards

During the day she's with the other girls, but at night I've beenkeeping her in a carrier so I can moniter how much she's eating andpooping; she stuffed herself last night, but there didn't seem to bemuch poo; still, it's overnight, I'm not expecting her to do loads!She's much perkier and actually let me sit there for over an hourgrooming her yesterday without struggling; I think she actually enjoyedit. And she's taken to licking me, too, which she never did before... Iactually had a wet patch on my shirt yesterday where she'd been lickingme after I gave her her meds!

 

[naturestee]

I bet she just realizes how much you're doing for her!

It sounds like she's doing pretty good. I hope she continues to improve!

 

[Hollie]

An update on Heather:

She'll have her last tablet piece tonight, and I'm continuing with theBaytril for another week or so. She's much perkier and as grumpy asnormal, when I put her back in with the other girls in the morning shechases them round and reminds them who's boss! I'm still keeping her byherself at night so I can see how much she eats (absolutely loads) andmonitor her pooping, though there still doesn't seem to be much.

At least she's being good when I give her her meds now!

 

[naturestee]

That sounds great! :agree