Help: Bunny in stasis? (resolved!)

[kirbyultra]

mistyjr wrote:

I wouldnt be feeding your bun carrots to much.. When I had my girl, I would be feeding her carrots and spinach and she died an 30 min.

:shock::? Misty, was there an underlying issue with your girl bun? Let's be clear here and not scare anyone. Carrots and spinach aren't toxic and shouldn't kill an otherwise healthy rabbit in 30 minutes...

 

[l.lai]

yeah that scared the crap outta me just then but also made me laugh because my rabbits would be dead if carrots and spinich were not allowed.

Carrots are fed sparingly, like they gets mostly carrot tops, but the small amount of carrot that they do get is usually the size of a couple carrot sticks you'd dip into some sauce.

So pineapple is outta the picture again, we're back to pure pumpkin, hay, water and critical care?

 

[Maureen Las]

pamnock wrote:

Parsley is a good diuretic.

A veterinarian did some experiments with blockages removed from rabbit's stomachs and found that the common enzymes purported to break up hair blockages did absolutely nothing to degrade the mass nor did the enzymes have any effect on breaking down the mucus. You can do a simple experiment by soaking hair in pineapple juice - it has absolutely no effect on the hair.You can also try the experiment with a mucus plug or mucus coated cecalif you find it in a litter pan.

Technically Pam is right but pineapple juice has appeared to help my rabbits for whatever reason :?
possibly just more additional fluids

 

[l.lai]

I may still try pineapple if it'll mean Racer gets more fluids into him which can only do him good.

Unfortunately in Australia they dont sell tinned pureed pumpkin, only pumpkin soups...this country only recently got canned chicken!

 

[kirbyultra]

l.lai wrote:

I may still try pineapple if it'll mean Racer gets more fluids into him which can only do him good.

Unfortunately in Australia they dont sell tinned pureed pumpkin, only pumpkin soups...this country only recently got canned chicken!

Oh what a shame! So what on earth do people in Australia do when they want to make a pumpkin pie...? Do they go out, buy a real pumpkin and puree it themselves? h34r2

For the pineapple juice, fresh pineapple I hear is best. If you're going to use canned, maybe just water it down a bit as it might be too sugary to slurp straight up for a bun.

 

[l.lai]

kirbyultra wrote:

l.lai wrote:

I may still try pineapple if it'll mean Racer gets more fluids into him which can only do him good.

Unfortunately in Australia they dont sell tinned pureed pumpkin, only pumpkin soups...this country only recently got canned chicken!

Oh what a shame! So what on earth do people in Australia do when they want to make a pumpkin pie...? Do they go out, buy a real pumpkin and puree it themselves? h34r2

For the pineapple juice, fresh pineapple I hear is best. If you're going to use canned, maybe just water it down a bit as it might be too sugary to slurp straight up for a bun.

lol "pumpkin pie" is such an American thing! I have never had it in my life, and i dont know anyone who has!

I've had pumpkin soup quite a lot, and when we make that we just buy fresh pumpkin and mash or blend it up!

But i agree, i do wish we had the wonderful foods america had! Though we've managed to overtake America as the worlds most obese nation without all your fast foods and sugar filled cereals!

 

[TinysMom]

mistyjr wrote:

I wouldnt be feeding your bun carrots to much.. When I had my girl, I would be feeding her carrots and spinach and she died an 30 min.

I feed carrots all the time - I really don't see a problem with that other than the fact that they may ignore the pellets in order to just eat treats.

You've gotten great advice...and I hope someday you get to try pumpkin pie...my favorite!

 

[l.lai]

You guys gotta try the Aussie Favourite, the meat pie! (Minced beef and gravy inside). Delicious!


Its as Aussie as they come, the Four 'N' Twenty meat pie (its the brand).

 

[tonyshuman]

I think the reason the pineapple juice helps sometimes is that it's acidic and has a bit of easily digestible sugar. Sugar can be bad and food in this situation, but sometimes if they're not eating for a while, their blood sugar can get low, and that can make them listless, tired, and with low blood sugar, the muscles in the gut can't work either. The acidity helps get the gut back to a lower pH which can help the good bacteria.

This is just a theory of course!

 

[pinupchick]

My Ula bunny was (is) having similar issues. She stopped eating her Oxbow pellets and is eating a lot less hay. She'll go for veggies and treats like normal, and her poop is a lot smaller than usual.

I took her to the vet who noticed some minor issues with her molars starting to crop up. I'm going to book her in a for trimming later this week.

One thing that did work was that I changed her pellets over to Zupreem (topped up with a lower-end alfalfa pellet). She's eating all the pellets again. I've heard stuff about bad batches of Oxbow, so maybe try switching the brand as well?

But yeah, also have his teeth checked when you get the chance.

 

[elrohwen]

I would probably feed some Critical Care and push hay over pellets. I don't think he's in stasis at this point, he's just a little backed up (since he's still eating veggies), so preventative Crit Care will help get him through. It doesn't sound like he has gas at this point, but simethicone couldn't hurt.

If he stops pooping or eating anything for 24 hours, I would call the vet. For now he's eating something and still pooping, so he's ok.

You could get some dried papaya to feed him. I don't know that I believe in its ability to dissolve hair, but it can't hurt in small amounts. Just don't feed too much as it is high in sugar and extra sugars can upset the balance of bacteria in his tummy.

 

[l.lai]

elrohwen wrote:

I would probably feed some Critical Care and push hay over pellets. I don't think he's in stasis at this point, he's just a little backed up (since he's still eating veggies), so preventative Crit Care will help get him through. It doesn't sound like he has gas at this point, but simethicone couldn't hurt.

If he stops pooping or eating anything for 24 hours, I would call the vet. For now he's eating something and still pooping, so he's ok.

You could get some dried papaya to feed him. I don't know that I believe in its ability to dissolve hair, but it can't hurt in small amounts. Just don't feed too much as it is high in sugar and extra sugars can upset the balance of bacteria in his tummy.

Unfortunately critical care doesnt arrive till Friday, so for now, i've given him A LOT of hay, water and fresh leafy vegetables.

He has been somewhat avoiding his pellets, but thats fine as he seems to be eating up his dill, mint, celery, celery leaf, carrot and parsley. I've been giving him around 1-2 cups a day and he eats all of it, and some of his hay.

So he seems to be eating.

I checked his litter tray, lots of urine, so he's drinking water.

Only issue now is his poo, which i saw last night again i found some strung together with hair, and the poops are still quite dark and hard.

 

[l.lai]

I assume when it says on the directions for critical care:

"Directions for Use:
As a general guideline, mix 1 part Critical Care to 2 parts warm water. The volume of water may be adjusted to obtain optimal feeding
consistency. Amounts are general guidelines and should be adjusted based on patient condition. Divide into 4-6 feedings or as indicated by
your veterinarian. Water should be available to the animal at all times."

And on the chart, it says for a rabbit around 1-1.5kg, that they should have 3-4 tbsp (table spoons), so this means 6-8 tablespoons of water?

1:2 ratio right?

Is this correct?

From here:

http://www.oxbowanimalhealth.com/resources/dyn/files/98781/_fn/2008+Critical+Care+feeding+chart+front+only.pdf

 

[tonyshuman]

Critical Care needs to be really well hydrated before you give it because otherwise it can draw moisture out of the GI tract, the exact opposite of what you want. I would use at least twice as much water as they recommend, and let it sit for a good 15 min to absorb it all.

 

[cirrustwi]

angieluv wrote:

I brought up pure canned pumpkin?? :?

Sorry I must have missed that one!! :headsmack

I somehow got lost in this one. Someone's rabbit died and the cause was spinach and carrots? Carrots have a higher sugar content then some other veggies and spinach is high in oxalates and can limit calcium absorption[font="Arial, Verdana, sans-serif"], but they shouldn't kill a healthy rabbit...

Just a quick note, you can buy critical care at most pet stores, but in the reptile area. It's labeled at Repti-Aid for herbivorous reptiles, however it is the same thing as the critical care for rabbits.
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[l.lai]

Just a quick update:

Racer still appears to be eating his hay, i have moved him off pellets this week, trying to get him to eat more hay and just drink more water.

I attempted to give him Critical Care last night, he eat a little but then turned his head.

I then mashed up some banana and gave it to him, he tasted it and turned away.

I then mixed the critical care with mint leaves and he eat it up straight away.

I let him out for a run for about 1 hour, i noticed his poops, they were not frequent, in fact over the 1 hour i only noticed 6 poops, of small-medium size, 2 of which were strung together with hair.

So he's not out of danger, but he's eating lots of veggies and hay, but seems he's still slightly backed up.

I'm hoping the next week or so of mixing critical care into his veggies will clear out this blockage and his poops will return to normal.

I've been brushing him and his shedding has slowed down with less hairs around.

 

[pamnock]

kirbyultra wrote:

mistyjr wrote:

I wouldnt be feeding your bun carrots to much.. When I had my girl, I would be feeding her carrots and spinach and she died an 30 min.

:shock::? Misty, was there an underlying issue with your girl bun? Let's be clear here and not scare anyone. Carrots and spinach aren't toxic and shouldn't kill an otherwise healthy rabbit in 30 minutes...

If a rabbit gorges on greens when green foods have not been a part of their normal diet, the rabbit can die very quickly. I saw it happen once with a young rabbit that someone fed carrot tops to. This is why it is so strongly advised to make major diet changes very slowly, and to introduce new foods carefully.

 

[pamnock]

Fur block generally isn't the cause of gut slow down, just the secondary sign of the intestinal system not working properly. In some cases, this is due to seasonal viruses that affect the nerves of the intestines. However, stasis can have many causes.

I use Nutrical for cats/dogs when rabbits suffer from stasis.

 

[l.lai]

Thanks Pam, unfortunately not much is available to rabbit owners in Australia.

Critical Care from Oxbow will have to do, i'll keep feeding Racer a mix of Critical Care and veggies and hay and hopefully his blockage will be fixed and his gut will return to normal.

 

[cirrustwi]

How is Racer doing?