How do I continue?

[Maureen Las]

An x-ray is good idea and keeppushing fluids until you go tomorrow
I hope that it is not serious

 

[SDShorty]

I am so happy to be able to say that Dori seems to be doing a lot better tonight. Not fully recovered, but already 10 times better than this morning. After doing some syringe fluids at lunch, when I came home from work I gave her the motility med dosage, and I was able to successfully give her a few syringes of pedialyte and a mix of peas, blueberry, and pear baby food. And she was actually cooperative, so that was great. After that she seemed a little more active. Then about an hour ago I put some fresh papaya, pineapple, and pea baby food in the blender, and I gave her a few syringes of that blend and some fresh cool water, and that was successful as well. I also massaged her belly a couple of times today. I also gave her some strips of fresh corn husk since I bought some corn on the cob at Whole Foods also. And she was receptive to the corn husk and had a few strips of it. Then I just looked over to see that she discovered I put a bottle of water in her cage along with the bowl of water, she was curious about it, then she started drinking water on her own :clapping: She was drinking water for at least a good 15 seconds. Earlier I also saw her going to the bathroom in her litter box and munching on a little hay. I'm ray: that this is the road to recovery for miss Dori

 

[tonyshuman]

Sometimes bunnies prefer one type of water delivery system over the other, and their preferences can change. My Tony ignored his bottle for months but now has rediscovered it and loves it. I try to keep the bottle and bowls full whenever so they can have as much as they want.

Typically, it's best for a vet to do x-rays before giving gut motility drugs because if there is an actual blockage, motility drugs can cause more harm than good--if it's just sluggish, full intestines, the motility drugs can be ok.

I would also get her some probiotic--you mentioned PetSmart above? They sell something called Bene-Bac and it contains good bacteria for a rabbit's GI tract (found in dog/cat section). It can help when there's stress or some other issue that might lead to stasis.

Do you have an idea what caused the stasis to occur in the first place? Now that she's doing better (fingers crossed), you'll want to try to figure out what caused it (illness of another sort, stress, environment change, pain from another illness, tooth problems, eating something she shouldn't have).

 

[SDShorty]

Tonight miss Dori continued to drink water on her own and munched on about 6 large leaves of basil and mint =). She's still going to get her Xrays tomorrow morning, but I'm happy that she's finally interested in some solid foods again!

I think I may know what a cause could be. The house rabbit society sells these carpet mats for the cages of the buns, so they've had those in their cages for the past year and a half. They like to dig and pull out the fibers, but I never though they were eating it cuz I found the pieces of carpet all over the place. Even though they've had that in their cage for a long time, I'm thinking maybe she's been eating little pieces of carpet and it finally caught up to her. So I'm thinking I have to go out tomorrow and find something new to put for the bottom of their cage. They reallly like having something soft to lay on, any suggestions what i can replace the carpet with?

 

[Basil24]

Wow what a scare! I'm glad to hear that Dori is doing better. I had the GI Stasis happen to my bun several months ago. My Ruby got it the same way Dori did. (Loose rugs)
So I bought this mat from IKEA that's about 10x6 F and $80.00 canadian, but it's so worth it. It's great because they have a grip underneath which is perfect for laminate or hardwood. They have smaller ones as well I believe. They are made out of this great tough woven material. (Sorry I cut off the tag on it) Or even those woven grass mats that are okay for buns to munch on? And then for her soft spots to flop and relax I got her a cat bed/mat that I can wash when needed.
If she still likes to nibble on that, a friend of mine had an edible woven basket that she filled with hay and her bun Chilly (rest in peace) would relax in there and munch out. If you're looking into getting the chew safe basket, to be honest they're hard to find. Here, they just have them for sale at the Rabbit Rescue Store and online. I hope this is helpful and good luck

 

[ra7751]

I would highly suggest asking your vet to teach you to do SQ fluids. But if you have to do orally, one of the hooked syringes works best. Start slowly since it isn't a natural thing for a rabbit. Most pet stores or vets havehooked syringes.

NutriCal DOES NOT promote hydration. The only thing that promotes hydration is fluids....and that can come from water, an electrolyte solution or by leafy greens (which are mostly water). Your vet is obviously aware of this. This product was discussed in a professional wildlife forum a couple of years ago and all the clinical people agreed that it does contribute to dehydration. Just this year another group was a huge user of NutriCal and were losing animals to dehydration. I suggested they discontinue using this product and their problems ended. Not saying that NutriCal can't be used in certain situations...but this is obviously not one of those times. As Ihave mentioned many times....hydration before nutrition. A dehydrated animal will die far quicker from organ failure than from starvation. And feeding solids to a dehydrated animal often leads to death. We lose a lot of wildlife due to well intentioned people feeding a starving animal.....if they are starving, they are also dehydrated. I have had rabbits not eat for over a week at a time. As far as my use of NutriCal....I only use it on animals that can digest meat (which is what it's made for). I will use it with opossums and birds of prey.....but only after they are properly hydrated.

And from your comments about your vet.....I would follow his/her instructions.

Randy

 

[tonyshuman]

So glad she's doing better. It does sound like the carpet could have caused this. I use sea grass mats, which they can eat w/o problems.

 

[Basil24]

Darn! I had forgotten that I also give her pineapple juice as a treat once a week to also prevent that and wool block. The acid in it helps it to break down in the stomach.
I would suggest just giving her very small amounts of it. (about a tablespoon to begin with). Just to see if she even likes it.
Good luck!

 

[SDShorty]

Well there is good news and bad news.

The good news is that the Xrays were good, vet saw no obstructions and she doesn't have any gas in her stomach. She has started eating on her own again, she is just loving kale and basil. she's also drinking on her own. However (sadly) she is still not back to her old self. She's not as excited about food as she used to be, she's not really eating pellets when she used to inhale them, and she's not as active and curious as she usually is. She tends to stay in one spot for long periods of time, only to get up and go lay down in another spot. Here is the possible bad news...

The vet was trying to help me remember if there has been anything at all that has been different, and I thought long and hard and finally thought of something....about 3-4 weeks ago I remember hearing shuffling around in the kitchen and found that she had squeezed her way on the side of the fridge...where the fridge's power cord is . I immediately shooed her out and put some brooms and stuff there so she wouldn't get back there again. The vet said to inspect the wire which I never thought to do, and sure enough it had quite a few bite marks on it. He thinks its possible she may have gotten a small shock and some neurological damage could come from that. I am devastated, if that is what happened I will just not be able to forgive myself for it because it was my fault for not making sure she couldn't get back there =(.

He took some blood work when he did the Xrays so I'll find out today if there is anything abnormal. I just want my Dori back to her funloving self...sigh.

Has anyone experienced a bun that developed neurological problems, is it something reversible?

 

[Basil24]

Oh no! I hope everything goes well for her today ray:

 

[tonyshuman]

I have had a bunny nip his way through a refrigerator cord w/o any apparent damage. BUT I have also heard of bunnies dying from chewing through TV cords. The idea of a shock causing some neurological damage I guess is possible, but I would be inclined to think not, to be honest. It sounds like she's still recovering from the episode, not having a personality change.

If her teeth are fine, what about eating a piece of plastic or carpet? A drastic change in the weather? A new person in the house, or a person missing from the house? A new pet? A new bag of pellets?

 

[SDShorty]

Yea the only other explanation is that she possibly picked up a piece of something foreign off the kitchen floor that we missed or the carpeting. The vet inspected her teeth when they did the Xrays and he said everything looks fine. I'm crossing my fingers that indeed she is still just recovering from this episode and that she'll be back to normal soon.

 

[Sweetie]

First I would like to say that you are a very good bun mom/dad.

Second, keep your rabbit hydrated. Like Randy or someone said on here, have your vet teach you to do sub-q fluids.

Also if your rabbit will eat hay and not the pellets then push the hay and water until you can get into the vet. I wish there was a way that I can teach you to do sub-q fluids. My vet taught me how to do them.

Here is a video I have found on the internet that can teach you how to give sub-q fluids: http://www.videojug.com/webvideo/how-to-give-sub-q-fluids-to-your-pet-rabbit

SDShorty: can you get sub-q fluids from your vet?

 

[SDShorty]

Well she's eating and drinking fine now, so the sub q aren't really needed. She has been eating fairly well the past 2 days now, she's been munching down kale and basil and mint leaves. So now her diet and hydration is not as much of a concern anymore, it's her strange demeanor that has be worried now

 

[Basil24]

How old is she?
You know how young and old people take a lot longer to recover from colds, flus, etc.?
Where as adults can bounce back a lot faster.
Maybe it's just something like that.
Or even the stress of going through that could be causing her strange demeanor.
Anyways, lets hope it's not permanent!

Tina :bunnybutt:

 

[SDShorty]

She is around 3 years old, so not very old at all. I'm just glad she has her buddy Enkei to keep her company and lick her ears

 

[SDShorty]

Well I talked to the vet and all her blood work is good, nothing abnormal. So I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that this is just recovery for her. She is still eating, but she still requires some coaxing, she doesn't come and rush to her food bowl, I have to put her favorite greens almost in her mouth for her to actually pick them up. And she still won't touch pellets. Although she's back to being excited when she even catches a whiff of banana LOL. So I'll just be patient and keep an eye on her and hope she starts coming back to normal soon.

 

[Basil24]

Oh that's great to hear everything came back normal!
Keep us updated!

Tina :bunnybutt:

 

[Sweetie]

Glad things are coming back to normal. Please keep us updated.