please help- not eating, no poop for 11 days!! - RIP

[Harrison]

I'm at a loss for what to do! My lion mane bunny who is 1.5 years old female stopped eating when we moved and hasn't pooped in 11 days!
She is grinding her teeth from pain a lot and her stomach is growling loudly. We've taken her to the vet 4 times in the last week and she has another appointment tomorrow with a different vet clinic. They have ruled out teeth pain, she was put on a weeks worth of probiotics which she has finished now. She is still peeing about 2 times a day and drinking voluntarily, but will only eat a few bites each day. She has open access to fresh hay and an assortment of her favorite greens but still no interest.

The first vet told us it was just gas but I have a hard time believing that. They did an X-ray which didn't appear to show any GI blockage. Her body temperature was shown to be low so we turned on a heat lamp which she spends a lot of time laying under.

She went in for an IV today and a few hours after produced a few pellets of complete gel, so it's apparent her stomach is empty. We were told not to force feed her CritiCare as her digestive system is not moving, however she is getting really skinny.

I hope the vet tomorrow can shed some light but wanted to ask in the meantime if anyone else has experienced this with their bunny.

 

[Bonsai]

Hm... Perhaps ask them if they can give her some sort of gut stimulant? I have not dealt with a stasis like this, only in a baby bun who passed shortly after, but I was under the impression gut stimulants were one of the things they should get to make their stomachs begin moving and encourage them to eat/ease the pain. I suggest bringing that up with your vet and seeing if that is an option!

Good luck with your girl, I hope they find something that works for her ray:

 

[Harrison]

Thanks! I'll ask them about it. I just really hope that she survives long enough to make it to the appointment.

 

[JBun]

You need to find a different vet, one that is rabbit savvy, as your current vet does not sound like they know what they are doing.

Yes your rabbit needs to be fed critical care, at least every 4-6 hours, every day until she is eating normally again, or she will starve and her digestive system can shut down completely. Her digestive system isn't moving and she isn't pooping because she has very little food going through her because she isn't being force fed and she isn't eating much on her own. Rabbits need to constantly have food moving through their digestive system or they can develop slow gut motility, and there is a high risk of a complete obstruction developing. How does this vet expect your rabbit to survive if she's not eating and not being force fed? She needs food and nutrition to keep her digestive system moving. The only reason you shouldn't force feed a rabbit is if there is a complete blockage or severe bloat, and if this is the case the vet should have identified the problem and recommended immediate treatment and possibly surgery. Not let your poor rabbit starve for a week and a half. I'm sorry, nothing against you, you are just trusting that the vet knows what they are doing, but I am sick to death of incompetent vets not knowing what they are doing and recommending inappropriate and incorrect treatment and information when it comes to rabbits.

Your rabbit should at least be getting pain medication such as metacam or even an opiate pain med, a gut motility med such as cisapride and/or metoclopramide, and should be getting regular critical care feedings through out the day.

After so long without improving, a good rabbit vet would also be suggesting further testing to figure out if there is an underlying problem causing the lack of appetite. Things like head and body xrays, blood tests, urinalysis, a thorough dental exam under GA as some dental problems can be missed in a conscious exam.

Here's some info on the subject to read up on. I really hope your rabbit will be ok and that this new vet is a good rabbit vet and figures out what is going on and prescribes the right treatment for your bun.
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.pdf
http://wildpro.twycrosszoo.org/S/00dis/Miscellaneous/GastricStasis_Rabbits.htm

 

[Azerane]

I agree with JBun, this is a very extreme case and I'm amazed your bunny is still hanging on. Since the x-ray ruled out blocked she needs to be force fed as already mentioned, otherwise she is literally starving to death. Once you get things moving again, then you can try to figure out why she may have been reluctant to eat,

 

[Harrison]

I wil force feeding her before taking her to the vet ( this time in a different city all together). However she won't even chew on the food I'm syringe feeding her. And even water she does not swallow. Does this mean there is a blockage?

 

[JBun]

It could be a painful dental issue making her reluctant to eat and chew, or it can also be a really bad sign that things are very critical. I think you need to get your bun to that new vet immediately. You just need to tell them it's an emergency, which it is. It's likely your rabbit will need to be admitted at this point to have any chance of saving her.

 

[stevesmum]

Are you bringing her to Edmonton? If so who are you seeing if I may ask?

 

[Harrison]

My bunny past away I'm my arms. She suddenly spasmed died.

 

[stevesmum]

Aww I'm so sorry.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

We're so sorry for your loss.

 

[Bonsai]

I am so sorry for your loss. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. ♥

 

[Azerane]

I'm so sorry for your loss

 

[Kipcha]

I am very sorry for your loss. I really wish I had seen this sooner, we live in Calgary and maybe could have done something to help.
Do you mind me asking which vet you used?

 

[anthony27]

so sorry for your loss

 

[Harrison]

Our home is normally in Calgary. However I am in medicine hat and the vet I used is city Vet clinic here. I would definitely tell you never to go to this vet if you are ever here

 

[majorv]

I'm sorry you had to deal with vets who are incompetent regarding rabbits. I'm just now seeing this, but it sounds like she developed enteritis, possibly the mucoid type, because of the gel. She was in the final stage when she refused to eat or drink. I've had to deal with this before and once enteritis sets in it advances very quickly. :hug2:

 

[Harrison]

I feel extremely guilt that I was unable to help my little baby. We brought her to the vet 3 times and still nothing of this infection was brought up. It disappoint me greatly that a vet wouldn't just admit they have no idea what is going on.

Thank you to everyone for your words of kindness

 

[Harrison]

I feel extremely guilt that I was unable to help my little baby. We brought her to the vet 3 times and still nothing of this infection was brought up. It disappoint me greatly that a vet wouldn't just admit they have no idea what is going on.

Thank you to everyone for your words of kindness

 

[flemishwhite]

Gastro-Intestinal Stasis. Bunnies have two stomachs. Their first stomach is just like ours. The first stomach exists to the small intestine and where the small intestine joins onto the large intestine, there's another stomach called the Cecum. In humans, the Cecum is a vestigle organ called the appendix. In a rabbit, the Cecum is a vitally important stomach. In the Cecum, specialized bacteria transform cellulose into glucose. This glucose is the primary source of nurishment for a rabbit. If the bacteria in the Cecum are deprived of cellulose for 12 to 24 hours (?), the bacteria start to die. Once the Cecum bacteria have died, the rabbit is doomed..that's what I understand. That is to say doomed without heroic veterinarian intervention. The guideline is that if your bunn doesn't eat, or poop, for 24 hours, it's a medical emergency. A dog, cat, you or me, can go for 24 hours without eating and it's not a medical problem...with a rabbit it is.

Gastro-Intestinal Statis: Rabbits chomp down a lot of stuff that their first stomach cannot digest...grass hay (timothy, oat hay), pellets, and of course some chompings from cardboard boxes, newspaper, and also their own hair from licking themselves. However, all this stuff needs to be moved down their small intestine into the Cecum to be digested. A really big problem results, say in older age with teeth problems were they can't chew this stuff into tiny bits, all this stuff just collects and clogs up their primary stomach and blocks off their gastro intestinal system. With everything blocked in the primary stomach, the Cecum becomes empty and the bacteria there die. A blockage in the primary stomach can also occur in younger rabbits as apparently the case here.

A blockage in a rabbit's primary stomach, can often be resolved by vet care....I don't know what they do to unblock a rabbit's primary (number 1) stomach.