Plugged up

[Ivory]

Erik is currently plugged up, as in quite constipated. His rectum was blocked up with hard feces and he wasn't passing them. We had to give him an enema, which helped him to pass them after about a half hour or so. I'm still a little traumatized by it...

I've given him some simethecone today for gas, 1 cc. I don't want to give him a lot as it can slow peristalsis and that isn't good. I don't know if it helped or not. He isn't eating much of his greens but he's eating craisins. He's off of pellets for the moment as we want moist things in there.

He is acting normally and generally doesn't seem to be in pain. I know it's not stasis- he isn't acting like a rabbit in stasis. I'm just worried that it develops to that point.

I have to give him another warm-water enema in about an hour. I'm not looking forward to it....

So here's to hoping he's okay....

:?

 

[Maureen Las]

I have heard of rabbits getting enemas but I never knew anyone who actually did it.
I would be too afraid to ever do that...hope everything goes OK.

 

[Ivory]

It's very easy when you know how to do it, and it's helped him immensely. I just am hoping he comes out of this okay. He seems to be. He's eating, I gave him some pellets and some apple. I hope I'm not panicking...

 

[Phinnsmommy]

Aw, poor boy! Sending healing vibes...

 

[Phinnsmommy]

Oh just realized you spell Erik with a k. Just like my Dad :biggrin2:.

Thats not very common, usually it's spelled with a c.

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

I hope he'll be okay. You might also offer a subq is he isn't drinking anytime soon. I'm sure you know that though.... The only reason I suggested a sub q is that you gave simethicone. If it's stasis, you want a sub q, assimethicone can constipate, depending on the situation... I didn't know that til just recently.


How's he doing?

ray:

 

[Bo B Bunny]

Oh no! How is he doing now? I am so sorry he's not feeling well. Do you think it's just where he was dehydrated or something ? I know they don't drink enough all the time.

 

[Ivory]

After two enemas, a small amount of simethecone, exercise, and some alfalfa (alfafa stimulates peristalsis) Erik is doing much better. He is pooping, peeing, drinking, and eating well again.

*whew*

That was scary.

Hopefully he will stay doing well.

He's always had some problems with constipation (during molting time in particular) but it's never required enemas or much intervention besides a little mineral oil and Albon.

 

[naturestee]

I'm glad he's feeling better!

Do you do anything to increase his fluids while he's molting? Loki sometimes gets constipated during molting too, but I've found that feeding him a few tablespoons of pumpkin a day (added water and some fiber) fixes the problem and perks him up if he was feeling bad from it. Flavored water would be another way to encourage him to get more fluids without forcing it. Water really helps keep the GI tract running smoothly.

I'm really glad none of mine have needed enemas. Ew.:?

 

[Ivory]

Actually I've recently decreased the level of moisture in his diet, which apparently wasn't intelligent of me. Ivory was getting too many greens, so I cut back slightly on the greens and added a small amount of more pellets. While in most normal rabbits it wouldn't have made much difference, *eyeroll*, in Erik apparently it did.

I think the added pumpkin is a pretty good idea, but I don't want to give him too much. Erik has recently lost some weight (he was being dieted) and it back down to a healthy weight, and I don't want him to get quite as fat again.

 

[Bo B Bunny]

Could you spritz his hay? that would add a bit of moisture.

and can you give him a salad while he's separated from Ivory? then he would have some more greens

 

[naturestee]

Or put a little flavor in his water to get him to drink more.

 

[Ivory]

I was thinking of giving him some apple-flavored Pedialyte, he does enjoy that stuff and it's low in calories, and won't hurt him too much to add to the diet. It's the one thing he actually takes from me.

 

[Ivory]

Well I'd been hoping that this problem would be resolved for at least a week...

Erik recovered nicely from last week's bout of problems. Now he's having them again, except they're a little worse. His poops are FULL of hair- I have NEVER seen so much hair in poop. It goes beyond "bracelets". Some of them are huge and mostly just bound-up hair. Most of them are very small and dried and not round or shaped like they should be. Some of them are cecotrophs and huge.

I think I'm going to bring him to the office today and possible get some X-rays to see exactly what's going on in there. I hope he passes this well.

He really isn't eating very much and I don't want this to lead to stasis. I'm also going to have to shove a cocktail of many things down his throat as he hates anything in a syringe now. And he's going to hate me.

He is acting mostly normal apart from the not-eating-greens-like-a-pig.

(Ivory on the other hand....)

 

[Ivory]

He took some Laxatone this morning, I put some clover in his cage to see if he'll eat it. It's been about 24 hours since he's really eaten. I'm starting to really get worried now.

I think I'll go syringe some Pedialyte into him. He isn't drinking much. He needs hydration before this gets out of control.

That being said he's still alert and moving around well. He just isn't eating or drinking or pooping as much as he should be.

I'm trying to remain calm and not freak out....it's so hard when it's Erik, so easy when it's someone elses'...

How much Pedialyte do you guys normally give?

 

[naturestee]

Ivory, can you do sub-q fluids? That would really help. Sprite (2.5 lbs) was prescribed 100 mL per day. Much less stressful than syringing that much down his throat.

*fluids fluids fluids*

 

[Ivory]

Yeah, we have the stuff to do it. He's eating some of his clover but I really think he needs some of those fluids.

Edit: He's so full of hair and dry material at the moment it's not even funny. I brushed him everyday, how did he get such an accumulation?

He's always had a slow-moving bowel...

 

[Bo B Bunny]

I'd do the sub-q since it's that bad. I hope he gets through this ok - I can't believe how much hair some of them are losing this molting season!

I know it's so hard when it's your own - and when it's your heart bunny!

Erik is absolutely beautiful. He's so black and shiney! he looks very healthy!

 

[Ivory]

He's always had very beautiful fur. Very shiny, and very plush. He is almost like this Rexy-Netherland Dwarf-Satin mix. He was sold to me as a ND. But his fur is plush like a Rex, kind of long, and extremely shiny.

And it molts excessively.

 

[Ivory]

There are no masses or blocks in his stomach. No impactions. Nothing at all.

He took some Pedialyte, about nine or so CCs. He will be getting SQ fluids in a bit. I wish he would freaking eat something. But getting fluids is more important.

His entire digestive tract is normal, except it's missing food. That's all. He isn't eating, but there's nothing in there to indicate why. His kidneys are in good shape. His liver is normal size and position. He isn't displaying ANYTHING except not eating and not drinking. He isn't eating treats, he isn't eating clover, he isn't eating craisins, he isn't eating pellets, he isn't eating greens....Nothing is inflamed, twisted, stopped, or otherwise indicative of anything wrong.

And his teeth are perfect. Nothing is overgrown, swollen, sticking out, abscessed, or otherwise problematic. Maybe we'll take X-rays of those, too...

On a better note, he weighs 4.4 pounds and is back to the weight he's supposed to be at...