pollys not acting normal and didnt eat much

[flemish giant]

Will baby food help? I think I have some carrot baby food and I read you can syringe feed them it. I'm trying to do as much as I can before I have to take her to the vet BC we are in a very tight spot with school starting up and my step dad losing his job and my dad taking my mom to court.

 

[Watermelons]

If shes eating don't syringe her anything. All that will do is stress her out even further and potentially make the issue worse. You need to find out WHY shes acting like this.

 

[flemish giant]

She's not eating my mom said. Shes drinking but not eating. My moms been giving her the gas stuff and doing massages. I think it may be stress. She's older and with all the bonding and moving around she probably just got stressed. It can't be diet I feed the appropriate amount of veggies pellets and hay. I checked her front teeth and I don't see anything wrong with them. She chews a lot so I don't think its teeth.

 

[Watermelons]

What is actually happening? You keep changing the story here.
If shes eating which you said in your previous posts that she is, then don't force feed her.
If shes pooping, then shes eating. Something has to go in for something to be coming out.

You need to encourage her to eat Hay and drink lots of water.

 

[flemish giant]

How do I encourage her to eat hay. I'm not at home so I'm just saying what my moms telling me. Let me see if she's still pooping.

 

[JBun]

It doesn't really sound like she is improving much, if at all. It would be good to get her into the vet tomorrow to get checked out. Unfortunately you can feed a rabbit exactly what is recommended and it doesn't matter, they can still have problems. Some people have rabbits that are sensitive to certain veggies, or to pellets, or to certain types of hay. I have one that can't have any pellets or he'll get GI stasis. So it could be something in the diet. Or it could be a health problem causing pain, and thus causing her to not want to eat much. Tooth problems like spurs on the back molars can cause this, a UTI, or other internal health problems. Pay really close attention to her behavior when you are back home with her. Does she seem to have a hard time chewing things, does she seem uncomfortable when she pees, is she peeing outside of the litter box a lot when she is normally good at using it, is she belly pressing, is she scratching at her ears. Look for odd bits of behavior, and it may give you a clue as to what is bothering her. If the vet doesn't find anything, then it may take some figuring out on your part, to see if you can sort out her lack of appetite. You may have to try eliminating certain things from her diet, to see if something she is eating is causing the problem.

 

[RabbitGirl101]

I would be reluctant to be giving mineral oil at all. It's not a recommended treatment for blockages in most cases, as it coats the blockage so that it can't absorb water to help break it up. But if your bun is still pooping she doesn't have a blockage yet anyways, and just has a gut slowdown at this point. That is what the hay and veggies is meant to help with. The hay and veggies help provide needed moisture and fiber to help keep the gut contents moist and from getting dry, and hopefully prevent a blockage from occurring. The fiber also help get the gut moving and pushing the contents through better. So moisture from veggies and water, and fiber from hay and the veggies, are all essential. It would be a good idea to avoid any cruciferous veggies though, including the leafy ones, in case they are possibly causing any gas problems for your rabbit. I usually stick with basic leafy greens like green leaf or romaine lettuce, cilantro, and parsley. Also are there any new foods or veggies that you recently started right before this happened?

Actually not only is mineral oil a common treatment it is also an effective treatment, it helps get the gut moving again. Also just because the rabbit is pooping doesnt rule out a blockage, like i stated before my grandma's rabbit has had a blockage before (not any of my own, but I went over to her house and helped her out) and was still pooping very small poops probably the size of a pen tip. My grandma called the vet and he was recommending the same thing I am recommending to you, a teaspoon of mineral oil. Within in no time he was up and running and withing in 24 hrs he was back to normal. I personally wouldn't give your rabbit veggies at this time because with my rabbits they have very loose poop when I give them veggies and its not just one or two its all 12 of my rabbits.

 

[flemish giant]

OK I will watch her when I get home and if she isn't improved tomorrow I will have to find a way to get her to the vet. If I take them to the vet will he know what part of her diet could be doing it?

 

[tonyshuman]

We may have to agree to disagree on this, RabbitGirl 101. What Jbun and Watermelons have described is the current accepted veterinary method for treating GI stasis in rabbits. Hydration is #1, relief of gas and pain via simethicone and analgesics is 2nd, and force-feeding is only done if the rabbit is not eating on its own. Veggies can be an important and helpful source of water in a rabbit's diet. They only cause loose stools if the rabbit's GI bacteria cannot tolerate them, i.e. they were introduced too quickly and the appropriate beneficial bacteria needed to digest them are not present. If the rabbit has had veggies before, they are a great way to get water into the GI tract in rabbits. Carbohydrates such as oats cause the proliferation of bad, gas-producing bacteria, so they are not recommended in cases of stasis. In a case where a rabbit is on a pellet-only diet, there are stories of them helping with loose stool. This however is not a normal GI bacterial climate for a rabbit (the rabbit evolved eating lots of veggies and not a lot of grain). There is some fiber in the oats that may be helping in these situations--but that is only if the rabbit is eating primarily a low-fiber pellet. Mineral oil as a treatment for stasis is not accepted by the veterinary community. The primary goal is to make the ingested food move more quickly through the GI tract. Oils may lubricate the walls of the GI tract but only if excessive amounts are given. Most oils are broken down as soon as the ingested material reaches the small intestine, and many of these stasis events happen further down the intestines. It would take a LOT of oil to overcome the body's ability to break down oils and lead to lubrication of the ingested material. In addition, it could cause the blocked foodstuffs to become even harder to move by preventing water from getting into the inside of the blocked food.

This article is very helpful and written by an expert on rabbit health, with scientific training:
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html
Here is our Library article on GI stasis:
http://www.rabbitsonline.net/f22/gi-stasis-what-everyone-should-know-23808/

This is a link to the abstract of an article (recent, 2010) that suggests the therapy we are promoting
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20682434

I recently had 2 rabbits go through this, one living with my boyfriend in another city. Each rabbit saw a different vet, being separated by about 1000 miles. Both vets are well-respected in rabbit medicine. Both vets prescribed fluids, simethicone, analgesic, GI motility drugs, and force-feeding. Both rabbits recovered beautifully. This treatment is accepted practice and works every day for vets across this country and in other countries as well. There may be home remedies that have worked for a few people, but the scientific consensus in the veterinary community is what we have described.

 

[tonyshuman]

Dietary causes could be some veggies that can cause gas in rabbits that aren't used to them, like cabbage, broccoli, kale, others of that family. Low fiber/high protein pellet could be a cause, as well as too much pellets. Not enough/low quality hay could be a cause. Too much sugar/carbohydrates could also be a cause.

 

[flemish giant]

I don't think mine is dietary. I only give 1/2 a cup of pellets and I actually went down recently. They also have constant supply of Bermuda hay and get veggies everyday. People who have Bern to the vet for a go stasis about how much did it cost?

 

[tonyshuman]

For a full-blown stasis episode, it was a lot. We did x-rays and he was hospitalized overnight, probably ran around $800. That bunny is my Tony and we went in as an emergency; I have had him for 6 years and I currently have the income/savings to afford that. He has been with me longer than my boyfriend/fiancee and through a lot of difficult times (5.5 yrs of graduate school, moving to 2 new cities completely on my own). He was going into shock by the time we went to the emergency vet, so he was worse off than your bun is.

For the other bunny (belonging to my fiancee), who had more of a slowdown that didn't resolve quickly instead of a full stasis and didn't need x-rays or overnight hospitalization, but did need IV fluids eventually and a few hours of hospitalization, it was $400 or so. For a slowdown that resolves quickly after sub-cutaneous fluids and giving you a few doses of gut motility drug and pain meds, probably $200. You can discuss what you can afford with your vet.

 

[Maureen Las]

Mineral oil is an "old school" treatment for GI stasis. In addition to what Claire has related it is very, very easy for a rabbit to aspirate mineral oil when it is administered.... "a terrible way for a rabbit to die." stated Pam Nock ( ARBA judge) and RO mod
It WAS a treatment many years ago but it is no longer an acceptable or current treatment.

 

[flemish giant]

OK so I have attached a pic of her poo which I believe has improved ALOT. At first they were sticking to her but but now they are actually falling and there are a few that seem normal. I have a cardboard box with a towel and two worm water bottle BC I read their temps can go down. My mom was taking very good care of her she got about 4 doses of the gas stuff and 1 mil of carrot baby food. I'm going to feed her another mil of baby food and another mil of gas meds. Do Yale think a reason she may not be eating is pain? Can I buy anything from Kroger for pain or with her poops getting more normal is it starting to clear up? She hasn't ate anything herself but has drank my mom also said she has run around a few times and has chewed.

 

[flemish giant]

OK so I gave her the gas meds and her baby food and a belly massage and she instantly perked up when I let her down she ran off and sniffed her veggies and water I think she may have nibbled a little veggie. Now she's flopped on the floor I'll post a pic of that and of some poop on her butt. I don't know if its from earlier or if its still sticking but I'm seeing improvement!! She does look bloated though. Is that gas? You can see peeta checking on his wife its driving him crazy he hates her not being with him.

 

[flemish giant]

Well Polly ate her cilantro (must be her favorite) so I gave her some more. I also made a pellet water and carrot baby food mix to see if shed eat it. I put the pellets and water in the microwave to make a mus.So hopefully it will intice her. Peeta is so jealous of all the attention Polly is getting and the good food. I've got to feed sheep at 7am Tomorrow so I'll give her some more gas meds and if she doesn't eat some more carrot baby food (hopefully she won't get addicted.)

 

[flemish giant]

Also should I get her moving? I heard that helps the gut too.

 

[flemish giant]

She at some veggies last night. Also drank most of her water.

 

[nora123]

Hi some veg particularly cabbage and colliflower can cause gas bloat in rabbits and make the problem worse I find if my rabbits stop eating and pooing its an emergence I give them grated carrot dandelion dock leaves and picked grass to tempt them to eat I also administer metoclopramide given to me by the vet but if you havent got that, the baby simethicone will help with the gas but dont leave it until bunny stops eating and pooing completely they go down hill so fast they need treatment within 12 hours of not eating the poo strung together like pears attached by hair is the first sign of a fur ball developing so please get treatment straight away as once the gut slows down it is very hard to get it going again also if a rabbit of mine does stop eating I liquidise some of there pellets and syringe feed them with it about 10mls about 4 times a day and about 5ml of water at the same time 4 times a day this helps to keep the gut going until the simethicone or metoclopramide and pain relief has time to work hope this helps

 

[flemish giant]

She's started eating and drinking and they were never held together by hairs. I looked for that. She's getting better so hopefully she will get her full appetite back soon. I feed turnip greens, green leaf lettuce, romaine lettuce, cilantro, and parsley.