Pulling my hair out about impending stasis issues...

[Jenk]

Our nearly 4-year-old Mini Rex, Emma, has gut slowdown/stasis issues that can't be explained. In her short lifetime, she's had multiple blood chem. panels, fecal floats, and fecal cultures. Nothing has ever been found.

Last month (on 4/11), she had a horrible gas pocket in her stomach, which led to a botched, lengthy recovery. Finally, for the last few weeks, she started passing the most normal-looking fecals (in terms of size, shape, moisture content and quantity) I've seen her pass in a very long time. I felt excited that maybe the Pro Bi (prebiotic) I started giving (and am giving) her was the cure.

But two days ago (on 5/20), I noticed she'd passed some smaller, darker fecals overnight; this is how the situation tends to start. I'm about ready for the funny farm, especially since my DH and I can't afford $750+ hospitalization bills. Plus, I'm quite tired of being on edge about and on the lookout for this issue. But I guess I'll still call the vet tomorrow.

Does anyone have any idea what could be causing this issue??? Her diet consists of timothy hay (mostly from Oxbow, some 1st-cut from SMF). She's been getting a smaller ration (just 1 - 1.5 tsp.) of pellets (Oxbow BB/T) since her stasis last month. She also gets a treat-sized amount of greens (Italian parsley, green-leaf lettuce, and Romaine). If she eats a "normal" amount of greens, her fecals tend to turn small and dark--and that worries me about impending stasis, too.

My mind is boggling over this issue. If she's just super-sensitive to the weather and/or barometric pressure, I can't control that. (And I can't/won't run the A/C to keep the house temp. at, say, 72-deg. F. Can't afford that. I keep it set to 78-deg. F.)

I am completely out of ideas/possibilities of what could be causing this issue.

Thank you,

Jenk

 

[Jenk]

I can't edit my post any longer (rather frustrating) but would like to add this info.

Emma tends to start bar biting more when her fecals begin turning even slightly smaller. Yesterday, I gave her two Simethicone doses (1 mL) and one Metacam dose as a just-in-case measure. I plan to do the same today, though I don't have high hopes of an easy fix at this point.


Jenk

 

[Maureen Las]

How is she doing now Jen?

 

[Jenk]

angieluv wrote:

How is she doing now Jen?

Surprisingly (and thankfully), her fecal size has again increased. It's not as good/normal as it was for the last few weeks' time, but it's close enough.

There really are no answers as to why this keeps happening; everything's been checked for, and every test has come back negative or non-definitive.


Jenk

 

[Maureen Las]

I am glad to hear that it straightened itself out this time

 

[Jenk]

angieluv wrote:

I am glad to hear that it straightened itself out this time

I don't know if this has anything to do with it, but I put a mineral block (the ring-shaped one) in her pen. I realize there's no agreement on the use of a mineral block. Some people swear that it helps a bun drink more water and retain it in the digestive tract; others say additional salt is dangerous for the heart--at least if a bun over-consumes it. I figure that I can remove the block at any time, and I'll keep an eye on how quickly it's being consumed/worn. Hey, I'm desperate at this point.


Jenk