Rory has a distended and firm abdomen, seems to be in pain- please help!

[SnowyShiloh]

We're back! We only had to wait half an hour, which I'm glad for. The vet seemed somewhat knowledgeable about bunnies, which is good. She could feel that his stomach and cecum are both full. She took an x-ray and the x-ray showed no blockage, but confirmed the full cecum and stomach. He got 35 ml of subcutaneous fluids and she showed me how to give them- we came home with lactated ringers, butterfly needle things and lines so I can give him fluids. He wasn't showing signs of dehydration thankfully, but hopefully the fluids will help. She said to give him fluids (35 ml each time) once every other day until he's drinking enough, does that sound suitable?

Good news is she said his kidneys and liver look good on the ultrasound. She's going to get copies of the x-rays to our regular vet (who actually used to work at the clinic we went to today).

She also gave me a bottle of metoclopramide to give him. I'm worried about giving it to him since I've heard bad things about motility drugs. She said it would be okay in his case because he doesn't have an intestinal obstruction, but I want to check with you guys.

I'm also worried about HOW he got this. He's not shedding. He gets lots of hay. Why does he have stasis? Will this become a regular thing? Will he get better? When he had it in April-May, it took him a good month to get back to normal.

 

[tonyshuman]

So, the issue is gut slowdown? I think (and you know there are many who disagree) that it's fine to give the gut stimulatory drug because of what the x-ray showed.

 

[Pet_Bunny]

SnowyShiloh wrote:

She said to give him fluids (35 ml each time) once every other day until he's drinking enough, does that sound suitable?

I was giving Pebbles 60 ml daily for about7 days. She only weighs 950 gms (2 lbs 2 oz).

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Stan, I was thinking it didn't sound like nearly enough too. How many times a day was Pebbles getting fluids? I only have 35 ml syringes, but my friend has 65 ml syringes as well as another bag of lactated ringers that I can use. We would need to pick up more butterfly needles since the vet only gave me 3 but that probably won't be an issue.

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Claire, I'm sorry, I meant to reply to your question of whether the bloody mucus could have come from his butt. I thought of that too, that was the first place I looked actually. His butt was quite clean though and his poops all look normal too. Also the spot was up on my shoulder and his rear end didn't come within about a foot of there!

 

[Pet_Bunny]

I gave 60 ml a day and Ihad60 ml syringes.

I had 10 butterfly needles, 7 syringes, and1 bag (1 litre) of lactated ringers.

Be careful with the needles, as I jabbed myself the first time I used it (trying to remove the cap and it slipped). You have to dispose of the needles in a safe manner too.

You should check with the Vet about the amount to syringe. Can you get Critical Care?

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Stan, vet said 35 ml every other day. That doesn't sound like much for a bun who isn't drinking. He is eating hay, pellets and veggies though. Did you give the 60 ml all at once or 30 ml twice a day or what?

I will give him the 35 ml tomorrow, then on Monday I'll call his regular vet and find out how much she wants us to give him.

I don't have Critical Care, thankfully he is eating fine so far and I hope we won't need it. I will be getting some soon, at his vet visit on Friday.

Good news is he is down 4 ounces from this afternoon! There's no noticeable change in his stomach, but 4 ounces is good I think. He's 4 pounds, 8 ounces now.

Edited to say: I just went to give him his Baytril and there are two tiny red dots on his lower lip. They look like blood. They won't wipe off and they don't feel scabby. I am baffled as to what it could be?! No signs of blood on him anywhere else. I was going to give him the metoclopramide but I didn't because of those little dots. I will check him again in a while to see if they're still there or if there are any more.

 

[Maureen Las]

If it was blood it would wipe off unless it is dried blood.
can you examine hismouth at all ...to see if their is any problem there that you can see.

also check his whole body including his nails .

Idon't really know what it could be :?

 

[SnowyShiloh]

I tried rubbing his lip with a wet towel and the spots wouldn't come off. I know he didn't have the spots this morning or when we were at the vet 6 hours ago.

Good news is the bloody mucus did not come from him- I sneezed a few minutes ago and had the same results. Sorry everyone had to read about my snot :disgust:

Angieluv, do you think I should give him the metoclopramide?

 

[tamsin]

Veg has a high water content so if you've been feeding him extra veg to keep him eating that's probably why he's drinking less

Is he having oral or injectable baytril? Sometimes oral baytril is enough to send the bacteria in the guts out of sinc so that could be the initial cause.

Regarding veg feeding in general, I would personally feed daily rather than splitting it off into several feeds per week. That way his guts get into a routine of processing the same types of food each day in a normal 24hr cycle instead of one that's varying over several days.

Edited to say: I hope he feels better soon

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Tamsin, I was wondering if the Baytril upset his stomach too but the vet today said Baytril's pretty gentle- I took that with a grain of salt though. I asked her if I should discontinue the Baytril while he's struggling with this and she said no. I will ask his regular vet on Monday.

Also, I know that giving him veggies would decrease how much water he drinks, but yesterday before he started with the veggies I noticed it didn't look like he'd had ANY water since I filled the bowl about 12 hours earlier.

 

[Maureen Las]

Metoclopromide isusually used right or wrong)to stimulate the gut in a rabbit who is in stasis and not pooping.

I reread the post and it seems as if Rory is pooping normally ; I don't know why this drug was given to you :?

Am I missing something ?

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Rx_Info_Sheets/rx_metoclopramide.pdf

 

[jackievolks]

metacam oral but not in a needle would be good for pain ,at 3 lbs about 1/10th of a cc and are you giving reglan/ to keep his gut moveing?is he pooping and peeing normal and if not he should be at the vet..

 

[Pet_Bunny]

SnowyShiloh wrote:

Stan, vet said 35 ml every other day. Did you give the 60 ml all at once or 30 ml twice a day or what?
I will give him the 35 ml tomorrow, then on Monday I'll call his regular vet and find out how much she wants us to give him.

I don't have Critical Care, thankfully he is eating fine so far. I will be getting some soon, at his vet visit on Friday.

I had a choice,to give Pebbles60 ml all at once or 30 ml twice a day. I choose to give 60 ml all at once and have it done for the day. Pebbles didn't mind, but the fluids made her legsswell up andpuffy.

Critical Care would be a good supplement to what he is eating now.

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Awww Jello legged Pebbles. My friend is going to stop by the normal vet clinic and get some antibiotics for one of my rats tomorrow (she was at the vet last week, long story) then pass the meds off to me at the university since I'll be there all day. I'm going to see if she can get some 60 ml syringes, some butterfly needles and another bag of lactated ringers for me too. I'll call our vet tomorrow to ask if that would be okay. I'm guessing it will be fine since the regular vet and I spoke about showing me how to administer fluids when we were there before.

Angieluv, in that link it says pretty much that metoclopramide stimulates the gut, but it doesn't say anything about it only being used it they aren't pooping? It actually has "constipation" as a possible side effect. I certainly hope that isn't the case with bunnies because that would be pretty much completely the opposite of what we're hoping for.

Thank you to Peg, Randy, Angieluv, Claire and Stan for helping me with this. Rory appreciates it.

 

[Maureen Las]

Pet_Bunny wrote:

SnowyShiloh wrote:

Stan, vet said 35 ml every other day. Did you give the 60 ml all at once or 30 ml twice a day or what?
I will give him the 35 ml tomorrow, then on Monday I'll call his regular vet and find out how much she wants us to give him.

I don't have Critical Care, thankfully he is eating fine so far. I will be getting some soon, at his vet visit on Friday.

I had a choice,to give Pebbles60 ml all at once or 30 ml twice a day. I choose to give 60 ml all at once and have it done for the day. Pebbles didn't mind, but the fluids made her legsswell up andpuffy.

Critical Care would be a good supplement to what he is eating now.

Stan you should do twice a day fluids as prescribed. giving a larger amount of fluids at one time can overload the heart.
The body needs to be able to absorb the fluids and not be overwhelmed by it.
Puffyswollen legs isnot a good symptom.

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Good news on the Rory front! I saw him drinking out of his water bowl a little while ago Go Rory go! Right now he is eating hay. The door of his cage has been open for about half an hour but he hasn't come out yet because he's been eating the whole time. Also he has peed at least 3 times in the last 24 hours. His tummy still feels very full though. I'll try to snag him and put him on the scale when he comes out of his cage.

 

[tonyshuman]

It appears to me, from what I've read, that metoclopramide causes emptying of the stomach, and contraction of the higher parts of the intestine--the duodenum and jejunum, which are the parts of the small intestine closest to the stomach. It's possible that it can have constipating effects because it doesn't do anything farther down the GI tract.

Glad he was drinking--is he still retaining fluids?

 

[SnowyShiloh]

I weighed him. He's still 4 pounds, 8 ounces That is down a little from last night... When will his stomach and cecum start to empty? I'm afraid he's going to continue to back up, the lose his appetite.

 

[tamsin]

Is he pooping?

You could try gentle tummy rubs to encourage gut movement. Just stroke his belly gently in circles.