Rory in stasis? RESOLVED

[SnowyShiloh]

Why isn't Rory getting better? It's been well over a week and he's still not back to normal. He's eating hardly any hay and drinking hardly any water. He grazes on his pellets throughout the day and doesn't really express interest in his salad, though he does eventually eat it. He's grooming himself like normal. He is pooping but not as much as he does normally. I am sick of him being sick! Poor boy. He doesn't seem to be desperately ill, just depressed. I tried syringing him a little water after his meds tonight but he didn't want to swallow it- he's a stubborn boy! Water plus juice and Pedialyte are also shunned when syringed, just like a week ago. I've also been feeding him as many pellets as he wants, but it's not much more than what he normally gets. Right now he is actually eating some lettuce and pellets which is good...

Is he still sick because of the possible skin infection he had from the sub q fluids (he's still on antibiotics)? Is it because of the carpet he was chewing on, either fibers in his gut or chemicals in the carpet?

I have work/class until 10 pm tomorrow, then have a test to study for that's on Friday, but I'll call the vet on Friday morning between classes and hopefully we can get him back in.

I've edited this post twice so far!

 

[pamnock]

Have you tried any Nutri Cal? It's great for helping to boost immunity and has B vitamins to help stimulate appetite.

Pam

 

[Maureen Las]

it's hard to know if there is more going on than just recovery from stasis. I admit the episode with the crackling in so many places is odd so i would give the vet a call and make sure you get the one who knows the most.
if he did get an infection from the sub q then the vet clinic is at fault with the' possibility of not using sterile equipment .I don't know if they would own up to that or not.; if he had an infection he most likely would have a temp. Does the vet take his temp?
Did he leave the carpet fibers or actually eat them?

 

[dquesnel]

Hi, in addition to what Maureen (angieluv) said I also want to note that it can take some rabbits a looonnggg time to recover from GI slowdown. Weeks, sometimes months. If there was excessive fur and possible carpet fibers in his gut then that will still be making its way out.

Last summer I had a thread here about my Sass who had GI slowdown for three months (late May-early September). He was like Rory- eating, but not much, drinking little, pretty inactive. He seemed sluggish, depressed, but alert enough that there was no threatening issues going on. What I learned from it is that it takes a LONG time sometimes to recover from stasis.

Is it warm where you are? In the room where they are? I am certain that is a factor in reduced appetite and sluggishness. They have been shedding lots, so that is a factor too. These things combined always make this a hard time of year on the rabbits.

I would advise you to keep the vet posted on how things are going, and also continue as you are doing with your rabbits. Rory may be sensing your stress over him, they are incredible at picking that out. Remind me- what medicines is he on right now?

And about Skyler's 21 poop chain- holy smokes! You broke my Sass' record! (It was 16 I think?) WOW! I bet Skyler perked up after that! Now we need Rory to pass some of that! I think he will- it may take a bit more time.

 

[tonyshuman]

your rabbits are champs at strings of poo! Sorry I've been out of the loop--did you give him some of the bene-bac? That could help with recovery, and there are other good points already of course.

 

[myheart]

I am sorry to suggest this... But maybe Rory needs more sub-q fluids. He seemed to really perk up with the last bit of fluids, even though he crackled afterward. If he is still "not right," watch him for dehydration, or ask for the "good vet" to do the fluids this time. Fluids might help his tummy to move things out a bit better....

myheart

 

[maherwoman]

Sending moreray: and :hug: your way...

 

[SnowyShiloh]

I saw Rory eating some hay last night! He's still not super hungry though. Tonight he's binkying everywhere, that's a good sign right? He's shedding a lot less than he was before too and he ate all his veggies last night. He doesn't seem to have lost weight and isn't skinny, so that's good.

I bought some organic collard greens today, hopefully he'll enjoy them. He's had them before and liked them. I also bought a baggie of fresh baby carrots, cauliflower and broccoli, a bunch of organic parsley, a bunch of cilantro, and a bunch of organic carrots complete with carrot tops. It should last the bunnies a couple days at least.

 

[JadeIcing]

Sounds like he is bouncing back slowly but none the less bouncing back.:biggrin2:

 

[TinysMom]

I have a strange question to ask - but how is Rory's pee?

I know I'm being really paranoid but the fact he has started chewing on carpet sorta nags at me. Tiny did that for a few weeks before he died - and of course - we didn't realize he had a UTI.

To me - when a rabbit doesn't chew on carpet and then STARTS chewing on carpet - particularly after something like stasis....says that they might still be in pain.

I'm really being paranoid I'm sure....but I remember thinking that Tiny's carpet chewing was a behavior issue - when I later realized it had been a sign of him not feeling good - particularly when I reflected back later and realized his appetite was down a bit (he was always free fed) and the day before he died - he was down a bit from what I thought his weight was....

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Agh Peg, you're freaking me out! Rory's always been a nibbler, but only chewed on carpet in the living room occasionally. He chewed one corner of the carpet in his cage several months ago but didn't chew anymore so I wasn't too worried. I don't know how he feels about chewing carpet anymore because he doesn't have access to it anymore!

It's kind of hard to judge how his pee is because he goes in the litterbox. He is peeing though. His poop production is down from normal, but he is pooping a reasonable amount and a fair number of them are stuck together with hair. Do you think he still has the blockage that he's passing slowly?

How can I tell if he's in pain? I can usually tell when he's unhappy because his eyes get really big and he grinds his teeth. He hasn't been grinding his teeth except for when we were at the vet office and once when I gave him medicine.

Is it okay to give him Gatorade? He doesn't like Pedialyte. I bought him some mango flavored Gatorade last night and syringed him 2 mL, and he actually swallowed it which is good. How much should I give him? I don't think he will drink it if I just put it in a bowl in his cage.

He's still getting his big salads and ate all his veggies today.

 

[Maureen Las]

I think that it's fairly common for rabbits in stasis (or recovering to chewstrange things) as some sort of way to get fiber ; I have spent the last 20 min trying to find the source of whereI read this but I will just have to "happen' upon it...
I wouldn't worry about him having chewed the carpet if he is pooping OK .

How does his stomach feel ; is it soft?

I would give gatorade to a rabbit and I actually did a long time ago before I thought about pedialyte. I actually don't know if it is sweeter than pedialyte so you may want to dilute it just to the point where he will drink it (experiment)

I was concerned aboou the cracklng problem but that seems to have reolved soI wouldn't worry too much if he is improving and more fluids will definitely help him.

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Angieluv, that makes sense but you'd think he'd eat hay instead of carpet? The good thing is I saw him eating some hay today and he's chowing down on his salad right now. Tonight is collard greens, parsley, carrot tops, broccoli, cauliflower and carrots. I know broccoli, cauliflower and collard greens can cause gas in some bunnies, but Rory's never had problems with it and he didn't get a whole lot. He's been opposed to lettuce the past few days but will eat the collards so at least he's eating something. He was also binkying tonight.

I weighed him and he weighs 4 1/2 pounds, which is the same as a week and a half ago, so that's good, right?

The bad is that he's still not drinking much water and he didn't eat many pellets today. Also, he's pooping but the poops today are a little smaller than normal. I syringed him 2 mL Gatorade and a mL of water after I gave him his medicine tonight, do you think that could make any difference? 3 mL looks like so little

Paul and I were planning on moving to a bigger place in the next 3-4 weeks, but we've decided to wait until Rory's been completely better for a couple weeks so we don't need to worry about stressing him out more. Hopefully he gets better soon because a month from now is the PERFECT time for us to move, if we have to do it later in the summer it will be right in the middle of when I'll be super busy with summer math and science classes.

 

[Maureen Las]

You are probably giving him a lot of veggies which is giving him fluids; the hay is what makes rabbits have big poops not the veggies; the veggies might make the poops moist but not necesarily large.

He tolerates a lot of gas producing veggies that I am afraid to feed mine

i just thought that you are not giving him fresh pineapple juice squeezed from a pineapple. There is controversy over whether this works at all but I have found (personally) and so has Randy that it is very good to use post stasis and also during a shed. Mine like it

you can increase the gatorade to about 3-4 times perday of the 2-3 cc

and also give about 2-3 ccs of fresh pineapple juice 2 times per day

that seems like a lot of sugar but i have done this myself many times without any problems at all ; I do not feed my rabbits any treats at all unless it includes benebac

You can dilute both of these with water to increase the volume given

benebac may help him also

Ihope thatI can find the article about rabbits chewing on other objects during stasis (even when hay is available ) ; I just cannot remember whereI read it

I'm sorry this is holding up your move

At some point if he doesn't improve you may want to go back to one of the vets that you trust just to ease your mind ....

 

[LadyBug]

No advice, but i hope Rory feels better soonink iris:!

 

[tonyshuman]

I would personally not give gatorade unless the store with pedialyte was closed. It has a lot of sugar in it and I think it has different things in terms of electrolytes. The homemade recipe for pedialyte is probably a better bet than gatorade. The difference, I think, is that pedialyte has baking soda in it so it is the same basicity as blood whereas from my experience gatorade is a bit acidic.

 

[SnowyShiloh]

I will head back to the store and buy some more fresh pineapple. They need more veggies too! Thanks for the advice on how often/how much water/Gatorade/Pedialyte I can give him. So smaller poops don't necessarily mean he's getting dehydrated? That's good to know.

Claire, do you know if you can freeze Pedialyte? It costs $5 per bottle and it says to throw it away after 2 days. It's a great big bottle and quite a waste to have him drink maybe 1/4 cup out of a 1 quart bottle and throw away the rest. Maybe I could freeze it in an ice cube tray or something?

 

[tonyshuman]

Oh, I'm sure you could freeze it just fine. I got the single-use bottles last time and that worked well, but freezing it into smaller portions is a great idea.

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Good news! Rory is eating some hay right now and I think he ate all his pellets. Either that or he dumped them all out of his bowl (long story). Last night his salad consisted of sugar snap peas, watercress, cilantro, parsley, a salad blend and cilantro. Shortly after I gave it to him, he threw the whole plate into his litter box! Why does he always throw things in his litter box? :?

 

[Maureen Las]

I'm glad that he is doing better...

Claire is correct re. that it's best to use pedialyte instead of gatorade. I don't know about the difference in acidity between gatorade and pedialyte , however , I did run acrss an article by Dana Krempels in which she states that gatorade has too much sugar in it and the potential for that to be a problem ,
Iused gatorade years ago with my first rabbit and before I even had a pc or a lot of knowledge about rabbits. I don't think that it is lethal or anything, however, pedialyte is a better way to go.