Sick Rabbit : - (

[dm21]

Hi there,

My rabbit Bonnie was in getting dressed today and had a complication where part of the membrane of her gut wall burst. The vet had to remove a small section of gut and stitched her back up. I was wondering two things.

Has anything like this ever happened to anyone elses rabbit before? And she doesn't want to eat yet. How long afterwards does a rabbit normally start eating again and does anyone have any tips to get a rabbit to eat again, other than waving treats under her nose?

Thanks
Debs

 

[naturestee]

Hi! I moved this into the Infirmary for you. I don't think I've heard of anything like this before. What do you mean she was getting dressed? What kind of surgery was she having- and by gut wall I'm guessing you mean the intestine?

She's probably in pain (did the vet give you pain meds?), so she'll be reluctant to eat. If she hasn't eaten anything for 12 hours or more, call your vet. In the meantime, you can syringe some lukewarm water and a little food into her. My bunnies like canned pumpkin, and it's really easy to syringe, just don't use much if Bonnie hasn't had it before. Even better is to mash her pellets with water to make a thin paste and syringe that into her mouth. You can get feeding syringes at some pet stores and in pharmacies with the baby stuff.

This thread has good instructions on how to syringe feed a bunny:
http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=11658&forum_id=16

 

[dm21]

Hi there

Thanks for moving me into the correct place!!

She was just in to get spayed and the vet said she cut through a membrane in the intestine which meant she had to cut a part of the intestine away. They resealed the intestine and they hope it has sealed properly because if not the food (if she ever eats any!) will leak into her body

If she doesn't eat soon then I will try feeding her myself. We called the vet earlier as she wasn't eating and he said not to worry yet, we've got to take her back in the morning tho.

Thanks for the advice on syringing.

Debs

 

[Pipp]

yes, pain meds are by far the most important thing.

i personally wouldn't syringe feed a bunny fresh from surgery, though, or handle her at all other than the pain meds for awhile yet. those are very delicate little gut parts and internal surgery is always risky regardless. (whoops, edited this, it was a bit of a train-wreck of a sentence, sorry!)

i think my vet told me 24 hours was the post surgery emergency window. Pipp didn't eat or drink for the first 22 hours, scared me half to death. just as I was about to rush her back to the vet, she drank and nibbled her favourite food.

the vet tech who i picked her up from hadn't given me pain meds to take home with her. :angryrant:

hope she's okay!

edit: oooh, an intestinal thing?did the vet give you any instructions on what to feed her? I'd think it would have to be something that can slide easily through the intestine and not compromise the stitches, not sure that that would be, maybe somebodycan ask over at Etherbun, but they usually take so long to answer over there. keeping her hydrated is still the best thing, she may not be able to eat much, but if she'll take the water and the pain meds without her putting up a fuss,that would be great. Otherwise you may need to give her 'sub q' fluids, which means usinga tube anda bag of fluid given to her via a needle under her skin. (not as hard as it sounds, you can ask your vet about that if it becomes an issue).

sas

 

[dm21]

I think they gave her pain meds, they gave her antibiotics to hopefully stop infections so I'd imagine the gave her pain killers too.

They want to give her more antibiotics tomorrow as well.

D

 

[Pipp]

do you have her home now? or did they keep her there? the pain meds they gave her at the vet's office probably will have worn off, they really should have sent somehome with you. might be worth another call to ask them about that, if they're still open.

sas

 

[dm21]

Yeah, they gave her home with me although I wish they never coz at least they could give her all the things she needs. Unfortunately the vets are now closed but I will phone them 1st thing in the morning so I can go down and see them.

I think tonight will be a sleepless one!!

Thanks for your help, I will write in with an update tomorrow.

Debs

 

[Pipp]

good luck with her. you'll probably needa can of pumpkin,syringes, unflavoured Pedialyte and some Critical Care, which is a mix ofpowdered pellet materialand nutrients that you soak in water for at least five minutes and feed it to her via a syringe. something else so ask the vet about.

best wishes to you and little Bonnie. ink iris:



sas ray:and pipp:clover:

 

[Pipp]

http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=12041&forum_id=10

here's some articles from the Resource Center below. (I should have looked there in the first place, silly me). :headsmack

check it out. they also say that the post-surgical window is 24 hours, after that she's going to need emergency treatment, they suggest syringe-feeding Critical Care. The article is mostly concened with post-spaying issues, though. acut in the intestinal tract is going to make things more delicate, but keeping her digestive tract moving is still going to be critical.

it also says to make sure she has a bowl of water close by, better than a bottle.

sas :clover:and pipp ray:

 

[naturestee]

I'm really surprised that they cut into her intestine and then sent her home.:?

She might feel better with a little heat. You can put a hot water bottle wrapped in a towel near her or put a heating pad under part of her cage. That way she can choose to be warmer or not, whatever is more comfortable for her.

Did they send home antibiotics to give her, or didkthey just give them there as a one-time dose? If it's only a one-time dose, I would ask about getting a prescription. The chances of infection are increased a lot when the intestine is opened, so it's better to just use antibiotics from the start.

ray:

 

[dm21]

Hello

Well Bonnie never ate anything over the night, however she was looking a lot more perky. We took her to the vets and she said her stomach feels quite relaxed andshe didn't have a temperature so that's good news. She gave her more antibiotics, pain killers and she gave her a gut stimulant to try to get her stomach moving again and ready for food.

We were told to wait until lunch time and if she hasn't eaten anything then we've to start syringing her. The vet just said to use mushed up pellets in some warm water. Fingers crossed she will start eating by herself buy if she's not eating by herself tomorrow we've to take her back.

We've got another rabbit, Biggles, and we are keeping them apart so Bonnie can rest (they can still see and sniff at each other) and Biggles is going frantic trying to see how she is, he climbed up my back earlier to try and get in and see her! It's so sad to see.

Thanks everyone for your advice.

Debs

 

[Pipp]

That actually sounds promising. No complications. Hopefully it's just stress and pain that's keeping her from eating.

When mine goes off her food, I find if I persistently wavea carrot top or a sprig of parsley or something in or near her mouth and made her bite it (usually because she'd get mad and grab itto throw it or destroy it by chewing it), she'd remember that she liked it, and actually swallowit.

Also, you may want to start off with just a bit of something she really likes in the syringe, like a tiny bit of banana or something. Or Pedialyte. Pipp was dehydrated so I was giving her a little flavored Pedialyte, and she loved the stuff, the syringe became her friend. (Another bunny slave I know feeds hers pumpkin as a treat out of the syringe, which her bunny loves, so if it ever comes time to force feed or try and take meds, she can count on the pumpkin to make the bun receptive, or at least less resistant).

I think I mentioned before to soak the pellets for awhile. She'llneed every bit of hydration you can get into her.

Good luck, and let us know how it goes!

:eats: <-- Bonnie, this had better be you by the end of the day, baby!
:bestwishes: :clover:
sasand pipp ray:ray:

 

[Pipp]

How's Bonnie?

sas :?and pipp :brownbunny

 

[dm21]

Hello

Bonnie is a bit better, yesterday she got her pain killers and antibiotics in the morning and ate a good amount of food early in the afternoon. The painkillers start to ware off mid afternoon so she is reluctant to eat then but she ate a bit of food before bed last night.

We took her to the vets this morning for her pain killers and antis again but the vet could only give her a reduced amount of painkillers so damage isn't caused to her kidneys. So she hasn't really eaten much at all this morning and is in quite a lot of pain but the vets can't give her anything else The vets said the pain from the operation should start to ease over the next few days - I really hope so coz I HATE seeing her in pain. He temperature is still okay so it's just a case of making sure she is eating enough and fingers crossed the seal in her stomach doesn't get infected, the vet said we would notice a rapid deterioration if it does.

Biggles isn't taking the whole thing very good and was trying to bite her through the bars so we are going to slowly start introducing them again - supervised. They were inseperable before she got ill so I really hope they can go back to that (providing Bonnie gets better).

I am delighted with the progress she has made but I realise she still isn't out of the woods.

Debs :bunnysuit:

 

[naturestee]

Go Bonnie!:bunnydance:

Out of curiousity, what painkiller is your vet giving to her? I know some rabbits that are on Meloxicam permanently with no problems.

Give Bonnie a noserub for me!

 

[dm21]

I'm not too sure what pain killer she is getting but whatever it was worked great (for a couple of hours anyway!) until the dose was reduced. I'm really hoping that the pain will start to ease by tonight or tomorrow.

 

[Pipp]

I was under the impression Metacam is a long-term pain reliever that isn't known to cause damage. Its normally prescribed for more chronicthings like arthritis -- it takes a few hoursto kick in -- but it worked wonders for Pipp's post-dental surgery pain.

She only ate and was active after a dose.



sas and pipp :bunnydance:

PS: Pipp was in pain for weeks.

 

[Pipp]

LOL! GMTA! Meloxicam is Metacam.

sas and pipp :bunnydance:

 

[naturestee]

I knew it worked for somebody! Fey is very sensitive to Meloxicam and it sent her into 12 hour long stasis episodes with every dose.:? But the vast majority of rabbits do great on it.

 

[dm21]

I've never heard of that stuff and I wonder if my vet has either!!!

I put some grated carrots and apples in front of her nose a minute ago and she started munching!!

If we take all food away and then give it back to her a hour or so later that seems to encourage her to eat.