Stasis - and Basil needs a prayer or two

[Basil]

Hey all, I just got back from the vet,and I wanted to post my story about poor Basil - to make myself feelbetter and make sure i'm trying everything! (this is my first post, Ijust joined, thank you all so much for all the tips for stasis!!)

Basil is our 6 year old Rex mix - he's what I'd like to call thethousand dollar bunny. He's been to the vet more than i'dlike to admit, with ear infections, tear duct problems, stasis, fattytumors.. and dandruff. I love him dearly, even with all thestress he puts me through!

He had GI problems about a year and a half ago - and it came back about5 days ago. I noticed right away so I was able to get startedon treatment.. so far I have:
Given him tummy rubs about 4x a day
Syringed water 2x a day (he is still drinking from his bowl)
Syringed pumpkin, some applesauce
He is still eating hay and a ton of parsley and romaine
Gave him Laxitone once a day
Held him on a heating pad

I went to the vet this morning, because after 4 days of the above,still no poops. She sent me home with some Reglan forintestinal movement, and some antibiotics because on the xray there isa lot of gas and she's worried about infection. She said tostop the pumpkin (opinions on this?) and to do the pellet slushiething.

She said if nothing by tomorrow to give her a call - she said I couldthen try the Simethicone (said it wasn't going to help, but make himmore comfortable).

I feel really bad about this - thinking back, i've been spoiling him alot with the carbs and treats I didn't realizethat it was this bad for him - he sure loved those yogurt drops, apple,craisins and high fiber bread.. I'd be so upset with myself ifsomething happened to him!! His normal diet is a lot oftimothy hay w/romaine 2x a day, Oxbow T pellets (just switched himabout 1.5 months ago), carrots and apples a couple times a week, someoats (are these bad carbs too?) and other random veggies. Ifeel like a horrible rabbit parent, because I ready stasis is 99%preventable. Hi live-in girlfriend (a 3 year old Lop) isdoing ok - she did have some lose poos about a week ago... diet changes?

What if the meds don't start kicking in? No poops yet. Has anyone had experience with surgery? Shouldi be patient? Ack. This kind of sucks.

Averlyne

 

[Pipp]

Wow, sounds like you've got it down.

From what I understand, the Simethicone is great for gas, and will makea bunny who's not eating because of pain anddiscomfort relaxand start to eat, so your vet seems right to think it isn't immediatelynecessary. And the pellet slurry (soak them for a good fiveor 10 minutes) has the right vitamins and minerals.Pumpkin has fiber and moisture, but again, if he's still eating anddrinking that much, he doesn't really need it.

I didn't thinkstasis isallthatpreventable, it can be caused by a virus aswell as a bacterial imbalance. And all sorts of things cancause the imbalance.

Maybe somebody with more expertise can weigh in here, but I thinkthere's a school of thought thatthe Laxotone prevents themoisture from hydrating the mass. The hydration is thought tobe the most essential thing.

Definitely make sure he's getting a lot of exercise. And youdon't want to go the surgery routeunless it'sverymuch a last ditch effort, prognosis sucks.

Good luck to Basil!

sas:clover:and pipp :brownbunny

 

[HoneyPot]

Wow, looks to me like you have the treatment down.

I would see if the vet can give you some Oxbow Critical Care (itcontains a probiotic that may help get the good bacteria doing theirjob and moving that poo!). It's 'instead' of the pelletslurry. Or you can add a probiotic to the pellet slurry -there is a link on here to a good recipe for the slurry that adds aprobiotic to the mix...

http://www.rabbit.org/care/recipies.html

I'm not sure if you can use the probiotic with the anti-bioticsthough.. as far as I know it's fine becase Misty was also onanti-biotics when I gave her the Critical Care.

I went through stasis with Misty a while back and I personallyattribute her recovery to the Critical Care. She had stoppedeating completely on day 2 and no poo for 3.5 days. One dayof Critical Care and she was pooping again.

Maybe talk to your vet and see what she thinks. Good luck!

__________
Nadia

 

[RO STAFF]

:yeahthat

 

[Spring]

I don't think my rabbit's gone through statis,but she's had something similar. Try going to a health food sotre andgetting papaya enzyime tablets. Nothing was working for me and I usedthem and two days later she improved greatly. She still eats them abouta tablet a week and she loves them.

Simthecone is great for rabbtis with gas. It builds the gas together soit's easier to pass. It makes them feel much better and hopefully havea better appetite.

Good luck! Hoepfully Basil is feeling better!

 

[Pet_Bunny]

Welcome to the forum Basil! :welcome

Your post has alot of good information and seems you have things under control.
Hope Basil can recover soon with no problems.




Basil wrote:

he's what I'd like to call the thousand dollar bunny.

When he poops....PRICELESS!

Rainbows!

 

[Basil]

Thank you everyone for your replies!

I had a question about the Simthecone - how much would I give a 5 poundrabbit? I read somewhere it was .06ml.. that seems like areally little amount - how do you measure it? Was that a typo?

I might go get some for him, it wouldn't hurt to try it.. he does seemto be in pain - his lower half quivers a bit - like he is in pain

 

[Basil]

When he poops....PRICELESS!

Haa haa! I keep saying, he better poop diamonds for all this trouble!

 

[Greta]

:hello Welcome to Rabbits Only! Itsounds like you're doing all the right things to help Basil. Have youtried giving him pineapple juice? It's supposed to help "get thingsmoving".
In the mean time, I'll be praying for you to find these in his hutch...

:sweep o o o o o o :headflick:

 

[HoneyPot]

Basil, about the Simethicone..

Get the Pediatric formula - look for BABY gas meds. It has alower suspension of the Simethicone. Here is an article thathas some info:

http://www.rabbitcare.org/ileus.pdf

Here is says 1-2ml (aka CCs) of the 20mg/0.3ml suspension once and hour for 2-3 doses then 1ml every 3-8 hours.

It should say on the 'medicinal ingredients' section of the box whatthe medicinal suspension is. The baby gas meds usuallyalsohave the little eye dropper in it with the mlmarkings.

Easier to give the bun 1-2 ml as opposed to .06 ml... :shock:

Edit: This is a good link too http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html



__________
Nadia

 

[Spring]

Here's another website about simthecone if you need it too.

http://www.ontariorabbits.org/hot_topics/hint_9.html

http://www.vrra.org/gasremedy.htm

 

[naturestee]

Welcome to the forum!

You've gotten lots of great advice so far, so I'm not going to addmuch. Did your vet checked Basil's teeth? Sometimesmolar spurs are the cause of a bunny refusing to eat one kind offood.

You asked about surgery- did your vet mention that or are you justconcerned? Surgery for stasis is usually done when there is alarge indigestible mass in the stomach such as a giant wad of carpetfibers. I don't think this will be necessary in your casesince he is still eating on his own.

I'm surprised that your vet saw lots of gas and didn't give simethicone right away. Does she see a lot of rabbits?

I hope Basil improves soon. Keep us updated!

 

[Basil]

I am getting more concerned now - here is an update on Basil....

I got him home from the vet and gave him the antibiotic like the vetsaid with a little applesauce - and since it was a tramatic trip for usboth (and I had to go back to work) I left him to sit in his relaxingspot in the living room (not in his cage). He was still therewhen I got home. I tried to get him to eat applesauce orpineapple on his own, but he wouldn't. I then tried tosyringe him baby food(banana/oat) and he hated that. I alsogave him about .5ml of the Simethicone. 2 hours later noimprovement .. and his stomach was getting bigger, so I gave him thesecond dose of the intestinal movement medicine in a craisin which heate. I then got him to take 1 ml more of theSimethicone. I tried to get him to take water or applesauce,but he did something not normal for him - he lunged at my hand like hewas going to bite me. He never did that before.. i think I'mhandling him way too much.

So my next question is - how much force feeding is too much?I really want him to get better and would be crushed if he got worsebecause I wasn't feeding him enough.. but on the other hand i don'twant to tramatize him anymore than he already is... help? Heisn't taking this good.. do I just need more tough love?

He is resting in his cage now.. surrounded by hay/water/all sorts of fruits and veg that he isn't eating..

Meh. Thanks all .. I'm going to go do something to get my mind off him for a bit.
Ave and Basil

 

[Basil]

She did check his teeth - said they wereok. I am also not sure why she did say simethicone right away(I ended up just giving it anyway when i got home).

The vet didn't suggest surgery - I was sort of wondering when peopleopted for surgery.. like if it was a last ditch effort/when it wasused. Thanks for letting me know it is normally when there isa blockage - she didn't see a blockage.

She is a exotics vet, She was the one who performed his neuter and tumor removal.. and did fine.

 

[naturestee]

He's probably upset because he's uncomfortable and you're doing strange things to him. Poor little guy.

My vet told me to feed Mocha, who is a little over 2 lbs, 15 ccslurry/pumpkin and 30 cc water. He said that it was enoughfood to keep her intestines moving, but not enough to provide for allher calorie needs. I guess that way she would be hungry whenshe was capable of eating again.

I'm not sure if you should be syringing much food into him if he isstill eating hay on his own. Or only give him a small amount,depending on how much he's eating on his own.

 

[Basil]

I'm posting a picture of basil.. in his natural habitat, so the world can see his cuteness.

...............

He hasn't eaten in the past few hours - I don't like that at all I'll keep you posted.

 

[Spring]

My rabbit was very sulky around me after Isyringe fed her too. She would ignore me and lunge at me if I came toclose and run away from me (this made me cry a few times, so don't feelbad he's just not feeling himself)

Keep trying. Have you tried the stomach massage? Also try singing... Icould just be crazy but my rabbit ate more when I syringe fed her whenI was singing. I guess she finds it soothing for some reason.

Are there no poops at ALL? Not even tiny small ones? Keep getting foodinto him. Try dipping his hay in water too my rabbit ate it more whenIdip hay in water.

Thoughts and good vibes coming your way from Me, Pepsi and Pebbles!

 

[cheryl]

ohh noo poor basil,i hope he gets to feelingbetter soon,i know how worried you must be about your baby,you arereally a good bunny mum for taking such good care of himlet us knowhow he is going.



cheryl

 

[Maureen Las]

When I had to syringe feed Joey and force feedhim he actually despised me I felt like a monsterdoing this to him and I had to do it for weeks...he did get wellhowever and believe itor not liked be better after it was over.

 

[HoneyPot]

If he's not drinking any water, you will need tosyringe him some fluids. The most important thing is to keephim hydrated.

My vet also told me to get 15cc's of critcial care (or the slurrymixture) into Misty (who is about 2 lbs as well) every 4 hours.

Hereareinstructions - from another post- that I got from my vet on how to syringe feed..

This is how my vet showed me to do this - and it worked!

get a towel, lay it on a table and put the bun on the towel with hisbutt facing you, so you are standing behind him. Fold half the towel upso that it is covering the bun up to his neck.

And this is the part that I had to learn - you HAVE to be the boss and win the first fight to keep the bun still.

Lean over the bun so that if he tries to back up, he hits your stomachand has no where to go. Press the towel down so he is secure and holdhis head with one hand. Keep a hold of his head so he has to staystill.

Take the syringe and gently put it on his front teeth and move it tothe side (right or left beside their big front teeth) and find thelittle space between the top and bottom teeth - the syringe tip willslide right in.

Syringe a little bit at a time - remember their mouths are super small.

The most important part is that you HAVE to win and be the boss.Remember that it's not about being bigger/heavier or overpowering themwith strength, you don't want to hurt them, you just have to bepersistent and firm. Don't let him go when he tries to get away.

Misty would quiet down and take a lot of the syringing, then try tofight - but once she saw that I was unrelenting, she just sat and tookthe syringe.

I guess it's easier to win the fight with the bun as well when you're desparate to get them to eat.


And yes - tough love is sometimes needed to get through this. Good luck.

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