Taking care of a rabbit with GI stasis

[Gabriel_]

Hi to you all, I'm a rabbit owner from Italy (so please forgive me if my English isn't 100% correct).
My rabbit has been diagnosed with a form of GI stasis 10 days ago. After a short stay at the vet's we have brought him back home, which has had a positive effect to him as he seems to be much happier, though still sick. Over the last week we did as the vet told us and force fed him with Critical care, gave him a fluid injection 2-3 times a day, and a medicine called Mylicon to help his intestines. There have been some steady improvements in his health and behavior, but there are still a few points which concern me:
1) He has been eating a lot of vegetables recently, but he doesn't want to eat hay AT ALL.
2) His feces have become solid again, but they're very small; I also found some uneaten cecotrophes today.
3) At times, he seems to be in a great deal of pain. I've read on this site that belly massage can help a rabbit in pain, but I have no idea of how to do it and I fear that I might hurt him...
4) Heat. I live in Sicily, and it has gotten really hot during these days. I fear that it might damage my poor rabbit even more, though I always ensure that the room he's in is as cool as possible.

 

[naturestee]

Is he being given pain meds? Also, did they check his molars? It's not unusual for molar spurs to start off a bout of GI stasis because it hurts to eat.

If you have a vibrating toothbrush or back massager, I find them useful for tummy massages. Just gently hold them against your rabbit's belly, maybe with a towel in between it and your rabbit if the vibrations bother him. You can also do gentle strokes with your hand from the rabbit's ribcage down toward his anus.

A probiotic is also very helpful, because bad bacteria tend to multiply in a gut that isn't moving enough.

Along with keeping the air moving with fans, you can freeze water bottles and give them to your rabbit to keep him cool. If he feels too warm, he'll probably snuggle with it.

I hope that helps! There's some more information on GI stasis here:
http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=28622&forum_id=10

 

[Maureen Las]

It sounds like you are already doing a great job with him but maybe a few things would help
Make sure that the Critical care is REALLY diluted...otherwise it will suck up the mositure in the rabbit's stomach and dehydrate him. Critical care needs more water than the directions suggest. If you can get pure canned pumpkin in Italy ( with no seasoning for pies) you can add some to the critical care; it is high in fiber.

How much Mylicon are you giving ? We usually suggest giving at least 1 ml with repeats every hour X 3 doses if the bun still appears to be uncomfortable from gas.


I am going to give you a few links to read. I do give my rabbits tummy massages when they have gasbut usually after they havehad a dose of simethicone ( Mylicon) .

The massaging should be gentle and it is really necessary to "tune in" to how the rabbit is responding from touch. many rabbits find massages intolerable and attempt to escape but many find them relaxing because it does help move the gas down.

Some people use small hand held vibrators but my rabbitsare afraid of the buzzing and the sensation.

Some people will place their rabbit on the top of a washer in the spin cycle which vibrates the rabbit. ( I think that this is too frightening for my rabbits.)

it is good to try to get the bunny to move around..

maybe your rabbit can tolerate some of the things that I suggested.
Whatever do not massage hard or forceful...

http://www.catsandrabbitsandmore.com/massage_for_rabbits

The heat is definitely going to impact your bun negativelyand you need to keep him as cool as you can ..here are some links with suggestion that are quite effective
( particularly freezing water bottles and and freeaing tiles) I have a huge dog size crock in the area with 1 of my bonded pairs and I have been half filling it with ice and then water ..they both go and lie next to the water bowl during this heat ( and I have airconditioning!!!!)

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=27899&forum_id=10

I do not know what type of hay is available in Italy ( I actually do not remember that we have ever had an member from Italy! Welcome!)

In general a rabbit will eat hay if it is really good , long stranded, fresh and green. What type of hay are you feeding him? ..and it is also true that most rabbit prefer greens/ veggies over hay and if he is filling up on greens he may just not find any hay tasty.The hay is more important than the greens in geting the gut moving but the greens are giving him nourishment and moisture so that is good.

Sometimes it does take a long time to resolve stasis but it does sound as if you have gotten him to poop. I have some concern re. his pain ..possibly the vet could give you some metacam/ meloxicam for that.
you can also encourage him to drink more on his own by adding a little apple juice to his water.
I have a rabbit here who barely drinks at all but if I add a little apple juice he will drink the entire bowel .

this is the GI stasis link from the library ..you may have already read it

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=28622&forum_id=10

If you stay on this forum or even search previous threads on stasis you can also get a lot of good info.

We have a probiotic here thatis packaged for small animals and helps replenish some of the normal "good" bacteria that often is disrupted when a rabbit is in stasis ;

it is called Benebec ..here is a link ; if you can find something similar to this and give a dose it will be helpful

http://www.petco.com/product/14786/PetAg-Small-Animal-Bene-Bac-(Beneficial-Bacteria).aspx

 

[Gabriel_]

Thanks a lot for your advice.
I think it wouldn't be wise to try and massage my rabbit because he doesn't like being picked up/held at all (it's very difficult to give him injections or to forcefeed him) so I guess I would unnecessary stress a poor rabbit which has enough problems of his own right now.
Anyway, he did take probiotics until yesterday, when the vet told us to stop giving him everything but fluids once a day. We gave him 1 ml of mylicon every twelve hours until yesterday as well. However, because today he has moved around the house considerably less than the last few days and he seems in pain, I'm considering giving him Critical Care and Mylicon again until I take him to the vet on Monday - I guess it won't do any harm, will it?

edit: there are no fans in my house, but the beedrooms do have air conditioning. Do you suggest moving him to my bedroom, or is there a chance that the cold air stream may be dangerous?
edit2: another thing I've noticed is that he doesn't seem to be cleaning the area under his chin well, he's always wet there, as if he was drooling or something like that. I've cleaned him myself, but I'm sure this means there's something wrong.

 

[naturestee]

Drooling is pretty common with rabbits who have a dental problem, so definitely ask the vet if that was checked. Sometimes the teeth at the very back can't be seen well unless the rabbit is x-rayed or anesthetized.

Yes, I would go back to feeding him and giving him the gas meds since he is acting more uncomfortable now. You can transition him into the bedroom, perhaps by turning off the AC for a little while and letting the room warm up a little, then put him in it and turn the AC on gradually.

 

[Gabriel_]

naturestee wrote:

Drooling is pretty common with rabbits who have a dental problem, so definitely ask the vet if that was checked. Sometimes the teeth at the very back can't be seen well unless the rabbit is x-rayed or anesthetized.

Yes, I would go back to feeding him and giving him the gas meds since he is acting more uncomfortable now. You can transition him into the bedroom, perhaps by turning off the AC for a little while and letting the room warm up a little, then put him in it and turn the AC on gradually.

The vet did check his teeth in front of us and said they were ok...I don't understand...
I guess we kinda rushed the change from Critical Care to normal food, but he seemed to have no problems with it for a few days...

 

[Maureen Las]

Rabbits can have overgrowth or infection of their molars and it is almost impossible to see it without doing an x-ray ..visual exams of the molars are extremely limited

rabbits can also drool when overheated so best to cool him down as best you can first...
As Angela suggested you will need to keep feeding himalso

 

[Gabriel_]

He was x-rayed and though the vet was mainly looking for what was going on in his belly I guess he checked his teeth as well...
I've just tried feeding him, but he doesn't want to be fed at all and he's costantly running away from me...

 

[Must_Love_Pets]

Has the vet showed you how to hold him properly for force feeding. Once you learn how to hold properly the force feeding is much easier and he will sit still for you.

I am going through the same thing with my Flemish right now and I am very lucky that he is use to being retrained from showing. But learing how to hold properly makes a amazing difference. You will also be amazed at how he will tolerate the massaging more than you think. I always sit on the floor to flip Thor over for his feeding so he feels more comforatble closer the floor. If I did it on the couch or a chair it would be a bit more difficult as 99.999% of rabbits do not like to be off the ground, it's scary for them. You can also try to wrap him like a burrito if scruffing and flipping does not work for you 2. I wish you the best of luck and I can sympathise with you. I hope both of our babies recover from GI statis ASAP!!!

 

[Nancy McClelland]

ray:

 

[Gabriel_]

Must_Love_Pets wrote:

Has the vet showed you how to hold him properly for force feeding. Once you learn how to hold properly the force feeding is much easier and he will sit still for you.

I am going through the same thing with my Flemish right now and I am very lucky that he is use to being retrained from showing. But learing how to hold properly makes a amazing difference. You will also be amazed at how he will tolerate the massaging more than you think. I always sit on the floor to flip Thor over for his feeding so he feels more comforatble closer the floor. If I did it on the couch or a chair it would be a bit more difficult as 99.999% of rabbits do not like to be off the ground, it's scary for them. You can also try to wrap him like a burrito if scruffing and flipping does not work for you 2. I wish you the best of luck and I can sympathise with you. I hope both of our babies recover from GI statis ASAP!!!

Yeah, I hope so too (by the way, I love Flemish giants! mine is much much smaller).
As for feeding, I guess it changes from bunny to bunny. Mine is a "dominant male" tipe of rabbit, and even the vet says it's difficult to feed him or give him fluids. Of course he has shown me ho to do these things, but he often manages to escape...

Anyway, I brought him to the vet and he's found a molar problem which is giving him pain and preventing him from eating properly. He had seen something strange in his first visit two weeks ago as well, and he even told us about that, but we were too concerned about his GI stasis, so I didn't even remember it until he reminded me. Anyway, it has gotten a lot worse during this 2 weeks; my little friend has to be operated, but the vet cannot do it right now as he his too weak to be anesthesized. I left him at the vet's so he's constantly cared for and checked...

 

[Maureen Las]

ray:Oh I hope that he can make it through.....

 

[Must_Love_Pets]

I am keeping my fingers crossed for you and your baby
ray::big kiss:

 

[Gabriel_]

He passed away just a few hours ago... it wasn't his intestines which killed him; he had been staying at the vet's and he looked as if he was getting better... but unfortunately a few hours ago his body, weakened by three weeks of sickness, just couldn't go on any more, and his heart stopped beating... RIP dear friend...

 

[naturestee]

Oh no, I'm so sorry. Binky free, little bun. :heartbeat:

 

[Gabriel_]

I wouldn't say this was 100% unexpected because he had been sick for 3 weeks until today, but the vet said he was getting better, his GI stasis was subsiding, and his tooth could be removed next week... how sad...

By the way, this is him, misbehaving as usual. He just loved chewing on the wood and the fruit that was there and we were darn sure he KNEW we didn't want him to. He just seemed to love making us crazy and doing anything he wasn't allowed to do... I'll miss him a lot...

 

[Maureen Las]

What abeautiful bunny !!

I am so sorry that he didn't make it !

Rip little buddy
You were loved!