Hi Susan,
What was the explanation of the blockage? Are the rads digital? If so, get a copy and email them to me. DO NOT use motility drugs.....I never use them under any circumstances.....and if there is a blockage, things get bad quickly if they are used. I am concerned a bit about the barium. I understand what they are doing. A barium is used in many animals to check for hernia type conditions or other issues with GI transit. I have never heard of a vet usingbarium in a rabbit. It is an alkaline metallic compound that "lights up" radiographs. I am not quite sure I would want that stuff in a rabbit's gut. I will do some talking with my vets about this. I have never used barium and I have treated some really bad gut issues.
For right now, don't push the Critical Care too much until you find out what the "blockage" actually is. If it's an ingesta impaction, I can walk you thru a procedure to break up the mass. I would concentate more on hydration....by mouth and sub-q (IV or IO would be better if you have that capability). We have a hard and fast rule in rescue.....hydration before nutrition. A dehydrated gut can't digest food. And Critical Care just absorbs huge amounts of water....it can be dehydrating itself. If food is being forced into a slowed gut, that will build pressure in the upper GI and that will walk you into more problems. And not meaning to be harsh, but an animal will succumb to dehydration well before succumbing to lack of food. Hydration first.
If it is an ingesta blockage, I have used fresh squeezed pineapple juice....not canned, bottled or concentrate.....I buy the real piece of fruit and hand squeeze the juice. There is a lot of debate on using this process....but we have used it here frequently and successfully.
You can use human infant rehydration Pedialyte for oral rehydration. A product many wildlife rehabbers that do not have SQ, IV or IO capability is a product called Electro Stat. This can be purchased online at
http://www.foxvalleynutrition.com Really good stuff. If you have the capability of adminstering sub-q fluids, you would want to use an isotonic or slightly hypertonic solution such as Lactated Ringers Solution.
Now, if the blockage is not ingesta caused....then you are looking at some type of tumor like mass. There is usually only one response to this condition....risky surgery. I have a friend that has a rabbit that grew a large fatty mass in his abdomen that resulted in a very sluggish GI. He did survive this risky surgery required to remove the mass.
My response if he were here.....and assuming an ingesta impaction......get him hydrated.....oral and subq/IV fluids. Remember that fresh greens contain a lot of water. Give him Pedialyte. Order some Electro Stat for additional hydration support.Geta pineapple andoffer the juice. Don't sweat the food right now. Offer a buffet but don't stress him out by forcing food. Get him on heat. A GI slowdown will many times cause a drop in body temperature. A heating pad on lowest setting usually works well...but under supervision as the pad can still get very hot even on low. Allow him to move as much as possible without stressing him. I would probably offer some pain meds....most likely either Tramdol or Buprenex. These drugs tend to slow the gut down a bit....but so does pain. Many times just the relaxation from any pain will allow the gut to start moving. Oval (simethicone) can cause a gut to slow down too. Great for gas. I would also use a probiotic such as Bene Bac to help support the pH in the gut as well as responding to the barium.
We also useB Comp (a vitamin) injection to help stimulate the appetite.
Hope this helps. Feel free to PM me if you or your vet need additional information. Been in this situation before. But we need to know what the impaction is in order to know how to properly respond to it.
Randy
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