PRE GI Stasis- help!

[kaphaangel]

Just want to thank all of you, and especially the admins for this site! I am still pretty new here, and am learning a lot. Having kept pet bunnies for over ten years, and I seem to be having quite a lot on my hands these days with one my buns falling ill to e.c. and now Miss A.

Miss A is a two year old dwarf. She's quite a big eater, always first one to the hay bin and pellet bowl when I refill them and has nice big poops. Recently, I noticed that her poops are smaller, like half the size of what they used to be. When I was with her the whole day today, I noticed that she wasn't eating that much at all. This got me worried, and I also noticed that her tummy feels a little bloated and firm to the touch On the side, Miss A is a real diva and favourite past time is chewing- cardboard roll toys which I home made, and also a grass ball made out of natural twine and rope- wonder if this contributed to the issue! :?

I feed a mix of two brands of timothy hay, free-range in her hay bin. I have reduced her pellets by half (now she is only getting half tablespoon) in an effort to get her to eat more of her hay, which she usually does eat more of when I reduce her pellets but not this time. She is not a huge water drinker, so her pee is usually darkish yellow/orange. I have tried to give her a little of Oxbow critical care to keep up her nutrients and was told there was a little bit of probiotics inside to help with the gut. I gave some fennel which is supposed to be good for bloat, which she ate but doesn't seem to be helping. At a bit of a loss- she hasn't gone near a small clove of garlic I put in her cage, which is supposed to be good for bloat too.

I just don't want to get into a situation where her bowels are impacted, or have her diagnosed with GI stasis. I read somewhere here that another member Zass makes some dietary changes for pre-GI stasis cases which usually turns things around. Does anybody have any experience here with this, or know what could try to turn things around for my little girl? Thank you so very very much!!

 

[MaggieJ]

Hope you can get Miss A turned around, Kaphaangel.

This is a good article about GI Stasis. You may already be familiar with it, but I thought it worth including in this thread.
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html

A recent thread on a problem with intestinal gas, which sometimes accompanies other GI problems.
rabbit-may-possibly-have-gas-t31928.html

I'm adding this thread, because towards the end of it Ladysown has posted some very useful information about getting fluid into rabbits that are not drinking enough.
fighting-stasis-help-t31741.html

I'm including this one, although the problem turned out to be a kidney stone rather than GI Stasis. Has some helpful advice in any case, and you need to consider that a rabbit that does not drink a lot of water could be more at risk for kidney stones.
fighting-stasis-help-t31741.html

Hope you find these helpful. Something to start you off until members with first-hand experience of GI problems chime in with their advice.

 

[kaphaangel]

Thank you MaggieJ! You are an angel :angel: :thankyou:
I will dive in with these articles first

 

[MaggieJ]

Aw, shucks . . .

Keep us posted on how Miss A is doing.

 

[kaphaangel]

Will post back to keep you updated! :bunnyhop:
Miss A has had her own health challenges and had white snot in her nose and eyes when she first came to us. We've since done the routine antibiotics, probiotics, and feed her herbs to keep her immune system up. It may be something else underlying that is acting up, so hopefully we can get to the root of it, while dealing with the symptoms.

 

[MaggieJ]

Oh, dear!

White snot and eye discharge are typical of pasteurella (snuffles). It appears there are different strains of pasteurella, some more virulent than others. Treatment will sometimes keep the symptoms at bay, but there is no known cure and the symptoms may return if the rabbit is under stress. To the best of my knowledge, the rabbit will remain a carrier for life and any new rabbits it encounters may be at risk. If you just have the two pets, they may be able to have normal lives, but they should be kept away from other rabbits.

I'm sorry to have to tell you all this, but better you are aware of the implications. It is not a panic situation, but it would be a good idea to learn more about pasteurella. Here is a link to an excellent thread on the subject.
my-pasteurella-journey-t12109.html

 

[kaphaangel]

thank you for that MaggieJ! We found out that it was pasteurella much later than we should have. We're trying to keep Miss A happy and well fed and keep her health up. I'm off to find some baby gas drops for Miss A today to see if it helps her. She is still not eating much which really bothers me it is not like her to not gobble up her pellets and it is her favourite brands of hay already

 

[MaggieJ]

Just wondering how Miss A is doing, Kaphaangel.

Please post an update when you can.

 

[kaphaangel]

The pharmacist was closed by the time I was able to get there on Sat and off the shelf products were not suitable. Finally was able to get the simethicone baby drops last night. Have administered two doses since, last night and this afternoon. I can't say whether they have helped, but I will continue monitoring. A flat tablespoon of droppings is what I got out of her over the course of last night, not the best but at least she is still pooping! Miss A refuses her pellets but could not say no to some dried herbs and half her portion of hay was gone, and syringe feeding her. still chasing her vitality but i know i must be patient :chase1: thanks for checking in! :bowtie:

 

[SoftPawsRabbitry]

Just want to thank all of you, and especially the admins for this site! I am still pretty new here, and am learning a lot. Having kept pet bunnies for over ten years, and I seem to be having quite a lot on my hands these days with one my buns falling ill to e.c. and now Miss A.

Miss A is a two year old dwarf. She's quite a big eater, always first one to the hay bin and pellet bowl when I refill them and has nice big poops. Recently, I noticed that her poops are smaller, like half the size of what they used to be. When I was with her the whole day today, I noticed that she wasn't eating that much at all. This got me worried, and I also noticed that her tummy feels a little bloated and firm to the touch On the side, Miss A is a real diva and favourite past time is chewing- cardboard roll toys which I home made, and also a grass ball made out of natural twine and rope- wonder if this contributed to the issue! :?

I feed a mix of two brands of timothy hay, free-range in her hay bin. I have reduced her pellets by half (now she is only getting half tablespoon) in an effort to get her to eat more of her hay, which she usually does eat more of when I reduce her pellets but not this time. She is not a huge water drinker, so her pee is usually darkish yellow/orange. I have tried to give her a little of Oxbow critical care to keep up her nutrients and was told there was a little bit of probiotics inside to help with the gut. I gave some fennel which is supposed to be good for bloat, which she ate but doesn't seem to be helping. At a bit of a loss- she hasn't gone near a small clove of garlic I put in her cage, which is supposed to be good for bloat too.

I just don't want to get into a situation where her bowels are impacted, or have her diagnosed with GI stasis. I read somewhere here that another member Zass makes some dietary changes for pre-GI stasis cases which usually turns things around. Does anybody have any experience here with this, or know what could try to turn things around for my little girl? Thank you so very very much!!

I hope things work out! When I hand reared cottontails the pigs dug up, I had to feed them basillicus probiotics in their milk since we didnt have cecotropes to give them from mama, I dont know what type of probiotic you're giving but make sure it has that strain in there maybe? I am sorry your bunny is going through that, I just lost 8 to some viral or bacterial strain of GI stasis like problems :c I'll try the fennel, that's something I didnt think of! My friend suggested yogurt, preferably Greek!

 

[Lewis]

I had this happen to me. I used an organic gas relief tea - traditional medicine(made a small cup of tea and syringed 3 ml ever so often) . And then when he started pooping minute soft stool (one drop every time i syringed the tea) I then put in a blender fennel and pineapple core and he poopped excessive amounts every thirty minutes. I’d give him 10ccs each time. I did this until his poop turned normal( 2 to 4 hours he had normal poop).He went practically the whole day with barely eating and no poops. I could not obtain the simethicone so I used what I could.