I have a rabbit. We suspect that he has GI stasis. We have no access to a vet and there is no problem with money. I really need help because we may have to force-hydrate him. He eats with a huge appetite, and is lively, but he doesn't drink or poop or pee! There is no urine or feces in his cage, although he had small round feces today morning. Please help me with a step to step way to syringe hydrate my rabbit. I don't know where to place the syringe and I am afraid that I will make him choke by letting the water into the trachea windpipe.
I need help from people who know. Please answer.
Answers:
How To Make the Syringe Formula
* Using a your coffee grinder, add the timothy pellets and grind them until they are in a fine, powdery-like state. Even then you will sometimes need to sift through them to pick out larger chunks which will not go through the oral syringe.
* Add 2-4 tablespoons of the powdered mix to your bowl or cup (save the rest in a ziplock for later).
* Add warm water (or Pedialyte), slowly, as you mix - until the mix is about as thick as semi-congealed pudding. Wait 3-5 minutes for pellets to absorb water.
* Add more water until the mix is once again like semi-congealed pudding. Wait another minute or so…
* Now add the juice, a little at a time, waiting 30 seconds to 1 minute, until your mix is the consistency of semi-congealed pudding. It should be liquidy enough to flow well through the oral syringe, but not so watery that you won’t be getting actual food into your rabbit.
NOTE: If you are unable to make your own syringe formula, OxBow Hay Co. makes a wonderful syringe feeding formula called “Critical Care” which can usually be purchased through your rabbit vet. This is GREAT stuff, however, over a long period of time it can become quite expensive.
Syringe Feeding Your Rabbit
* Sit bunny on a towel on the counter facing sideways (as opposed to towards or away from you).
* Talk to your bunny and tell her what you are doing as you wrap your arm around your bunny so her bottom or back-end is against your upper arm / crook of your elbow; place that hand on bunny’s head, thumb behind the ears and against cheek closest to you – other fingers along far side of face (I have my index finger in the middle of the face). You can use this hand to help steady bunny’s face and to help keep her from moving forward.
* With the OTHER hand, insert the tip of the filled syringe into the side of bunny’s mouth, behind the incisors (front teeth) and slowly squeeze out 1-2cc at a time, allowing bunny to chew and swallow. Be very careful not to squirt food or liquid straight back down the throat or you could get liquid into her lungs (aspiration), which could kill your rabbit.
* Sometimes it is necessary to make a “bunny burrito” in order to help restrain your rabbit: sit bunny across towel width-wise; fold back of towel up over bunny’s rump; fold either side up and over bunny’s back, the top side wrapping beneath bunny – so that only her head sticks out. This often has a calming/secure effect on a rabbit. Continue as listed above.
Ask your vet how frequently you should do this each day and how many total cc's you should try to get into your rabbit at each feeding.
Recovery Time
It is crucial to remain patient while nursing a rabbit through GI Stasis. The road to recovery is often long, and you need to allow the therapies and medications time to do their work. It may be several days before you see any fecal pellets, and several weeks before your bunny is back to normal again. DO NOT STOP any medications or therapies or change them without first consulting your vet! We also suggest that when it is time to stop medications that you not do so abruptly , but in a tapering-off manner. When you do see your vet, if your rabbit has a companion, make sure he or she goes along as well. Separation can cause stress and make matters worse.
We cannot stress enough the importance of talking to your rabbit, encouraging her, loving her and giving her extra-special attention during this period. Rabbits respond amazingly well to love and attention.
Proper care, proper feeding, pain relief, tummy massage, love and patience will almost surely get your rabbit through a bout of GI Stasis.
Hi
What do you mean you've no access to a vet? if you needed treatment i'm sure you'd find some way of getting it.
Ray. West York's. U.K.
If you have been feeding it rabbit pellets, feed it some dandelions.
I don't get it... ):
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