The pet shop referred the expatriate owner to Toa Payoh Vets for neuter in Oct 2017. When the rabbit had stopped eating pellets but not hay for the past 2 days, the owner phoned the pet shop and was referred to Toa Payoh Vets today.
Why did the rabbit stop eating pellets?
Abdominal palpation is very important if the rabbit has no teeth probems.
I elicited intense pain when the anterior abdomen was palpated. I felt small faecal lumps of 0.5 mm.
Dr Daniel palpated a lump around 1 cm across in the anterior abdominal area.
Gastric ileus/stasis was evident from the X-ray, showing a fully distended stomach. Was there hair balls? Pain-killers and antibiotic enabled the rabbit to eat 6 pellets the next morning when I phoned. 20-25 smaller sized faecal pellets were passed.
That was great news for the day. Later in the evening, the owner said that the rabbit was not eating pellets.
I advised giving the Fiberplex 3 x per day and water in syringes, piece of apple and the pain killer meloxicam and antibiotics baytril orally. To count the faecal pellets. Will let me know the results on Feb 9, 2018 (next day) afternoon.
The owner could not provide info on how many faecal pellets and their sizes before coming to Toa Payoh Vets for consultation.
X RAYS
Sunday Feb 11, 2018 10 am
After one night of in-patient and given 30 pellets from 6 pm on Feb 10, 2018, the rabbit had eaten 20/30 pellets and passed 150 faecal pellets overnight. This would be around 16 hours. The evidence of such stools and pellets were shown to the owner and the rabbit went home.
Feb 11, 2018 7 pm
The daughter said that the rabbit would hide in a corner of the corridor instead of being active. This was a cause of concern. I advised sending the rabbit back for observation again for more than one day, as the parents were worried about the "round lump" of 1 cm across discovered earlier. No ultrasound was done as the rabbit was back to normal appetite and had eaten 20/30 pellets overnight.
Update in Feb 17, 2018. The rabbit has recovered and is active again
No more hiding in the corner.
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OTHER RABBIT CASES WITH X RAYS for
comparison
CASE 2. This rabbit has no gastric
ileus
http://2010vets.blogspot.sg/2016/12/2982-2-year-old-holland-lop-rabbit-has.html
CASE 3. This rabbit has gastric ileus/stasis --- gastric distension and pain
--- stopped eating
http://2010vets.blogspot.sg/2016/08/2905-functional-ileus-in-rabbit-that.html
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CASE 4. No gastric ileus/stasis
http://2010vets.blogspot.sg/2015/12/2892-biting-rabbit-passes-blood-in-urine.html
13 Aug 2023. Tele-consultation with a rabbit owner from India. His rabbit has a bladder stone. Surgical removal is the treatment. If the rabbit has urinary difficulties or infections, surgery is advised.
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