Sunday, February 12, 2012

Wayne: Recovery from GI Stasis

I have been blessed in life. Not always, Ive had my worries, troubles, mountains to climb. I've had to worry about family members, including bunny, who have been sick, or undergoing an issue. Wayne's for some reason was different. I think its perhaps because I felt that he always found us. It was he who sought us out though a long journey of coincidences, that he found himself on our doorstep, where he needed to be.

Wayne is ok. He is eating, pooping and peeing on his own. This is a brave little bunny.

Never in my almost two decades of having rabbits have I encountered GI stasis. So I will give a brief rundown of this story, and will post some much needed reminders for later on.

How did it happen? Well, essentially, Wayne stopped pooping. He always had huge wonderful poops, then it stopped. That was the ONLY thing that changed. He was still chipper, happy and ate some...but not enough.... I had a feeling something was wrong despite being told not to worry (Ok, I worry a lot, but only because I love the dear people and bunnies in my life).

I called the vet on Monday and we took Wayne in. I touched upon this in my previous posts so I won't go into too much detail, but they found a gas blockage, but could not find  the actual blockage itself. We were told to give him critical care and three different meds.


Wayne on his way home from the vet. The purple material is my husbands shirt. Rabbits feel more comforted when your smell is around them. He and my husband have a special bond. 

When Wayne was brought home, he was better. He ate before he even got out of his carrier. He was really happy to be home and was munching. Within two hours he was pooping. Something we have been waiting on for a fe days. Hurray!!!

He would eat, some, but not enough, so we had to give him Critical Care (which he HATED) but upon taste tests by other rabbits in the household, mainly Wiggles, it was proven that it surely was not the taste, rather the method of getting said food into a bunny's belly that was upsetting. The meds we were giving him twice a day was not his favourite way to take things in. Poor little bunny.

With lack of sleep, having to work a full time job (Bless my wonderful boss who understood my need to work from home because regardless of the type of animal, he considered pets to be a part of the family. I can't stress enough how much this helped me and as a result has solidified my loyalty to this man) regardless Wayne was watched full time. I brought him up to the living room, where I could monitor  the poop situation. Every hour I would check on him, offer him hay, carrot tops, leafy greens, etc.  We would go to bed at midnight, wake at 3am to check on him, wake at 6am, give meds at 8am, give more meds at 9am, more at 8pm, more at 9pm....for 5 days....

Wayne notes.

If it wasn't for my crazy note taking, I would not know what day it was.... My husband and I took meticulous notes, from when he pooped, how much, where, to what activity he was doing....this helped us see patterns and see how he was doing. When you sleep about 2 hours a day for 7 days, this is immensely helpful.

Wayne, in his typical stance. Living room bound, he is looking at me perplexed, "Where is ma fort?"

I am not quite sure where I am going with this post, aside from the fact that I am trying to document this so I or anyone else can see what its like. My incoherent gibberish should tell you I haven't slept in a few days, and the fact that I am posting means he is OK!!!



So, where is this tread going? Well WAYE IS EATING ON HIS OWN!!!!
His poops are more Wayne sized and we have more carrots (left over from the carrot tops he has been happily eating) that we know what we can do with (Seriously, if anyone knows what to do with about 10 - 15 pounds of carrots, please send me a recipe)

This story is about a happy ending. Its about trust. Wayne trusted us. We built that up within a year of living with him. He didn't like that we had to force feed him. And I honestly balled a few times because I had to force feed this little creature. He was not happy about it but he is alive, eating and has done a few binkies.

So, to all of you out there who may encounter this, yes, its a struggle, and you will lose sleep, money, and some sanity, but to me it was worth it.

When I went back to work, one asked (the rest were were really supportive though all of this) "Why would you spend $1,300 on a rabbit if he isn't even guarantee to survive?"
Guaranteed or not, I don't care. Its not about that. Its about a member of our family being sick. And money, sleep, etc at that point does not matter. I told the vet they need to do everything they can to make sure he is ok. I didn't care about financials (No I am not well off, and our leaky bathroom will be renovated later this year as a result) but Wayne is OK. He is safe.

The way I responded to that colleague was to say that if I split out that $1,300 over the course of the year I had him, it was more than worth it. He brought us a lot of joy and happiness. And I thought it would not only be unethical but unfair for us not to try to get him better. Money is money, it will come and go. A rabbit, a pet, a living creature who snuggles up beside you when they want hugs, will poke you with their little noses when they want to play, who will happily jump and kick their feet when they are happy, a rabbit, who has finally learned that people can be trusted, that to me is priceless. The love and trust from an animal who has learned to fear. To me, his little life, is priceless.

So, moving forward, to prevent this, I am making an emergency bun kit I will share. I don't want anyone to ever have to go though this again.



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