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Warning re: straw based cat litter

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Post by Big Ears Thu Apr 21, 2011 8:47 am

I've been using a straw based cat litter (see link)
http://www.friendshipestates.co.uk/hutch-hemp/view-all-products.html

for my outdoor rabbits as it is extremely absorbent and has a strong mint scent to it, previously we had a lot of flies hanging around (no matter how clean the hutch was) but in the last couple of weeks I've not seen any in the hutch.

I rushed Binky to the vets in the early hours of Monday morning with stasis. He was behaving like he had a blockage, I thought he was seriously ill. I saw his x-ray yesterday which shows he had an extremely full stomach but not a blockage. The only way he could have got like that is gorging himself, which was a mystery. The only conclusion I can come to is he has eaten a lot of this cat litter. The manufacturers told me it was safe to use with rabbits but I'm really convinced it was this that caused him to be ill as there was nothing else, other than hay, for him to gorge himself on.

He was admitted at the vets and given IV fluids as well as strong painkillers etc. Yesterday he still wasn't eating enough to come home.

Just thought I'd put the word out to be very wary of such products as the consequences around a greedy bunny like Binky could be dire.



Last edited by Big Ears on Thu Apr 21, 2011 9:54 pm; edited 1 time in total (Reason for editing : spelling)

Big Ears
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Post by Felix&Willow Thu Apr 21, 2011 9:29 pm

Thanks so much for sharing this, really good to be warned - I hope he makes a swift recovery, all the best x
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Post by KatieB Thu Apr 21, 2011 9:33 pm

How is he now?

Sending loads and loads of vibes.

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Post by Big Ears Thu Apr 21, 2011 9:59 pm

He's doing fine - thank you very much for asking and sending good wishes.

He's been home for about 3 hours and was very stand-offish for the first hour Rolling Eyes He spent four days at the vets as a result of this and the bill was £254. I would be interested to know if without painkillers, fluids gut mobility agents etc he could have survived this, I doubt he would have Crying or Very sad

At first I couldn't understand why when his stomach was so full the food hadn't moved to his gut so all I can conclude was the contents of his stomach weren't easily digestable so it took a long time to pass through. It has to have been the cat litter - anything else he ate should have digested at a reasonable rate. I was a bit stunned when I realised it must be the cat litter but I'm now really angry as I was told it was safe for rabbits.

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Post by KatieB Thu Apr 21, 2011 10:01 pm

Im sooo glad he is okay.

I definitely think you should contact the company and tell them. Its a disgrace!

Please give him a cuddle from me and keep us updated with his progress, poor little mite.

K x x

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Post by Big Ears Thu Apr 21, 2011 10:04 pm

Katieb wrote:Im sooo glad he is okay.

I definitely think you should contact the company and tell them. Its a disgrace!

Please give him a cuddle from me and keep us updated with his progress, poor little mite.

K x x


Yes, I'll definitely be contacting them but I'm giving myself time to calm down. I can't decide if I'm tipping them off as a good thing to do or going in all guns blazing, though I can't actually prove it was their product. I've left a few pieces of the cat litter at the vets and a note saying I think it caused the stasis but I (hopefully!) won't be seeing the vets for about a month now to get their feedback.

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Post by Tuckerbunnies Fri Apr 22, 2011 12:54 am

That's awful I hope they are going to do something about it as it's obviously not safe for rabbits if it caused the blockage Sad
so glad he's ok now Bless him xx


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Post by Big Ears Fri Apr 22, 2011 9:24 am

Tuckerbunnies wrote:That's awful I hope they are going to do something about it as it's obviously not safe for rabbits if it caused the blockage Sad
so glad he's ok now Bless him xx

I think I'm going to ask the vets if they think it's the likely cause before I contact the manufacturers as I feel it is but I've been way out on stuff in the past.

It wasn't actually a blockage it caused, I found the explanation fascinating. The x-ray showed a very full stomach, for whatever reason the contents of the stomach hadn't moved into the gut but it wasn't a blockage. The x-ray showed gas in the caecum (not of concern) a very, very big stomach full of food. If he had had a blockage the stomach would have contained gas and fluids. His blood glucose reading was only 9.4, if he had had a blockage it would have been 15+ (probably 20+). Even though clinically he wasn't in the danger range at 9.4 the poor little bubba was in agony Crying or Very sad

All I can come up with was that he couldn't digest what was in his stomach but I'm sure Frances/Ruth will give me some answers next time I get chance to ask.

My instinctive believe though is that this was what was in his stomach.

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Post by Snowy Fri Apr 22, 2011 10:03 am

That's scary, has the stuff started to move through? I really hope he is going to be OK,is he eating normally as well? sorry for all the questions but I've never heard of this before, I know a rabbit that kept eating cardboard but not cat litter
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Post by Big Ears Fri Apr 22, 2011 10:42 am

Snowy wrote:That's scary, has the stuff started to move through? I really hope he is going to be OK,is he eating normally as well? sorry for all the questions but I've never heard of this before, I know a rabbit that kept eating cardboard but not cat litter

He came home yesterday evening. He spent four days at the vets on Domperidone and Zantac to get it moving, and being syringe fed as initially he wasn't eating. He also had Vetergesic for the first day and Metacam thereafter for the pain. He had fluids as well to prevent it becoming a blockage. They don't let them home until they are eating normally so the four days sounds a lot but it's just that FHB & team like to be 100% sure. I'm not sure how long it took to pass through but the message I got yesterday morning was that he'd passed a lot of faeces in the previous 24 hours plus eating well so he could come home. I even wonder if a non-rabbit savvy vet would have been able to save him - the x-ray was key to working out what was wrong as on physical examination there wasn't much to find.

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Post by Snowy Fri Apr 22, 2011 4:30 pm

That is brilliant, well done, I should imagine that the 'ordinary' vet would not have examined as thoroughly as that and sadly the bunny may well have gone to the bridge, I really hope he continues to progress
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