Small poos post surgery/on antibiotic (PS Hi!)

Hi - seem to have hopped over here and joined the Happy Hoppers.

Have been away from another forum etc for a week or so for various reasons and was looking for advice and some of you seem to be here now! - I need to ask for some advice/comments on Teasal.

Teasal has always had bladder sludge (we do all the 'usual' low CA foods, no pellets, lots of juice in water etc etc and vet check once a month for sludge). This time of checking he had built up an enormous amount of hardened sludge in just a month - and after trying to remove ' manually' (ouch) the vet decided he had to have a catheter under GA. He came back on Saturday evening and seems to have recovered well (he was isoflourine only after taking several days to recover with a ixture last time).

However - he is only doing VERY small poos (about 3-4mm) and they are often strung together. I wondered whether this might be a side effect of the Septrin he is taking, or whether it is due to the GA having halted the gut for a while, or whether it might be signs of dehydration (we are trying apple juice with water liquids orally but he hates them and I am afraid of aspiration) or whether perhaps because his private parts are painfu - though can't see how he would be able to modulate his poos to be small before they arrived there!!

He is eating his greens intermittently - though not as ravenously as normal - and hopping around now, but not as much as normal. I don't want to bother the vets again or stress him out by taking him there agin so soon unless it is really necessary.

Anyone any thoughts on this? The op was quite long as he had to have the catheter in for ages as there was SO much solidified gunk. That was saturday PM, its now Monday AM.

Parsnipbun

It sounds to me as though Teasel has developed a sluggish gut which may be a reaction in part to both the antibiotics and the GA.

Whilst he is still eating willingly I would encourage him to eat as much roughage as possible and feeding him some Foiberplex for a few days should help too. I would also add extra probiotic to his water supply to help combat the negative gut flora.

Has he been on any painkillers post op? This may go someway to explaining his diminished appetite. Also has he at any point been given a gut stimulant?

I'd say he needs some pain relief as bladder sludge can cause cystitis like pain. If you've had cystitis you'll know its..........

Also, catheterising a Bun can cause the urethra to go into spasm which would be extremely painful and sometimes diazepam is required aswell as pain relief in order to stop the spasms.

I have found that some Buns with chronic bladder sludge need daily manual bladder expression to avoid too much sludge remaining in the bladder and possibly forming stones. Obviously this is a delicate proceedure and should never be undertaken without the specific advice/training from your Vet. Subcutaneous fluid therapy is sometimes required too.

Has your Bun had an Xray of his abdomen? This would show if there are any actual stones already formed and also if they are also affecting his kidneys. If the Kidneys are involved then that would have an effect on his overall well-being and consequently on his GI function.

Thanks Sooz and Jacks-Jane.

He was starting to eat less and look bad tempered this afternoon so I took him back and asked them to put in some sub-cuts as I thought he was looking dehydrated and maybe lack of fluid was also meaning the bladder was more irritated. I also gave more metacam. Its worked well and he immediately started munching huge mouthfulls of coarse grass and leaves. I asked about a gut stimulant but for some reason they wanted to wait to see how he was overnight as he had been eating already - maybe they feel that he just needs his own time to re-adjust again? I have some recovery feed her so will give it this eve if he stops eating or if the poos look no larger tommorow..

Interesting what you say about other rabbits needing almost daily sludge removal - I just don't understand how he can build it up so quick on a low CA diet!! Makes me feel 'better' that other rabbits have the same problems (if you know what I mean - its not something I'm doing wrong).

He has had x-rays of the whole region so suspect that included kidneys - especially as have had other rabbits with ec kidney problems so my vet would be looking out for kidney problems.

Oh well - back to the allotment to pick more grass - just as well its weedy out there!

I hope he will continue to eat more now. Please keep us posted

Sending lots of vibes for Teasal. Hope he continues well on his recovery x