Liquid Parafin for Bunny constepation * Yukky poo pics*

When Bertie was ill a couple of months ago with fecal compaction in his ceocum (Clicky), my vet prescribed 1 ml of liquid praffin, twice a day, and the same of fresh pinepple, which I put in the same syringe....mmm...nice

I'd not heard of this before, and at the time I expected, and he said it would be likely, that his poos would be sticky and gooey when the compaction broke up. However, they were'nt really that bad, they were fairly solid, just weird shapes and big and compact. But I am sure that the paraffin was a big player in releiving his constapation.

Yesterday we had a bad day, first one since then. As soon as I saw him on his bed at 6 am, I knew he wasn't right He is an amazing communicator, and has a place on his bed and in the front room where he sits only when he's unwell, so we always know as soon as he wants to tell us.
He wasen't bloated, so I gave him Infacol, and tummy massages, and a bit later I got him interested in some hay by rubbing it over his face and he ate a bit, then a bit of green, then nothing. He didn't seem in pain, I gave him 3ml syringe of Science recovery, with a drop of Metacam in it, arranged for Paul to come home early and I went to work.
when I got home, Berts was laying dumpling style in his litter, Paul had fed syringe fed him, and he wasn't bloated. I spoke to my vet, who thankfully knows him well enough to know that he gets very stressed by vets visits, & tries to avoid if poss. He told me to try him on a mil of praffin with metacam, which I did. (He also advised me to keep giving him paraffin every 2-3 weeks, to stop this happening again.)
About 1/2 an hour later, Bertie dutifully left these on our carpet





They were incredibly sticky, I lifted them off the floor with loo paper, and that is the paraffin. He had one more batch of larger than normal, sorter than normal poos, then returned to these, less than 12 hours later



and there's a couple of smaller ones, but on the whole, that's pretty good. You can get liquid paraffin from the chemist, it's only £1.25 for a bottle.
I wondered if anyone else has been advised to use this, and if it's worked, cos I'm starting to think it's pretty good stuff!
ETA, conversly, any bad experiences/info?

Thanksfully Bertie is back to normal today, hopping around like a loony, and has a new Bertilla bunny to hop around with

yucky poopies!

glad hes feeling better

Yukky poops too!

Am pleased to hear Bertie is now better

I am not sure that liquid paraffin is safe to use in all cases. I have read that in dehydrated blockages the paraffin will coat the blockage, prevent it absorbing water and thus make it more difficult to break down and pass. I don't know if this is just theoretical though. I would imagine that the use of paraffin would depend on the position of the blockage.

Think we nood Sooz's opinion on this

Poor Bertie again!, well done for getting him right again Jay, I would be really interested in being educated about the use of liquid paraffin, it seems that it really does have it's place within bunny medicine, hopefully Sooz will come along and cast her expert eye over this and let us know

Well, I have to say, I am becoming increasingly convinced that paraffin can work for some rabbits in certain circumstances but I would never, ever recommend someone undertake it's use without a vet overseeing the process because it really can do an awful lot of damage in compounding problems with intestinal blockages if used incorrectly, and particularly in a rabbit who is dehydrated.

As Sixer has stated, if paraffin is used in a rabbit it is absolutely vital that the rabbit is fully hydrated because doseing a rabbit with oil based lubricants means that any dehydrated ingesta in the gut is covered by an oily coat. Chemistry 101.... oil repels water.Therefore the dehydrated mass cannot become rehydrated, cannot change shape or break down and the bunny is stuck with an oily but immovable stomach blockage.

This places the rabbit in a dubious condition, do you risk using gut stimulants and prospectively rupturing the gut or attempt extremely dangerous GI surgery.

This extract is quite useful:

E. Petroleum-based laxatives: use with caution.

Laxative-grade mineral oil or commercial products such as Laxatone or Petromalt do not affect intestinal motility. Some veterinarians prescribe them in the hope that they might help to slide dry, impacted matter through the intestine more easily.
Note, however, that if the intestinal contents are severely dehydrated and brick-hard (yes, we have seen this!), a coating of vaseline-like substance over them will merely impede their re-hydration and make it more difficult for the mass to break up and begin passing normally. For this reason, it is probably wise to concentrate on re-hydrating the intestinal contents before using petroleum-based laxatives, if they are to be used at all.

Note also that whereas malt-flavored remedies in a tube are often preferred by the bunny, some vets believe that their higher viscosity may actually contribute to holding a mass of impacted food together, especially if the intestinal contents are dehydrated. Unscented, laxative grade mineral oil is less viscous, and may be more effective. Always administer such substances with care so that the bunny does not aspirate (inhale) any. Petroleum-based laxatives should not be given daily or long term, as they can impede the absorption of important, fat-soluble vitamins.

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html


This is also an interesting quote that Kay once told me:

Well my vet gave LP for my bun last week as he is in GI statis.

Although I am no vet I really dislike giving anything that you can't find naturally. Sooz gave me some great advice and without needing the 4mils daily of LP, I syringed warm water instead and Arthur has made a good recovery. On the LP he was hunched and looked in pain but just a couple of doses of water he really perked up. His eyes went from hazy to bright and alert.

The first poop after the LP was oily but no real substance, with the water a nice lumpy mound came out Sorry if your eating while reading this

This was after a cat specialist (I kid you not) tried to treat her Arthur with Paraffin without trying other methods first. Arthur was fine after intensive fluid therapy and fiberplex to replace the two natural substances utilised by the gut to process ingesta.

Interestingly I have also had a conversaion with a chap who rehabilitates Cottontails in the US and who is very highly regarded on another forum and he is of the opinion that LP has no place in modern day medicine at all, I am not sure if that is a general opinion across sea's or not though.

So, in closing I think it is an option to consider only after all other methods have been exhausted and when overseen by a competent rabbit veterinarian. The only rabbit I have veer had in a position where I might have considered LP or another lubricant is Caspian but he was far too dehydrated for it to ever have been a safe option.

If it's working for Bertie though, who am I to tell you otherwise.

Thanks, If I remember correctly Sooz, Bertie was put on LP because the blockage was so big that it was acting like a plug and randomly blocking the exit from the ceocum, causing random stasis-like symptoms, that could last for hours.

It was also pretty hard, and my vet was of the opinion that the LP would be the only thing left that could absorb into the compaction, soften it, enable it to break into smaller bits, and leave the coecum, and that's exactly what happened, although wether or not that was down to the stimulants, LP, Pineapple, or any combination, I wouldn't know.
NB Over the worst week he had 2 Gut stimulant jabs (metaclop) and these didn't affect him adversly, but they didn't work either.

I also agree that not all treatments are for all rabbits, and this is what makes part of being a bunny owner so difficult for us all I think, it's all down to your bun with a few protocols to refer to, but not that many! (it seems).

It's likely that Bertie will have slowed gut movement for the rest of his life and we could very well be going through the events of February again a few times, but he has recommended that we give him 1/2 a ml of LP every 2-3 weeks, to emit any small compactions, and prevent them from building into bigger ones. He didn't say it was essential, that it was up to us, and so we didn't, in all honesty. On Saturday and to a lesser degree, since, Bertie is displaying these symptoms again, so now I feel as if we should do what he says, and will discuss with me vet

Thanks for posting that above ^, I'm afraid to a dyslexic non medic I found it hard to read and understand, but Paul helped me with it and you seem to be emphasising that Bertie's initial treatment was correct. I didn't doubt that really, and was asking for people's experiences with LP to help me help Bertie in the future with this, if it's the right thing to do

A few months ago Dusty got all blocked up with fur and the vet gave us Parafin oil and after every dose we had to give him water aswell and we found it really helped to clear all of the hair

Dan wrote:A few months ago Dusty got all blocked up with fur and the vet gave us Parafin oil and after every dose we had to give him water aswell and we found it really helped to clear all of the hair

Pineapple juice is good for that, but is has to be the pure stuff and not the stuff made from concentrate

Dan wrote:A few months ago Dusty got all blocked up with fur and the vet gave us Parafin oil and after every dose we had to give him water aswell and we found it really helped to clear all of the hair

poor Dusty, that's quite scary when that happens. As Snowy said Dan, pure Pinapple jiuce is good, and has an enzyme called Bromelain in it, which is recommended to break down hair balls. If Dusty is prone to these, then you could give him a Bromelain tablet a couple of times a week, more when he's moulting, to produce the same effect. Many bunnny owners use these if their bun is prone to fur masses.
You can get them from Holland & Barrett, but make sure they are the non-chewable ones as the chewable ones have loads of sugar in them.

Bertie gets 1/2 of one 40ml pill after each groom, as his treat for letting me groom him thoroughly because he's moulting at the mo, he gets the every other day.

I would have thought with the paraffin and water it should be the other way around, water first followed by paraffin? Any idea's why not?

I think the thing is Jay, in Bertie's case it is an impaction in his ceacum that has been identified but many vets are prescribing LP for use in rabbits with gut impactions further up, which is where it can be particularly harmful if used without appropriate fluid therapy.

Do rabbits still absorb fluid from the contents of the ceacum or does this all take place earlier on?

Sooz wrote:I would have thought with the paraffin and water it should be the other way around, water first followed by paraffin? Any idea's why not?

I think the thing is Jay, in Bertie's case it is an impaction in his ceacum that has been identified but many vets are prescribing LP for use in rabbits with gut impactions further up, which is where it can be particularly harmful if used without appropriate fluid therapy.

Do rabbits still absorb fluid from the contents of the ceacum or does this all take place earlier on?

That makes sense Sooz, thanks.
I would have thought water before LP as well. I'll ask Anne later in the week about absorbption in the ceacum

Another very interesting thread, I have never used LP but will be discussing with Paula, my vet, on my next visit to see if it's something I should keep in my medicine cupboard, thanks for the information