Help with Evo please

Warning - this is going to be long!!!

As many of you know, Evo has been very poorly this week, having been hospitalised at the vets from Sunday - Tuesday. He had had a dental on the Thursday, which he had seemed to recover well from - he was eating and pooing as normal almost as soon as he got home. He was not eating again on Saturday, and despite meds (painkiller and metaclopramide) and syringe feeding, he was no better Sunday, and admitted to the vets. He was dehydrated by this time too. He was fine again, until today - when he had a little relapse. It seemed like he was gassy to me - wanted to lie down, but not comfy and he would bite hay in half, but not eat. We were at the vets within half an hour of this attack, he had the usual meds and is fine again for now. He has a checkup tomorrow, and I want to go armed with possible suggestions to the cause of this attack. I am beginning to think that some of his previous not eating episodes might not be dental related, but to something else, and he just happens to have teeth spurs too (he had spurs at this dental, but no ulceration in his mouth or soreness). His blood test results came back clear, apart from muscle enzymes, which was a bit weird.

Causes I can think of........

• Diet - he has a very simple diet - a variety of hays, Oxbow Bunny Basics T food and treats of porridge oats (very few), Science Selective and Oxbow Papaya tablets (2 a day) - could any of this "go off"
  
• Change of hay - I recently changed from Oxbow timothy which was getting a bit dusty and rubbish, to Alfalfa King which smells much richer, and Evo is much more keen on
  
• Simply related to his dentals - his mouth is still sore
  
• Ulcers from repeated attacks of anorexia - is this likely
  
• He is moulting - getting block up
  

I am going to suggest Zantac, as it sounds so good from Jane's post - is it worth still doing whilst he is well? Anything else I can try? Are there any other meds I can safely give, that they might allow me to keep at home?

I can't, and won't give up on him, and will continue treating him for as long as he enjoys life - but it's so stressful, and I'm so broke, even with insurance it still costs plenty. I'm so glad I'm not at work this week - there's no way I would have been allowed to go home (45 mins each way) to take him to the vet - once was bad enough last week.

I am sorry you are having such a worrying time with Evo.

I can't really offer any advice as such. His diet is similar to ours except ours get a good selection of greens too. Do you think he drinks enough water, are you aware how much he drinks, has his uptake altered recently? I just wonder if that may be a contributory factor.

I am sure the Zantac is worth trying.

Am sending vibes that Evo is soon back to normal.

Oh dear what a worry

I am a bit confused re the blood test results I would quiz the Vet as to whether Evo's Liver function is OK.

GI ulceration can happen rapidly when a Bun stops eating. Obviously GI ulceration will cause tummy pain which will reduce GI motility. So I feel sure Evo will benifit from having Ranitidine

Sixer wrote:I am sorry you are having such a worrying time with Evo.

I can't really offer any advice as such. His diet is similar to ours except ours get a good selection of greens too. Do you think he drinks enough water, are you aware how much he drinks, has his uptake altered recently? I just wonder if that may be a contributory factor.

I am sure the Zantac is worth trying.

Am sending vibes that Evo is soon back to normal.

He can't have any veg - they give him the squits. After the first time he was poorly with his tummy (4 years ago), he just can't tolerate it. He drinks from a bowl, and I'm not noticing any change in the amount he drinks.

Jack's-Jane wrote:Oh dear what a worry

I am a bit confused re the blood test results I would quiz the Vet as to whether Evo's Liver function is OK.

GI ulceration can happen rapidly when a Bun stops eating. Obviously GI ulceration will cause tummy pain which will reduce GI motility. So I feel sure Evo will benifit from having Ranitidine

I am definitely going to suggest the Ranitidine.

I just want to go armed with as much info / suggestions as possible.

Would it be worth mentioning Buscopan to the vet? If his guts are spasming it may help

Lynda wrote:Would it be worth mentioning Buscopan to the vet? If his guts are spasming it may help

He had Buscopan on his receipt from his latest stay. I know he had it in the past too, during the time when Propulsid stopped being available.

Hi Laura!

This may be a stupid question but is the Alfalfa hay actually made from Alfalfa or is it a brand?
Alfalfa upsets Barney! He had gut stassis when I gave it to him as its very high in calcium. I am considering switching everyone to Oxbow t as its lower in calcium than SS but they have so few pellets and have been fine so far on ss touch wood.

I try to keep their calcium in take very low now. You may remember I had a few relapses of GI with both Barney and Roxy a year or so ago but since cutting down on calcium I haven't had a problem *runs off to touch as much wood as she can find*

Hope little Evo gets better soon x

Isabel wrote:Hi Laura!

This may be a stupid question but is the Alfalfa hay actually made from Alfalfa or is it a brand?
Alfalfa upsets Barney! He had gut stassis when I gave it to him as its very high in calcium. I am considering switching everyone to Oxbow t as its lower in calcium than SS but they have so few pellets and have been fine so far on ss touch wood.

I try to keep their calcium in take very low now. You may remember I had a few relapses of GI with both Barney and Roxy a year or so ago but since cutting down on calcium I haven't had a problem *runs off to touch as much wood as she can find*

Hope little Evo gets better soon x

It's just the brand name.

I don't know what else I could cut out. I forgot to mention - he has willow twigs to chew too. Sometimes, they have a bit of green on them, and I don't give him them just in case.

ahhhh poor Evo, its so frustrating not to know what the cause is. I'll keep thinking. and hoping that he perks up and stops worrying his mummy.
xxx

It's just so worrying that it can come on so suddenly - when I'm at work, I'm terrified every day that I'm going to come home to him poorly, and every day when I get up I worry that I'm going to have to go to work when he's sick.

Poor Evo - and how stressful for you.

I know this doesn't get to the cause of the problems but is worth giving him a probiotic in his water. Or maybe you might want to look at Carrs Entracare - I tried some of this when I was barking up the wrong tree with excess caecs

Sixer wrote:Poor Evo - and how stressful for you.

I know this doesn't get to the cause of the problems but is worth giving him a probiotic in his water. Or maybe you might want to look at Carrs Entracare - I tried some of this when I was barking up the wrong tree with excess caecs

He has probiotics - he looooooves it in his water.

Sorry I missed this somehow, how's Evo doing?

Thanks for asking. Touch wood, he's fine for now. Still now idea on the cause of it though.

Glad to hear it