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Gut Stasis Help

rachelpeapod

New Born Pup
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Hello,

A little bit of background;
I brought home two brothers in May 2017. They were born approx April 6th. They were happy together til about November, when they started fighting. I had to separate them when they started drawing blood. Anyway, a few days ago I noticed that Mowbray had become a lot quieter in himself, a little withdrawn and not as vocal and happy as usual. So yesterday I put them back together, thinking Mowbray was lonely, and apart from a bit of rumblestrutting and some chasing, they've been fine, even sleeping next to each other.
But today I was watching Mowbray, and he wasn't interacting with Marmaduke, wasn't interested in his veggies, and just sitting stock still in his bed.

So I rang the vets and got an appointment straight away, and I took them both up.

Vet says that Mowbray has got gut stasis. She gave him a couple of injections and has given me some Emeprid (which I think is metaclopromide?) to give him every 12 hours for 3 days.

Mowbray has perked up really well, he's eating hay and I gave him some pepper which he's finished, so I hope he's getting better now.

What I'd like to know is
1. is there anything I can do now to help him get back to normal, bar administering the drugs which I'm obviously going to do, and
2. what can I do in the future to stop this happening again?

Also, does anyone think this has happened because he was lonely? I feel horrible if that's the case because I split them up, but I was so worried they'd really hurt each other. (I put a perspex divider down the middle of their cage so they could still see, smell and talk to each other..)

Sorry this was so long!
 
Hello, sorry to hear this. I will type more in full in morning as low battery. The emeprid is amazing stuff and should keep everything pushing through avoid gassy veg for now. It hasn't happened because he was lonely so don't blame yourself at all.

Is he pooing now?
 
Make sure he eating lots of hay. Introduce veg slowly back into his diet as it sounds like something has set off a bloaty episode resulting in gut slowing down possibly.
 
Hello, sorry to hear this. I will type more in full in morning as low battery. The emeprid is amazing stuff and should keep everything pushing through avoid gassy veg for now. It hasn't happened because he was lonely so don't blame yourself at all.

Is he pooing now?

Thank you; I was so so worried it was my fault.

He's pooed a couple of times that I've seen; it's a tad difficult to monitor cause he's with Marmaduke who is the biggest poo machine I've ever seen. He has passed one of the ones they eat; I forget the term.

He's definitely eating hay though. Not as much as normal but I assume that's understandable as he's been a bit stressed with the trip to the vets etc. He's just a bit tired I think, but he looks better than earlier on today.

Is pepper ok to give him in the morning? They usually get dark leafy greens, pepper slices and some herbs (different ones each day, Mowbray loves thyme).
 
That's okay, speak in morning. Try pepper and cucumber possibly a little celery in morning avoid anything gassy.... Sending your little lad lots of healing vibes
 
Important to keep food going through guts and system moving. Get a bag of something like oxbow orchard grass or Timothy hay in to tempt him to eat more hay... Always got our bloaty girl nibbling. If he goes downhill then contact vet Asap. May be worth asking vet for Zantac also, but emeprid is excellent too and is obviously working
 
Important to keep food going through guts and system moving. Get a bag of something like oxbow orchard grass or Timothy hay in to tempt him to eat more hay... Always got our bloaty girl nibbling. If he goes downhill then contact vet Asap. May be worth asking vet for Zantac also, but emeprid is excellent too.

Thanks :)
I have given him a big pile of fresh timothy hay and he is eating it; not as much as normal I don't think but he's definitely munching on it.
Yes, my vet is 24 hour so I can always take him back up if he gets worse. They did say just ring if I had any concerns.
I'm staying up tonight to make sure he keeps nibbling.

She gave him metacam and emeprid via injection and then Ive got more emeprid in oral suspension, so I hope that will work.
If I need to go back I will mention Zantac.
Thank you.
 
Hello,

A little bit of background;
I brought home two brothers in May 2017. They were born approx April 6th. They were happy together til about November, when they started fighting. I had to separate them when they started drawing blood. Anyway, a few days ago I noticed that Mowbray had become a lot quieter in himself, a little withdrawn and not as vocal and happy as usual. So yesterday I put them back together, thinking Mowbray was lonely, and apart from a bit of rumblestrutting and some chasing, they've been fine, even sleeping next to each other.
But today I was watching Mowbray, and he wasn't interacting with Marmaduke, wasn't interested in his veggies, and just sitting stock still in his bed.

So I rang the vets and got an appointment straight away, and I took them both up.

Vet says that Mowbray has got gut stasis. She gave him a couple of injections and has given me some Emeprid (which I think is metaclopromide?) to give him every 12 hours for 3 days.

Mowbray has perked up really well, he's eating hay and I gave him some pepper which he's finished, so I hope he's getting better now.

What I'd like to know is
1. is there anything I can do now to help him get back to normal, bar administering the drugs which I'm obviously going to do, and
2. what can I do in the future to stop this happening again?

Also, does anyone think this has happened because he was lonely? I feel horrible if that's the case because I split them up, but I was so worried they'd really hurt each other. (I put a perspex divider down the middle of their cage so they could still see, smell and talk to each other..)

Sorry this was so long!

Hi!

Here is our support guide for GI stasis: Bloat, Gi Stasis ( No Gut Movement) And Not Eating
It also contains a link to the thread I made about my own Pili Pala, who suffered from stasis in October.

The most important thing right now is to get enough food into him, little but often and around the clock. You are aiming for about 60-90 ml in 24 hours to get him going again, which is likely going to take a few days - it depends on how quickly and how well the guts kick back in again. My Pili Pala was rather slow and she has unfortunately developed chronic bowel problems.

Please ask for zantac; it works on a different angle to emeprid. Metoclopramide will help to empty the bowels (hence the poos which are from before the stasis kicked in fully), but will not necessarily stimulate the guts. If you have the choice between emeprid and metoclop, always opt for emeprid with a guinea pig.

If he is otherwise fine, he should recover without any further problems. If there is an underlying issue that has caused the GI stasis, then recovery will not be as quick and he may suffer digestive issues for some afterwards.

Please do not beat yourself up. These things happen, and they often happen out of the blue. If there is an underlying problem, then it takes just a little extra stress or tip over to trigger GI stasis, but that is usually not in your control and is usually not something that you can foresee or prevent.
 
I'm pleased to say that Mowbray is a hundred times better than he was yesterday :)

He didn't want to eat at first, but I put some of his favourite oat grass in and he dove straight in. Since then he's eaten his usual timothy hay, a bit of yellow pepper and some of his pellets.
I've also given him two lots of the emeprid (which was quite funny because he was like a child being given medicine, moving his head every way to avoid the syringe!).

Thanks again for your help; I was very very worried last night but fingers crossed he's going to be okay now.
(I have also bookmarked the links you gave me for future reference!)

Here's a pic that I just took now of Mowbray munching on some hay:
d3c11d7b6362f2418ed9ee874cfba0dc.jpg
 
I'm pleased to say that Mowbray is a hundred times better than he was yesterday :)

He didn't want to eat at first, but I put some of his favourite oat grass in and he dove straight in. Since then he's eaten his usual timothy hay, a bit of yellow pepper and some of his pellets.
I've also given him two lots of the emeprid (which was quite funny because he was like a child being given medicine, moving his head every way to avoid the syringe!).

Thanks again for your help; I was very very worried last night but fingers crossed he's going to be okay now.
(I have also bookmarked the links you gave me for future reference!)

Here's a pic that I just took now of Mowbray munching on some hay:
d3c11d7b6362f2418ed9ee874cfba0dc.jpg
Awwww I am so pleased, always nice to have good news in this section of forum. He is beautiful.

My advice going forward would be to introduce veg slowly, keep a food diary of what you introduce in case it happens again and you can find a trigger food. Also ask the vet for some emeprid to keep in the house just in case it happens again and you can't get to a vet straight away. Continued healing vibes
 
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