My Pili Pala (Welsh for "Butterfly" because of her eye patch) has suffered GI stasis overnight, i.e. her guts have stopped working and there is none of the usual gurgling in her guts. This can be deadly.
For a while this morning I thought she might pass away in my arms there and then when she fell into a deep comatose sleep while I desperately tried to get a little syringe feed into her before the vets would open at 9 am
We did get an emergency appointment at our local 24 hour no-frills vets (my regular local vets were totally booked out). After a lengthy wait, we have come home with plenty of gut stimulants, both zantac and emeprid (which work on different parts of the digestive system). She did perk up just a little bit at the vet; enough to decide to not pts and to give her a chance to pull through.
She is still extremely lethargic, but I have been giving her little feeds of up to 5 ml every hour, slowly and in small portions to prevent things from going down the wrong way because she is not good at processing at the moment. It is now a waiting game and a sleepless night to see whether she will pick up again and start eating on her own at some point, or at least be willing to accept more feed in one go so I can lengthen the intervals. Her digestive system is going to stay tender for a while, so I have to keep a careful eye on her for the next few weeks.
You may have noticed my constant harping on about stepping in with syringe feed in the Health and Illness section, but GI stasis (or gut stasis) is one of the things that can happen in the wake of an operation or illness. The symptoms are total loss of appetite and sudden extreme lethargy/apathy. They are an emergency situation.
Keeping the guts from slowing and then closing down is as important as any medication your vet can give you!
This is the reason why I have had to pull out of the Birmingham Forum meet today and why I may not be around as much in the coming days - once Pili is safe, I will need to catch up on some much needed sleep!
For a while this morning I thought she might pass away in my arms there and then when she fell into a deep comatose sleep while I desperately tried to get a little syringe feed into her before the vets would open at 9 am
We did get an emergency appointment at our local 24 hour no-frills vets (my regular local vets were totally booked out). After a lengthy wait, we have come home with plenty of gut stimulants, both zantac and emeprid (which work on different parts of the digestive system). She did perk up just a little bit at the vet; enough to decide to not pts and to give her a chance to pull through.
She is still extremely lethargic, but I have been giving her little feeds of up to 5 ml every hour, slowly and in small portions to prevent things from going down the wrong way because she is not good at processing at the moment. It is now a waiting game and a sleepless night to see whether she will pick up again and start eating on her own at some point, or at least be willing to accept more feed in one go so I can lengthen the intervals. Her digestive system is going to stay tender for a while, so I have to keep a careful eye on her for the next few weeks.
You may have noticed my constant harping on about stepping in with syringe feed in the Health and Illness section, but GI stasis (or gut stasis) is one of the things that can happen in the wake of an operation or illness. The symptoms are total loss of appetite and sudden extreme lethargy/apathy. They are an emergency situation.
Keeping the guts from slowing and then closing down is as important as any medication your vet can give you!
This is the reason why I have had to pull out of the Birmingham Forum meet today and why I may not be around as much in the coming days - once Pili is safe, I will need to catch up on some much needed sleep!
hoping she gains some strength soon.
