Oxbow Critical Care Herbivore, Emergency Guinea Pig Food, Rabbit Food for Recovery, Natural Anise Flavor, Critical Care for Guinea Pig Emergency Kit, 454 gram bag

Our rabbit Seb unfortunately developed a tendency to go into a shed every six weeks, much more often than the every three months that my books said. And when he went into a shed, he'd lick himself and swallow a lot of the loose hair, and developed hair balls. He'd quit eating and just sit miserably in a corner of his cage. I read everything I could find on the condition and took him to the vet three times over several months, putting him on Reglan and Cisapride (specially ordered from a compounding pharmacy in Arizona) several times a day. I brushed him several times a day to get out as much hair as I could. And, since he wasn't eating anything, which quickly leads to death in rabbits and guinea pigs, I fed him this product, Critical Care, six times a day when his condition was the worst, gradually reducing the number as he started to improve and nibble on food. I also gave him Benebac in the Critical Care every other day, for the probiotics. And water by little syringes directly into his mouth three times a day. It has happened five times since last November, but once he recovers and I very gradually wean him off the meds (a lesson I learned the hard way), he's fine, cheerful, lively, and a voracious eater. He'd be dead now five times over if it weren't for the Critical Care. You mix a tablespoon of the powdered hay and vitamins in this supplement with warm water, put it into a feeding syringe, then shoot it into his mouth, where he eagerly swallows it. Not more than this at one feeding, but you have to keep food in his digestive tract at all times, as the GI stasis will otherwise quickly kill these animals. This is a great product for herbivorous animals that are sick or recovering from surgery, and they also make a similar product for carniverous animals, which I haven't tried yet.

One of our little bunnies went into GI stasis and we found out about this when doing research online over a week-end when our exotic animal vet was closed. We took our little bun to an animal urgent care and they were going to admit him to do "exploratory surgery" (don't ever do this, most bunnies never survive the surgery and you don't need to do this if your bunny has GI stasis). I wish I had known about this so I would have had it on hand before our bunny got sick but it arrived super fast through Prime (phew). (You never know with Prime, depending on the item, the day you order it etc. etc. it could take up to 4 days to receive an item nowadays with Amazon Prime.) Its super easy to use, the instructions are on the bag, it comes as a powder and you mix it was warm water and feed it to your bunny using a feeding syringe that you can buy from a pharmacy in the baby aisle. If you only have 1-2 bunnies, this small size is more than enough, you don't need the bigger bag. It sort of has a pungent lemony scent which is pretty disgusting when your bunny poops it out, but you'll never be more thankful to see bunny poop in your life! Our bunny didn't seem to mind the taste (we tried various organic veggie baby foods and he hated those, but he went for this pretty ok considering....) If your bunny goes into GI stasis, please do not give your bunny an enema (there are well meaning people online who recommended this to us but our vet was against it.) What you want to do is help your bunny get hydrated at the vet with subcutaneous fluid therapy, we found that and the Rx laxative and pain reliever (for his fairly large gas bubble that we saw on his x-ray) to be the most helpful things for our little bun. He was hydrated twice and only on the pain reliever, laxative and this food for 3 days in total before he returned back to normal. We set our alarm clock to wake up every two hours to check on our bun during the night when he was too sick to move and when his temperature dropped we surrounded him with lightly warmed rice bags that seemed to help bring his temperature back up and also the warmth was comforting to him. Its a super scary thing to go through so I highly recommend you have this on hand "before" you need it for just in case.

This is great to have on hand! My vet also says you can use regular hay, add hot water to it, let sit and once it’s cool suck up with a syringe and feed your bunnies when they need critical care. As a mama to 4 bunnies this is a must have!

I have two lion head rabbits that were on the verge of death from GI stasis. Both were not eating or drinking and just sat on the corner in pain. They did not eat when I hand fed them either. So my mother and I decided to force feed this Oxbow Critical Care. We had to pick them up against their will and bottle/syringe feed this stuff. 3 tablespoons mixed with water should be enough. Just shove it in their mouth if they resist. They will eat it or swallow it. They need the nutrients to fight GI stasis and the fiber from Critical care will help move things around. I also added Ben-Bac which is a probiotic and some gas drops for human baby with the Oxbow Critical Care just in case. I did not want to just bring them to the vet since its too far and expensive for me. After 1-2 days of feeding this about 2 -3 times a day both are now healthy. Eating and playing normally. Shortly after feeding this both pooped GIANT round poops with tons of mucus covering it. My mom opened up the poop and there was this giant fur ball in it. No wonder they are having a hard time passing stools. The cause?? I think I'm to blame because I have been feeding them banana, carrots, blueberries and cilantro daily along with their hay and pellets. It turns out they were full from the fruits so they ate less hay/pellet so less fiber. I have now stopped feeding them fruits. Cilantro minimally soaked in water for hydration. Both love cilantro. I bought Meadow hay, Oat hay, Timothy Hay and Alfalfa hay. They only eat Meadow and Alfalfa Hay along with Timothy hay pressed pellets. Best cure is prevention. So feed them only hay and hay pressed pellets. Soak vegetables in water as a snack for hydration. If you love your pet rabbit and want to avoid expensive vet bill this is the best way. Buy Critical care in case of an emergency as you never know. I highly recommend. Hope this helps someone.

I started this for my 10 year old Lionhead rabbit who has arthritis. Our vet suggested it for extra nutrients and through trial and error I have found what works for feeding this to my rabbit. First I take a half a scoop of the Critical Care product. I use the anise flavored one. I place it in a small cup and add a little over half of a 20cc medicine sized cup of warm water. I then take a mini battery operated hand held mixer(frother) and blend it. Then I add the rest of the water and place it in a 30cc catheter tip syringe. I squirted a little in his mouth to get him used to it. For his feedings I let him sit on a towel on the couch and I place the syringe near his mouth. When he grabs the syringe I squeeze out a little bit at a time. I found a toothpick to be handy if the tip gets clogged during feeding. He usually finishes the whole feeding but if there is any left I place it in the fridge and add it in with the next feeding time. I found if I try to force feed any left over to him he gets stressed and then doesn’t want to eat at all. But if your rabbit isn’t eating anything at all then force feeding will probably be required. I also incorporate fresh natural foods in his diet and anti inflammatory plants safe for rabbits. But I feel with the Critical Care it has given him an extra boost.

I'm guessing if you're reading this you haven't randomly come across "Critical Care" so you already know what it is ... but just in case this is you are a random discoverer, this particular "Critical Care is a premium recovery food which can be given to herbivores with poor nutritional status resulting from illness or surgery." My vet recommended I buy this from Amazon. The guinea and I prefer the" fine grind" -- it's easier to feed through a dropper and doesn't have that black licorice smell which annoys me, I'm not so sure about smell for the pig, but she seems to prefer the consistency of the fine grind. She'd squeak for that, (for the critical care fine grind,) she's not quite so wild about this, but I cannot recommend strongly enough keeping a pack of this around for emergencies -- I depleted two local vets small supplies, and I paid the same thing to them for 1/4 the amount, plus a lot of driving time. We (vets and I) cannot figure out what caused her to suddenly stop eating any harder foods, and I was afraid we'd lose her in a matter of days -- that was two months ago. She's still lost a lot of weight, but I feed her as much as she will take on her own, and sometimes that involves 30 - 40 minutes by hand 3 x/day; I also keep it available in her cage all the time, as well as fresh fruits, spinach and other pellets in case she decides to eat them again. I've had some luck literally blending the critical care with spinach leaves, additional water, fresh berries and vitamin c drops, and some of her favorite guinea pig food, into a sort of smoothie; that particular mixture is what she prefers most. But again, our guinea pig, prefers the fine grind, but she will eat this which beats her not eating anything until I can get more of the other stuff -- and no I haven't tried the "flavors" yet, but will post when we do. I did see someone asked how long this would last -- the package we received last month (Oct 2014) has a "Best By: DEC 2015" stamped on the side.

When bunnies age it's hard for them to keep weight which leads to other ailments. I've started feeding this 2x daily to my buns when they age to around 9 years and keep them on it until we have to say goodbye. Thus far it's extended my bunnies' lives, one lived to be over 9 years old (amazing for a large breed), one of my bonded pairs lived to be over 12 years old, I currently have another bonded pair who are a lively 10 years old, and one single 9 year old. ALL are still very healthy besides the normal aging which comes naturally (arthritis and blindness). I mix it to a thick paste and make small bite-sized pieces on a paper towel and feed in the morning and night as a "treat". They love it, and it keeps them at a healthy weight as well as keeping away digestive, skin, and hair issues. I simply can't say enough about Critical Care, it has allowed me to have more loving years with my buns, which is simply immeasurable!

Always on hand, in case there is any gastrological issues with my bunny. I give it to her during her antibiotic treatment too, thankfully, she likes it eating from a small bowl to prevent GI stasis, once or twice a day. Truly a life saver.

Great product expires in a year and 4months a bit small but overall great helps I case of emergency’s

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A must for rabbits when they need to recover from illness or surgery. Every vets approves this product. Amazon always has fresh stocks so the expiry date is never a concern.

Hallo Zusammen, der Päppelbrei ist wirklich super. Mein Kleiner hat ihn wirklich gerne gegessen, egal welche Sorte. Es hat das füttern viel einfacher gemacht. Kann ich nur weiterempfehlen. Ich wünschte ich hätte das früher gewusst

Having bought this product before, I would recommend it, as it has greatly improved the health of one of our guinea pigs who has a dental problem and can't presently eat food as it normally would, having to be fed this product by syringe or in a bowl. My most recent order for it, placed in plenty of time before running out, was apparently 'lost' - the first Amazon order to be so. Unfortunate, when it just happened to be a Critical Care product and ordered on Prime. Refunded though (thanks) and had to be bought elsewhere. Tricky few days as a consequence.