Egg had stasis again last night... :(

Well, I thought that we had got on top of Egg's Stasis problem as she hadn't had it for about 6 months.... but lo... last night she was acting strange again... and as soon as you notice that she's off in the corner on her own, or tried to wee in a strange place, you just get that sinking feeling...
I was up through the night feeding her pineapple juice and giving her belly rubs, and rolling her up in a vetbed (she got soooo cold ) - she is better now, and is running about eating greens, hay and chasing Tuesday.


Egg has had a reoccuring stasis problem since she was a young bun... she's now 5, and we thought that a combination of diet changes had sorted it, but it appears not to have. She has always had smallish poops - when compared to her sister Donut (who sadly passed away), and obviously Tuesday is a big bun, so we wouldn't expect Egg to pass the same size, but I still think they are a bit too small.
Egg is also a lightweight rabbit, she only weighs in at 1.6Kg, where her sister would be 1.8+ (again, comparison to Tuesday wouldn't help! - he tops in over 3kg), so whilst we cut back on her excel pellet intake initially, we didn't want her to lose more weight.
So over the years we have:
- cut back excel pellets, and gave more greens (not sprouts)
- put hay everywhere! so she can't avoid it
- gone from a water bottle to water bowls (after we had a bad experience when the bottle stopped working and I didn't realise until i let them out next and where it had been raining they went to a puddle and started drinking immediately )
- transferred her from excel on to Allen and Page (the highest fibre content pellets)
- litter trained, and filled tray with hay to allow poop and munching at the same time
- cut back on treats (the stuff you can buy in shops as rabbit treats - they now only get the occasional raisin for being good - or when they are picked up)
- started giving fibreplex (although this is little, and randomly given)
- fresh whole pineapples in their enclosure to eat (although I think Tuesday is mostly responsible for the nibbling on that)


... should I start giving her fibreplex religiously every week/day?
I don't know if there is anything I can do to stop her getting stasis problems... and she's 5 now. I was almost resigned last night to the fact i'm going to lose her from stasis one of these days

Have you tried giving her her food little and often instead of all in one go?

If she has developed a possible case of secondary Pyloric Stenosis from the inflammation of her GI tract over the years it could be that food is backing up behind the PS due to it having narrowed.

Also have you ever tried her with a PH balancer such as Zantac or Tagamet incase of gastric ulceration?

I gave Caspian 3 days of Fiberplex every week with his stasis and also switched him to A&P. His stool condition did improve noticeably, although, in the end we still lost him.

Sooz22 said:

Have you tried giving her her food little and often instead of all in one go?

Click to expand...

Well - that's one of the reasons we changed from excel - they'd just eat it all in one go. The A&P gets nibbled little and often (I think they see it as a last resort) so I'm happy with the pellets.
They do go for the veg in one go - but I do rip greens up into bits then throw it all over the floor - so they at least get a breather between mouthfuls (I mainly did this to stop Tuesday boxing Egg - as he gets quite aggressive about his food). They get fed in the morning, and in the evening. I guess I could try feeding them when I get home as well, but sometimes i'm not in til late...

If she has developed a possible case of secondary Pyloric Stenosis from the inflammation of her GI tract over the years it could be that food is backing up behind the PS due to it having narrowed.

Also have you ever tried her with a PH balancer such as Zantac or Tagamet incase of gastric ulceration?

Click to expand...

Er.... what's that then ? Is there anything to cure pyloric stenosis? Do you have anymore info?

I gave Caspian 3 days of Fiberplex every week with his stasis and also switched him to A&P. His stool condition did improve noticeably, although, in the end we still lost him.

Click to expand...

Egg's stools are much better than they used to be - you can see the fibre has improved - and they are bigger than they were - but they are still small

Does she eat lots of grass as when my previous bunnies had been outdoors all day they weren't so fussed on the hay when they were back in, and their poos were black and smaller. When the weather was bad and they couldn't/wouldn't go out, they ate loads of hay and the poos were much bigger. How big are your rabbits poos? My present bun's poos are black and about the size of an excel pellet - some slightly smaller- but she has no problems, and eats well. Is your bun eating OK at the mo? I don't know anything about GI stasis but hope she will be pooing normally soon- Sue

She's an indoor bun, and hasn't really been outside for long enough to get eating (usually interested in running around when she does get out)...

I've taken a photo of her poops - and todays are much smaller than yesterdays (todays are only approx 5mm diam, yesterdays are more 7/8mm diam and Tuesday buns are going on for 1 cm)... Now if only i could find the cable for the camera to upload it... grrr

There is quite a lot of hay content in the poop - they aren't too dark...

Pyloric Stenosis: http://www.morfz.com/pyloric.html

This only really documents it as a rarer primary genetic issue but its much wider spread (although not often recognised) in rabbits prone to GI stasis, as it occurs as a result from GI 'trauma'. It is a contributory factor to recurring stasis in secondary form and the cause in primary form.

Of course it can reach a point where it goes from being a secondary condition caused by GI stasis to the primary cause of new episodes of stasis.

Hope that makes sense.

Interesting info Sooz....
The anorexia fits with her being a light weight bun... although I guess not hereditary as Donut didn't seem to have a problem (Egg was always lighter than Donut - i thought it was because Donut would scare egg off the food, but it's particularly noticeable that egg eats a bunch of stuff, and then stops chomping so I think she just chooses not to eat any more).

I always assumed I must have triggered it by giving something different, or not enough...

Would a PH balancer work for this? or was that in case of ulcers only? (what are the symptoms of that?

Here was the thread last time - over a year ago it seems, although i'm sure she went down with it again in the mean time...
She had a period then where she was going down with it every 2-4 weeks...

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?t=79605

I guess I should go ask my vet when she was taken in for it... would help with the timeline.... Although I guess it must have been 3 years ago (when she was 2) - which might tie in with the water incident.... (where the bottle stopped working and i didn't realise)?

I wonder if it's all related? Would a lack of water lead to a condition where the rabbit becomes prone to stasis? (although the symptoms of being lighter in weight and smaller poops than her sister were true before then..)


Oh I feel really bad I hope it's not my fault And I hope I can figure her out so she doesn't have to go through it again

A lack of water can make stasis more likely as it lubricates the contents of the gut making it easier to move. In cases where a rabbit is in stasis this is why its so important to syringe feed warm water, it keeps the stomach contents lubricated and prevents immaleable masses and hair balls from forming.

Gastric ulcers are another condition that can form as a result of stasis or cause stasis. I always put any stasis stricken rabbits onto either Tagamet or Ranitidine now (which ever they take better) to prevent ulceration occuring as well as trying to eliminate it as a cause.

I would suggests discussing both conditions with your vets and in the meantime try to keep Egg's fiber and water intake as high as possible.

I dont think it would do any harm to try the PH balancers either. They can also be useful in weanling kits.

Are Tagamet and Ranitidine something you get from the pharmacy? (sorry - i really don't know!)

I'll try my vet, but my usual vet left to emigrate to Auz, and I haven't figured out which one is most rabbit savvy...

woodstock said:

Are Tagamet and Ranitidine something you get from the pharmacy? (sorry - i really don't know!)

I'll try my vet, but my usual vet left to emigrate to Auz, and I haven't figured out which one is most rabbit savvy...

Click to expand...

Prescription only from your vet but are used for people too. Ranitidine is sold as Zantac and Cimetidine is sold as Tagamet.