stasis recovery- warning long & rambling post

hi guys, i am after some of your expert advice if poss please.

Besty, one of my loinhead x's was admitted to emergency bunny hospital over the weekend, she came home on sunday evening but on monday ( early hours) started going down hill again, sitting hunched up, not eating at all and not drinking. So off we went to the normal vets yesterday who gave some more meds and advised syringe feeding every 2 hours which i did last night. The vets had her today as i had to go to work and they have had some sucess with some poos and a dandilion leaf ... they have advised me to syringe feed her every 4-6 hours and offer lots of hay etc too.
I have left her in a seperate run to her sister and have been seperating them overnight. My concern is that as they are seperated its acutally making the situation worse as they are missing eachother ( the other bun is v miserable without her)
what would you do tonight....leave them seperated , or let them sleep together like normal in the hope that the "normailty" helps with settliing betsy into eating normally again. And if you advise this, how on earth do i measure the poo situation and also monitor how much shes eaten during the night..( is this possible at all) ?

Also, any positive experiences of getting a bun back on the road to recovery would be greatly appreciated as im feeling a tad worried at the moment. Shes not the best hay eater in the world so any advise on getting her to eat lots again would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again in advance and sorry for the very long one!

Gen x

jennyp said:

hi guys, i am after some of your expert advice if poss please.

Besty, one of my loinhead x's was admitted to emergency bunny hospital over the weekend, she came home on sunday evening but on monday ( early hours) started going down hill again, sitting hunched up, not eating at all and not drinking. So off we went to the normal vets yesterday who gave some more meds and advised syringe feeding every 2 hours which i did last night. The vets had her today as i had to go to work and they have had some sucess with some poos and a dandilion leaf ... they have advised me to syringe feed her every 4-6 hours and offer lots of hay etc too.
I have left her in a seperate run to her sister and have been seperating them overnight. My concern is that as they are seperated its acutally making the situation worse as they are missing eachother ( the other bun is v miserable without her)
what would you do tonight....leave them seperated , or let them sleep together like normal in the hope that the "normailty" helps with settliing betsy into eating normally again. And if you advise this, how on earth do i measure the poo situation and also monitor how much shes eaten during the night..( is this possible at all) ?

Also, any positive experiences of getting a bun back on the road to recovery would be greatly appreciated as im feeling a tad worried at the moment. Shes not the best hay eater in the world so any advise on getting her to eat lots again would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again in advance and sorry for the very long one!

Gen x

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:wave: not very good on this one but i would at least keep them in the same room so they can see (even touch thru bars?), but my gut instinct would let them be together (are they bonded?) cause i think if you separate them you could ''unbond'' them. and if they are bonded they are prob missing each other like mad.

as for gettin her to eat more when our shauny had it we offered him all his fav treats (and broke them up for him, he seemed to be temped with the smell) and we gave him a water bowl, which he still has now cause he drinks most of the time from it.

someone will be more help soon tho.
x

Hi, sorry to hear Besty is not feeling too good.

What I normally do if they are not well, is to bring the ill one indoors and keep them warm. I will bring the partner in for company so long as I can monitor the eating and pooping. If you can keep them in the same room with a divider this would be best but let them be together while you are observing.

I try to get them to take as much fluid as I can. Try water warmed with a dash of boiling in a bowl or try to syringe some. You could also add a dash of fresh pineapple juice (just squeeze a slice of fresh pineapple) to try and tempt more fluids.

You could also try and get a variety of herbs, kale, spring cabbage, spinach etc from the supermarket to tempt your bunny to eat.

Try to get her to move around too as this can help to stimulate the gut. Also some gentle tummy rubs.

Sending her some eating and pooping vibes.

Munch suffers or used to suffer from this. I always left him with his partner, there's no need to separate the buns as its not contagious. The vet should have given your bun a gut stimulant & sent you home with a pain killer like metacam, unless of course paikiller was administered by injection. Try to encourage bun to eat, offer him fresh grass & dandelion leaves, I find these work best with Munch. The herb mint is good for their tums, though if bun isnt used to it only give him a tiny amount. Id encourage him to move around as exercise gets the guts moving, if necessary chase him. Avoid anything sugary like carrots or raisins as sugar can cause gut problems. If buns feel cold put him on a heat pad or wrap a hot water bottle up in a towel. Let us know how you & bun get on Healing vibes coming your way

GI Stasis is usually a secondary symptom of another primary problem. So unless the actual primary problem is identified and treated the GI problems are likely to recur.

Did the Vet check your Rabbit's teeth? Dental problems are top of the list of suspects for a Bun with GI stasis. Lionheads are very prone to Dental problems. The fact that you say she is 'not the best hay eater' really makes me think that her teeth need attention.

I would not keep her seperated from her companion. That will be stressful and stress reduces GI function. Try hand feeding her a few times to check she is accepting food. With two Buns it is often possible to identify which poo belongs to which Bun.

I hope Betsy is starting to pick up.

I'd always keep bonded rabbits together whenever possible, but you will of course need to be able to monitor Betsy's eating and pooping.

If you're not able to sit and watch 'cos you need to work etc, then I'd put them alongside each other so they can see and sit alongside their partner.

Definately bring her indoors if she is an outdoor rabbit - the nights are getting cool and damp now, and she'll be feeling pretty crappy

I agree with the advice about getting her drinking, and offer her the things she normally loves - if my buns refuse dandelions I know I'm in trouble!

Movement is important, even though she won't feel like it, but it'll help her guts to start moving again, accompanied by very gentle tummy rubs.

Do you have a hot water bottle than you can wrap up in a big towel, or one of those snugglesafes that you heat in the microwave?

I think the most important thing I can think of is to go with your instinct - if she doesn't seem to be improving or appears worse don't worry about going back to the vets - it's important to keep on top of the pain medication, and vets knw that this can be a difficult process.

I really hope she starts to improve soon. Keep us updated

hi guys, thanks for all of your repiles.
Betsy seems brighter this morning...i moved them both into the shed last night and had a partition up in the run so they sould see eachother but i could still keep the food and poo situation in check!
I syringed her at 10:30 and then left her till 4....i went down and she had eaten some kale, a small piece of spring green and about 5 ss pellets, and there was lots of poo
I didnt syringe her as i didnt want to make her full and not want to eat on her own- I checked on her again at 7, unfortuneatly by this time my partition didnt stand the test of time and they had magically swapped sides, i think my other bun ate the rest of bestsys pellets - they were both sitting there very smugly and looking like butter wouldnt melt, god knows how they did it!

so, i let them both out for an hours run in the garden and betsy was pretty acitve, no binkies but lots of running around and i have left them with betsy in the hutch run combo with loads of hay, some pellets, redigrass and some groundsel and Thelma is in the spare 6x4 next to her. I will go back and check at lunchtime to see how the eating situation is .

jane- in response to your comment about her teeth, she doesnt have the best teeth as she has occulusions (sp?) on some of the back ones, however the vet checks them every 3 months and thinks that they are not causing her any pain. - as she is a very fluffy bun we think that the most likely cause is a hair ball so i have also been offering pineapple juice and papaya tablets. - would you recommend anything else at all?

thansk again guys, you have really helped x

Glad she is feeling better.

Mine are moulting like mad at the moment and I am giving them a bromelain tablet each day, I try to encourage fluid intake too (dash of warm in it). I also try and groom mine at least once a day, twice a day when really bad.

One of mine was quiet at the weekend so I increased the fluids by adding a bit of pineapple to tempt him. He is now bouncing around like a baby, thank goodness.

i give my buns super solivax its a cod liver oil but is really good for skin and coats mine used to leave hair everywhere no matter how much i brushed her now there's no hair all over the floor and her coat is so much more silky too

I would keep them together.

As to poo count, if you look close enough, there should be a difference between the color of the poos among your bun. The truth is, w/ my last several buns, I can easily tell the difference as to who's whose.

For hay, what I done in the past is, I get a juicer to smash blackberries or raspberries into pulps, then cut stem of hay into 1 mm long piece, deposit on the surface of the pulp. Mixed them and syringe feed the bun, that way, guarantee he gets the fiber