Poll:How many rabbits have you had with stasis?

Okay i have 14 bunnies and none that i know have have ever had stasis diagnosed by a vet. They have been off food due to teeth problems, but that is all. They have been on a high pellet, lower veg, high hay diet to date. I have now changed this. I worry though as all the comments about stasis - does this have anything to do with veg feeding? How many people have had rabbits with stasis. What seems to be a common factor? How many rabbits have you had with stasis?

Thanks for this.
Ambience x

Pipkin would only eat dandelion leaves for a couple of days after his neuter. I've never had a bunny with proper stasis though, even with all Pipkin's dental problems. It worries me though, I don't know if I'd be able to spot it early enough!

None, out of 7 bunnies.

i am 99% sure this is what Toto had at 8 1/2 weeks old as he stopped eating and sat in corner not drinking and looking very sorry for himself for a day or so i got him to vets 1st thing the day after and after a week of syringe feeding, metacam, gut stimulant, infacol peppermint tea and 24 hour care i managed to get him back from brink of it, the vet never confirmed the cause or reason (not very rabbit savvy anyway) but he did get bloated tum and i even tried a tiny drop of Lactulose to get him pooing in the end i was feeding recovery all week but nothing was coming out i got desperate and hey presto next morning poo everywhere then after day of total care again and feeding he began to eat on his own and did normal poops very tough and upsetting week, cost £100 in vets fees but i still wonder what it was (they ate grass and it was spring could it of been that that sent him into stasis or was it something else guess i will never know but i know what to look for now and i was glad i got him to vets when i did i knew something wasnt right straight away i have been holding back on grazing yet as they only just 4 months, just had jabs and are about to get neutered so i am taking the grass thing very very slowly with these two its certainly scared me.

Twinkle is my only stasis bunny and she is the only bunny that hadnt eaten veg as she had a constant mucky bum.....

I think veg helps keep things ticking along nicely.

Strangely enough since the stasis, she has eaten veg every day and hasnt had a mucky bum :?

I have had 14 with stasis, 10 died not through lack of treatment and care.........to cut a long story short 4 got better and i treated all 26 of my rabbits for coccidiosis after a positive poo sample.

pinkyblare said:

i am 99% sure this is what Toto had at 8 1/2 weeks old as he stopped eating and sat in corner not drinking and looking very sorry for himself for a day or so i got him to vets 1st thing the day after and after a week of syringe feeding, metacam, gut stimulant, infacol peppermint tea and 24 hour care i managed to get him back from brink of it, the vet never confirmed the cause or reason (not very rabbit savvy anyway) but he did get bloated tum and i even tried a tiny drop of Lactulose to get him pooing in the end i was feeding recovery all week but nothing was coming out i got desperate and hey presto next morning poo everywhere then after day of total care again and feeding he began to eat on his own and did normal poops very tough and upsetting week, cost £100 in vets fees but i still wonder what it was (they ate grass and it was spring could it of been that that sent him into stasis or was it something else guess i will never know but i know what to look for now and i was glad i got him to vets when i did i knew something wasnt right straight away i have been holding back on grazing yet as they only just 4 months, just had jabs and are about to get neutered so i am taking the grass thing very very slowly with these two its certainly scared me.

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Sounds that way to me. I don't know that much detail about stasis myself- so if anyone can tell me more that would be good also. I have had a bunny eat less, but being on a very high pellet diet- that would still be alot compared to what people feed on here. It was down to eye problems though-still unresolved. They are on baytril my lot, which seems to be pointless often. Glad your bunny got better )

cherylfox07 said:

I have had 14 with stasis, 10 died not through lack of treatment and care.........to cut a long story short 4 got better and i treated all 26 of my rabbits for coccidiosis after a positive poo sample.

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Gosh, that must have been incredibly upsetting for you. Not sure i'd be able to handle that. Do you run a rescue or sanctuary or just have alot of pets?Thanks for sharing x

fluffiebunnie said:

Twinkle is my only stasis bunny and she is the only bunny that hadnt eaten veg as she had a constant mucky bum.....

I think veg helps keep things ticking along nicely.

Strangely enough since the stasis, she has eaten veg every day and hasnt had a mucky bum :?

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Thats great she is eating veg. Good to hear it's improved her overall condition. Do you have any idea what caused the stasis? x

happysaz133 said:

None, out of 7 bunnies.

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That's great news.

My vet described true stasis as being gradual whereas bloat is sudden onset, so not sure if any of these episodes are true stasis but so that I don't call them the wrong thing I always refer to them as "not eating episodes".... that said, I voted 3 bunnies (out of 5 - that's high :shock

Art has had many episodes of stopping eating but most if not all have been put down to bladder infections so not *probably* diet/digetion related.

Roo has had ?5 or is it 6 episodes of *probably* bloat rather than stasis, it's difficult to be sure what to call it but he has been rushed to the vet on 4 occasions when he's looked in pain and refusing food. No cause has been found but with painkillers and syringe feeding he has got back to his greedy self quickly.

Esme has had either 3 or 4 episodes. Two were associated with rolling and were very scary. She probably had a fever that time but the two more recent ones were purely refusing food and nothing much else to go on.

Buttercup had stasis after his neuter - the other three came through fine, but he was older.

Clo has had stasis 3 times - mainly due to an over-sensitive tummy, I now have to be very careful with his diet.

Blackie had stasis after a fright once, and then the other week when his dental problems were diagnosed.

Dan, touch wood, hasn't had it yet.

Loosy said:

Pipkin would only eat dandelion leaves for a couple of days after his neuter. I've never had a bunny with proper stasis though, even with all Pipkin's dental problems. It worries me though, I don't know if I'd be able to spot it early enough!

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Yes i had that problem too with mine. Reluctance to eat. I think more from the anesthetic though. Aww poor pipkin with dentals. I have two dental bunnies now. I think it's terrific how well they deal with the vets constantly.

I wouldn't know how to catch it early either. Any comments on this from anyone would be appreciated

Bunny Buddy said:

My vet described true stasis as being gradual whereas bloat is sudden onset, so not sure if any of these episodes are true stasis but so that I don't call them the wrong thing I always refer to them as "not eating episodes".... that said, I voted 3 bunnies (out of 5 - that's high :shock

Art has had many episodes of stopping eating but most if not all have been put down to bladder infections so not *probably* diet/digetion related.

Roo has had ?5 or is it 6 episodes of *probably* bloat rather than stasis, it's difficult to be sure what to call it but he has been rushed to the vet on 4 occasions when he's looked in pain and refusing food. No cause has been found but with painkillers and syringe feeding he has got back to his greedy self quickly.

Esme has had either 3 or 4 episodes. Two were associated with rolling and were very scary. She probably had a fever that time but the two more recent ones were purely refusing food and nothing much else to go on.

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That is alot to go through. Goodness the rolling must have been disturbing. Is that all stasis is classed as - a period of gradually stopping eating or is there anything additional that can be spotted in bunnys with stasis. Thanks for sharing x

Blackberry & Co said:

Buttercup had stasis after his neuter - the other three came through fine, but he was older.

Clo has had stasis 3 times - mainly due to an over-sensitive tummy, I now have to be very careful with his diet.

Blackie had stasis after a fright once, and then the other week when his dental problems were diagnosed.

Dan, touch wood, hasn't had it yet.

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One of mine paws didn't eat 12-34 hours after neuter, but is that classed as stasis, as he ate fine, without seeing a vet. What do you feed a rabbit with stasis or not feed?

Thanks x

Ambience said:

That is alot to go through. Goodness the rolling must have been disturbing. Is that all stasis is classed as - a period of gradually stopping eating or is there anything additional that can be spotted in bunnys with stasis. Thanks for sharing x

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I did think I was watching her die

Not really sure about defining stasis - the vet was more making me aware of which was a dire emergency - bloat is a dire emergency as it can turn fatal quickly whereas stasis is more gradual in it's onset, still warrants a vet trip pronto but you don't have to go in blind panic! (I do whatever the symptom and whatever the cause!). Generally with stasis look for smaller poops and changes in eating habits etc as well, there could be an underlying cause such as dental problems or infection, pain of some sort.

aww glad bunny is okay now though!

Thanks for all this information on this it's really helpful as i'm not very learned when it comes to stasis. Can antibiotics cause it , as that disturbs the gut?

Thanks.

Oooo this is a massive subject.
My bun is assumed to have had an infection very early in life, & which stimulated his immune system to slowly destroy the nerve cells to his gut. The main part affected is his caecum, which has barely worked at all for at least 6 months. He's now 5 years old.

Because of poor caecal motility he's been prone to overgrowth of the wrong bacteria (dysbiosis) most of his life. These bacteria make toxins which further slow down the bowel, but they can be reduced with a high fiber diet, which stimulates gut motility naturally, & by avoiding all sugars & starch (both of which cause an increase in the wrong bacteria).

He has only had 1 episode of true ileus, = a complete paralysis of the gut from top to bottom presumably by bacterial toxins & pain, but has had countless episodes of severe gut slow down - stasis - barely eating & only 1/2 doz tiny poops /24 hours. He's also had countless episodes of dysbiosis = caecs like stinking brown toothpaste.

Before I knew about bunny savvy vets. I resorted to feeding him wild plants eaten by wild rabbits. The only plants he'll eat either improve gut motility or are diuretics to help his bladder sludge issues which probably result from his gut issues. He isn't allowed ANY fruit/sugars/starch or commercial treats; they'd kill him. He has additional moistened Science selective pellets to help him to maintain weight.

My personal way of seeing it is that "stasis" is a symptom of many many underlying disorders, & many different types of stress.
Diet should be well balanced between fiber/nutrients/vitamins & minerals/ & fluids, to promote healthy caecal bacteria & maximal gut motility, to give our buns enough reserve gut function to get through periods of stress eg heat,cold, moulting without going into stasis. If this makes sense?

I have had Charlee for almost 6 months now and *touch wood* she has never had any problems with statis. She is only the one bun though and I haven't had her all that long. It will be interesting to see how she reacts when she is introduced to her husbun.

I wasn't sure what option to tick in terms of her diet. She gets 1/8th of a cup of pellets a day, has access to unlimited quantities of hay (though she doesn't seem to go through it all that fast) and veggies at least once a day. She usually gets 3 or 4 veggies out of the following; bok choy, romaine lettuce, endive, gourmet lettuces (usually have 2 or 3 on hand), silverbeet, radicchio, cherry tomatoes, parsley, cucumber, carrot, capsicum (3 colours), celery leaves and corn husks. She gets reasonable quantities of veggies - but in comparison to what the guinea pigs get, I wouldn't call it "huge" amounts but it is not really "low" amounts either. I would get more herbs, but they are quite pricey for ridiculously small amounts.

I'm not sure if it was true stasis in each of these cases.
Barnaby has had a couple of episodes where he's been lethargic, pressing his tummy, getting up and sitting back down again and generally looking very sorry for himself and refusing food and treats. Both times have happened late in the evening and both times I've given him gentle tummy rubs, cooled boiled water with bio-lapis in it and tried him with herbs. Both times he's gone to the litter tray, done a whole world of poops and gone straight to his food and started eating ... so I'm thinking it was maybe more trapped gas than stasis.
Blakey's had it once after she was sedated for a dental and that was a case of hours with only nibbling at food and no poop. Was just getting her carrier ready to go to the emergency vets when she brightened up and inhaled a bowl of food, far too quickly which led to the above tummy pressing etc, so more tummy rubs which led to it passing.

Thumps ... I'm really interested in your buns dysbiosis, from the description of his poops I think Blakey may suffer from this quite periodically ... please could you PM me with details? Thanks