• Forum/Server Upgrade If you are reading this you have made it to the upgraded forum. Posts made on the old forum after 26th October 2023 have not been transfered. Everything else should be here. If you find any issues please let us know.

  • Please Note - Medical Advice

    Please keep in mind that posts on this forum are from members of the public sharing personal opinions. It is not a replacement for qualified medical advice from a veterinarian. Many illnesses share similar symptoms but require different treatments. A medical exam is necessary for an accurate diagnosis, without which appropriate treatment cannot be given.

    You should always consult your vet before following any suggestions for medication or treatment you have read about. The wrong treatment could make your rabbit worse or mean your vet is unable to give the correct treatment because of drug interactions. Even non prescription drugs can do harm if given inappropriately.

    We are very grateful to members who take time to answer other members questions, but please do be clear in your replies that you are sharing personal experience and not giving instructions on what must be done.

    Urgent Medical Advice: If you need, or think you might need, urgent medical advice you should contact a vet. If it is out of working hours phone your vet's normal number and there should be an answer phone message with instructions on what to do.

Doodee is clearly very ill - GI Stasis confirmed.

Tracybeakerisland

Tracybeakerisland

Mama Doe
Got up this morning- Doodee is in her hay box, not eaten and more worrying not responded to her fave foods. Convinced she is in stasis though given her diet I have not a clue what has done this. Taking her to the vet now.

Poor bunny- I know she is very sick she let me stroke her without going for my fingers.:(

Wish I knew if she has ever had medical problems in her first year but she is a rescue rabbit whose history is very unclear until the RSPCA got hold of her. I hate working blind when I have a poorly rabbit.
 
Last edited:
It is GI stasis- given her diet the vet is puzzled as to what is behind it. I suspect she may have stressed herself silly by moving here from the RSPCA. Vet has given her injections of metoclopramine, metacam and baytril- just in case she may have picked up whatever put Teasel off her grub a few days ago. If she is still refusing food and water this afternoon they will have her back and book her for critical rabbit care. I am happy to leave with her with the vet' nurse who keeps rabbits, she managed to nurse Teasel back to health after a very nasty fight.

I have science recovery sachets, I have made a small bowl of her pellets soaked with a tablespoon of warm water and the juice of one teeny strawberry as I know Doodee is normally more than fond of them. She has a pile of fresh cut grass, dandelion, apple twigs, blackberry and plantain. Hoping that the pain relief and metoclopramide makes her feel a bit better soon so she starts to nibble as she hates being handled and touched and I know if I have to syringe feed her that will stress her even more.:(
 
i really feel for you - i was exhausted whilst esme was poorly recently. i hope she soon starts to nibble x
 
Poor little girl and poor you!
It is horrible when a bun is in statis, Jimby seems to have quite freqent bouts of it so I know how you feel.
Try tempting her with some fragrant herbs! Like mint, basil and parsley, try waving them in front of her nose and she may get annoyed with it and end up grabbing it and eating it to stop the annoyance.
 
Hurray for kale!
I used the annoy her by dangling it around her face method [thanks for that racylou] and so far she has nibbled three small dandelion leaves, four fronds from a carrot and a handful of chopped kale stalks. She is refusing hay, parsnips, SS pellets et al.

Even better news is she has just taken a drink from her water bottle so I do not have to syringe feed her water. Came back this lunch time so I could if she was still looking awful.

Will ring the vet and ask if I can have metacam for her at home as I know if the pain is not cutting through she will be more inclined to move and nibble- both of which should help get her gut moving again.

Can anyone point me at other fave nibbles or tips to get a stasis bun chomping again?
 
That is great news! You are welcome for the annoyance tip, I have used it many times! :lol:

Do not worry too much about what she is not eating at the moment as long as she is eating! So keep doing what you are doing!

I know it is naughty but you could see if she will eat a small amount of plain digestive biscuit.
Other things you could try... Sprouts/ Spinach/ Blackberry leaves and Spring Greens.

Edit: Also what may be a good idea is to offer her water from a bowl, a lot of buns tend to prefer bowls to bottles and she may be inclined to drink some more that way.
 
Aw, glad she's nibbling a bit!

Have you tried a bit of banana? Not normally recommended as anything other than a treat, but Blackberry ate banana when nothing else would tempt him...
 
Have not got any bananas- may try that though.

I did go shopping and bought her a parsnip, kale, carrots with tops and a sachet of baby food that contains parsnip, carrot and apple pureed to dunk the pellets with. :oops:

Madam is still turning her nose up but moving around more. Spoke with the bun savvy vet nurse and have booked her in to the vet again for first thing tomorrow-I suspect its the pain-relief that has perked her up a bit rather than she is digesting.
I am going to totally clean her cage so I can see how much she is nibbling and if she is pooing. If she is not well she needs to be uber clean.
 
Still not happy with her. Still only picking at teeny bits, her poos are small and stringing together although for the life of me I cannot think what madam has eaten unless she found my daughters missing hairbrush.

She does not even want contraband biscuits and toasted homemade no sugar wholemeal bread. She is going back to the vet tomorrow and I will be asking about domeridone and more metacam- if that does not start to help then I am booking her into critical rabbit care.
This is the first time since I have had her that I have been able to stroke her so I know she must feel very rough.
 
Does she feel bloated? If so you can give her INFACOL.
Also another thing good for buns in statis is ZANTAC, it is another gut stimulant but works on a different part of the gut to metacloprimide so they are good to work along side each other.
Pain relief is the key so make sure she is given that.
The good thing is, is that she is pooping! As long as what little bits she is eating are coming back out that is excellent, just keep getting whatever you can in to her at the moment.
Has your vet mentioned giving tummy rubs?
 
My poor vet tried to demonstrate a tummy rub yesterday- thankfully she did not draw blood. Thankfully I git to her before she had been in stasis for more than 12 hours.

Doodee's past history has left her with a heap of aggresive and destructive behaviours - I cannot get anything orally into her so I am taking her back for another check and injected pain relief and anything else that could make her feel a bit better. She does not look so distressed this morning and is nibbling. If a rabbit could talk I suspect from the expression on her face and body posture she would be saying 'ooohhhhh my tummy hurts'.

I have been offering her fresh mint as that may help with the bloat in a form she is willing to let past her lips.

I also think I have found the cause of all this- she has eaten and swallowed small amounts of the drying up cloth that went awol. At least she is still pooing although its teeny poops and strung together with towel.:shock:
 
I hope I'm not too late to be helpful.
You are doing the right things at your end. Well done.

I'd try the non sugary /starch foods 1st.
Herbs such as Dill, mint fennel, coriander, basil, then, as you have found greens such as kale, carrot tops, are best to try 1st. Try giving them wet. They'll usually go on to bramble leaves after they've started small amounts of other foods. They are very good to get things moving.

As Rachylou says Infacol is good for gas.

Given the hot weather at the mo. I think your vet should consider an injection of subcutaneous fluids, as well as pain relief. Dehydration can be a cause & is the common result of stasis.

Similarly, I am concerned about the use of an antibiotic by mouth in this situation. Perhaps you could ask your vet whether there is any clear indication of an infection? Most bunny vets (exotics trained) would not give antibiotics eg.baytril by mouth during stasis.

With every good wish. Please keep us updated.
 
Bayatril was an injection just in case she had picked up whatever bug Teasel had a few days ago- it was trying to persuade her to try the science recovery food that caused all the rake marks down my arm and made me decide no way was i trying to get painrelief in orally. The vet was considering metacam orally but decided Doodee would not let anyone try no matter how much it hurt.

I washed the carrot tops, dandelion and other leaves, shook off the worst of the water and waved them in her face. Thankfully she decided maybe she did need a drink after that and staggered to her water bottle.

I have a very good vet service that provides 24/7 care, one of the vets is a member of RWA and has a real interest in buns. :D

I think she is beginning to feel a bit better after this mornings jabs. She is looking at her food bowl and thowning broccali about hoping the kale fairy will pay yet another visit. It is lovely to hear her bad tempered stomping over the poor service from the staff. :lol:
 
Thank you for the clarification.
I understand the situation now. A few buns have been given baytril & steroids as part of stasis treatment recently, for no apparent clinical reason which has concerned me alot.

I am delighted to hear that she's improving today.
One stasis bunny mummy to another, I more than understand the real practical difficulties of medicating a psychologically traumatised animal. You could have done without this at the beginning of trying to re establish trust.
Everything crossed that the improvement continues; which it should, now she's passed that towel!!

ETA I can now see why ABx were given by injection when she has been recently exposed to infectious disease. GI stasis can lower the immune system. It's oral ABx which can destabilise the gut flora, injectedABx have little significant effect. :D
 
Last edited:
Mine will lick metacam off a spoon as it has a nice taste, or on their pellets.

Are her teeth okay?
 
Raine- She has beautiful, beautiful teeth that she does not mind clamping them on me at any given opportunity! :shock: physical the RSPCA worked wonders on her but mentally and emotionally she is a bit of a wreck still.

Doodee is giving me pitiful looks when she hears the fridge open but is sadly eating SS pellets- bless I will fetch her some more supersized dandelions.

On the plus side she is now sleeping in her travel box and was pleased to see the vet this morning. I think even her bunny brain remembers that getting in the box and seeing the nice man made that awful pain go away.

Yesterday she was so sunk in on herself I was not sure she wanted to get better. I have learnt that Doodee is one of those buns who reacts very badly to pain and withdraws and shuts right down so if I ever see anything like that again she will be back to the vet ASAP.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Lord Trellis
Lacey is very ill
Replies
16
Views
2K
Lord Trellis
Lord Trellis
A
Gut stasis surgery advice help
2 3
Replies
53
Views
3K
bunny momma
bunny momma
P
Advice needed for gut stasis recovery
Replies
8
Views
1K
Omi
O
Back
Top