Where am I going wrong? Gut Statis

Hi everyone,

I've kept rabbits for a number of years and I've always had problems with rabbits getting gut statis from time to time. I can never pinpoint the cause - it is always a different rabbit and it happens completely out of the blue. I am so anxious about it because I've lost two rabbits to it in the past, that I tend to pick it up really quick now and get them to the vets in time for it to be treated but it causes so much stress and worry and I always feel like I am doing something wrong!

I have four rabbits, who live in pairs - a male and female and a male and female. They are fed an eggcup full of excel each once a day, and they have lots of fresh hay twice a day plus greens in the evening. Has any one got any feedback on diet etc, or any reasons as to why I seem to get this problem occuring from time to time?

I currently have a rabbit in the vets who is (fingers crossed) getting through this. She stopped eating her pellets Sunday night but would still eat some veg and dandelion leaves. Took her back and forth to the vets every day up until yesterday when they finally agreed to take her in and treat her there, rather than at home as nothing was improving even though she'd had jabs to get her guts going, antibiotics, recovery food fed to her at home etc - her pellets were still tiny and hard and she was looking really uncomfortable and had stopped drinking. The last time before this that I had a problem was about a year ago with a completely different rabbit. He made a full recovery and has had no problems since.

If anyone has any advice on why this might be happening, I'd be really grateful as I feel as though I am doing something wrong as I feel as if no one else seems to have the problems with it that I do! It seems to be that every rabbit I've ever owned has come down with this at some point in their life. Is this more common than I think or are there things I could change to prevent it happening?

Thankyou for your help!!

I know exactly what you're going through as Parsnip has had 4 bouts of this now in 2 years, one was so bad we nearly lost him. He too was on Excel (I'm not blaming these pellets in any way), I changed him onto Oxbow basics T and he had statis again - although not as serious this time. By then I was looking at his diet very closely. I changed his bed to all hay and no straw(which he used to eat alot), started to introduce Proxatain Pro Plus (spelling?) pellets, just two small scoops for his breaki. He then had another bout of statis so again I looked at his diet. I have now added: fresh basil, thyme, parsley, mint along with cabbage, small slice of carrot, handfull of plantain and a handfull of readygrass. This is all topped off with 3 papaya tablets. This is all served along with tones of fresh hay. Touch wood - he has been fine and looks really well in himself. Some rabbits are prone to statis I think, so long as they get plenty of fibre in every way you can give it to them that is a good place to start :wave:

GI Stasis is often a SECONDARY symptom of another problem such as Dental issues.

This article may be of interest to you

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html

Do your Rabbits have lots of exercise ?
Are they overweight ?
Do you wash all fresh Veg before feeding it to the Rabbits ?
Do they have water bowls or bottles to drink from ?
Are there any potential environmental stressors eg cats/dogs/Foxes prowling about ?
Are the Rabbits Lops ?
Are they long coated ?

Sorry for all the questions but a bit more detailed info would be helpful

Same as JacksJane. I would really think how rabbit savvy my vet is.

Tiesto in my signature is at the vets today as she has recurring bouts of stasis.

The vet has checked her teeth, bloods and x-ray to try and find a problem with her. Will find out tomorrow hopefully.

Sally has had it due to a chest infection. It was the only symptom she showed. Nothing else:shock:

Feegal gets it with stress or if a new food is introduced to quickly.

Buuren had it when I gave him too much Hazel too soon.

Tulip is just Tulip:lol:

So no you are not the only one at all. It is just a symptom of something else and it is down to your vet to try and find what, if you can't think, it could be.

ETA They are not all related at all?

Thankyou so much for all your replies so far, it has made me feel better already as this makes me so upset everytime it happens, I always take it so personally and think it is my fault . I have spoken to vet and they are keeping Tilly in another night. She's had xray yesterday and teeth were checked while she was under which was all fine. They can't seem to find anything else wrong but although she has improved as her droppings are no longer tiny and completely hard, she's only passed 3 normal droppings overnight and one today so they want to keep her in to see what she passes overnight. She's eating hay and veg at the vets and being fed with the recovery meds but not interested in dried food and they are giving the fluids etc to get things moving. I just pray things carry on improving by tomorrow as I really want her home and well. In response to Jacksjane's questions:

Do your Rabbits have lots of exercise ? - Yes lots, they live in a big converted dog enclosure/kennel and have access to large runs too when the grass is dry, although I never let them overindulge on the grass when too lush and green or wet.
Are they overweight ? No, they've all been weighed recently by the vet after their vaccinations and are all spot on with their weight. They also had all their teeth checked too and from what they could see they are all fine.
Do you wash all fresh Veg before feeding it to the Rabbits ? Yes, all of the veg in the house, although if they have any dandelions I just pick them out of the garden and give them to them straight (drying them off with a paper towel if needed).
Do they have water bowls or bottles to drink from ? They have bottles.
Are there any potential environmental stressors eg cats/dogs/Foxes prowling about ? We have two cats but they all seem to like them and take an active interest when the cats walk past their enclosures, often hopping along the wire line to follow where the cats are going. The cats are never let free with the rabbits. Never seen any foxes as really well fenced in and no dogs nearby or who ever come to visit.
Are the Rabbits Lops ? Two lop earred (mini lop), one dutch and one harlequin at the moment - the two bunnies I lost to this previously were different too - one was a dutch and one a himalayan (both died in 2009).
Are they long coated ? No, all short fur although one of the lops has a thick coat and moults quite a bit but gets groomed regularly.

Thankyou for all your help!!

Rosietherabbit I can't see anything that you are doing wrong so please don't blame yourself.
Some rabbits have sensitive tummies and need special care. In particular they need a much higher fiber intake than a normal rabbit, & for some reason woodfiber from safe tree leaves in their diet helps some rabbits prone to stasis.

Several of us with stasis prone rabbits have found that we could reduce but not stop stasis completely by using a mixture of wild plants & safe tree leaves, as long as any underlying causes had been treated eg. pain from arthritis/dental issues. You can see what some of us feed our stasis prone rabbits - no 2 of them have an identical diagnosis:
http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?t=264764&highlight=feeding+leaves