Stasis/bloat thoughts please!

Hi

I have been reading a lot of threads on here about bunnies who have had stasis recently - just wanted a few thoughts and opinions about my little girl.

Amy is 7 and a half years old, relatively healthy throughout her life with a couple of bouts of stasis but nothing too serious and has been spayed. Since last October she has stopped eating and toileting at least once a month - sometimes I can get her eating again after tummy rubs, Infacol etc and other times she has needed to go to the vets (usually emergency!). She has seen the vet once a month excluding February and was kept in overnight on Boxing Day. The vet booked her in for a dental in January (as she could see some sharp points) but she managed to burr them down when she was concious so no need for a GA. She was fine for 6-8 weeks until a week last Thursday when she stopped eating and was hunched up etc. I gave her Infacol, tummy rubs and her Snugglesafe and she ate within 30 minutes - same again Fri morning so did same routine and eating again in 10 minutes - went to vets later that day and she had a Metaclopramide injection and gave me more meds - Zantac and Metacam. I gave her these fr 5 days until middle of last week - all well until Sunday when she stopped eating again and Infacol, tummy rubs didnt help so she went to the emergency vets and had an injection of Metaclopramide. By the evening she was muching well again - pellets, hay and veggies. She has been well over the past few days - I am giving her Zantac and Metacam plus trying to get lots of hay into her. Could this have been a relapse of last weeks episode or does anybody have any ideas?

Some of my thoughts have included getting too cold and not moving about enough, which is what the vet thought as she always gets eating so quickly again or possibly dental problems. I'm going to speak to the vet further about X-Rays and a possible dental but I know she is reluctant to put her under if she can help it.

Any suggestions or advice would be great!!

Thank you

Nicola and Amy rabbit

Hi :wave:
Reoccuring stasis episodes could be a sign of pain from somewhere in her body.
I think blood tests and an xray (when she can cope with it) would be a good idea to see if they reveal an underlying cause.
What is her diet like? x

Hi Gemma

Thanks for your reply - I was thinking that so glad that you think the same. I am waiting for the vet to call and I will speak to them about doing some tests. I am also going to talk to them about doing a longer course of medication in case the latest bout was related to the one 10 days before. She is looking, eating and pooping well now so hopefully they would be happy to get her in next week for some tests - I am going away for 2 weeks in May so would like to get some answers by then!

Amy currently has lots of hay available at all times and a few pellets and some veggies every evening to eat. She also enjoys the Burns dried dandelion mix. I have read on here that cutting down on pellets to encourage more hay eating can also help - she is a really good hay eater anyway but I will cut down her pellets to see if that helps.

Are there any specific hay types that are good/bad for stasis prone bunnies? She loves the meadow hay I buy from the local pet shop and I have some grass hay at the moment from Hay Experts which she loves.

Nicola x

Very interested in this. Tearing my hair out at the moment as Wesley has been like this for a week. He once stopped eating before but was fine after a vet visit and a sit on the sofa.

Teeth OK, no obvious signs of bloat or blockages. Had pain relief, antibiotics and liquid fibre. Even B12. Has eaten some greens but no hay or pellets and actually eaten next to nothing today.

Vet can't fathom it (bun savvy vet, too) so it's looking like I might have to fork out for an X ray but I'm really strapped for cash at the moment, too with 101 other things to fork out for. Then, if it IS a blockage, Lord knows what further treatment might cost.

Wish to God I'd got the buns insured - I only did it for the dog.

The thing is, my other bun, Ruby, is always as fit as a fiddle. And she is a very sociable, outgoing, confident bun as she used to be a house rabbit with her previous owners. Wesley is a very shy bun - will more often than not run from me than come to me but usually comes running with Ruby when he hears the grub coming.

Is it more timid buns that suffer from this?