Help for my stasis bun

Hi,

My bunny Tommy stopped eating his pellets on wed and ran around the room all night chewing on EVERYTHING, which he normall does but not as much as he did that night. I took him to the vet on thur morning and she checked out his teeth which are fine and felt his stomach and said she believes he has a bit of stasis(she didnt think it was too bad because he is acting normal besides the pellets and he will eat basically anything else besides pellets). she gave him fluids as he is a bit dehydrated and sent me home with cisapride twice a day. I left his pellets and fresh hay out(he barely ever eats hay as it is) and i'm giving him greens and herbs(which he eats right away). That night i saw him munching on his pellets a little bit (twice) and drank water. But on Friday it didnt look like his food or water had been touched, although i wasnt home for the first half of the day, so i cant be sure. Fri night i watched him like a halk and he ate his greens, he nibbled on hay a couple times(which means he must be starving because he hates hay) although i didnt see him drink any water(i can tbe sure though since i fell asleep). Here are my questions...I have been through stasis a few times with my other bunnies and tommy is not acting sick at all. He is acting like himself except he is very hungry. everytime i enter the room he runs up to me for food. This morning i bought a new bag of pellets and poured him some which he ate right away(but not very much), I gave him greens and i bought him oat hay(the only hay i havent tried with him, he hates all the others). he ate a little bit of hay. he clearly has his appetite, he isnt acting sick, i am giving him the medicine twice a day, what else should i be doing? should i start him on a little critical care today? should i seringe water into his mouth? and how much greens/herbs should i be giving him?(im convinced he'd eat a lot if its okay for him..) also, i dont understand why he would be so hungry, and eat anything but his pellets? thank you, and sorry it's so long, I'm just trying to be detailed...

Heather and Tommy

I would put money on him having Dental problems. All the symptoms point to that and the fact that he never eats hay just makes Dental problems almost inevitable

How Rabbit Savvy is your Vet ?

Personally I would get him to another Vet for a second opinion

Meantime you need to keep him eating something and drinking, to keep his GI tract working

Try making his pellets soft by soaking them in boiled water

Did he have any pain relief ?

thats what i thought too,(I have a bunny who had spurs) but the vet used a scope and said though his bite is a tiny bit off everything else seemed fine.(i know the scope doesnt show everything, but Tommy was very cooperative and she said she got a pretty good look; no spurs and no obvious cavities). I have soaked his pellets and he is not interested. How much greens do you think i should give him? and do you think i should give him critical care as well as the greens?

This vet is VERY experienced and good. It took me a while to find a vet I like and trust. A lot of the rabbit rescues in Los Angeles take all their bunnies to this vet so i dont doubt her knowledge and experience in the least (and i have been through a lot of vets who didnt know what they were talking about.) I have been to SO MANY different rabbit vets in Los Angeles, and have heard nothing but great things/reccomendations from animal organizations...

Try soaking the pellets in water. I just soak mine in cold water from the tap. Jane is there any reason you use boiled water?

If you're confident in your vet my next guess would be an abscess.

Are you able to have a feel around his jaw and cheeks for any lumps? It could also be an issue with his roots, but usually this is couple with spurs too. I agree with Jane, see if you can get him some pain relief and try the soggy pellets. If that works then it's pain around his jaw and you might want to ask for an x ray to find out what's going on.

Good luck.

Well i took the soaked pellets and started hand feeding him, and he ate alot of them (almost 10 min!). I called the vet to schedule the sedation so she can get a better look at the teeth but there wont be a rabbit vet in the office until tue (because of our presidents Day holiday). If he continues to eat his pellets and is acting normal do you suppose its okay to wait until tue? I have an emergency rabbit vet i can always take him to if i need to...also, since he is eating soaked pellets should i forget the critical care, or should i give it to him anyway? is it common for vets to not find anything through the scope but find something once the bunny is sedated? my vets office said yes it happens a lot since the rabbit bites on the scope and because its hard to see the back teeth. I am just praying its his tooth and nothing more serious so any reasurance would be welcomed. Thank you

oh, 1 more thing. The vet didnt tell me to give pain medicine but i have some meloxicam leftover i hardly used from when another rabbit was sick. would it hurt to give him some or should i just wait?

I would definitely want to be giving pain relief, but you need to obtain the permission to do so from a Qualified Vet.

You may find he eats more for himself once he has some pain relief. Dental pain of any type is awful and it is little wonder that he is refusing hard food if his mouth/jaw is sore.

Personally I would want him seen before Tuesday, even if it is just to make sure he has ongoing analgesic cover until a comprehensive Dental examination can be carried out.

Ring up and see if you can speak to a vet. They will be able to let you know if he can have the pain relief and give you a dose. Might mean you don't have to go up there, especially if you can speak tp the same vet you saw before. I agree with waiting for a rabbit vet to do the operation, but I also think it's very important to have pain relief. Rabbits hide pain very well so you don't know how much he's in.

So glad he's eating the soggy pellets.