Gut Statis AGAIN & Going off Food - Help

Sorry I haven’t been on here in ages, been so busy with work & everything else. grrrr....But really need to pick everybody’s brains here!

Pip went into Gut Statis about 6 weeks ago, I took her to my vet who kept her in overnight, and syringe fed her & discharged her the following day (£160.00).
Sunday morning she was not eating again, and we went to the emergency vets where she was quite bad and there were initially no gut noises at all. She came home on the Wednesday, was very bright and had recovered really well (£350.00 total).

Just 6 weeks later, Thursday evening I noticed she was off her food so once again called the vets & went straight in Thurs eve (out of ours cost again £110.00 to walk through doors!) and is coming home today. She is on some medication still, Metacam + 2 others I believe (will post names up later).
This time its cost £350.00 again.

I love Pip to bits, but I just cant afford to keep paying out so much money every time. Likewise due to work commitments its very difficult to be able to try syringe feeding her at home when she begins to go off her food & try the home meds/treatment.

She is just 2 years old, very healthy otherwise according to the vets, and even when very ill previously has remained really bright.

We are trying to establish what is causing the statis, as unfortunately my funds are now extremely low to a point of near non existence and I don’t want to be faced with a difficult decision if I am due to be faced with another bill for a few hundred again which I don’t really have.

I have been told it could be stress related, maybe a fox sniffing about etc, however Rusty my other rabbit has been fine. So I am considering bringing their hutch into the garage if I can so that foxes etc cant sniff and scare them, and the temperature is more regular.

Other than that, they have suggested possibly an Ultrascound Scan of the Stomach/Kidneys etc & blood testing which would cost approx £250.00 or maybe putting her out to fully investigate her teeth, but they said the teeth look fine and she eats lots of grass hay etc when she isnt in statis which would indicate it is not dental related. This just to ensure there is no underlying illness.

Therefore just thought I would pick some bunny lovers brains to see if anyone else has experienced this and would have any idea about things I can try to eliminate etc and see if they are contributing to the regular statis Pip is suffering (she had never had it before until 6 weeks ago!).

Thanks in advance X

I would definatley have teeth checked.. One of mine was the same and turned out it was a tiny spur
Hope you get to the bottom of it x

Thank you. What were the costs approximately for the checking & the spur being sorted?

I should have insured them from day 1, but now I havent I am worried she will no longer be covered for Statis anyway! x

There are a lot of 'stasis' buns on here and unfortunately there doesnt seem to be just one particular cause. This time of year always causes a lot of cases relating to fluctuating temperatures, moulting, and the quality of the supermarket veg. There has also been some discussion on whether some buns are more sensitive to what the supermarket veg is washed in! However, there are a host of other potential causes that can sometimes come into play. You mentioned that stress might be a factor. One RUer Donnamt has a bun called Alvin who was always having stasis episodes and blood tests indicated that stress was a possible cause for him! Several others, including Alvin have had a lot of success with switching to a more natural diet, there are several threads on here discussing the varietys of natural forage bunnies can have and some wild foods are naturally good for stasis! There are two 'sticky' threads at the top of the Diet & Digestion section which have loads of info.

This thread is the story of the amazing Thumper and his troubles and it has lots of useful information regarding stasis and wild forage. http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/s...g-as-dysautonomia.&highlight=caecal+dysbiosis

On a personal note, one of my bunnies had a string of stasis episodes and a bad one where she was hospitalised. I eventually figured out it was caused by the hay covered tunnels (Hay 'n' Hide) she was eating the hay and too much cardboard. Once they were removed the bad episodes stopped and since I have removed all cardboard boxes and tunnels from their environment (much to their disgust) no one has had a stasis episode since.

Has she been moulting over this time, by any chance?

Any changes to her diet or routine, or any work happening outside that could be scaring her?

Could her joints be causing her any pain, maybe from a fall or jumping awkwardly?

Sorry to just throw things in there, but I have had similar experience with my little bun lately. He had a lot of other health problems though. He had stasis episodes since he was little because of it, and I tried to keep them at bay by feeding him mostly wild foods and giving him some ProFibre pellets and Fibafirst as well as his normal food and hay.

And you're right, insurance won't cover any tummy issues now. I had the same problem with Floppy.

Doughnut became ill when she was moulting (£150 to pay). She was bloated and hunched up and in obvious pain. She was well again after the injections.

6 weeks later small poops, took her to the vets who recommended a specialists as didn't want her to go downhill. Xrays, blood tests etc (£350). All was fine. She started eating and perked up as soon as I took her in! Apparently she was the healthiest bunny there. The specialist said not to panic if she was having little poops as sometimes they get bored with their food or don't want to eat. Most eat at dusk and dawn, although Doughnut seems to eat all day, so that's why I panicked. Basically she said to bring her in after 12 hours of not eating, if she's happy and painfree.

I was happy (ish) to pay out for peace of mind. Have you been taking your rabbit in when she's stopped eating or is she in pain? I just know to chill out a bit about it but obviously I don't mean to encourage you not to take your rabbit to the vets. Just wanted to let you know of my experiences, basically I was panicking too much and getting obsessed over small poops. If I'd waited a bit longer (in the second instance when she was happy and painfree) it would have saved me a some money and her poops were a lot bigger again.