The dreaded stasis, any advice? u/d he's gone :(((

Took Tufty to the vets this morning, he refused his morning piece of apple peel and was looking very sorry for himself. Vet thought he was tender round his tummy area so is treating him for stasis...I have no experience of this I just know its something every bunny owner dreads.

I know he pood overnight cos he doesn't tend to eat all of his droppings so there were his usual tell tale few around. Its so hard when there are 2 living together though.

He had 3 injections at the vets... Emeprid, Marbocyl & Loxicom. he told me what they were for but was kind of in a daze so apart form the gut stimulant and the pain killer I'm not sure. Anyhow the vet also said to give my little fella 5 ml of pineapple juice 4x a day to flush out any blockage. I've only managed 2 so far. but will do a 3rd before bed. I've removed all dried food and only providing hay for them...anything else I can do? Apart from looking for poo what do I do. He's really quiet and looking so fed up. He's just had a drink but not seen him eating anything, but I've been working (typical...I work one day a week! :roll: and he gets poorly today!!). Should I try and tempt him or stick to the vets advice and only give hay? I have an appointment in the morning too.

Sad and scared...come on Tufty.

Hello there

Sorry to hear your bun is in stasis, but try not to stress too much as it is soooooo common with buns. I would try and tempt him with some fresh herbs - I find flat leaf parsley, corriander, basil and dill are some of my bun's favourites, as well as dandelion leaves. Keep him monitored, and keep trying to tempt him with bits and pieces. Has the vet prescribed you with a gut stimulant to give at home and usually pain relief? My vet usually prescribes Metaclopromide (gut stimulant) Zantac to help the gut empty quickly and Metacam for pain relief. I do find that patience is a big part in statis recovery - don't expect miracles overnight, it could take a while to get bunny back to eating/pooing normally again. Make sure he stays hydrated - even if you have to syringe water in. I'm sure he'll be fine soon, but I know how worrying it is. Some bunnies have regular bouts of statis, but it is something that you learn to manage and get through. xxx

Thanks so much for the reply,

I'm just sat here in the kitchen with him waiting for him to show me a sign he's on the mend. I didn't realise it was so common, makes me feel a tiny bit better, I suppose we only hear of the really bad bouts on here.

Like I said he's had a little drink out of the bowl so I know he's had a bit to drink recently. His wifey will eat everything in sight so unless he eats something straight away he won't get a look-in!!

I've heard a couple of quiet squelching noises coming from his tummy, hoping thats a good sign. he stinks of pineapple, as do I, thats all I could smell while I was at work, found a nice sticky matted bit in the bottom of my hair from where he must've wiped his chin on me this morning, cheers luv!!:lol:

any thoughts...he's drinking lots...just come out for his 4th go at the waterbowl in the last hour and half, thats def not like him. is this because he's not eating, could it be the drugs making him thirsty?

I'm rubbish at this!! At least the kids give me a bit of a clue whats going on with them when they're poorly

How is he this morning?
I would try to keep tempting him with herbs and if yo can find any blackberry leaves they seem to like them when they have poorly tummies. Carrot tops sometimes go down well when they won't eat anything else too.

LainiT said:

Like I said he's had a little drink out of the bowl so I know he's had a bit to drink recently. His wifey will eat everything in sight so unless he eats something straight away he won't get a look-in!

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When misfit had stasis it was dandelions that first got her eating again. Try some of that if you have some, and also strong-smelling herbs like basil and mint. And maybe some grass? If you hand feed him some hopefully he'll nibble it before his greedy wifey comes along

P.s. Has he eaten anything at all? If not it might be worth syringe feeding? With misfit a day of syringe feeding seemed to push things through and she did a couple of tiny poos, and it was after that she managed her first few nibbles.

When Honey has a poorly tum she drinks lots of water, she seems to know that she needs it. With Honey, the problem is normally ingested fur, so the water will help to hydrate everything and move it through the gut :wave:

Oooh thanks all. I've got loads of blackberry leaves in the garden, will see what he makes of those. I THINK he's done one poo at least over night. He's wolfed down some parsley a few mins ago, still sat looking v sorry for himself. He wouldn't eat anything at all tho last night. Off to the vets in half an hour, will def need more advice from you lot later...stick around!! Thankyou thankyou thankyou

So the vet was quite happy with Tufty. Had a right good feel of his tummy...clearly pressed a little too hard on Tufty's bladder cos he covered the vet in wee at one point!!:lol: Handily providing a nice point to wipe it with a test stick...all good!

Anyhow, he gave him the same 3 injections as yesterday - an antibiotic, a gut stimulant and a painkiller. Said there was a little mass in one part of his gut that he could feel but nothing to be too concerned about. I need to keep him on the hay and grass and gradually introduce him back to his normal food.

So now please kind people, what I need to know is, he's a fair bit brighter and eating grass like he's never even seen it before :shock: is that ok?? He does get grass when they're out in the run, but he's not used to it in huge amounts. he's really not interested in his hay though at the moment...what do I do?? he's had a few poos so I know that things are getting through..I've got some recovery sachets for him, does he need these if he's eating a whole lawn full of grass?

Thanks for all your help everyone, much appreciated

I'm no expert but I'd say let him eat what he wants to eat until he's better. That's great news that he's eating!

I'd say try him with some recovery but if he doesn't want it, as long as he's eating grass don't force it down him. Misfit started struggling a lot more with her recovery once she started eating. Poor little chap hope he feels better soon.

Sorry I missed this before.

My Spenser has had stasis twice, and to be honest I tempted him with all his favourites and rejoiced to see him eating anything.

I did find that he picked up fairly quickly after vet treatment, although the first time he seemed to get worse before he got better.

Sending vibes, and thinking of you - it is such a worry.

Aaaw thanks you two.

I'm off out in the cold to go get more grass then!!!:lol:

I've tried a couple of times to get the pineapple juice down him but he's great at just letting it dribble out of his mouth and we both get covered in it! The whole of the downstairs smells of the stuff!!

Thanks for the replies though, its really good to get some reassurance when I don't have a clue! Bring on the grass picking!

Just to add, dried papaya is what most angora people use to prevent wool block, or help with blockages. You can get it without preservatives or added sugar, as the ones in health food shops often have sugar added which we don't want!

http://www.discountedpetproducts.net/SMF_DRIED_PAPAYA_9OZ-UKP107130.html

Apparently people used to think papaya literally dissolved things like hair balls in the digestive tract, but in fact it can't do that as it contains an enzyme that dissolves protein, but not the protein hair is made up from. But what papaya does do, is help the digestive tract keep moving. this means it's a useful aid for a recovering bunny and then as a preventative. So it is useful for non long haired bunnies as well. Pineapple has a similar effect but papaya seems to be the weapon of choice for most angora owners.

I don't want to tempt fate but will say I have fed my bunnies it, just maybe once a week, for several years now and not had one go into stasis or get wool block yet. Touch wood.

LainiT said:

So the vet was quite happy with Tufty. Had a right good feel of his tummy...clearly pressed a little too hard on Tufty's bladder cos he covered the vet in wee at one point!!:lol: Handily providing a nice point to wipe it with a test stick...all good!

Anyhow, he gave him the same 3 injections as yesterday - an antibiotic, a gut stimulant and a painkiller. Said there was a little mass in one part of his gut that he could feel but nothing to be too concerned about. I need to keep him on the hay and grass and gradually introduce him back to his normal food.

So now please kind people, what I need to know is, he's a fair bit brighter and eating grass like he's never even seen it before :shock: is that ok?? He does get grass when they're out in the run, but he's not used to it in huge amounts. he's really not interested in his hay though at the moment...what do I do?? he's had a few poos so I know that things are getting through..I've got some recovery sachets for him, does he need these if he's eating a whole lawn full of grass?

Thanks for all your help everyone, much appreciated

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Tufty is one very sensible bunny, as most bunnies are. it sounds as if the small mass the vet could feel is a bit of a blockage of probably food & fur in the gut & this has to move through. all his drinking has been to soften things up so they can move forwards. Similarly fresh foods eg grass are softer & more liquid when chewed up) than dry foods - hay, so he'll go for the grass & that's good. At this time of year the grass isn't too rich - the main thing to avoid is mucky bum - runny caecals. I strongly agree with the others that fresh herbs, dandelions (not too many & take the central vein out cos the sap makes them pee a lot ( = dehydrate them if you feed armfuls - I mean literally armfuls too!!) carrot tops, Blackberry leaves, raspberry leaves, Apple/pear leaves, all help to get the gut contracting again & importantly all are lower in nutrient than human veg. Tummy bunnies do better on the lower nutrient foods. Good luck little Tufty. Hope your tummy settles down soon.

How's Tufty doing today? Glad to read from your posts that he's eating grass and is picking up! Just a thought, you could get him some Papaya tablets for future - this helps breaks down ingested fur in the stomach, which may help prevent digestive problems in the future. Oxbowanimalhealth.com sell them. Happy Sunday!

Hi all, and once again thanks for all your help. I love that he's a clever bunny, bless him, glad he's doing what he should.

He's eating his grass still, seriously couldn't keep up with him last night. He's sat by a play-doughy bunch of small grapes kinda poo. So stuff is getting through, does it matter what it looks like at this stage? Or is consistency important. Grass and water consumption has slowed down...good job as OH has just got the lawn mower out!

He's a lion-head so will def be looking into the papaya, sounds like its something I need in their lives!!

LainiT said:

Hi all, and once again thanks for all your help. I love that he's a clever bunny, bless him, glad he's doing what he should.

He's eating his grass still, seriously couldn't keep up with him last night. He's sat by a play-doughy bunch of small grapes kinda poo. So stuff is getting through, does it matter what it looks like at this stage? Or is consistency important. Grass and water consumption has slowed down...good job as OH has just got the lawn mower out!

He's a lion-head so will def be looking into the papaya, sounds like its something I need in their lives!!

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The small bunch of grapes kinda poo are his special poohs = caecals but he won't eat them if the bacteria in his gut are out of balance cos they don't smell right.
Although we used to advise fresh [pineapple /papya in the past, many of us found a problem that the suagar content was too high & gave this problem of uneaten or runny caecals.
In fact apart from angoras buns should be able to pass their groomed fur no probs, although we all help them by brushing them & the partner bun more often during moult.
The problem of a block type of stasis is that the gut has already slowed down before the block happens. Nothing can dissolve the fur. Fresh Pineapple contains bromelaine which is a natural gut stimulant. You are better to avoid the risk of high sugar by getting purified bromelaine from a store like holland & barret. Personally I don't know how to use it, because I relied totally on plants wild bunnies use to keep their gut healthy.

My bridge boy Thumper had an incredibly rare gut condition, but lived to be over 6 years old even though for the last 18 months he needed gut motility drugs every day to prevent stasis. In fact Thumper showed me what plants he needed to keep is gut going! 1 day when he was having a dental, my lovely exotics vet gave some of his picnic to a bun who wouldn't eat after all treatments & over 5 days in stasis. Bunny ate immediately & went from strength to strength. Then there were a few other buns, eg Jaysmonkey's Lola, who'd been in stasis for 5+ days & responded to a "Thumper recovery pack" of leaves. When about 6 buns had recovered when they weren't long for this world, I went public on RU (with my vet's support) together with Pretty Lupin(who uses similar methods) & Donnamt whose bunny Alvin was rarely out of stasis for 6 weeks.

There was quite a club of "Tummy bunny mummies" in those days. Have a look at this old thread which tells you what we were using to give you some ideas. All of us reduced the pellets, & human veg, adding tree leaves to a good hay mix portion & reducing or even stopping the veg we eat - (Not things like carrot TOPS etc)
So here we all are. All our buns have different underlying causes for stasis, ranging from joint PAIN to Alvin who is deaf & therefore on the nervous side.http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/s...ried-given-your-stasis-prone-buns-tree-leaves
You'll find more about wild foods & their identification in the diet section stickies.

So we were back at the vets again today. Little Tufty was back to his normal self after a couple of days (or so I thought) til last night when he refused his normal bit of Parsley.

Vet today said his tummy is very bloated and was in 2 minds whether to admit him this afternoon, put him on a drip and x-ray etc see if there was a blockage with a view to surgery if so.

But then said he'll give him the benefit of the doubt, gave him the same injections (gut stimulant and pain killer) and we're back again tomorrow.

Bless my little man. he's still not eaten anything, no poo but drinking a bit. I know its the same advice but now I'm concerned what to do if he is admitted...do I take Ellie? They are so close and she's hardly left his side..if he is on a drip will they be able to keep them together? What do I do?? Very sad, very worried, and I just want to be prepared for tomorrow if they do have to keep him when we go in the morning.

Thanks all.

Oh and ps to Thumps...I've been trying to get round to replying to you, i LOVE your tree-leaf thread, and its something that I seriously want look into...just need Tufty to get through this then I may well be badgering you for advice, it makes such a lot of sense, so Thankyou! x

Just wanted to send vibes to Tufty.

Hope he starts to improve soon x