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Gut stasis ...again

R

Rosie&Chris

New Kit
Max bunny has gut stasis again - the second time this year.

I have been trying to discover WHY this has happened again, but can think of no reason. See if you can help, please -

Diet - hay, hay, more hay, 1/2 cup pellets, veggies (spring greens, cabbage, carrot, cucumber, broccoli, cauliflower leaves - a small selection daily), 1/2 cup Readi-grass. Forage throughout the summer. Could cabbage cause gut stasis?
Housing - Max, Honey and Daisy moved into a lovely big wendy house two months ago - plenty of room
Behaviour - a normal bunny! Neutered and vaccinated

Today, he was lying on the cold paving slabs in the rain :( I think the cold floor was helping his tummy

Living with his girls, I do not know how his wee/poo output has been. The last thing I want to do is separate them.

The vet checked his teeth - all OK. Temperature low. Dehydrated. He gave Max metaclopramide injection and enough to be syringed for three days. Sub-cut fluids. Suggested worming?

I hope we caught this early enough, but I worry in case it arises again :(
 
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You might be giving too much food, too many veg maybe and then I'm not sure if lying on a cold floor in the rain is helpful. Domestic rabbits are not as hardy as their wild counterparts. Sorry, not being very helpful. Someone else might be along.
 
Ok thank you. The actual wendy house is nice and cosy, with carpet, bedding, boxes, shelves, tunnels etc - silly bunny to be sitting in the rain!

I often think I give them too much veg. I am used to feeding piggies lots and lots of veg (as I foster for a rescue) so perhaps I get carried away!
 
I think you might be overloading his digestive system. I would cut his pellets down a little, as far as veg goes a piece of, say, spring greens on one day and a little bit of cauliflower stalk or leaf the next day. We don't tend to give carrot only as a treat nor cucumber. Herbs are very good for rabbits and the Readigrass is fine, and plenty of hay. Their playhouse sounds very cosy, they will be glad of that in the winter.
 
Each bunny is different, and personally speaking mine don't get a awful lot of veg. Honey cannot seem to tolerate any veg, it makes her produce too many uneaten caecotrophs, Evie doesn't like any veg we have tried her on. Too

much broccoli and carrot have given mine stasis in the past. Nowdays they get a little bit of broccoli about twice a week and when its in season, some kale but this can also make ther tummies gassy and they only get a very small amount and it's all fed with a big helping of hay.

I've read that herbs are better to feed than veg. I hope that helps
 
I have a rabbit who tends to go through regular episodes, I've never gotten to the bottom of it, however I've changed her diet to an egg cup full of pellets, some dried foods like dandelions, Apple sticks etc then unlimited hay.

It appears to be mostly doing the trick but not 100% although her favourite hay is back in stock so I'm hoping that's enough to stop future cases
 
Thank you all. I will definitely be cutting down their veg. Also, I will reduce their pellets as encouraging more hay eating can only be a good thing.

No, vet didn't give pain relief :( I asked, but he said "Bunny is only uncomfortable, not in pain" He wasn't having any of it. Thankfully, Max seems his usual self this morning. Fingers crossed we're over the worst of it.
 
Rosie&Chris said:
Thank you all. I will definitely be cutting down their veg. Also, I will reduce their pellets as encouraging more hay eating can only be a good thing.

No, vet didn't give pain relief :( I asked, but he said "Bunny is only uncomfortable, not in pain" He wasn't having any of it. Thankfully, Max seems his usual self this morning. Fingers crossed we're over the worst of it.
Click to expand...

Hiya Rosie, that's really odd for a vet not to give pain relief :? I know there are risks if Metacam is given long term but as it would only be for a few days I really don't understand vets who refuse to give it.

Timmy used to have several bouts of stasis a year, I never really got to the bottom of the cause, wish I could have :( I did often wonder though if it was linked to his moulting. It uses up a lot of their energy, plus of course they will be ingesting more fur through grooming. Is Max a groomer? Timmy was always the groomer out of my two so I guess he ingested more fur than Pickle. If you think this could possibly be a cause, then maybe try and brush him daily when he is moulting.

My vet always gave Metacam, cisipride and zantac for stasis.

Glad Max is recovering now xx
 
Hi Debbie. Now you mention it, yes - Max is definitely a groomer. He spends an awful lot of time grooming his wives, not so much himself though. He isn't moulting at the moment but I do groom to remove the looser fur. This could definitely be the cause of our problems!
 
Oh how I know how you feel! Dylan's just had his 4th episode in 3 months :(
I have racked my brain but aside from moulting (he did have a heavy moult this year) I can see no obvious pattern.
I do however agree with the above-make the diet as simple as possible; so limited pellets, unlimited hay, very limited or no veges (Dylan has no veges now), herbs (I have now replaced his veges with more tummy friendly herbs) & groom them as much as possible when they are moulting.
 
Doughnut had a bout of gas/GI. She was given pain relief and an appetite stimulator and was fine straight after. I had no clue why she suddenly got like this but I've cut her pellets to an egg cup a day, lots of hay and she has no veg. Bramble leaves are good for digestion so she sometimes has these and she loves rose petals, so sometimes has a few of them. If I get any splats, then she's just on hay and pellets again.

She also gets dill as that is good for gas. Maybe swap the veg for herbs as they are more gentle on the stomach and normally a favourite with rabbits, but would go slowly and only a few.

Doughnut now seems even more full of life and mischief:D
 
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