GI Stasis advice please

Hi

Can anyone give me some advice please. My rabbit is suffering from GT stasis though not the full blow condition, rather he has only been eating a little and not passing much in the way of droppings and not urinating as much as he used to. His condition waxes and wanes , he may at one time produce more droppings in his litter try, nearly the normal amount and seems to eat more and I think he is well on the way to recovery than the next day it is as before few droppings and not eating as much. He has a food supplement which he relishes and always eats parsley with enthusiasm whenever it is offered. I would be very worried if he stopped eating his parsley so this is a test for when he seems to not eat much at all, as he will eat his parsley. I am very worried. He seems lively, though there are times when he sits in the corner of the room were no one can see him.

This has gone on now for a month or more. He has been to the vet’s day hospital to be re-hydrated and had an injection. He has been on antibiotics and the vet felt a small impaction in his gut which she said he needs to pass, and we thought the other day that he had done so. However after a day of things looking better overall, yesterday there are once again few droppings in his litter tray and none this morning, though he does go outside where he has a special area and he did some more as soon as the door to the garden was open in the early morning. This has been the case for a few days, not much during the night and varied amounts during the day. However he is not going all the time as rabbits should and his droppings are not as large as usual.

I have no experience with rabbits, my husband and I gave a home to our neighbours' rabbit Sooty. We got her a partner, Joey, and sadly he died and after a while we found another partner for her, Patch, though they never got on together and had to be separated . Sadly Sooty died a couple of months ago and Patch is now our only rabbit and I am so worried that we will loose him to.

Any suggestions please. Do GI problems go on for a long time?

He is taking Zantac and metoclopramide

If he is not better by next week the vet wants to file his teeth though they do not appear to be overgrown or any spurs and also x-ray him to see if there are any underlying health problems. I am worried about this as his system is already slowed down and the anaesthetic may make things worse.

Thank you for any advice

Did the Vet say exactly where in the GI tract the impaction is located ? If in the cecum then this can take several days of ongoing treatment before any improvement is seen. Treatment is usually fluid therapy (subcutaneous and oral), Prokinetics (Zantac, Metoclopromide, Cisipride or possibly Domperidone), a non steroidal antin-inflammatory-eg Metacam, an osmotic laxative-Lactulose, abdominal massage and encouraging exercise. Assisted feeding is required if the Rabbit is anorexic.

Alternatively the problem may be pain related- so possibly oral/dental pain, arthritic pain, a urinary tract problem causing pain....... Pain then has the secondary effect of causing the GI tract to slow down. This can lead to dehydration of gut contents and the formation of an impaction.

I note that your Rabbit does not appear to be receiving any pain relief ???

Jack's-Jane said:

Did the Vet say exactly where in the GI tract the impaction is located ? If in the cecum then this can take several days of ongoing treatment before any improvement is seen. Treatment is usually fluid therapy (subcutaneous and oral), Prokinetics (Zantac, Metoclopromide, Cisipride or possibly Domperidone), a non steroidal antin-inflammatory-eg Metacam, an osmotic laxative-Lactulose, abdominal massage and encouraging exercise. Assisted feeding is required if the Rabbit is anorexic.

Alternatively the problem may be pain related- so possibly oral/dental pain, arthritic pain, a urinary tract problem causing pain....... Pain then has the secondary effect of causing the GI tract to slow down. This can lead to dehydration of gut contents and the formation of an impaction.

I note that your Rabbit does not appear to be receiving any pain relief ???

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Hi Jack’s-Jane

Thank you for your reply. He did have pain medication Metacam , I was told by the vet to give it him for only three days. He also has had a pain killing injection. He does not grind his teeth so not sure if he is in pain. Not sure where the impaction is located. The vet manipulated further down his intestines and managed to manoeuvre it to lower down and said it should pass out, at first we thought that last week it had passed out as he seemed to produce a large clump of poo. The next day he seemed much better and produced more droppings including two small Cecotropes, then the following day he returned to smaller amounts and of a smaller size once again

Will mention your suggestions of pain conditions when we see the vet tomorrow. I have been delaying taking him to the vets as it is so stressful for him and I am concerned that the anaesthetic will slow down his digestion even more. He does eat quite a bit sometimes but has to be encouraged to do so. I think that fling is teeth if there is nothing much wrong with them is pointless and I have to wonder if the vet really has no other options and as he will need an anaesthetic to have an x-ray he may as well have his teeth filed. He has seen most of the vets at the practice and they all seem to think the same

He has been feed through a syringe but has never lost much weight and we have been told not to force feed him with the recovery mixture too often and to reduce this as he will become dependent. However after he has had his recovery mix he seems more lively.

Will try to syringe more water as he rarely drinks from his bowl. Thank you for your help, much appreciated