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Has anyone seen a "few hour" GI stasis, but happens a few days in a row?

Happy Hopping

Wise Old Thumper
I have come across something that I never seen before. My bun since 3 days ago (Tues) has a mild GI stasis. Now I have seen him having GI stasis for a few years, he likes to chew the towel that he pees on, but the towel is cotton, so, it's not a serious GI stasis, and in the past, I give 0.34 ml of metacam, and syringe feed some water every 1/2 hr., and in a few hr., everything back to normal, and he goes back to his regular eating / drinking.

Then on Wed. night, he's not eating the treats while the other bun is eating it, and that's usually the sign of another mild GI stasis. So, I give him another 0.34 ml of metacam, as it's been 24 hr. and this time, he doesn't need any syringe feed water, and everything back to normal.

Then last night (Thurs), same symptoms, he's not eating the normal stuff. (In between during the day, his diet is normal.) So I gave 0.34 ml of metacam, and syringe feed twice, then everything back to normal again this morning (Fri).

But just now, same thing, he's not eating the treat and the other usual symptoms like stomach panting. Eventhough ea. GI stasis is mild, I don't understand what's happening.

Normally, his GI stasis, due to towel chewing happens about 5 to 6 times per year. And I have never seen a few mild GI stasis back to back.

Has anyone seen this before?
 
I would suspect the stasis is being caused by something other than what you describe as his usual stasis issues from digestive upset. Many health problems can cause a rabbit to go into stasis, such as dental issues, infection, problems with internal organs. Basically anything that causes pain and discomfort can result in lack of appetite. It sounds like your bun is likely in pain and the metacam may be helping to temporarily control the pain. So when the med wears off, your bun starts feeling unwell again and stops eating.

I think at this point you really need to get him in to see the vet for further diagnostics. It really needs to be done right away, as there is no telling what may be causing this or how severe it is, but anything that is causing a bun to go into repeated stasis episodes, needs immediate attention.
 
Well, I have a few strong suspects:

1) both buns are shedding fur, I dry comb off some fur off him today. The other 1 is shedding much more, but I have also dry comb off her fur

2) My hay are getting to the end of the season. The new hay are coming in next week. So neither 1 of them are eating the amt. of hay that they used to eat, as such, Bobby's poop size is smaller than the regular. His poop used to be very large, right now, it's regular size.

The vet who's a rabbit specialist is available on Monday. I'll book an appt.
 
What is the treat you are giving them as maybe he is eating something which is upsetting his tummy.
 
carrots.

Each year around Aug., when they shed fur, their diet is sluggish. Both buns' poops are black color, not the gold color, so clearly it's not a coincidence. For now, since I gave Bobby the metacam at 10 pm, his diet is back to normal.

I thought at first, it's because my bale of hay is at the end of the season, and 3 new bales are coming next week. So I rush to pet store and get a bag of Oxbow hay. But their consumption of the Oxbow hay is the same as the other timothy hay in the house.

The only difference this year, is the repeated mild GI stasis. I am having a hard time believing all these are coincidence.

The appointment w/ the rabbit specialist is Mon. morning.
 
I really don't mean to sound at all rude, but if your bunny suffers stasis several times a year due to eating the towel (cotton or not) why not take it away from him? Cotton will still cause blockages if swallowed (partial or otherwise) and obviously the bouts of stasis are not good for long term health either. ☺️
 
because that's where they pee on.

I have tried other methods in the past, for e.g., plastic tray, wood shaving, each 1 of those methods have their own problems. If you have better trick, let me know
 
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