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So Fergie has stasis for the second time in a month...

H

Holhol

Alpha Buck
I just don't know what is going on with him this month :( he's 2 now and we have never had ANY problems but this month has cost me £500 ish

Last night he wouldn't eat his pellets, was only picking at veg and was generally lethargic. He had metacam and cisapride (left over from last time) after speaking to vet to get him through the night and try and perk him up. Absolutely no luck - no poos, nibbling a tiny bit of veg. Ended up taking him to the OOH vet at 7am and he was admitted again :(

It's been less than 3 weeks since the last episode of stasis... Neither have been a blockage and everything is normal now (teeth are perfect after dental). He's been eating absolutely tonnes of hay, a bowl of greens and herbs (small bowl) and only 1/2 an eggcup of pellets per day. He has a whole big bedroom to run round in all day.

What am I doing wrong??? He's absolutely fine and does giant golden poos and eats like a trooper then a couple of hours later he's at deaths door. Has anyone else had this problem? Or multiple episodes of stasis in a short time? Or ideas about what might be causing it?

My mum has leant me the money for this but I don't know how much more I can afford - if this is every month I dont know what I'll do :(
 
Have you tried him on a no hard feed diet ? IME some Rabbits just do not do well on a pellet feed. Since cutting out all hard feed from two of my Rabbits who had repeated bouts of gut stasis/colic they have not had any episodes at all. They have a variety of hays, dried forages, dried grass, a small amount of fresh grass (hand picked, they are house Rabbits) and a couple of small portions of fresh herbs daily.

I have no idea why some Rabbits have problems with pellet feeds, all I know is that they do. I am a real advocate for a 'natural' diet as far as is possible. It really does seem to work best for my Rabbits.
 
Jack's-Jane said:
Have you tried him on a no hard feed diet ? IME some Rabbits just do not do well on a pellet feed. Since cutting out all hard feed from two of my Rabbits who had repeated bouts of gut stasis/colic they have not had any episodes at all. They have a variety of hays, dried forages, dried grass, a small amount of fresh grass (hand picked, they are house Rabbits) and a couple of small portions of fresh herbs daily.

I have no idea why some Rabbits have problems with pellet feeds, all I know is that they do. I am a real advocate for a 'natural' diet as far as is possible. It really does seem to work best for my Rabbits.
Click to expand...

My main vet is really into no pellets too and has suggested it (before we had any stasis) and I have considered it - it's more for convenience that he gets fed them - I get an extra hour in bed if he gets a couple but it might be worth a go at the moment.

He's been absolutely fine on burgess pellets since he was about 10wks old, so I have no idea if they're related to his problems at the moment but it might be worth a go getting rid. Can't remember if I opened the new bag of pellets just before or just after his last stasis but I'm wondering if that's linked.

Might ring and speak to my normal vet on tues and mention it to the OOH vet tomorrow - just want him home and OK!
 
Holhol said:
My main vet is really into no pellets too and has suggested it (before we had any stasis) and I have considered it - it's more for convenience that he gets fed them - I get an extra hour in bed if he gets a couple but it might be worth a go at the moment.

He's been absolutely fine on burgess pellets since he was about 10wks old, so I have no idea if they're related to his problems at the moment but it might be worth a go getting rid. Can't remember if I opened the new bag of pellets just before or just after his last stasis but I'm wondering if that's linked.

Might ring and speak to my normal vet on tues and mention it to the OOH vet tomorrow - just want him home and OK!
Click to expand...

Goodness this is becoming really expensive for you and a real problem all round!

I wonder if it's worth asking your vet if you could run a blood profile? I don't want to suggest more expense for you but maybe that would turf up something ... Failing that an X-ray of his gut.

I agree with you though, best to go for the simple options first .... cutting out pellets. I take it his water consumption is fine?
 
MightyMax said:
Goodness this is becoming really expensive for you and a real problem all round!

I wonder if it's worth asking your vet if you could run a blood profile? I don't want to suggest more expense for you but maybe that would turf up something ... Failing that an X-ray of his gut.

I agree with you though, best to go for the simple options first .... cutting out pellets. I take it his water consumption is fine?
Click to expand...

It's an absolute nightmare. I do think it's weird how he's never had gut problems in 2 years and then they've come on all at once!

I spoke to the vet tonight and she thinks he'll be ok to come home tomorrow, and I think the plan is give it 48 hours and if there's no/little improvement were doing bloods and X-rays - Id rather pay a bit extra and get on top of it at the moment.

I'm gonna give the proper rabbit specialist a ring in the week and discuss the best options but definitely thinking no pellets is worth a shot (seeing as it's free!). Just absolutely drained with all this now :(
 
Holhol said:
I just don't know what is going on with him this month :( he's 2 now and we have never had ANY problems but this month has cost me £500 ish

Last night he wouldn't eat his pellets, was only picking at veg and was generally lethargic. He had metacam and cisapride (left over from last time) after speaking to vet to get him through the night and try and perk him up. Absolutely no luck - no poos, nibbling a tiny bit of veg. Ended up taking him to the OOH vet at 7am and he was admitted again :(

It's been less than 3 weeks since the last episode of stasis... Neither have been a blockage and everything is normal now (teeth are perfect after dental). He's been eating absolutely tonnes of hay, a bowl of greens and herbs (small bowl) and only 1/2 an eggcup of pellets per day. He has a whole big bedroom to run round in all day.

What am I doing wrong??? He's absolutely fine and does giant golden poos and eats like a trooper then a couple of hours later he's at deaths door. Has anyone else had this problem? Or multiple episodes of stasis in a short time? Or ideas about what might be causing it?

My mum has leant me the money for this but I don't know how much more I can afford - if this is every month I dont know what I'll do :(
Click to expand...

I had a rabbit who would do the same thing. She would eat like food was going out of style, and then she would have a tummy ache and go off food completely. She did much better after I limited her consumption to only a few pellets as a treat, kept her diet very limited, and did not give her too much hay at once, she did better. She also was given supplemental fluids to keep her poops from getting too hard.
Also, I kept up the meds for many days after she started to eat again.
 
Holhol said:
It's an absolute nightmare. I do think it's weird how he's never had gut problems in 2 years and then they've come on all at once!

I spoke to the vet tonight and she thinks he'll be ok to come home tomorrow, and I think the plan is give it 48 hours and if there's no/little improvement were doing bloods and X-rays - Id rather pay a bit extra and get on top of it at the moment.

I'm gonna give the proper rabbit specialist a ring in the week and discuss the best options but definitely thinking no pellets is worth a shot (seeing as it's free!). Just absolutely drained with all this now :(
Click to expand...

One of my Rabbits had a recurrent problem of sudden onset abdominal pain. It was unlike 'normal' gut stasis in that he would usually still have output and reasonable gut sounds. But his intestines just seemed to go into spasm causing acute abdominal pain. It would occur like a light switch going on. One minute he'd be fine, the next he would be in a state of collapse and in need of emergency care including IV pain relief and fluids. It was at times like that I am glad my Vet is also a close friend. My Rabbit would probably not be here now (he's 10!!) if it were not for my friend/Vet.

We never got to the bottom of the exact cause of his issues, despite numerous diagnostics and a lot of input from an Exotics Specialist. Although the advice the specialist gave us re managing symptoms certainly bought about a vast improvement. The specialist prescribed two types of anti ulcer meds as well as prokinetics and two types of pain relief . The attacks became much less frequent and less severe. But the thing that really made a difference was stopping feeding pellets. The specialist actually suggested that some Rabbits simply cannot process such a highly concentrated food. Rabbits are not designed to eat small amounts of high nutrient food. They are designed to endlessly graze on high fibre low nutrient roughage. This makes perfect sense to me and ties in completely with what I have seen with my own eyes when dealing with Rabbits with recurrent gut problems.

My Rabbit does now have a small amount of a muesli feed (Specialist recommended!!) as a Rabbit aged 10 can need additional calories than hay/forage grass provides. He has not had any problems with his tummy at all. So it really would be worth a go to feed a hard feed free diet. You would need to monitor output/weight very carefully and you need to be certain that Ferg eats A LOT of hay, really chomps on big mouthfuls of it rather than nibbling the occasional strand. There are a variety of hays and forages available these days, so you can still provide a varied diet just in a more 'natural' form.
 
Holhol said:
It's an absolute nightmare. I do think it's weird how he's never had gut problems in 2 years and then they've come on all at once!

I spoke to the vet tonight and she thinks he'll be ok to come home tomorrow, and I think the plan is give it 48 hours and if there's no/little improvement were doing bloods and X-rays - Id rather pay a bit extra and get on top of it at the moment.

I'm gonna give the proper rabbit specialist a ring in the week and discuss the best options but definitely thinking no pellets is worth a shot (seeing as it's free!). Just absolutely drained with all this now :(
Click to expand...

I'm so sorry. I really really understand this feeling. Sometimes you just don't know where to turn next.

Take a deep breath and carry on, and try to think of yourself and make some time for what you want to do without worrying. :wave:
 
bunny momma said:
I had a rabbit who would do the same thing. She would eat like food was going out of style, and then she would have a tummy ache and go off food completely. She did much better after I limited her consumption to only a few pellets as a treat, kept her diet very limited, and did not give her too much hay at once, she did better. She also was given supplemental fluids to keep her poops from getting too hard.
Also, I kept up the meds for many days after she started to eat again.
Click to expand...

I think I'm going to have to do something similar now, nice to know that people have been able to control it with diet :)
 
Jack's-Jane said:
One of my Rabbits had a recurrent problem of sudden onset abdominal pain. It was unlike 'normal' gut stasis in that he would usually still have output and reasonable gut sounds. But his intestines just seemed to go into spasm causing acute abdominal pain. It would occur like a light switch going on. One minute he'd be fine, the next he would be in a state of collapse and in need of emergency care including IV pain relief and fluids. It was at times like that I am glad my Vet is also a close friend. My Rabbit would probably not be here now (he's 10!!) if it were not for my friend/Vet.

We never got to the bottom of the exact cause of his issues, despite numerous diagnostics and a lot of input from an Exotics Specialist. Although the advice the specialist gave us re managing symptoms certainly bought about a vast improvement. The specialist prescribed two types of anti ulcer meds as well as prokinetics and two types of pain relief . The attacks became much less frequent and less severe. But the thing that really made a difference was stopping feeding pellets. The specialist actually suggested that some Rabbits simply cannot process such a highly concentrated food. Rabbits are not designed to eat small amounts of high nutrient food. They are designed to endlessly graze on high fibre low nutrient roughage. This makes perfect sense to me and ties in completely with what I have seen with my own eyes when dealing with Rabbits with recurrent gut problems.

My Rabbit does now have a small amount of a muesli feed (Specialist recommended!!) as a Rabbit aged 10 can need additional calories than hay/forage grass provides. He has not had any problems with his tummy at all. So it really would be worth a go to feed a hard feed free diet. You would need to monitor output/weight very carefully and you need to be certain that Ferg eats A LOT of hay, really chomps on big mouthfuls of it rather than nibbling the occasional strand. There are a variety of hays and forages available these days, so you can still provide a varied diet just in a more 'natural' form.
Click to expand...

Thanks Jane - nice to know that it might be controllable with diet if it is recurrent (I hope this is the end of it!) :)

He came home this morning - is eating anything put in front of him, hopping, flopping, drinking and pooing yay! Poos aren't completely normal yet but are getting bigger and more golden by the hour.

He's been a really good hay eater recently and loves forage so it would be great if I could give it a go - going to speak to the rabbit man this week and discuss. Only thing I would worry about is weight as he lost a bit when I cut his pellets from 1 egg cup - 1/2 (back up now and seems very steady) x
 
MightyMax said:
I'm so sorry. I really really understand this feeling. Sometimes you just don't know where to turn next.

Take a deep breath and carry on, and try to think of yourself and make some time for what you want to do without worrying. :wave:
Click to expand...

Bit better this afternoon... Got a happy bunny home who is eating and pooing and hopping which is lovely! On meds 3x a day for the next few days but hey ho all good practice! :) he's very happy to be home and the vets were really happy with how much he ate last night as he's a nightmare to syringe feed!

Doesn't look like we'll be doing anything diagnostic this time which is a relief and really hoping its just been a bad month for him! He's flopped out enjoying the sun at the moment so I am so much less stressed! :) :love:
 
Holhol said:
Bit better this afternoon... Got a happy bunny home who is eating and pooing and hopping which is lovely! On meds 3x a day for the next few days but hey ho all good practice! :) he's very happy to be home and the vets were really happy with how much he ate last night as he's a nightmare to syringe feed!

Doesn't look like we'll be doing anything diagnostic this time which is a relief and really hoping its just been a bad month for him! He's flopped out enjoying the sun at the moment so I am so much less stressed! :) :love:
Click to expand...

Relief :love:

I think the sunshine is doing us all a world of good. We've waited long enough for it!

I agree with no diagnostics ... lots of fingers crossed instead that it doesn't happen again xx
 
MightyMax said:
Relief :love:

I think the sunshine is doing us all a world of good. We've waited long enough for it!

I agree with no diagnostics ... lots of fingers crossed instead that it doesn't happen again xx
Click to expand...

Honestly it was a relief to fight him getting some metaclop in and to see poos all over my bed! Definitely on the mend :) xx
 
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