Stasis: care at home vs. hospitalisation

Apache has been poorly with stasis today (he looks brighter now, touch wood) and it got me thinking...


In general, when your bun has stasis, do you prefer to treat them at home or have them admitted to the vets? I realise it utterly depends on the severity of the attack but I guess I was just wondering what you feel is most important, the skills and facilities available at the vets, or the de-stressing effect of being at home in a familiar environment.

The vet suggested admitting Apache but when I said I thought he'd be calmer at home and that I was capable of doing syringe feeds etc he agreed that would be better.

clutterydrawer said:

Apache has been poorly with stasis today (he looks brighter now, touch wood) and it got me thinking...


In general, when your bun has stasis, do you prefer to treat them at home or have them admitted to the vets? I realise it utterly depends on the severity of the attack but I guess I was just wondering what you feel is most important, the skills and facilities available at the vets, or the de-stressing effect of being at home in a familiar environment.

The vet suggested admitting Apache but when I said I thought he'd be calmer at home and that I was capable of doing syringe feeds etc he agreed that would be better.

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Very interesting question!

I may well be shot down in flames, but I tend to nurse at home. I've had myriad stasis episodes and never taken a bunny to the vet as it's always resolved at home. I get onto things fast, mind .. I find home nursing beats the emergency vets around here hands down!

Hmmm interesting...to clarify I always take them to the vets once, to get metaclop etc, but have only left them there if the vet absolutely would not let me take them home. (It did happen once!)


I do tend to wait a few hours to see if it's getting better or worse....I'm always worried about increasing stress, but also about leaving it until it's too late.

Hmmm, I would say if you are bunny savvy and know what you are doing then ALWAYS at home. I have left bunnies in the past to then find out that they were left alone overnight and just checked on hourly or so. I now know that we know them best and would always keep at home with us to watch over and care for.
That said I feel more able to care for a rabbit now than I did 13 years ago!
Listen to me!!!!! I sound like someone who actually owns a bunny

Suzi Wong said:

Hmmm, I would say if you are bunny savvy and know what you are doing then ALWAYS at home. I have left bunnies in the past to then find out that they were left alone overnight and just checked on hourly or so. I now know that we know them best and would always keep at home with us to watch over and care for.
That said I feel more able to care for a rabbit now than I did 13 years ago!
Listen to me!!!!! I sound like someone who actually owns a bunny

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Of course we listen to you - you're very experienced!

However, sad to see the little sad face at the end

MightyMax said:

Of course we listen to you - you're very experienced!

However, sad to see the little sad face at the end

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That is a bunny lonely face...... At the moment we are very unsure about taking on another bunn, but still love to come here and see everyone else's

Aww I'm sure you'll have a bun again some day - it just has to be when the time is right. Thanks for your reply :wave:

For me it depends on the severity. Normally it is at home after vet treatment. But if it is severe or a repeated episode and they need a drip, stronger pain relief or are likely to need xrays then they are admitted.

Our vets generally xray if there is no improvement after 24 hours so if it runs into a second day with no real improvemnt they are always admitted

It depends on the bunny, history, cause, situation, etc, for me. I can do gut stimulants, pain relief, fluids, syringe feeding at home, and for some bunnies, that's ok, or enough, for others, it's a must that they stay at home, but the odd one goes to the vets ASAP or the next day, or whenever. I would never recommend anyone else manges their bunnies this way, but know that I know them and know when I can manage it, and when I can't, or shouldn't try, and so I know they always get whatever they need, be it me, home, vets, admission, etc.

They are nearly always admitted to the vets for me. The main reasons are my vet is 45 minutes away, so if they need any further treatment then it's hassle and stress taking them back. The other factor is that they nearly always do an x-ray so I'd need to hang about whilst they do that. It's easier all round for them to be admitted... and frankly they are far better at looking after sick bunnies than I am. I feel a huge sense of relief when they are in my vet practice's care (don't know if that makes me a bad person for not doing it myself )

I usually watch them for an few hours before deciding to take them to the vets, unless it's first thing in the morning then we go quite quickly as they could have been on hunger strike for up to 8 hours already. I've had three requiring blockage surgery so it's really hard to do the sit and wait sometimes as I worry that time is of the essence.... and another in pain from a kidney stone lodged in the ureter so I like to know, I can't rest during the "wait and see" time. I wish I could do blood glucose tests it would be sooo useful.

It definitely doesn't make you a bad person unless I'm one too as I completely understand your relief

I have also left rabbits to be cared for at the vet if I have other sick rabbits to care for as I can only stretch myself so far so they would get more attention at the vets.

Bunny Buddy said:

(don't know if that makes me a bad person for not doing it myself ).

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No absolutely not! I hope this thread didn't come across as judgemental :? I was more interested in learning people's opinions and reasoning than trying to find out if there's a 'right' or 'wrong' way.

Apache was admitted once for 5 days because when I took him in they said they'd never seen a rabbit so far gone with stasis :shock: :shock: I figured that one was probably beyond my abilities!

Oh, no I don't think for a minute you or anyone else was being judgemental - sorry if it looked like I was suggesting that. It was just my own assessment and self-judgement that *maybe* it would be appropriate to try harder and *maybe* I'm just taking the easy route for me and not necessarily the rabbit. I do think the rabbits are better off there and if I didn't 100% trust my vets then I would attempt it at home but me attempting to syringe feed them must be a very stressful experience for them.

Oh good. Just checking. Have ultra paranoia :lol: If you've had good results with admitting them to the vets then I say continue - I imagine that if you are super stressed about syringe feeding, they could even pick up on that and get more stressed themselves?

Bunny Buddy said:

Oh, no I don't think for a minute you or anyone else was being judgemental - sorry if it looked like I was suggesting that. It was just my own assessment and self-judgement that *maybe* it would be appropriate to try harder and *maybe* I'm just taking the easy route for me and not necessarily the rabbit. I do think the rabbits are better off there and if I didn't 100% trust my vets then I would attempt it at home but me attempting to syringe feed them must be a very stressful experience for them.

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I think everyone does the very best they can :wave:

With London prices for vets it's also a consideration whether to take them or nurse them at home. For some people anyway!

Bunny Buddy said:

Oh, no I don't think for a minute you or anyone else was being judgemental - sorry if it looked like I was suggesting that. It was just my own assessment and self-judgement that *maybe* it would be appropriate to try harder and *maybe* I'm just taking the easy route for me and not necessarily the rabbit. I do think the rabbits are better off there and if I didn't 100% trust my vets then I would attempt it at home but me attempting to syringe feed them must be a very stressful experience for them.

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I dont think leaving them at the vet is necessarily an easy route though. Yes it frees up your time but the worry is huge. Not being able to see them, constantly wondering how they are, waiting for the phone to to ring, feeling guilty that they might be scared, worrying you might not see them again. Definitely not easy x