Gut stasis - any advice?

I'm really worried about Archie. I'm scared we're going to get into a pattern of him being frightened in evenings of being taken to the vet, then not eating , then being taken to the vet, in a vicious circle.

He went to the vet with Millie on Saturday evening because she had stasis, though she recovered really quickly. They are outdoor bunnies but I kept them in overnight on the vet's advice. The following evening they were both a bit scared of me (pretty normal after a vet trip). I normally feed them pellets at 6pm, clean out the litter area and then spend an hour sitting with them and stroking them.

The following evening Archie wouldn't eat his pellets or anything else, he was clearly unhappy, very still in a corner. I called the vet who thought it was stress related and that bring him in might make matters worse. Archie was in part of their roundaround system that I can't get into (avoiding me still) but I put an arm through the roof and stroked him for a few hours until he started eating hay and leaves. The following morning he seemed fine, ate breakfast (fresh leaves and hay) as normal.

The following evening he stopped eating again, and was clearly in pain, kept stretching out his abdomen. I took him in that time and he had painkiller and that gut stimulatant they give them. Was eating very soon after his return but very frightened of me. This morning he ate as normal but ran away whenever he saw me and I'm scared that he'll be ill again by tonight because he has just got so stressed.

Has anyone else experienced this? I need advice. I called the vet this morning and was told by a nurse to separate them so that I can see how much he's eating and pooing but that's the last thing I want to do when he's already so jumpy.

Is your female ok now and eating normally? If she is I would let a day go by with no interference and then see if Archie is back to normal with his eating the following day. If he still isn't eating then you will have to take him back to the Vets. Are they eating something which is upsetting them like cabbage for instsnce and how many pellets do you give them. Would it be better to feed them during the day or is this not feasible?

Thank you, tonibun, I saw your message earlier but then couldn't reply as I didn't have my login details on me.

Yes, Millie is eating normally now. They haven't eaten cabbage, I don't think it's diet, I think this was brought on by some nail clipping and me cutting out a lump of matted soiled fur from underneath Archie. They're tame with me normally but really don't like being restrained in any way. Two great ideas from you there, feeding them at another time of day and leaving them be for a day.

At about 1pm I gave them a bunch of corriander and parsley which they both ate so I followed it with half of their pellets. Archie ate as though he was really hungry but moved away from the bowls when Millie did, he is being her little shadow at the moment. Just fed them again and they are both eating, I'm very happy and relieved. I'll stay away for now but go and give them some hay and dried leaves in a bit. I'm staying out of the pen until tomorrow. Thank you for your support, actually it really helped just typing about it, I'm sure when I'm stressed they pick up on my stress too.

Pleased to hear they are both back to normal :thumb:

Hi Moonstone,

It is good to hear they have both improved.

Allow me to make suggestions with the best intentions. With two bunnies in stasis almost at the same time, I wonder if Archie was already developing the stasis before the vet trip and the stress of the trip or simply more time caused it to progress.
Is there anything different for both of them? A new bag of food or hay? Could Archie's matted soiled fur have been from him ingesting something that gave him a tummy ache? Is your food keep (in the store and at home) where it is not going to get damp (mold spores) or contaminated by other animals?

Please do not be offended by that last sentence. I once bought a new bag of the same brand and it looked fine, just a bit greener. I fed it to my pets and soon had several very ill bunnies. After that I always mixed the end of the old bag with the beginning of the new bag.

Another suggestion. When I had a stasis bunny, she got very hungry from not eating. Once she started eating again she would eat everything I gave her in a short period of time. After several rounds of this, I realized she did better if I split her pellets into morning and nighttime feedings. My theory is the twice a day feedings kept her system moving throughout the day.

Hi bunny momma, thank you for that thoughtful response. Now that you've said it, it makes total sense to me to split pellets into the morning and evening feedings and I will do that from now. They are stored inside, it's dry and there are no other animals but it occurred to me that one thing that had changed is that when they moved outside a few months ago I started removing their bowls when it got dark. It was just that I didn't want to attract rodents, and when they realised they would be removed they made sure they ate all the food in time. But it's been getting dark earlier and earlier and this has been giving them less time to eat it and that wasn't something I'd considered.

Also I think I want to change from Burgess Excel to Selective. They changed for the formula for the Excel one when they changed the packaging (the list of ingredients is different), I've read on here that Selective is better. They're having a bit of Selective at the moment but I want to gradually change it over. Never occurred to me to mix the beginning of one bag in with the end of the last one even if it's the same stuff, I will do that from now one.

Thank you.

you are right in making a gradual change in the food. Some manufacturers may be more consistent than others, still with using natural ingredients I would expect some variation, just like we sometimes get with different batches of hay.

I hope Archie can stay out of the stasis cycle so you can enjoy his company stress free.