Mystery stasis/gas

Raisin keeps repeatedly suffering with gas/stasis and I can't seem to figure out the cause. She has just been to the vets this evening as she has been off her food today, she had a gut stimulant and a pain killer injection. The vet checked her teeth thoroughly and her general condition too. He couldn't see anything glaringly obvious health wise and said her teeth were fine.
Her and ink have constant access to hay and also have a small bowl of readigrass. I've limited their veg to spring greens and fresh herbs only as I was worried it was some types of veg that were giving her gas. They each have 2 egg cups of science selective a day, a fenugreek crunchie and a few fibre sticks- they're both large bunnies, weighing over 3kg each.
Usually when she gets gas, I syringe her infacol and metacam and that does the trick but it's just becoming so regular, that there must be an underlying cause. You can hear her stomach gurgling away, as she looks so uncomfortable
I'm going to book another appointment tomorrow to run bloods, is there anything else I should be asking to have done? Just can't figure out what's going on with her....

Hiya!

i know exactly how you feel. We went through this with Harley a few years back. He went through a period when he would have stasis/gas every 6 weeks.

The vets ran every test (x-rays, bloods) the complete works but they all came back negative, although he did have some very small spurs on his teeth which they filed down, even though the vet said that they went too much of an issue.

With Harley we think it may have been a bit of space issue. Although he had the right size cage and run, we decided to bring him in the house and let him have the run of the living room pretty much. There were places he could jump up onto and could run around pretty much without restriction. I know this may not be viable for everyone but a general increase in space might help.

We also discovered that broccoli and carrot tops even given in small amounts with plenty of hay seemed to set him off so we did cut down on the veggies. He now get stye occasional bit of kale.

I hope that helps!

Thanks for your reply Laura. They have plenty of space, they have a shed adjoined to an aviary and even have a separate little area attached in which they can dig. Trying to rack my brains over what's going on.

You could be overfeeding her, my biggest rabbit, a NZW, gets less than the others as she is so laid back and the type of rabbit who puts weight on very easily. If not There must be something in her diet which is upsetting her. Is Your other rabbit ok? Does she eat lots of hay?

I had a bun that had repeated bouts of stasis until I figured out it was the pellets causing it. Once I stopped the pellets and put him on a diet of only hay and a few select leafy greens, he never had stasis again.

Another possibility is stress induced stasis. Since they are outdoor buns, you would want to rule out something in their environment that could be causing it.

It's only Raisin that suffers with it not Ink, so obviously something she is specifically sensitive to. She is a good hay eater yes. I had thought about environment but it's such a quiet garden I don't see what could be stressing her, especially as it is only her and not Ink. What worries me is it seems to be becoming more frequent. That's an interesting suggestion about pellets. I could try reducing them slowly and see if this has an effect?

You could remove 2 or 3 items of their diet and monitor her, then reintroduce them one by one. I would stop the fiber sticks, reduce the pellets and halve the Readigrass. But it might be you are feeding too much veg. I hope you sort her out.

They have 3-4 leaves of Spring greens a day. Would fiber sticks not be better than pellets as they're higher in fiber?

I know you said the vet had checked her teeth, but I have had this problem before. Vets can only see about 60% of what's going on in the back of a rabbit's mouth. Some vets are confident and experienced enough to do 'conscious dentals', but most will want to sedate.

You may want to ask your vet about an X-ray and a sedated exam of the back teeth. Rabbits' mouths seem to harbour all sorts of mysteries - cheek, mouth, etc - and you never know what you'll find .... It could be nothing at all to do with teeth, but it's a common issue.

MightyMax said:

I know you said the vet had checked her teeth, but I have had this problem before. Vets can only see about 60% of what's going on in the back of a rabbit's mouth. Some vets are confident and experienced enough to do 'conscious dentals', but most will want to sedate.

You may want to ask your vet about an X-ray and a sedated exam of the back teeth. Rabbits' mouths seem to harbour all sorts of mysteries - cheek, mouth, etc - and you never know what you'll find .... It could be nothing at all to do with teeth, but it's a common issue.

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Thanks mighty max. Raisin finally started eating again this evening but I will still take her back to the vets tomorrow morning. I was also thinking of asking for urine tests,I've read that bad infections can sometimes cause enough pain to go into stasis. Maybe if I rule out teeth first, then bloods and urine may be something to pursue if I'm still none the wiser?

Frankie28 said:

Thanks mighty max. Raisin finally started eating again this evening but I will still take her back to the vets tomorrow morning. I was also thinking of asking for urine tests,I've read that bad infections can sometimes cause enough pain to go into stasis. Maybe if I rule out teeth first, then bloods and urine may be something to pursue if I'm still none the wiser?

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Sounds like a good plan!

By the way, your set up looks fantastic

MightyMax said:

Sounds like a good plan!

By the way, your set up looks fantastic

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Thank you-it's my dad's handiwork!

Raisin went back to the vets today and had another injection of metaclop and I have given her metacam at home today. She has been referred to a specialist called Rob at Seers Croft veterinary practice in Horsham. Hopefully he will be able to shed more light on the situation. Raisin is back to her normal self today, just hope we can keep her that way.
Just concerned now about tomorrow, it will be a two hour round trip for the bunnies so definitely worried about them getting stressed :?

Frankie28 said:

Raisin went back to the vets today and had another injection of metaclop and I have given her metacam at home today. She has been referred to a specialist called Rob at Seers Croft veterinary practice in Horsham. Hopefully he will be able to shed more light on the situation. Raisin is back to her normal self today, just hope we can keep her that way.
Just concerned now about tomorrow, it will be a two hour round trip for the bunnies so definitely worried about them getting stressed :?

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Frankie, I hope all is still well with Raisin?

How did your appointment go?

MightyMax said:

Frankie, I hope all is still well with Raisin?

How did your appointment go?

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Thanks for asking Mightymax, I was just about to do an update.
We went to the specialist in Horsham, who was fantastic. It turns out it was her teeth! Sharp spurs on the inside pressing into her tongue so she has been in today to have them sorted.
The poor bunnies have been to the vets everyday this week and travelled over 100 miles! But fingers crossed we've got to the bottom of the problem. They're both happily back at home now munching-long may it continue

Frankie28 said:

Thanks for asking Mightymax, I was just about to do an update.
We went to the specialist in Horsham, who was fantastic. It turns out it was her teeth! Sharp spurs on the inside pressing into her tongue so she has been in today to have them sorted.
The poor bunnies have been to the vets everyday this week and travelled over 100 miles! But fingers crossed we've got to the bottom of the problem. They're both happily back at home now munching-long may it continue

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Oh Frankie, I wondered if it could be teeth! Thank goodness you've a specialist on the case.

I know what it's like to travel many miles and hours with buns to vets etc .. But well worth it when you find someone you can really trust.

Much munching to continue, as you say :thumb: