Bramley's had a bit of a tummy upset

When I went to check on Bramley and Poppy this morning and let them both out for a run, I could tell straight away Bramley wasn't happy. Usually he's pushing the door open and jumping out to play with Poppy. Today he just sat there with his front legs tucked under him, looked a bit hunched with eyes half closed.

He let me pick him up straight out of his hutch which he usually resists! Once inside I warmed him up (he felt a bit cold and his ears took ages to warm up). He had eaten a reasonable amount of pellets overnight and probably some hay. I could hear bubbling sounds from his tummy and every 4 to 10 seconds he did a little movement which looked like he was in discomfort. He was also lying with his tummy pressed down and his head out forward on his paws. He was totally disinterested in everything around him and wouldn't touch any pellets, hay, apple, dandelions or treats. He also wouldn't drink. He laid under the radiator where it's nice and warm. He's about 2 years old now and we'll have had him 2 years in April. All this time he's never had any problem eating, although I thought he was a bit thin a few months ago but he weighed 2 kg so was OK.

By lunchtime I decided to make an appointment at the vets. I know I was probably being a bit over cautious but I know how fast things can go wrong. When Mouse first did this I monitored her for a day, then brought he in for a night before going to the vets. I don't think it would have altered the outcome but I know she became weaker than she might otherwise have done and I'd have been three days ahead in her treatment.

By 4.30 and the appointment, he'd not eaten or drunk anything and was still looking very unhappy and had only produced 3 (normal) droppings (at 9am). When picked up and at the vets of course he was alert and looked OK as they do! Good news for weight, 2.3 kg. His front teeth are OK.

The vet said he had lot of gas and he gave him 2 injections, Emeprid and Enrocare. We also got the usual fibreplex.

By 8pm he was drinking loads and started nibbling hay and a few bits of greens. He's produced some good droppings and urine so I think he's now OK.

What I don't know of course is why this happened and if he's really OK. He's been on a good diet, eats plenty of hay and been drinking OK. He was having some greens until about a week ago (he was treated with Panacure and I put it in broccoli to hide it). Once the course was over we ran out of greens over Christmas, so he's not had too much greens to cause the problems. Yesterday (Sunday) he was in the hutch all day as it was foul weather and we were out all afternoon anyway, so he can't have eaten anything bad outside. All the bunnies have been having a few treats (small carrot flavoured crunchy things) for several weeks. It's the only thing that I think may have upset him as I can't see nice hay or good pellets causing upset. Apart from that maybe he's picked up something when he was out on Saturday and it's multiplied in his tummy but I think it would have shown up Sunday morning not today. Can theses things happen for no apparent reason and then just go away again?

Stasis can happen for all sorts of reasons and as a one off I would treat it as such. If it was windy yesterday it could be something as simple as stress from the bad weather!

You did absolutely the right thing, rabbits can go downhill very very quickly, I once got a bunny to the vets less than an hour after she stopped eating!

Hope he is back to normal again very soon!

It could have been a combination of slight change in diet, weather and lack of exercise if he was stuck in the hutch. Their guts work better if they are able to run around. If he was a bit 'off', these may have just tipped the balance. You did the right thing by getting him to the vet and treated ASAP. Just keep an eye on all input and output for a few days to make sure he is fully better.

I did wonder if the damp windy weather could have upset him. They are outside but their wooden hutches are inside a kind of small open fronted brick building with a slate roof, against a 6 foot garden wall which protects them, they face away from the prevailing wind. I built it to keep predators and the weather off the hutches. The front has metal gates with wire and the hutches have fine mesh to keep mice out. The wind is baffled a bit by the wire but the damp air may have upset him. He is naughty and uses his nest box as a toilet area and sits in the open bit. Poppy on the other hand is sensible and makes a nice warm nest of fur in her nest box. Once he's back out I'll make a cover for his door at night. In very cold weather I usually put an old quilt over the front to keep the draft out at night, maybe they need bit more of a cover for damp windy weather. I always think that they need a bit of ventilation though as well as light in the day!

Re number of factors coming together:

That's possible, they don't get out every day, although we try to let them out whenever we can. Around here, predators are a real risk, foxes and stoats mainly. Their run is reasonably large and rabbit proof but not covered over. I have been looking at making a part of it fully secure so we can relax a bit and leave them out when we pop out for a short while, go inside etc. We have 2 others (who are not bonded yet) so it's not easy to rotate them all!

Just out of interest, how large is the hutch and the run?

Also, it is always very hard to determine what causes stasis and usually you can only accurately say what may have caused it if it keeps reoccurring after the same type of veg is given before each episode, the same stressful event happened before each episode etc. Obviously other medical issues such as dental problems can cause them to stop eating and go into stasis or even pain from a cut that has got infected or things like that can cause it too.

Personally though I wouldn't look into it too much as it often occurs quite randomly and as I mentioned it is hard to pin point the cause unless you noticed unusual behaviour, a change in poops or a reduced appetite after a certain event occurred. Unless it happens again I would treat it as a one off and just focus on the aftercare.

Just realised that I hadn't updated what happened with Bramley as I've not been on here for a while.

Good news, he made a rapid return to normal and we put it down to one of those unexplained upsets. Since then we've changed food (carefully) to a higher fibre food (not that the other was low) for all 4 bunnies. I also try to let them all out as much as I can. (we have a new addition as we couldn't face the empty cage after we lost lovely mouse. I'll have to post a photo of her.)