Getting over GI stasis - how long?

Hi all
My bunny Billy is currently getting over GI stasis. We moved house a couple of weeks ago and I think the stress/ too much new stuff to take in may be what brought it on (fingers crossed no underlying issues).
He's had stasis in the past but seems to be taking ages to get better this time so thought I'd ask others if their buns have been similar.
He seemed a bit poorly on Friday, took him to the vets and had the usual procedure - pain relief, gut stimulant etc. Took him home with medicine and syringe food.
Saturday did tiny poo.
Sunday no more poos so he was admitted to vet hospital and put on fluids, stayed in for two nights. They said he was critical :'(
Tuesday I could bring him home, and he's been doing tiny poos (tues, weds, Thursday, and today) but they show no sign of getting bigger. They did, but small again now.

He's been eating wet leafy greens on his own accord, but not as much as when he's 100%, as well as syringe feeding recovery food to try and bulk up the fibre. He's not eating hay but he's not the best hay eater generally so it wouldn't be his first choice.
I am also giving him pain relief and gut stimulant medicines.
Got the vets at 11am today to see how he's getting on.

Is it normal to take this long for his poos to get any better? It's scaring me.
I've had him 6 years and he's a rescue bun so not sure how old he was when I got him. Perhaps 8-9 years old now. A week ago he was full of beans and jumping all over us asking for treats! He still has a lust for life but you can tell he's not better, although he has started laying with his back legs out again.
It's the poos not getting any better that's worrying me the most.

Hi

I have just had one of my bunnies go through GI stasis over the past couple of weeks. I've never experienced it before, so I had no idea. I had constant trips back to the vets, my bunny had to have several rounds of gut stimulant injections because he refused to eat and was diagnosed with anorexia at one point the vets kept him in and he started eating but was not producing any poos.
Over the next day or so he was still eating but not producing poos which was worrying. He wasn't eating a lot at all so I was also syringe feeding him every hour. The vet gave me fibreplex to give him 3 times a day too. Eventually, he started pooing but they were very tiny. I literally had to keep an eye on him every hour and if he wasn't eating I had to wave hay and vegetables in front of him face so he would eat a little bit. It has taken a week for his poos to get back to normal shape and even now they aren't as big as they should be but he is getting better every day and eating more and more.

Recovery from GI stasis can be a long process, so I would keep doing what you are doing and also see what the vet says, maybe it might be worth asking about fibre plex to help things move more.

Hope this helps!

There's no easy answer as to how long it will take to recover as it depends on a lot of factors, if it could have been triggered by stress then minimising the stress for recovery is difficult as treatment has to, to some degree, be quite 'intrusive' to them and undoubtedly stressful!

Has he had any other diagnostics to check for underlying conditions, as well as the obviously first and most importantly treating the stasis - eg x-rays and blood tests?

Hi thank you for your replies! They've made me feel a bit better.

Stargirl - I hope your bunny is feeling better now, it's so scary isn't it. Billy was given Fibre Plex but it's impossible to give it to him. It's too solid so he finds it really easy to spit it out. With the recovery food I have to add more water or else he spits that out too! He's doing lots of small poos now that I suppose are rounder, but very tiny. The vet today said she'd like to see him on Monday again but to carry on as I am as he seems to be steadily improving (purring now, looking more relaxed etc) but his tummy will still have some discomfort hence him not being as active. What was the reason your bun got stasis?

BunnyBuddy - thanks yes it's horrible stressing them out to try and help! I keep reminding myself you have to be cruel to be kind! They don't want to stress him out by doing more tests yet - they were going to x-ray the other day if he still hadn't pooed but because he did they said any blockage is starting to pass (they couldn't feel much blockage). He was really dehydrated at one point so they couldn't do bloods. She's hoping he won't need any extra tests and his poos will return to normal or at least be a bit better on Monday.

I'm not too sure on the reason why my bunny got stasis, he was fine the one day and then not eating the next and I hadn't changed anything to cause stress. Nero spat quite a lot of fibre plex out too, but a little bit of it still went down so I guess that was better than nothing! It is very scary but the vet reassured me to keep giving the recovery food and trying to tempt him with lots of fresh veg etc to get him eating again. I hope your bunny carries on getting better over the weekend, I'll keep my fingers crossed for you! x

Thank you!
Bit of an update: Billy has done a sort of cecotrope! :thumb: So excited!

So happy he's getting better! Fingers crossed he's back to normal soon

Yayy glad he's on the road to recovery x

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It takes a lot longer than you expect to recover from these episodes. Having them back to normal eating / pooing within a week is pretty good going, I think. I would normally expect to keep a close eye on input and output for another week at least. My rabbits have been on a go slow this year and have taken weeks to get back to what I could consider 'OK' but keep monitoring. The problem with them not eating normally for a couple of weeks is that their teeth may also need looking at - they grow quite a lot in a couple of week so it there were any issues brewing (especially in older bunnies when things are going wonkier anyway), they may need a proper look at after a long bout of stasis or syringe feeding.

Dandelions, parsley, fennel and coriander seem to be the main things that mine start eating first - all quite strong tasting and smelling greens.

Here's hoping for a speedy recovery.

elaine84 said:

Thank you!
Bit of an update: Billy has done a sort of cecotrope! :thumb: So excited!

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Good news

It's impossible to say how long to recover from stasis as each case is different. But with a good improvement I've found it can be very fast - even within hours.

No more "good poos" since the cecotrope just some small hard things. I want him to start eating hay again as I'm worried about him needing dentals, don't want the worry of him having to be sedated. He's mainly eating from a selection of the big spring green leaves, curly kale, black kale, mint, apple, and he has tiny bits of coriander and basil, sometimes the mixed bag of spinach, rocket, watercress. I have to keep mixing it up as he gets bored so a lot is going to waste! Do greens contain much fibre to help his poos get bigger? I know hay is best but he just won't touch it at the moment, apart from to nip it in half when I annoy him with it!

elaine84 said:

No more "good poos" since the cecotrope just some small hard things. I want him to start eating hay again as I'm worried about him needing dentals, don't want the worry of him having to be sedated. He's mainly eating from a selection of the big spring green leaves, curly kale, black kale, mint, apple, and he has tiny bits of coriander and basil, sometimes the mixed bag of spinach, rocket, watercress. I have to keep mixing it up as he gets bored so a lot is going to waste! Do greens contain much fibre to help his poos get bigger? I know hay is best but he just won't touch it at the moment, apart from to nip it in half when I annoy him with it!

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Have you any readigrass? (Freeze dried grass). Some rabbits - a lot! - will eat that in preference to hay and it's equally good for the teeth.

Also, freshly picked grass is often delicious and good for teeth wearing. And a few bit of forage - rose leaves, dandelions, brambles, all contain fibre ..

Ooh good point about the grass I'll pick some! He likes dandelions I'll pick some more of those too thank you

elaine84 said:

No more "good poos" since the cecotrope just some small hard things. I want him to start eating hay again as I'm worried about him needing dentals, don't want the worry of him having to be sedated. He's mainly eating from a selection of the big spring green leaves, curly kale, black kale, mint, apple, and he has tiny bits of coriander and basil, sometimes the mixed bag of spinach, rocket, watercress. I have to keep mixing it up as he gets bored so a lot is going to waste! Do greens contain much fibre to help his poos get bigger? I know hay is best but he just won't touch it at the moment, apart from to nip it in half when I annoy him with it!

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Unless I have missed it I dont think you have mentioned if the Vet has ruled out Dental problems ? A Rabbit with molar spurs will often refuse to eat hay as the jaw action (rotational) required to do so can make the sharp spurs stick into/scratch the cheeks/tongue. Given that he Billy is still not back to normal after a week of treatment I would advise that you speak with the Vet again, particularly about if Dental problems are a possibility.

Gut stasis is often a secondary symptom of another problem, so whilst treating the stasis is important, so is trying to identify the primary cause and treating that too.

Hope Billy will soon be back to his usual self x

Thanks, the vet looked as much as she could at his teeth but said you can only do a full check while he's under, but because of the stasis she didn't want to sedate him yet as it would slow his digestion etc even more She said there were no obvious signs of ulcers or anything to the surrounding gums and tongue

elaine84 said:

Thanks, the vet looked as much as she could at his teeth but said you can only do a full check while he's under, but because of the stasis she didn't want to sedate him yet as it would slow his digestion etc even more She said there were no obvious signs of ulcers or anything to the surrounding gums and tongue

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Yes, that is true. Have you spoken with the Vet again in the last couple of days to let him/her know that Billy is still not back to normal ? I do understand that it can be a catch 22, as you say a GA is more risking if the Rabbit is already in gut stasis. But then again the gut motility may not improve hugely if there were to be a Dental problem.

Hopefully there isn't, but I'd update the Vet about Billy if you have not done so recently xx

Yes I had an appointment yesterday morning and she said to carry on as I am, I've got another appointment on Monday and I think if he hasn't improved they'll look at doing more checks/ tests. Really hoping he gets better before then as I'm really dreading a dental! X

elaine84 said:

Ooh good point about the grass I'll pick some! He likes dandelions I'll pick some more of those too thank you

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You're very welcome

Regarding dentals, there are some vets who are confident to perform a dental on a conscious rabbit. Many people are against this idea, but when a rabbit is debilitated they are unable to undergo a general anaesthetic without great risk to their lives. A good vet will be able to do this competently and advise you if they are unable or unwilling to do this. The procedure takes a couple of minutes usually.

A vet looking into the mouth with an otoscope can only see about 60% of what's going on wth the back teeth.

That said, we often never get to the root cause of stasis! These mysterious creatures often get better and we are none the wiser

My old girl bun had a couple of conscious dentals where the vet would put a file in her mouth while I was there too, and file the spur. It looked stressful how he held her and did it but she was such a good bun and would let you do stuff like that. Billy, although a more confident and lively bun, is super panicky at the vets and shakes. I don't know if he'd be able to cope?! I'm so sick with worry about this

elaine84 said:

My old girl bun had a couple of conscious dentals where the vet would put a file in her mouth while I was there too, and file the spur. It looked stressful how he held her and did it but she was such a good bun and would let you do stuff like that. Billy, although a more confident and lively bun, is super panicky at the vets and shakes. I don't know if he'd be able to cope?! I'm so sick with worry about this

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I find with nervous buns it actually is better than a GA and stay at the vets. It's over extremely quickly, and the rabbit is restrained in a gentle but firm way. You could discuss with your vet?