auburnette
Young Bun
Hi everyone
One of our bunnies is just getting over her third bout of stasis in less than 8 months- thankfully she seems to be bouncing back well but with the recurrence we think there must be an underlying cause. Both the other times she was moulting quite heavily so there was a possibility it was connected but this time there is no moult so we are thinking something else must be amiss.
Background: Honey is about 3 years old, mini lop, correct weight for her size. She is one of two bonded girls (the other, a standard Rex, has never had any health problems). They've always been fed a pretty good diet of hay, veggies and minimal pellets, but since the second stasis episode a few months ago we have cut pellets and veggies to almost nothing (just as the occasional treat) and changed the hay over to Oxbow Timothy, which both bunnies love and eat very well. The rabbits exercise a lot and have a large outside run connected through to their indoor house.
Both bunnies have outside access and are up to date with all vaccines (combo myxi/RHD and RHD2, which they were vaccinated for about 3 weeks ago).
The second time Honey had stasis the emergency vet thought that molar spurs were a possibility. They suggested a dental procedure which would have been approx £400 (!!!) which given we had already spent £450 on that particular episode we were reluctant to agree to without more conclusive evidence that dental was her problem. We arranged for her records to be sent back to our usual vet. She's been examined twice since by relatively bunny savvy vets using the thing they put in bunny's mouth - and both vets thought her teeth looked fine.
Is there a way of x-raying her/putting her under GA to see if dental is actually the cause of the problem, once she's over this bout of stasis? (preferably without spending £400?! we're near Sevenoaks, Kent)
This time our usual vet has also prescribed Baytril in addition to the metacam/zantac/emeprid and we have ordered blood tests to see if anything is showing up there. Results due on Wednesday. We don't worm our rabbits and they do have access outside so wondering whether she could have picked up a parasite/infection?
Also wondering if bladder issues (sludge?) could be a potential cause and how that could be detected if so. She doesn't get many any more but we did use to be generous with leafy veg like beet toppings. She isn't great at drinking water and will often drink in massive drinking sessions and then spend a while without drinking. We are thinking of adding a bowl as well as their bottles to their cage.
Basically, just wondering how we can work our way through eliminating the various causes with a view to stopping this happening again.
She's bouncing back well this time and was back on the hay within an hour of returning from the vets, but the second time she had to be admitted for 2 days, IV fluids, the works...
One of our bunnies is just getting over her third bout of stasis in less than 8 months- thankfully she seems to be bouncing back well but with the recurrence we think there must be an underlying cause. Both the other times she was moulting quite heavily so there was a possibility it was connected but this time there is no moult so we are thinking something else must be amiss.
Background: Honey is about 3 years old, mini lop, correct weight for her size. She is one of two bonded girls (the other, a standard Rex, has never had any health problems). They've always been fed a pretty good diet of hay, veggies and minimal pellets, but since the second stasis episode a few months ago we have cut pellets and veggies to almost nothing (just as the occasional treat) and changed the hay over to Oxbow Timothy, which both bunnies love and eat very well. The rabbits exercise a lot and have a large outside run connected through to their indoor house.
Both bunnies have outside access and are up to date with all vaccines (combo myxi/RHD and RHD2, which they were vaccinated for about 3 weeks ago).
The second time Honey had stasis the emergency vet thought that molar spurs were a possibility. They suggested a dental procedure which would have been approx £400 (!!!) which given we had already spent £450 on that particular episode we were reluctant to agree to without more conclusive evidence that dental was her problem. We arranged for her records to be sent back to our usual vet. She's been examined twice since by relatively bunny savvy vets using the thing they put in bunny's mouth - and both vets thought her teeth looked fine.
Is there a way of x-raying her/putting her under GA to see if dental is actually the cause of the problem, once she's over this bout of stasis? (preferably without spending £400?! we're near Sevenoaks, Kent)
This time our usual vet has also prescribed Baytril in addition to the metacam/zantac/emeprid and we have ordered blood tests to see if anything is showing up there. Results due on Wednesday. We don't worm our rabbits and they do have access outside so wondering whether she could have picked up a parasite/infection?
Also wondering if bladder issues (sludge?) could be a potential cause and how that could be detected if so. She doesn't get many any more but we did use to be generous with leafy veg like beet toppings. She isn't great at drinking water and will often drink in massive drinking sessions and then spend a while without drinking. We are thinking of adding a bowl as well as their bottles to their cage.
Basically, just wondering how we can work our way through eliminating the various causes with a view to stopping this happening again.
She's bouncing back well this time and was back on the hay within an hour of returning from the vets, but the second time she had to be admitted for 2 days, IV fluids, the works...
Last edited:
