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*long* Roll up, Roll up! A Stasis Conundrum! Answers on a postcard!

Rabbitches

Young Bun
I am picking the brains of you knowledgable people if I may! A disclaimer first- I will be discussing this in detail with our regular rabbit savvy vet, who is fab. I am just looking for ideas/experiences prior to the appointment.

Vera, 1yr 6 month lady standard Rex. Spayed at just under 6 months, standard procedure, good recovery (licked wound but no lasting damage). Lives with her litter mate sister (also spayed) both vaccinated for myxi/rhd1 and 2.
Live indoors in my bedroom (large) will free bunny proofed range. Great appetites, prone to a little wieght gain (aren't we all!!) but never too much. Fed a diet of:
As much hay as possible (good quality mixes
Natural fresh seasonal forage (mainly hawthorn, brambles and roses)
Two servings of leafy veg a day including the odd blue berry/blackberry/peach slice and lots of fresh herbs.
Less than an egg cup ful of Dengie pure grass pellets a day each.
Dried forage treat mixes and bunny safe twigs.
Insured.

All was great, no health issues whatsoever for either of them. Until April.
I posted at the time about it, but basically Vera got stasis. After a palava trying to get a decent rabbit vet to see her, she was kept in for almost two weeks and had a dental due to a tiny spur that the vet couldn't say was/was not the cause, but better safe than sorry. Back to normal. Check up at regular vets, after long discussion it was concluded that the tiny spur was coincidental and the real cause was a stressful journey.
Early June (while I had exams and was very stressed) she got 'that' look again. Hunched, tucked in tummy, not interested in food. Took to vets, in over night, collected next day (our regular vet called and said she probably wouldn't have admitted her but sent us home with cisapride, rinitadine, and meloxaid. Already had critical care. All fine.

Today (I have another exam next week so stressed) they both ate morning veg and treats as usual at about 0930. I went to give them a treat at about half four in the afternoon and to have some cuddles. They normally mug me for them. Margot did her usual of tugging my clothes to get me to give her more, but Vera was hunched up in the corner with 'that' look. Not interested in treats.
Have all relevant meds so I have her meloxaid as she looked in pain (belly pressing) and gave her half an hour. No improvement and I couldn't hear gut sounds with my stethoscope (but I am new to using it and so proabaly not as in tune as I could be) called the vet, and took her in to be safe. Thankfully the vet heard gut sounds- less frequent but still normal. Had a chat and we decided I would take her home, let her settle and offer food in thier normal routine. If no eating, syringe feed and start medication and bring in the next day.
She actually starting eating hay in the appointment! She appears more comfortable and is eating- not her normal ferocious Rex appetite, but eating. And pooping. they are not uniform in size or shape, but otherwise normal.

So, with ileus/stasis not being a disease but a symptom of something else....what potential underlying causes could I be looking at? It isn't teeth as she has had recent x rays and very frequent monitoring of her teeth since the first incident with my regular vet, and she has been given the 'not a dental disease risk' badge.
Is it me? Am I getting so stressed over exam periods and picking up on the smallest thing and over reacting? But then each time she has been sent home with medication and her poops indicate that something wasn't right.
Is she just really sensitive to noises/routine changes? She never used to be.
I want the very best life for my little ladies, and they come above all in priorities. Sorry it's so long, I write like a story!
 
I am picking the brains of you knowledgable people if I may! A disclaimer first- I will be discussing this in detail with our regular rabbit savvy vet, who is fab. I am just looking for ideas/experiences prior to the appointment.

Vera, 1yr 6 month lady standard Rex. Spayed at just under 6 months, standard procedure, good recovery (licked wound but no lasting damage). Lives with her litter mate sister (also spayed) both vaccinated for myxi/rhd1 and 2.
Live indoors in my bedroom (large) will free bunny proofed range. Great appetites, prone to a little wieght gain (aren't we all!!) but never too much. Fed a diet of:
As much hay as possible (good quality mixes
Natural fresh seasonal forage (mainly hawthorn, brambles and roses)
Two servings of leafy veg a day including the odd blue berry/blackberry/peach slice and lots of fresh herbs.
Less than an egg cup ful of Dengie pure grass pellets a day each.
Dried forage treat mixes and bunny safe twigs.
Insured.

All was great, no health issues whatsoever for either of them. Until April.
I posted at the time about it, but basically Vera got stasis. After a palava trying to get a decent rabbit vet to see her, she was kept in for almost two weeks and had a dental due to a tiny spur that the vet couldn't say was/was not the cause, but better safe than sorry. Back to normal. Check up at regular vets, after long discussion it was concluded that the tiny spur was coincidental and the real cause was a stressful journey.
Early June (while I had exams and was very stressed) she got 'that' look again. Hunched, tucked in tummy, not interested in food. Took to vets, in over night, collected next day (our regular vet called and said she probably wouldn't have admitted her but sent us home with cisapride, rinitadine, and meloxaid. Already had critical care. All fine.

Today (I have another exam next week so stressed) they both ate morning veg and treats as usual at about 0930. I went to give them a treat at about half four in the afternoon and to have some cuddles. They normally mug me for them. Margot did her usual of tugging my clothes to get me to give her more, but Vera was hunched up in the corner with 'that' look. Not interested in treats.
Have all relevant meds so I have her meloxaid as she looked in pain (belly pressing) and gave her half an hour. No improvement and I couldn't hear gut sounds with my stethoscope (but I am new to using it and so proabaly not as in tune as I could be) called the vet, and took her in to be safe. Thankfully the vet heard gut sounds- less frequent but still normal. Had a chat and we decided I would take her home, let her settle and offer food in thier normal routine. If no eating, syringe feed and start medication and bring in the next day.
She actually starting eating hay in the appointment! She appears more comfortable and is eating- not her normal ferocious Rex appetite, but eating. And pooping. they are not uniform in size or shape, but otherwise normal.

So, with ileus/stasis not being a disease but a symptom of something else....what potential underlying causes could I be looking at? It isn't teeth as she has had recent x rays and very frequent monitoring of her teeth since the first incident with my regular vet, and she has been given the 'not a dental disease risk' badge.
Is it me? Am I getting so stressed over exam periods and picking up on the smallest thing and over reacting? But then each time she has been sent home with medication and her poops indicate that something wasn't right.
Is she just really sensitive to noises/routine changes? She never used to be.
I want the very best life for my little ladies, and they come above all in priorities. Sorry it's so long, I write like a story!

Rexes are usually exceptionally greedy and so being over-weight can often be an issue. This then leads to problems with gut motility. So first off is Vera at a healthy weight now. This may be a guide to refer to

http://www.therabbithouse.com/diet/rabbit-weight.asp

Rexes can also be extra sensitive to stress, so it is possible that Vera is picking up on your exam stress (not blaming you at all !!)

What is Vera's poo out put like ? Does she ever pass very large oval fecal poo ?This may sound to be an irrelevant question, but what colour is she ? I have my reasons for asking as some breeding to achieve specific coat colours can result in a genetic gut problem.

Does Vera ever show signs of poor tolerance of exercise. Does she have an increased respiratory rate/effort compared to Margot ?

Finally, did the stasis episode only occur after she was spayed ? Has the Vet ever mentioned the possibility of surgical adhesions ?

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id...DAJ#v=onepage&q=rabbit spay adhesions&f=false

These links may be useful to read if you have not already done so :

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_diseases/Differential/generalities_ileus.htm

http://anyflip.com/dvpt/hzvv
 
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She is now back to her normal happy self with good poops and return of appetite :)
Her weight is now perfect, we were last at the vets two weeks ago for a teeth check where the vet commented that she is now a perfect weight, but that neither of thier weights were ever at a concerning point, but yes I agree, much healthier for her to not be obese.
She is alwAys very clean, always eats her caecotrophes (apart from when she had stasis in April, she didn't eat them then) and is very active, no difference to Margot and they both have thier regular zooming episodes!
Her poo output is great (except for her episodes) poo is a normal round shape and does everythhing it should do when I pull it apart etc. When we travel,(which we have done regularly without incident since I got them) they both have smaller poops after for a couple of hours, but then go back to normal.

She is white with marbling light brown. She also didn't come from a breeder, they both came from our university student barn, so coat colours etc not a priority, but yes, it's possible she was from a not so good mix (dad was a castor Rex, mum a hareliquin rex I think.)

Yes, it only has occurred post spay, although she was spayed in may last year, so it was a fair time prior to the first episode.

My two biggest concerns I think you are leaning towards- megacolon and adhesions.

I am off to read those links now, thanks JJ.
 
She is now back to her normal happy self with good poops and return of appetite :)
Her weight is now perfect, we were last at the vets two weeks ago for a teeth check where the vet commented that she is now a perfect weight, but that neither of thier weights were ever at a concerning point, but yes I agree, much healthier for her to not be obese.
She is alwAys very clean, always eats her caecotrophes (apart from when she had stasis in April, she didn't eat them then) and is very active, no difference to Margot and they both have thier regular zooming episodes!
Her poo output is great (except for her episodes) poo is a normal round shape and does everythhing it should do when I pull it apart etc. When we travel,(which we have done regularly without incident since I got them) they both have smaller poops after for a couple of hours, but then go back to normal.

She is white with marbling light brown. She also didn't come from a breeder, they both came from our university student barn, so coat colours etc not a priority, but yes, it's possible she was from a not so good mix (dad was a castor Rex, mum a hareliquin rex I think.)

Yes, it only has occurred post spay, although she was spayed in may last year, so it was a fair time prior to the first episode.

My two biggest concerns I think you are leaning towards- megacolon and adhesions.


I am off to read those links now, thanks JJ.

I think Megacolon is very, very unlikely. The stasis episodes may just have been 'one of those things', sometimes we never really find out what caused an episode. Some Rabbits do just have sensitive GI tracts. As I said before, Rexes are absolute gluttons and sometimes they just gorge that bit too much.
 
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