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Winston has stasis.....again!

ImoT

Mama Doe
So Winston has stasis again, for about the 4th time in 3-4 years. I took him to the vet yesterday who gave him an injection of metacam, another painkiller (bupa something?), Zantac and baytril just incase. He felt his tummy and said it didn’t feel blocked but it was sore. Last night we gave him his second dose of metacam, Zantac and baytril. This morning he’s had Zantac and baytril but metacam is once a day so he’s having that this evening. Normally he loves Zantac but he refused it this morning so we had to bunny burrito him with a towel which stressed him out. He isn’t moving much. All he has eaten in 24 hours is his pellets as usual yesterday morning, then a small treat and a couple of pieces of kale and about 2 pellets. I happen to not be at work today so can keep an eye on him all day. But tomorrow I am back to work. When should I take him back to the vet if he hasn’t eaten/shown signs of improvement? This evening?

Also, why does he keep getting stasis? Edith never gets it, although we didn’t have a slight panic with her a couple of weeks ago. The vet said he could be a particularly anxious rabbit and so small amounts of stress bring on stasis. But what can we do about this?
 
So Winston has stasis again, for about the 4th time in 3-4 years. I took him to the vet yesterday who gave him an injection of metacam, another painkiller (bupa something?), Zantac and baytril just incase. He felt his tummy and said it didn’t feel blocked but it was sore. Last night we gave him his second dose of metacam, Zantac and baytril. This morning he’s had Zantac and baytril but metacam is once a day so he’s having that this evening. Normally he loves Zantac but he refused it this morning so we had to bunny burrito him with a towel which stressed him out. He isn’t moving much. All he has eaten in 24 hours is his pellets as usual yesterday morning, then a small treat and a couple of pieces of kale and about 2 pellets. I happen to not be at work today so can keep an eye on him all day. But tomorrow I am back to work. When should I take him back to the vet if he hasn’t eaten/shown signs of improvement? This evening?

Also, why does he keep getting stasis? Edith never gets it, although we didn’t have a slight panic with her a couple of weeks ago. The vet said he could be a particularly anxious rabbit and so small amounts of stress bring on stasis. But what can we do about this?

I am sorry that Winston is unwell. Has the Vet looked into what may be the primary cause of the repeated episodes of gut stasis ? Dental problems ? Something dietary related-eg not enough long fibre (hay/grass) ?

Noting poo output is just as important as monitoring what he's eating. Has he poo'd at all ?

The Buprenorphine drug he was given is an opiate analgesic. This type of drug can cause marked sedation so that could play a part in his lethargy and reluctance to eat.

Did the Vet administer any fluids subcutaneously and explain to you the importance of maintaining good hydration when treating gut stasis. When a Rabbit's GI tract motility is reduced the gut contents rapidly dehydrate and thus become less likely to break down and pass through.

There is some detailed information about gut stasis here:

http://anyflip.com/dvpt/hzvv

I'd give the Vet a call this morning to update him/her. If Winston has not had any poo output overnight then personally I'd want the Vet to actually examine him again this morning.

I hope that Winston will feel better soon x
 
I am sorry that Winston is unwell. Has the Vet looked into what may be the primary cause of the repeated episodes of gut stasis ? Dental problems ? Something dietary related-eg not enough long fibre (hay/grass) ?

Noting poo output is just as important as monitoring what he's eating. Has he poo'd at all ?

The Buprenorphine drug he was given is an opiate analgesic. This type of drug can cause marked sedation so that could play a part in his lethargy and reluctance to eat.

Did the Vet administer any fluids subcutaneously and explain to you the importance of maintaining good hydration when treating gut stasis. When a Rabbit's GI tract motility is reduced the gut contents rapidly dehydrate and thus become less likely to break down and pass through.

There is some detailed information about gut stasis here:

http://anyflip.com/dvpt/hzvv

I'd give the Vet a call this morning to update him/her. If Winston has not had any poo output overnight then personally I'd want the Vet to actually examine him again this morning.

I hope that Winston will feel better soon x

Thank you for your reply, you are always so helpful when I post. His teeth are always checked every 6 months althoug never under general anaesthetic. But as he gets it about once a year surely that isn’t often enough if there was a continuous underlying issue? I have wondered if there is some sort of underlying issue but the vet has never seemed to think so and never suggested any further investigation. He did have quite a lot of further investigation for suspected liver coccidiosis last summer (X-rays, blood tests) and that didn’t flag anything up. He eats loads of hay, a scoop of excel pellets a day and half a bowl of herbs and veggies. So his diet is good? What else could be causing it? What else could I ask the vet to look for?

That’s good to know about the other painkiller.

He has poo’d this morning and is starting to move around more and he has eaten some broccoli and banana.

He isn’t dehydrated, or he wasn’t yesterday at least. I have managed to get some Ellas Kitchen babyfood into him through a syringe. It was fruit based so contained a fair amount of water. I will try to monitor his water intake though.
 
Could it have been the cold weather the other day? I have noticed that some of mine don't drink as much when it's very cold.
 
So Winston has stasis again, for about the 4th time in 3-4 years. I took him to the vet yesterday who gave him an injection of metacam, another painkiller (bupa something?), Zantac and baytril just incase. He felt his tummy and said it didn’t feel blocked but it was sore. Last night we gave him his second dose of metacam, Zantac and baytril. This morning he’s had Zantac and baytril but metacam is once a day so he’s having that this evening. Normally he loves Zantac but he refused it this morning so we had to bunny burrito him with a towel which stressed him out. He isn’t moving much. All he has eaten in 24 hours is his pellets as usual yesterday morning, then a small treat and a couple of pieces of kale and about 2 pellets. I happen to not be at work today so can keep an eye on him all day. But tomorrow I am back to work. When should I take him back to the vet if he hasn’t eaten/shown signs of improvement? This evening?

Also, why does he keep getting stasis? Edith never gets it, although we didn’t have a slight panic with her a couple of weeks ago. The vet said he could be a particularly anxious rabbit and so small amounts of stress bring on stasis. But what can we do about this?


Loads of vibes being sent for Winston.

I know just how worrying this is. The vet must have thought him to be in severe pain to give the buprenorphine (aka Vetergesic) as it's quite a powerful pain killer, but does have the disadvantage (in many rabbits but not all) of making a rabbit sleepy and lethargic.

Your vet is right, stress can bring about stasis.
 
Sorry it’s taken me so long to reply, I’m currently doing my teacher training so don’t get much time in the week. Winston is now completely better and we are none the wiser as to what caused it.

Tonibun; Winston is an indoor rabbit so I’m not sure it’s weather related. However I did notice the kitchen, where he lives, was a bit chilly so tuned the radiator up. So it could have been weather related if he is really sensitive to temperature changes.

MightyMax; I’ve never had a vet prescribe it before. It was a different vet to my usual one which I’m usually quite wary about due to the general lack of rabbit knowledge but I was actually really impressed with him and he was really thorough.

So we are just going to keep our fingers crossed that Winston stays well!
 
Sorry it’s taken me so long to reply, I’m currently doing my teacher training so don’t get much time in the week. Winston is now completely better and we are none the wiser as to what caused it.

Tonibun; Winston is an indoor rabbit so I’m not sure it’s weather related. However I did notice the kitchen, where he lives, was a bit chilly so tuned the radiator up. So it could have been weather related if he is really sensitive to temperature changes.

MightyMax; I’ve never had a vet prescribe it before. It was a different vet to my usual one which I’m usually quite wary about due to the general lack of rabbit knowledge but I was actually really impressed with him and he was really thorough.

So we are just going to keep our fingers crossed that Winston stays well!


This is really good news!

Although we are told there is always a cause behind a stasis episode, I am sure in the majority of cases we never find out what it is!

I am so glad to hear that Winston is completely better :D
 
This is really good news!

Although we are told there is always a cause behind a stasis episode, I am sure in the majority of cases we never find out what it is!

I am so glad to hear that Winston is completely better :D

But what could the cause be when it’s happening 1-2 times a year? He had a lot of tests done when he has suspects liver coccidiosis and nothing was flagged up then. I agree there’s must be some underlying cause, but have no idea what it is!
 
But what could the cause be when it’s happening 1-2 times a year? He had a lot of tests done when he has suspects liver coccidiosis and nothing was flagged up then. I agree there’s must be some underlying cause, but have no idea what it is!
My lil Archie gets it 1 to 2 times a year when he moulting. He doesn't get fur stuck in his poops, but I think it's just the stress of growing a new coat.

We can tell when he's not feeling right because he won't stop chewing the coffee table!!!!!

Could winston be moulting?

Sent from my SM-A310F using Tapatalk
 
But what could the cause be when it’s happening 1-2 times a year? He had a lot of tests done when he has suspects liver coccidiosis and nothing was flagged up then. I agree there’s must be some underlying cause, but have no idea what it is!


I think as Merv said, moulting could be a factor, not necessarily because of the hair, but it's a stressful time for a rabbit ...

It's just so good that we spot the symptoms and move fast to get them eating again.

Are things OK with Winston?
 
I think as Merv said, moulting could be a factor, not necessarily because of the hair, but it's a stressful time for a rabbit ...

It's just so good that we spot the symptoms and move fast to get them eating again.

Are things OK with Winston?

That’s so interesting that it could be due to moulting. He is moulting at the moment. I will track when it happens again and see if he is moulting then!

He is completely fine now ��
 
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