GI stasis symptoms not going away

[Panos87]

Hello everyone.

New to the forum, definitely could use some help.

First of all pardon me if something doesn’t make sense, I am not a native English speaker so I’m trying to translate as best as I can.

Me and my girlfriend decided to get a bunny about 1,5 years ago, so she must be around 2 years old now. Neutered about a year ago. She’s probably a crossbreed of Lionhead and Holland Lop (at least I recognize these characteristics, maybe I’m wrong).

45 days ago she had a GI stasis (or something close to that). One morning she was hunched, slow breathing, hardly moving. We took her to a new vet, thankfully specialized at bunnies (our previous vet apparently wasn’t), and got diagnosed with GI stasis. Probably caused by hairballs since she is extremely furry and our previous vet never gave us directions about grooming her, or occasionally giving her paste for hairballs. She was given injections with meds and fluids to hydrate as far as I know. We took her home, and followed exactly the directions from the vet, we gave her the meds and all.

She improved a lot. Gradually, her belly became softer, she was pooping, she was eating more eagerly with the syringe and by herself, and everything seemed to be getting back to normal. We visited the vet, said her clinical image was really improved, so we stopped the meds and for 5-6 days everything seemed to be ok.

But then she started not eating very eagerly. She wasn’t finishing her pellets (which she loved to eat) and she was hardly eating hay at all (she was never a huge fan of hay no matter how many different brands and types we tried, but it wasn’t that bad). She wasn’t drinking a lot of water either.

We took her to the vet again, and she gave us 2 options. The first option was to check her teeth to see if there was an issue there that caused her not eating properly, and the second option was blood tests and an ultrasound to see if the GI stasis was cured. In order to check her teeth, she had to be sedated and we were scared to do that so we chose the second option.

Both the blood test and the ultrasound showed that there was still some inflammation in her intestines so we started the medication again. It showed some improvement but not much. She is still not drinking enough water, still not going crazy about her pellets like she did in the past and is nibbling on some hay every now and then. But when my girlfriend approaches her with the syringe to feed her, 9/10 times she’s eating like crazy. And her poop is full of hair (even though we groom her every day and we give her the paste for the hairballs and the paraffin oil the vet told us).

However her image is not bad. She is quite active, running around, doing her binkies and showing she is happy, and her weight is quite steady (around 2 kilos as it was when she was perfectly healthy) and her belly is quite soft. She doesn’t seem 100% like she was before all that, but I would say she is around 80%.

But the facts remain: she is drinking very little water, not eating hay, not being really eager to finish her pellets, and she is mainly interested in the emeraid sustain we feed her with the syringe.

And we are totally confused by what’s going on.

In our minds there are 3 scenarios

1. All of this is a remnant of the GI stasis, that will gradually go away, and there is nothing to worry about. We just keep on doing what we are doing and one morning she will start drinking her water, eating her hay and pellets and our life will go back to normal.

2. She has issues with her teeth and that’s why she’s not really interested in hard foods like pellets and hay but devours the emeraid from the syringe which is a soft paste like food and does not cause pain by chewing. However this scenario does not explain why she is not drinking water.

3. She has become spoiled because all this time that this thing is going on we are all over her, feeding her, grooming her, giving her all the attention possible, and that’s why she prefers to eat with the syringe due to the interaction with us, rather than eating her pellets and hay by herself. This scenario though does not explain the water issue either.

We have tried to stop the syringe feeding for some days to see if she will eat more eagerly by herself, but nothing changed so we started the syringe feeding again.

Is it possible that the symptoms from the GI stasis still have not totally gone away after 45 days, so it’s a matter of time and patience and everything will go back to normal? Is it usual for a GI stasis to last that long?

Should we go check her teeth and take the risk of the sedation?

Any help/ideas would be greatly appreciated because we are losing our minds.

PS. Sorry for the very long text but I thought I should include all the details possible to help you understand the situation.

 

[tonibun]

What quantity of pellets do you normally give her? Will she eat grass, Dandelions etc? Do you give her any treats?

 

[Panos87]

We give around 45-50 grams of pellet (that’s what Oxbow suggests according to her weight).
She eats treats like oxbow skin and coat for example (we give one per day following the vet’s instructions), and some fresh veggies like cucumber and lettuce (up to 3 times a week).
She eats the treats and veggies very eagerly.

Anything grass/hay like, she is not really interested. When she was ok she liked Oxbow’s Timothy hay. Now she doesn’t eat it. We’ve tried many other types and she doesn’t eat it. From all the brands and types of grass and hay that we’ve tried, the only one that she nibbles a bit is Bunny’s all nature Botanicals raspberry leaves and cornflower blossoms.

 

[InspectorMorse]

it sounds as though dental problems are a real possibility

hay should make up 80%-90% of a Rabbit’s diet for good dental and GI tract health

 

[bunny momma]

I agree with Inspector Morse that this is likely a dental problem, and dental can impact water drinking too because her tongue may be rubbing against sharp spurs/points on her teeth that the vet cannot see except with sedation. Though she may not be drinking as much because her syringe feeds and greens may already be providing fluids, which would not be the case if she ate dry pellets and hay.

If your vet is rabbit savvy, it should minimize the risk of sedation. Also, since she is young and if her blood work was good, that also lowers the risk of sedation in capable hands.

Sending vibes for your bunny.

 

[Omi]

Can you list exactly what medication she is having every day. It's usual for a bunny with GI Stasis to have some pain relief as well as medication to assist her digestion. Has she had/got any pain relief? I suspect that the lack of drinking is probably because she is getting enough moisture from the syringe feeds and cucumber, in addition to not eating dry hay.

It does seem that dental is a possibility, although I can understand your reluctance without more evidence that her teeth and mouth are the issue. I note that the ultrasound showed some remaining inflammation and also your observation that her poop is still containing hair.

Is she eating any pellets at all, or just not all of them? Have you tried offering her the pellets after wetting them?

Whilst it's impossible to examine the teeth without sedation, sometimes an issue can be seen by a vet on oral examination. Has the vet tried to look inside her mouth?

 

[Jemi]

I think she should get a dental check up . Mine one had the exact same history . Started with a stasis and after medication she became all well . But her interest in hay never came back . I offered her grass and greens and she ate them for few weeks and eventually decreased them too as well as hard pellets . Then I had to soften her food and went for a check up . Results showed molar spurs and I had to go for burring .

 

[Panos87]

Can you list exactly what medication she is having every day. It's usual for a bunny with GI Stasis to have some pain relief as well as medication to assist her digestion. Has she had/got any pain relief? I suspect that the lack of drinking is probably because she is getting enough moisture from the syringe feeds and cucumber, in addition to not eating dry hay.

It does seem that dental is a possibility, although I can understand your reluctance without more evidence that her teeth and mouth are the issue. I note that the ultrasound showed some remaining inflammation and also your observation that her poop is still containing hair.

Is she eating any pellets at all, or just not all of them? Have you tried offering her the pellets after wetting them?

Whilst it's impossible to examine the teeth without sedation, sometimes an issue can be seen by a vet on oral examination. Has the vet tried to look inside her mouth?

She was taking pain relief after the initial GI stasis for 4/5 days, and after the ultrasound that showed there was some inflammation left for 3/4 days.
She was also taking medication for her digestive system, and some other stuff the vet prescribed that I don’t know exactly what they do but I really trust this vet and I follow her instructions.
And she is taking paraffin oil and paste for hairballs on a daily basis but with some days off.

I too suggested that she could be drinking less water because of the greens and the emeraid which contains water, but the amount is almost insignificant compared to how much water she should be drinking normally. The amount of water contained in the syringe with the emeraid is 30ml give or take. The veggies are not given every day. So there is a huge gap between these numbers and the supposed 250-300ml of water that she should be drinking.

She is eating her pellets but with much less eagerness than before. For example before all this, she would finish her pellets in 3 hours. Now it takes her 8-10 hours to empty her bowl. And it’s irrelevant of the syringe feeding. It takes her 8-10 hours, whether we feed her with the syringe or not.
No I haven’t tried wetting them but I will and thank you for suggesting that.

Yes the vet did try to take a look, but she is extremely nervous and non cooperative. So even if she could take a look at her front teeth, there absolutely no chance that she could see what’s going on with the teeth in the back (sorry I don’t know how they’re called in English).

At this point I think that a dental exam must be the next step. Either to solve the issue, or eliminate it as a possibility.

 

[Panos87]

Went for the dental exam yesterday. Nothing wrong with the teeth. Blood tests were good, x ray showed nothing. We’ll do one more ultrasound during the week. But it seems that the problem is rather behavioral than pathological.

I guess she’s used to us feeding her with the syringe and she has become spoiled.

Seems like a “war of attrition” at this point. She refuses to eat her hay knowing that eventually we’ll feed her with the syringe. And we must hold back with the syringe feeding, hoping that she’ll eventually go back to her normal routine of eating her hay and pellets.

Of course we can’t just stop the syringe feeding and let her starve till she changes her mind. But we need to hold back a bit and somehow lure her towards her hay bowl. I’ll try to mix a bit of dried fruits or veggies with her hay and hope she gets more interested in it. But apart from that I don’t know what else to do.

Good news is that the exams show that she is healthy (we still have to do the ultrasound though). Bad news is that we’re still guessing and trying to figure out what to do.

 

[InspectorMorse]

Does she have a companion Rabbit ?
Rabbits are social animals and need a companion of their own kind. If her issues are behavioural it could be that being alone is part of the problem. And there is nothing like a bit of competition for food to get a healthy Rabbit up for the challenge and decide that they will not hang about and wait for all the food to be eaten by the other Rabbit. They will make sure they don’t miss out.

Us humans can never be as good a companion to a Rabbit as another Rabbit.

 

[Panos87]

Does she have a companion Rabbit ?
Rabbits are social animals and need a companion of their own kind. If her issues are behavioural it could be that being alone is part of the problem. And there is nothing like a bit of competition for food to get a healthy Rabbit up for the challenge and decide that they will not hang about and wait for all the food to be eaten by the other Rabbit. They will make sure they don’t miss out.

Us humans can never be as good a companion to a Rabbit as another Rabbit.

No she doesn’t have a companion rabbit.

I understand what you mean however I believe that adding a new bunny to the family will initially be a stress factor to her. And I don’t know if now is the right time to add one more stress factor to the equation.

Apart from that, I don’t think we can handle one more pet. We already have the bunny and a cat (she has her own room on the other side of the house, so no contact with the bunny at all), and we are struggling to find the time to manage their needs and take good care of them. It would be impossible for us to take care of one more pet, and getting one would be an irresponsible thing to do.

 

[Omi]

Great news that her teeth are OK. Also that the blood tests and x-ray showed no issues. Once you have had the ultrasound later in the week, then, if that now shows no inflammation, you can feel reassured that there is nothing that's been missed. Is she still moulting and do you still see fur in her poops?

Regarding what to do with the syringe feeds and pellets. I don't know how possible this would be, but I would try to gradually reduce the amount of food content in the syringe feeds, so that it becomes much more watery. That way, she will not notice that she is getting less, but in fact will get less calories and so should feel less full up. Maybe also reduce the number of syringe feeds per day. I would never leave pellets in a bowl that long for her to eat. If any food, apart from hay of course, isn't consumed within a very short while, I remove it. I hand feed pellets to my bunnies, mainly because I am concerned about them choking and in this way can control their intake. But it is also a bonding event, which your rabbit might appreciate. Adding small pieces of herbs or veg to her hay is also a good strategy. I realise you have probably tried different types of hay. Rabbits are very picky though. My rabbits will only eat stalky hay. We produce hay in our garden, but they always completely refuse to eat it.

Let us know how the ultrasound goes.

 

[Panos87]

Great news that her teeth are OK. Also that the blood tests and x-ray showed no issues. Once you have had the ultrasound later in the week, then, if that now shows no inflammation, you can feel reassured that there is nothing that's been missed. Is she still mounting and do you still see fur in her poops?

Regarding what to do with the syringe feeds and pellets. I don't know how possible this would be, but I would try to gradually reduce the amount of food content in the syringe feeds, so that it becomes much more watery. That way, she will not notice that she is getting less, but in fact will get less calories and so should feel less full up. Maybe also reduce the number of syringe feeds per day. I would never leave pellets in a bowl that long for her to eat. If any food, apart from hay of course, isn't consumed within a very short while, I remove it. I hand feed pellets to my bunnies, mainly because I am concerned about them choking and in this way can control their intake. But it is also a bonding event, which your rabbit might appreciate. Adding small pieces of herbs or veg to her hay is also a good strategy. I realise you have probably tried different types of hay. Rabbits are very picky though. My rabbits will only eat stalky hay. We produce hay in our garden, but they always completely refuse to eat it.

Let us know how the ultrasound goes.

I am sorry, I don’t understand what you mean by mounting. Could you please explain?

Yes there is still fur in her poops, but she is shedding heavily this period and no matter how many times we groom her, there is always some fur in her poops. Doctor said we should continue the paraffin oil and a syrup that helps with digestion for 3-4 days and we’ll speak again.

Of course it’s possible to water down the emeraid. But since the issue is probably behavioral, I think that classical conditioning would work much better by receiving less syringe feeds rather than watering down the content. So that’s our strategy (for now).

I don’t think pellets go bad that easily. Why should I remove them if she doesn’t eat them and not leave them there until she does? It’s not like I leave them there for days. She was emptying her bowl in 3-4 hours when she was ok, and now she is eating it in 8-10 hours.

Last night we gave her pellets and decided to not syringe feed her. I woke up today (it’s morning now in my country) and the pellet bowl was empty and right now she is munching on some hay (the bunny botanicals I mentioned before). I guess this means that she got hungry during the night and her only options were the pellets and the hay. She first went for the pellets, and when she finished them she now went for the hay. So maybe the plan is working. We’ll give her some emeraid in a while, but not as much as usual.

She has never choked on pellets (as far as I know at least). I have only heard her choking drinking water like 3-4 times this 1,5 year. She does a little noise like coughing for a second or two and then she continues drinking.

Yes I have tried almost all and every type and brand of hay that I can find. She is indeed extremely picky. We are hand feeding her some hay since this is the least appealing food for her taste apparently. But again this doesn’t always work.

Of course I will let you know about the ultrasound results!! And thank you so much for your interest and advice.

 

[Omi]

I am sorry, I don’t understand what you mean by mounting. Could you please explain?

Yes there is still fur in her poops, but she is shedding heavily this period and no matter how many times we groom her, there is always some fur in her poops. Doctor said we should continue the paraffin oil and a syrup that helps with digestion for 3-4 days and we’ll speak again.

Of course it’s possible to water down the emeraid. But since the issue is probably behavioral, I think that classical conditioning would work much better by receiving less syringe feeds rather than watering down the content. So that’s our strategy (for now).

I don’t think pellets go bad that easily. Why should I remove them if she doesn’t eat them and not leave them there until she does? It’s not like I leave them there for days. She was emptying her bowl in 3-4 hours when she was ok, and now she is eating it in 8-10 hours.

Last night we gave her pellets and decided to not syringe feed her. I woke up today (it’s morning now in my country) and the pellet bowl was empty and right now she is munching on some hay (the bunny botanicals I mentioned before). I guess this means that she got hungry during the night and her only options were the pellets and the hay. She first went for the pellets, and when she finished them she now went for the hay. So maybe the plan is working. We’ll give her some emeraid in a while, but not as much as usual.

She has never choked on pellets (as far as I know at least). I have only heard her choking drinking water like 3-4 times this 1,5 year. She does a little noise like coughing for a second or two and then she continues drinking.

Yes I have tried almost all and every type and brand of hay that I can find. She is indeed extremely picky. We are hand feeding her some hay since this is the least appealing food for her taste apparently. But again this doesn’t always work.

Of course I will let you know about the ultrasound results!! And thank you so much for your interest and advice.

Haha, sorry 'mounting' was a typo. I can understand that would have been confusing. I meant to type moulting

It sounds as though your strategy of giving less syringe feeds is working. That's great!

My comment about not leaving food for long is not because any of it goes bad, but I just consider that, certainly with my rabbits, I know they will eat it very quickly if they want it.

So, certainly, it seems that less syringe feeds will persuade her to eat more pellets, so I agree with you, that's the best to continue with. If she is still moulting, which you have confirmed now that she is, and that there is still fur in her poops, she could still have inflammation, which would show up on the ultrasound. I'm pleased though that she is sounding a lot better.

 

[Jemi]

Hello, how's your bunny doing ? Is she back to eating hay normally ?

 

[Panos87]

Hello, how's your bunny doing ? Is she back to eating hay normally ?

She looks great, but no, definitely not eating hay normally. Maybe a bit more than she did but not much.

The way she acts and behaves shows a perfectly healthy bunny, apart from the hay (I think she’s drinking more water, and she’s finishing her bowl of pellets faster than she did).

The ultrasound is in 2 days. We’ll see what the ultrasound shows and we’ll have a better picture of whether there are some issues still with her digestive system or not.

 

[Jemi]

She looks great, but no, definitely not eating hay normally. Maybe a bit more than she did but not much.

The way she acts and behaves shows a perfectly healthy bunny, apart from the hay (I think she’s drinking more water, and she’s finishing her bowl of pellets faster than she did).

The ultrasound is in 2 days. We’ll see what the ultrasound shows and we’ll have a better picture of whether there are some issues still with her digestive system or not.

Is she eating her greens ? Have u given her fresh grass ?

 

[Panos87]

Is she eating her greens ? Have u given her fresh grass ?

Yes she never refuses fresh veggies. But we don’t overdo it because the vet suggested we hold back on the syringe feeding and fresh veggies so that she pays more attention to her hay and pellets. We pay close attention to how much she’s eating and we adjust the frequency and quantity of the emeraid and veggies.

I’ve never heard of fresh grass before (maybe it’s not common in my country) and I believe the vet would have suggested it if she considered it to be necessary.

As far as I understand, the idea is to find a way (through trial and error) to get her more interested towards her hay and pellets and not to introduce new types of food that may spoil her even more. I know that she will devour lettuce whenever I provide it to her. But the problem is that she’s not eating enough of what she should be eating and not of what she considers yummy (like lettuce, parsley etc).

 

[Omi]

Yes she never refuses fresh veggies. But we don’t overdo it because the vet suggested we hold back on the syringe feeding and fresh veggies so that she pays more attention to her hay and pellets. We pay close attention to how much she’s eating and we adjust the frequency and quantity of the emeraid and veggies.

I’ve never heard of fresh grass before (maybe it’s not common in my country) and I believe the vet would have suggested it if she considered it to be necessary.

As far as I understand, the idea is to find a way (through trial and error) to get her more interested towards her hay and pellets and not to introduce new types of food that may spoil her even more. I know that she will devour lettuce whenever I provide it to her. But the problem is that she’s not eating enough of what she should be eating and not of what she considers yummy (like lettuce, parsley etc).

Fresh grass is the same plant as hay is before it's dried. So the benefits of grass are the same as those for hay in respect of a rabbit's digestion and teeth.

 

[Shimmer]

She needs food with long fibres - mainly hay / grass, both for gut health and to keep her teeth worn down properly.
The fact that she's eating everything else but is less keen on hay than she used to be would ring alarm bells for a dental examination to me.