GUT STASIS FOR THE 2nd TIME IN A MONTH!! Long post please read

[bunnylover4]

Hi all

Wondered if you could send some vibes for little Alex. Just under a month ago Alex went into gut stasis late on a Saturday night. We have a bunny first aid kit at home as the last time she did this about four months previous ,she spent times in our emergency vets and the stress seemed to delay her recovery. So as our own vet has shown us the correct way to medicate her she said to see if she recovered at home if it happened again. Of course we still phoned the emergency vets and confirmed doses etc and they refreshed us on signs that things are in need of a trip into the vets. I am happy to say that on this occasion with a sleepless night for my OH and I , Alex had started eating by the following morning.
.............. However tonight it's like day-ja-voo . Late on a Saturday night and Alex has once again stopped eating and her stomach is gurgling she isn't as lethargic as last time but she isn't too active either her. We have again phoned the vet and they said she is better off at home as its less stressful and as my OH And I are happy for her to have the run of the house again it may help her stomach start moving so she has had rinitanin and metacam and I am just about to give her some critical care .
We did ask the vet why this keeps happening to her. We know its not her teeth and as she has a very good high fibre diet with fresh veg daily and good quality hay it seems a mystery. We have three other rabbits all on the same diet and they are fine. Gizmo her hutch buddy is a gummy bunny (they are only hutch bunnies because play times she bullies him ...... It's a long story but this system works for them ) he has many troubles but has only had gut stasis once and that was when his teeth were his problem.

If anyone has any ideas or advice that would be great . Sorry for the long post but I am just worried about my little girl and want her tummy to settle down. She was a rescue bunny three years ago and is such a sweet little thing. I just hope she recovers again without the need or stress of a trip into the vets.
Well I am off to get some critical care into her now. Wish me luck

 

[susie bun]

Sending vibes for Alex. It sounds as if you are taking good care of her, and I hope she is eating again soon.

My rabbit is quite prone to gut slowdown, so I can sympathise with how you feel.

 

[rachylou]

There are a lot of us bunny mummies on here who have 'tummy buns', me being one of them.
I seem to find they are more prone to problems when moulting, Jimby was given Katalax which is a laxative for a while but we dont use it anymore.
It may help to give her Fibreplex when she is moulting or ask your vet about a mild laxative.
Also I would continue with the gut stimulant and pain relief for at least 2-3 days even if she is improving as like you have found out there can be set backs.

 

[bunnylover4]

Thanks for the replies she has had her pain relief and ranitidine and critical care . She took six syringes full so thought that was a good sign. She is laid out under our dining table next to her heat pad. She seems to be using it as a cushion :? I am going to stay up with OH as long as I can but as I have lupus SLE, fibromyalgia and ME / chronic fatigue syndrome, its kinda important I get some rest :? But he will wake me in a few hours if I fall asleep as I am better at giving her the critical care . I myself am mid flare at the moment , so he is quite concerned about me getting enough rest(he is also my full time Carer) but I can't sleep as I worry so much about Alex , I will try and nap as best I can though. Don't need him worrying about me when he needs to look after her .


As for her being a tummy bun, I have a gummy bun and now looks like a tummy bun . We will be taking her vets Monday morning even if she recovers just to rule out things like ulcers etc, but by the sounds of what you are saying it may just be something she is suffering from. I used to have to give gizmo fiberplex when he was bad once so will look at getting that again for our bunny first aid kit

 

[Jack's-Jane]

You dont mention what her poo output is like ?

Noting what comes out is important as it can give us an early warning sign that gut motility is slowing down. An output of smaller than normal poo that is very dry and hard frequently occurs BEFORE the Rabbit actually stops eating.

You may need to try a hay and water only diet for a few days and then re-introduce ONE other food type at a time to see if there is a particular item that is not agreeing with her

I would get her checked over by a Vet as the GI tract problem appears to be a recurring issue for her.

 

[fruitandnutcake]

Was Alex's teeth checked under GA? has he had x-rays of his mouth/jaw? I would rule out hidden spurs, as they can develop quickly when a bun isn't eating...Pebs has had two episodes of stasis since his dental 4 weeks ago..turned out to be a hidden rotting spur that was causing pain & gum inflammation. It was possibly missed by first vet who did original dental under GA, so always worth getting a second opinion.

 

[bunkin]

I have a tummy bun as well. He did not get it with his previous owner for first 5 years but started with me 3 months after I got him. Typical prev owner only fed him cheap muesli and no hay or greens and he was fine but soon as I gave him proper rabbit diet:roll:

I have in past 2 years changed all his diet except pellets to no avail so last thing to change has been his pellets as I put him onto ss pellets and its possible that his awful diet for firt 5 years has made him intolerant of what is better food!! So have changed over to high quality muesli mix and will see how he goes. At the end of all this some buns get it from stress and not much you can do about that!

My bun gets better within 24 hrs and he does not get the small poo symptom beforehand, he can have normal poos and be totally fine one minute and next he is flopped, shaking and refusing all food and water

I now have loxicam ( anti inflam) and ranititdine to give him at home when if he gets his next episode.

We know its unlikely to be teeth trouble with ours as he can go from very poorly to suddenly munching on fenugeek crunchies and being fine!

You are doing all the right things

 

[bunnylover4]

She is eating and pooing . Still taking her vets tomorrow afternoon though

Hi all

It was a very long night and day and I am sure suffering for it now. But I don't care because after a night of sitting up with Alex and keeping her indoors feeding her cryitcal care every three hours. She started kicking off a bit when we were feeding her some cryitcal care at 4am so we knew she was starting to come round. About 6am she started nibbling some hay. She has ate some broccoli too and a piece of apple. But she isn't interested in her pellets .She has a high fibre natural rabbit pellet from Allen and Paige,.

As you said NORMALLY the poos are the first indication that something is wrong , as it was last time . They went small and then nothing ...... But this time everything seemed fine, her poos were a good size during the day and it was only when she came in the evening that she was lethargic and we knew something was wrong. Alex had her teeth checked when she went in just under a month ago with GI Stasis they said they were fine. But I am getting them checked again tomorrow.

When she started pooing again today she did some small ones to start and then some ceycothroths (sorry for the spelling ) then some stringy ones and now they seem normal. She is still quieter than normal but she will have rinitanin and metacam again tonight and then hopefully tomorrow they will give us some more idea as to what's going on. We will do anything and everything for our bunnies so whatever is needed we will do. Like all of us on here do for our bunnies. I think part of the problem is living with gizmo who she helps groom because he is a gummy angora bunny. So fur ingestion I think is going to be a part of it. I will message on here tomorrow after vets. Right now I am going to try and get some kip, :wave::wave: hopefully Alex keeps eating and pooing tonight x :shock:

 

[bunnylover4]

Vet check all good

Alex has been seen by our own vet this evening . Her teeth are fine and her tummy is not gassy at all now so all looking good . If it starts happening more then she said about doing a more evasive procedure but in the mean time we have different medication which she says is better than rinitanin I will check the name of it and post it on here.

Hopefully this won't be needed though I hope this doesn't happen again. Our vet is very good and if she isn't concerned yet then neither am I but i am hoping this doesn't happen again as it is very worrying.

 

[helennnnnn]

I'm glad Alex is doing better now It is always so worrying when we see our pets poorly Hopefully she is over it this time and will keep well.

 

[Jack's-Jane]

I am glad that Alex is doing better now

I expect you already do this, but regular (daily) grooming of both Bunnies may help lessen the amount of fur they ingest.

 

[susie bun]

Pleased she is doing better, thanks for updating us. :wave:

 

[carolebe]

My 5 year old started with stasis around his first birthday - because it was the first time I'd ever experienced anything like that he ended up being hospitalised for around 3 days but after that I got to know the signs & spot it now immediately. They checked his teeth & also that I was feeding him the correct diet (which I was) to no avail as he continued to have these episodes anything from 1 month apart to 3 months which was the longest I managed. I swapped his pellets several times following my vets advice, I also cut out completely kale & spring greens as I'd read these could be gassy & still no improvement. I managed his frequent bouts with metacam, zantac & maxalon (in his water) for a few days after each bout just to make sure his guts were moving ok. He also always has avipro in his water. I just started to think that he might have this for life & then 6 months ago I moved house.... I'd previously been sharing a house with my sister & her cat (he used to kung fu the cat so I presumed she was more scared of him as she'd always run off). my sister used to tell me that he was really naughty when I wasn't there so I think he kinda got on her nerves a little as she had to constantly keep an eye on him & sometimes forcibly remove him from the bottom of the curtains!!
Since I've moved in with my fella - different bunny completely! No episodes AT ALL!!! for 6 whole months he's been fine & is not even remotely naughty! All I can think is that either my sister's cat stressed him more than we ever knew or that he knew deep down he might have been more of a hindrance to my sister (they know when you love 'em!!!)

 

[Rupert & Tia]

I was told gurgling tummies are good - means it's working!!! We had a couple of issues with Rupert's tummy recently - and our vet recommended no fruit (nothing that hangs from a tree or grows under ground) - I have to say, its the BEST advice ever! he's full of energy again, his coat is back to super shiny glossy, and he's just all round better.

Mine have unlimited hay (ings) and 25g of excel light pellets on a night time.... and they get a tiny bit of brocolli, and a little bit of curly kale in the mornings...

Glad there's been an improvement, and fingers crossed it carries on x

 

[bunnylover4]

Thanks for all the advice everyone. We are doing daily grooms of all four bunnies and have been for a while . This weather is really messing with their moult times :roll:
As for the idea of gassy veg , all four do have spring greens and have apple :shock: so I will remove these from the diet too.
As for the stress idea I do think this is a factor with Alex! See she has always been a nervous bunny (being a rescue who knows what her past was like) anyway she is fine with my husband and I, but recently my next door neighbour put a pond in his back garden and two door up got two kittens . The kittens obviously want to check out their surroundings, and the pond has attracted a lot of cats in...... They can only get to my neighbours garden by going through mine. So we are forever having to chase cats out of the garden as else all four rabbits start tapping as soon as they see one!!! I don't know what I can do to stop this stress for them as I am not going to be cruel to any animal so trying to scare the cat out of my garden is awful for me but I do it to protect my bunnies.

In the past we might have had one cat occasionally come through but normally in the evenings when bunnies where snug in their beds but now we have daily visitors !

Any suggestion s. ? Now that you have mentioned it, i do think this is the cause because she has had gut stasis 3 times in the past six months (since cats) and only once before a long way back but that was fur ingestion , needless to say why we do daily groom them all.

Alex herself has a beautiful glossy coat and seems bright again now , she is even back to binking and head flicking, and when the weather is dry we see her rolling in the garden. She is a very happy little bunny again

 

[carolebe]

Thanks for all the advice everyone. We are doing daily grooms of all four bunnies and have been for a while . This weather is really messing with their moult times :roll:
As for the idea of gassy veg , all four do have spring greens and have apple :shock: so I will remove these from the diet too.
As for the stress idea I do think this is a factor with Alex! See she has always been a nervous bunny (being a rescue who knows what her past was like) anyway she is fine with my husband and I, but recently my next door neighbour put a pond in his back garden and two door up got two kittens . The kittens obviously want to check out their surroundings, and the pond has attracted a lot of cats in...... They can only get to my neighbours garden by going through mine. So we are forever having to chase cats out of the garden as else all four rabbits start tapping as soon as they see one!!! I don't know what I can do to stop this stress for them as I am not going to be cruel to any animal so trying to scare the cat out of my garden is awful for me but I do it to protect my bunnies.

In the past we might have had one cat occasionally come through but normally in the evenings when bunnies where snug in their beds but now we have daily visitors !

Any suggestion s. ? Now that you have mentioned it, i do think this is the cause because she has had gut stasis 3 times in the past six months (since cats) and only once before a long way back but that was fur ingestion , needless to say why we do daily groom them all.

Alex herself has a beautiful glossy coat and seems bright again now , she is even back to binking and head flicking, and when the weather is dry we see her rolling in the garden. She is a very happy little bunny again

When we had issues with cats in the garden at our old house a water pistol used to do the trick - I couldn't harm any animal so this worked wonders as they hate being wet yet it doesn't hurt them in the slightest (other than their dignity!!)