My lovely rabbit Max aged 7 is in gut stasis for the 2nd time in 4 days. He is not insured as he was too old when we adopted him. On Thursday he had 4 injections and saline costing £220. He was fine by Friday morning but back in stasis last night. We brought both rabbits into our living room from outside as I was worried it was too cold for them. I gave emeprid, metacam and critical care. I have done the same this morning but no change yet. I am terrified of another £200 bill but will not leave him to suffer. Should I keep feeding every few hours? He really hates the syringe in his mouth and refuses to swallow the emeprid.
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Gut Stasis
- Thread starter Maxismum
- Start date
InspectorMorse
Wise Old Thumper
Please do NOT give any syringe feeds or prokinetic medication before he has been examined by a Vet to rule out a full GI tract obstruction. Prokinetic meds and syringe feeds can do a lot more harm than good if the Rabbit is obstructed. Stomach rupture can occur. I am afraid it is essential to get your Rabbit back to the Vet this morning. The Vet needs to try to establish a primary cause for the gut stasis, gut stasis is usually a secondary symptom of another problem, so unless the primary cause is treated the gut stasis issues are likely to recur. The Vet needs to run a blood glucose test, fully examine and auscultate the abdomen and possibly take an abdominal X-ray to be certain there is not a full obstruction. Your Rabbit might need hospitalising to be put on IV fluids and to have meds given IV.
The best way to help your Rabbit now is to get him straight back to the Vet. Good luck x
Recovery from stasis can take several days (mine have taken about a week). Meds should continue until the rabbit is eating and pooing normally. Stopping too soon just means they can take a step backwards, and it can be more difficult to make progress again. If the vet has confirmed that there is no obstruction, you can syringe feed some recovery food every few hours until they are eating for themselves. For the meds, I usually do the metacam last as they usually like that, and it takes away the taste of the other meds. You can also syringe something like a bit of carrot or apple puree baby food straight after the meds. I draw up all the syringes I need for the dose so they are ready to go, then there's no fiddling around once you have the patient.
After he has recovered, I would look at increasing the amount of hay / grass in the diet, as that provides the fibre to keep the guts working properly. Spurs on teeth can stop them eating properly, so it's also worth getting their teeth checked - back teeth can be viewed with an otoscope, although it's difficult to see everything properly in a conscious rabbit. Weigh weekly and take action if they lose weight over a couple of weeks, or a lot suddenly - it's an indicator that something isn't right and you can get that investigated before it turns into eg stasis.
After he has recovered, I would look at increasing the amount of hay / grass in the diet, as that provides the fibre to keep the guts working properly. Spurs on teeth can stop them eating properly, so it's also worth getting their teeth checked - back teeth can be viewed with an otoscope, although it's difficult to see everything properly in a conscious rabbit. Weigh weekly and take action if they lose weight over a couple of weeks, or a lot suddenly - it's an indicator that something isn't right and you can get that investigated before it turns into eg stasis.
Craig 1965
Warren Veteran
I absolutely agree 100% with shimmer. Sending your bunny loads and loads of get well vibes and hope you can get your bunny seen by a rabbit savy vet. Xx
bunny momma
Wise Old Thumper
Sending you lots of positive vibes. You say he recovered. Do you mean he is eating, drinking, pooping, peeing, and behaving normally?
Stasis can have many causes and may return until cause is addressed. A stasis bunny can degrade quickly.
Did you stop meds before time specified by vet because he was resisting them? You should be able to call vet for further direction.
Stasis can have many causes and may return until cause is addressed. A stasis bunny can degrade quickly.
Did you stop meds before time specified by vet because he was resisting them? You should be able to call vet for further direction.
Hi everyone thank you. I realised that he could not tolerate the unusually cold weather we have in the UK at the moment. We have had them both inside at night in an unheated room for a week and he is fine. As soon as he went out into minus temperatures it was like he shut down and stopped eating.
InspectorMorse
Wise Old Thumper
Are you keeping them indoors over Winter now ? Sounds as though it would be a good idea to do so.
