Looking for another hay supplier and advice for constant statis

[Annie_90]

When we first got our rabbits we bought the Pets at Home hay, which we never saw any issues with however we noticed the quality was awful so we switched to the hay from timothyhay.co.uk. Unfortunately, whilst it makes sense that boxes from there will differ in colour and quality, we've had several emergency vet visits for statis in recent months, and a couple in the year before that, that after a lot of working out (full health check came back clear and we've gone through the different foods we were giving them) we are 99% sure is being caused by the hay - the times match up with when we open new boxes. We do transition from box to box, even when the new batch looks the same, but it hasn't worked. Often the rabbits shun the new stuff until there's no other option. It's also pretty anxiety-inducing to have to worry about transitioning every month when we're supposedly buying the same stuff; I opened a new box early last week thinking 'here we go again...' and yep, the rabbits are back at the vets. Looking at all the positive reviews online I reckon our rabbits happen to have particularly sensitive stomachs.

Could I get your opinions on various options that can be bought online and how often the quality differs? And any other advice you might have? The rabbits absolutely hate the vets and I can tell their mental health is suffering. It's pretty rough for us humans as well.

Other info in case it's useful: they have 5-7 pellets each a day on recommendation from the vet a while back (this was before the constant statis and was in relation to the small burrs on their teeth), a small handful of bell pepper (used to give a bit more and more variety but we're now wary - generally the initial check each visit shows high glucose), a bite of apple every few days (same - used to give a bit more), and they get one of those fenugreek treats from Rosewood per day. I had started giving them a daily portion of forage a while back but we've stopped that for the same reason as the rest. I'd love to be able to give them more variety again! Edited to add: they're also not using their willow tunnels as much, which may or may not be relevant (they do go off them sometimes, I think it depends on the wood any one time).

 

[Omi]

How many rabbits are affected in this way and how many times has the stasis affected all of them after a new batch of hay? I ask this because sometimes it is very difficult to pinpoint exactly what is causing the stasis and in my experience it is rare that it would be caused by hay. I actually use timothyhay.co.uk hay, the stalky one, and have done for at least a couple of years. I have tried a few other hays occasionally during that time, but have found that my rabbits have prefered the timothyhay one. I have also noticed that the quality of the hay varies from box to box, but I would say that for me it's always on the high side of acceptable and sometimes it's excellent. I imagine that hay from any company is going to vary slightly from box to box as it's a natural product and will be affected by lots of external things. There are a few recent threads in this section where members have documented new hays that they have tried.

It's certainly good that they are having only a few pellets each day. Personally I would cut out completely the pepper, apple and fenugreek treats and would try a small amount of fresh forage, herbs or tree leaves each day. The blood glucose level will be tested by your vets to exclude a blockage. It will not be connected to their diet. A while ago on this forum it was found that Fenugreek treats were causing stasis in some rabbits. Impossible to say whether this is the problem with your rabbits, but I would certainly remove them from their diet.

I hope that you can find out what is causing this and stop the stasis happening as it is a very scary problem and I can appreciate that your rabbits will be stressed from the vet visits.

 

[bunny momma]

Fenugeek crunchies contain corn. I tossed mine after reading that. Fibafirst sticks make better treats.
Sending vibes.

 

[keletkezes]

Just wanted to say, as well, that food they used to eat fine an 'change' for them and cause stasis: Lopsy was fine with sprouts for 2-3mths and then suddently got stasis when we fed them him :S

 

[Annie_90]

Thank you all. I'm a bit late replying because we had another stasis incident. Different bun (the usual one but not the one who I made the post about) but thankfully we managed to get her eating and the vet appointment was cancelled. We have bought some hay from haybox and are happy with the look of it. I'm doing a very slow transition.

Omi: both rabbits have had it but most often just the girl, and she seems to get it worse - a couple of nights at the vet and days of metacam when home versus one night and no metacam. This latest time (no vet appointment needed) was 2 days after opening a new box of hay, same hay supplier, which was exactly the same as her previous time where it was 2 days after a new box. I'm not sure which hay from the .co.uk we're getting now; it seems brown and dry, very dusty. The choices haven't been the same (we were getting stalky but now we go for the one just called 'timothy hay' as that seemed the new option). The dusty stuff started around October, which was about when the statis started being frequent; my allergies have got worse too.

Omi and bunny momma: I can't remember exactly when we started with the fenugreek; I think it was last February after we'd got them from the in-laws. They've always only had one a day because I worried about the carbos, but I'll look at changing them to forage. Ironically it was the fenugreek that got us out of this last statis.

I don't know if perhaps there's a problem with Rosewood food in general? The fenugreek is one of the few items we've bought from them - I've noticed a lot contain egg!

The other thing we've used as treats, though not for a while as we tried to work it out, are the Selective Naturals pea and mint sticks - a maximum of half a stick every few days per rabbit. Are those okay?

keletkezes: That's scary! They're a few years old now so that sounds a possibility.

 

[SarahP]

If they have very sensitive guts, I would certainly consider cutting pellets and treats out altogether. Some bunnies don't seem to be able to tolerate them.

 

[Annie_90]

Sarah, I'm seeing that as a possibility They would be devastated but we can't keep doing as we are.

 

[SarahP]

Sarah, I'm seeing that as a possibility They would be devastated but we can't keep doing as we are.

When I had bunnies with very sensitive guts I had to switch to hay only, with just a pinch of dried forage twice a day. It served as something interesting to look forward to, like pellets.