Recurrent Stasis

[Wuezybun]

I have a rabbit who seems prone to stasis so I am trying to come up with a plan for managing this.

A typical example this week; she was active and ate a treat biscuit at 6pm, but by dinner time at 7pm she wouldn't eat and was huddled in the corner. I massaged her stomach at 11pm and she didn't seem to mind this although she did feel bloated. When I came down to check her at 2am she was really active and begging for food again (as our other rabbit had probably eaten her dinner as well as his own by then!)

My questions to others with stasis prone rabbits:
- How long do you leave a rabbit with signs of stasis before calling the vets? My thought the other night was 12 hours.

- Is there anything I could try before calling the vets? I do have Zantac because my dad takes it but am unsure if giving her this on it's own would help or whether there could be any negative effects (I'll discuss this with my vet also but any experience from others on this would help)

- I've changed their food from Excel to Science Selective because she also produces excess cacaetrophs sometimes. Should that help?

- Does probiotic powder in their water help?

- Does the massaging help? Any tips for this?

- Any other tips?

Thanks!

 

[prettylupin]

Well first off I think your bun requires a good and thorough vet examination, particularly the teeth as underlying dental pain can be enough to stop bun eating on and off and cause recurrent bouts of stasis.

Yes, I agree with the dietary change - for me this would be fundamental. A bun with recurrent stasis should be on the highest fibre diet possible for that bunny. Mild caecal dysbiosis (the odd excess caecotroph) to me is a big risk factor. The caecum, caecal flora and gut motility are inextricably linked IMO. I would be aiming for a high gut motility and perfectly balanced caecal flora. This means drastically reducing pellet consumption in order to get bun to eat much more hay, grass and other indigestible plant fibres such as safe weeds, herbs, tree leaves/twigs. If you are going to feed pellets then I would choose the highest fibre brand you can find and limit consumption to an egg cup full max. In a recurrent stasis bun I would limit them even more. (However, her age and nutrition requirements are important to consider here)

Hydration is also essential to gut motility - so I would offer water in a bowl as well as a bottle, and when offering fresh veg offer them washed and damp. A high veg diet is important, but you first need to establish a balanced caecum. I would do this by elminating veg for a day or two and pellets and feed just hay to get the caecum better in balance. Then reintroduce veg very gradually alongside pellets. This link explains it well:
http://www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk/resources/content/info-sheets/safefoods.htm
Establishing caecal flora that can cope with a high veg diet takes months of gradual introduction and buliding up tolerance, allowing time for caecal passing in between new veg to test for upset. Unwashed veg or veg gone yellow is risky for upset tums in buns.

I must say the symptoms you describe sound very familiar to me and our male bun - sudden onset bloat/stasis. As you noted it can resolve on it's own - it's rather like a belly ache. However, I would not leave a sudden onset bloat like my bun gets for 12 hours without vet treatment. I try home methods for one hour - I know his history - I would normally say to anyone else vet immediately as there could be underlying issues you aren't aware of ! If no significant improvement within the hour I would seek vet attention for stronger injectable opiate pain relief and possibly sub-cut fluids to tide us overnight. For us this always happens between 7-10pm like you! So midnight vets it is. :roll:
This is what we do - immediate pain relief the minute he shows symptoms - refusing food and/or pushing belly to the floor. Our vet has given us oral pain relief for these occasions - you will need to discuss this with your vet. NSAID on an empty stomach are not always appropriate - but in sudden onset our bun's belly is still full. I also give 1ml infacol/gripe water, a firm but gentle belly rub for several minutes and then encourage bunny to hop around a bit, then leave him to rest. We also continue to tempt him with strongly scented herbs and leaves. He often responds to a dose of pain relief within 30 mins. If he didn't then I would be concerned and phoning the vet. Sometimes I will adminster more meds at home following instructions from vet over phone ( I have these with vets permission) , if still no improvement another half hour - then vet! Metclopramide and Zantac are useful but as gut motility agents you need to be certain there is no total obstruction of the GI tract - which in a sudden onset bloat is a possibility. Hence the need for vet exam. A vet can also give a stronger pain killer and sub-cut fluids as essential emergency measures whilst investigating any other issues.

Probiotics will do no harm and for some recurrent buns they can give you a fibre product to give daily. However, I would suggest checking for underlying causes first and a dietary change.

With our bun his episodes are 'stress' related. Stress can have a huge impact of bunnies physically and can trigger bloat/stasis in isolation. You need to also consider what 'stress' event may have triggered or contributed. Just from our experience, getting our house bun a bunny friend drastically reduced the occurence of his episodes. He has only had them in the last 2 years a few times and each time there was a definite identifiable cause. Dietary changes and reducing stress triggers has made a massive difference here :wave:

 

[Wuezybun]

Thanks for your very detailed response prettylupin :wave:

I forgot to mention that we have taken her to the emergency vet for this twice already in the last year and her teeth and other issues have been checked and the vet can't find anything obvious.

I do struggle to get her to eat hay, but she does love weeds and leaves so I'll give more of those. I'm already reducing the pellets but I am trying to do it gradually.

She only has a water bowl (no bottle) but I don't often see her drinking. I had a pair of foster bunnies recently and was amazed that they drank about 3 times as much as my own pair. I already rinse the veg/leaves before they get them to increase moisture intake.

I do find that it is definitely stress related. She doesn't adjust well to being moved when we go on holiday for example. I've been racking my brains trying to work out what it was last week and the only thing that was different was that my OH was away with work for 2 nights and maybe she was missing him!?? She's a real character and has bossy/control freak/stubborn tendencies but is very friendly and often insists that we stroke her so may not have been happy that he wasn't there.

She does have a rabbit friend (the pair of them are in my avtar)

 

[prettylupin]

Thanks for your very detailed response prettylupin :wave:

I forgot to mention that we have taken her to the emergency vet for this twice already in the last year and her teeth and other issues have been checked and the vet can't find anything obvious.

I do struggle to get her to eat hay, but she does love weeds and leaves so I'll give more of those. I'm already reducing the pellets but I am trying to do it gradually.

She only has a water bowl (no bottle) but I don't often see her drinking. I had a pair of foster bunnies recently and was amazed that they drank about 3 times as much as my own pair. I already rinse the veg/leaves before they get them to increase moisture intake.

I do find that it is definitely stress related. She doesn't adjust well to being moved when we go on holiday for example. I've been racking my brains trying to work out what it was last week and the only thing that was different was that my OH was away with work for 2 nights and maybe she was missing him!?? She's a real character and has bossy/control freak/stubborn tendencies but is very friendly and often insists that we stroke her so may not have been happy that he wasn't there.

She does have a rabbit friend (the pair of them are in my avtar)

Oh yes! a lovely bonded pair - sorry I missed that
I think all you can do is try to increase her fibre intake in that case and reduce stress triggers as much as possible. Good luck.

 

[isla]

My boy rabbit is the same, although now when he starts showing signs I'm pretty good at telling weather its a really bad case of it, and he needs the vets of if I can fix it at home. Usually I can fix it at home.

He is a bit of a worrier of a bun, and if I go away for a night and have to get someone else to feed my rabbits I can expect to come home to a poorley bunny

Its a big worry as I have to go and visit the place we are moving to in a weeks time, so I can get their shed ready for them. So I might try just feeding hay for a day or two this week, so their tums are full of fibre.