Should we get him a girlfriend??!!

[Mazzawa]

Hi everyone

This is my first post on the forums, having used it as a fantastic source for all things bunny since getting our little boy - thank you for all your help!

At the moment, our boy bunny (1 year, 10 months old) is going through a bout of Stasis and we're trying to work out what has caused it. He had it last August following a runny eye, and again it has happened in the same order of events. However, last year we had moved apartments and both of us were out all day and thought that perhaps this change had triggered it. However, since he has had a runny eye followed by Stasis again, perhaps this theory isn't as accurate as first thought! The vet has thoroughly checked for teeth problems and all seems to be in check - does anyone have any thoughts as to what may have triggered it or know of any other buns that have gone into Stasis after having their tear ducts flushed?

The main point of this post is to get some opinions on whether or not we should think about getting him a friend as perhaps it is lack of rabbit companionship that is causing this behaviour? He hasn't seen another rabbit since he was 5 months old and he is rarely left in the house on his own all day (I work from home) so shouldn't be lonely in that sense. Opinions? We would be looking to rehome one from our local rabbit rescue.

Following on from this, what are your experiences of having one rabbit and then two? How much more work is there? Is your first rabbit a lot happier? How easy is it to transport them (we frequently take him to his "grandparents" house as they adore him and they have carpet - lots of fast running!) ? And most importantly, if one gets depressed or goes into Stasis, does the other one copy?

Apologies for such a long post but thought I should just stick it in one, saving virtual paper and all!

Thank you in advance

Mazzawa

 

[w1lll]

I think you should get him a friend as he would probably be happier with one. I have a cat carrier that my two easily fit in so transporting them is not a problem. It's really nice to see two bunnies snuggled up together, grooming each other. I'm not sure about the stasis question, but I have heard that if one bunny is sick then the healthy one often looks after them. I wouldn't think that it would be the lack of companionship that is causing stasis, as quite a few members on here have perfectly healthy single house bunnies. Have you been feeding him anything different lately, or changed his environment a lot?

 

[BunnyMoon]

I doubt a lack of companionship is causing his problem. However, get your bun a friend anyways. They are generally happier in pairs. I have one pair now, and a single bun who I am waiting to pair up once she heals from a minor surgery. I would advise you to make sure your boy is neutered. For a companion its probably best to find a spayed female, although other combinations are possible male/female are generally easiest. If you deal with a rescue they may help you with the bonding process. Not all rabbits will like each other. If bonding is not done carefully and monitored it could result in an injured rabbit and huge vet bill. Good luck! Hope you find a friend for your bun!

 

[Mazzawa]

Hi Guys,

Thank you for the replies! He is already neutered (poor guy was done 5 days after we got him!) so no worries there. The rescue that we will approach first is happy for us to find him a suitable companion in the centre (already enquired a few months ago) so will hopefully find him the love of his life if we do decide to go ahead and get him a friend.

In response to w1lll: nothing has changed! His food is the same, location, routine, everything! The only similarity between this time and last is the runny eye and I would be interested to hear if anyone else has had this sequence of events? Or is our bun just a little strange?!

Mazzawa

 

[Oola]

I've heard that a runny eye can indicate tooth problems - so the pain from that may be causing the stasis?

 

[rachylou]

The mouth, eyes and nose are all linked so the runny eye could well be due to tooth root problems, if he has elongated roots that are growing up in to the tear duct that would cause runny eyes.

Maybe ask your vets opinion on this, may be worth having an xray taken to hopefully rule it out.

 

[Foofy]

The mouth, eyes and nose are all linked so the runny eye could well be due to tooth root problems, if he has elongated roots that are growing up in to the tear duct that would cause runny eyes.

Maybe ask your vets opinion on this, may be worth having an xray taken to hopefully rule it out.

I would agree totally with this as it happened to my bunny Smudge. When I got him he had runny eyes and had his tear ducts flushed, AB's but kept coming back then I had trouble with him not eating. In the end he had head X rays and it was discovered that he had really bad elongated tooth roots. This would not have been discovered if it wasn't for the Xrays. Once confirmed unfortunately he had to be on pain killers and AB's for the rest of his life but it managed to keep him happy and stable and without runny eyes and eating for another 2 years So I would definitely recommend Xrays.

Maybe your bunny is in pain and this is causing the stasis?

 

[Mazzawa]

Just a wee update:

The boy is back to normal and was at the vets for a checkup last night and is off his meds (was almost back to normal by Tuesday!). We've managed to get him out of Stasis really quickly this time - thank goodness! His eye is still watery so he's got another course of drops (I don't think I was getting all of his drops in his eye first time round as he kept blinking!) which I'm making sure are going into his lower eye lid so fingers crossed this works out for him!

As for getting him a little friend, my partner and I are in debate (again) about this and may pop into the rabbit rescue (Paws Here, Edinburgh) on Saturday for a natter and a look. It's a huge thing for us to take on as our bun is always up to no good on his own as it is, without another rabbit to keep look out for him!

 

[prettylupin]

My rabbit had frequent bouts of GI stasis (we have now discovered the source of his pain 3-4 years later) BUT these episodes diminised significantly in the early years when the cause of his pain was not so pronounced by getting him a wifey bun. Stasis normally requires a couple of triggers if the underlying cause is insufficient to trigger an episode by itself. For our bun this was us going away for a weekend, or out for a day. He is a housebun and is very dependent on us for company, everytime we left him for a day even and especially for a weekend, even with excellent bunny sitters, a day or two after we returned he would get bloat and stasis - you could predict it!
When we bonded him with Poppy, yes the stress of bonding (it is an immune stress of course) brought on an episode after the first couple of weeks, but after that he was stasis clear for a good year or two until his underlying chronic pain issue flared up again. He has congenital arthritis in his hips and knees which is unusual, but it is very important with a recurrent stasis bun to do as much investigation as possible to try and work out what is triggering the episodes. I have no doubt that separation anxiety if a bun is dependent on a human is quite sufficient to tip the balance over into an episode.
I think a bunny friend would be a very good idea