X-rays

[Dave81]

Some of you well probably be aware that one of my girls (Fluffy) has been having bouts of stasis over the last 11 months.

The last episode been a few days ago, the vet has mentioned she will need a dental at some point as she has a couple of spiky pointy bits but that's it's not a major concern right now.

I am planning on taking her in ASAP, whilst there I was considering getting some x-ray done to try and find a cause of the stasis.

Does she only need a head x-ray for the teeth or would a body one need doing to see if anything else is amiss internally.

Not sure what else can be checked on to get to the bottom of it.

I've not pressed for any x-rays before as I haven't wanted to put her under unnecessarily but having a dental is an ideal time to do it all at once.

 

[Bunny Buddy]

A few of my buns have fairly frequent stasis episodes and have had various x-rays at the time to work out if it's a blockage/anything else serious and general diagnostics.

Only Elijah has had a head x-ray - he had a weepy eye but was booked for neutering so had both done at once, I believe it is necessary to have sedation/GA for skull radiographs. Luckily his skull radiographs showed he didn't have tooth root problems and having had a tear duct flush he's now a really good hay eater and he hasn't had the dental problems we thought he might have.

All of the ones who have had abdominal x-rays have had them done consciously at the time of the stasis episode. I would think it was worth having abdominal x-rays to try to give some answers.

Findings from the x-rays have shown:

Artie to have a calcified bladder (though his symptoms over and above the stasis symptoms were indicative of this before the x-rays).

Esme has an abdominal wall abruption, though we are not 100% if this is causing pain and contributing to her stasis episodes.

Erin's x-rays have revealed surgical adhesions which most probably cause abdominal pain leading to stasis. This *could* possibly be an explanation for Fluffy that makes an x-ray worthwhile.


Given my own experience with my crew, I'd be inclined to go for the abdominal x-ray first to see if there is anything to find as no GA will be required for that. Explore other avenues if there's no answers from this.

Edit to add: I think from your explanation Fluffy hasn't had any dentals in the last 11 months when there's been stasis episodes (?), if that's the case then I would think the explanation is more likely something abdominal rather than a tooth issue, so an abdominal x-ray would be more worthwhile.

 

[Dave81]

Thanks she will more than likely get the head x-ray as she needs to have a dental done so I might as well get that in whilst she is under a GA.

I wasn't sure if an abdominal one would show anything of significance but from what you have said I think I will ask for one at the same time as the dental. I suppose it's better to start ruling out the issues.

 

[Snowberry]

Do you know what the causes of all the other bouts of stasis have been? What is her normal faecal output like? What colour and breed is the bun?

 

[Dave81]

No idea what the causes have been its just happened out of the blue, shes had the normal injections for treating stasis then recovered, I think the longest we have been without having to go for treatment is 3 months.

Her poos are normally massive golden ones as she eats loads of hay, Fluffy is a crossbread I think she has some lionhead in her, shes various shades of brown

 

[Snowberry]

No idea what the causes have been its just happened out of the blue, shes had the normal injections for treating stasis then recovered, I think the longest we have been without having to go for treatment is 3 months.

Her poos are normally massive golden ones as she eats loads of hay, Fluffy is a crossbread I think she has some lionhead in her, shes various shades of brown

I wouldn't think it could be Megacolon the condition Snowdrop has as that tends to cause abnormal poo's and is more common in rabbits with some English cross gene so maily white with brown patches. It might be worth a read up as well though.

I would want her referred to a specialist for a full check over. I can highly recommend Francis Harcourt-Brown in Harrogate.

 

[Dave81]

I will keep the specialist in mind, I'm going to get the dental done and see what if any difference there is with her, if I get another bout of it with no apparent reason then I will ask about a referral.

I'm confident its not environmental / stress at home as nothing has changed

 

[Snowberry]

I will keep the specialist in mind, I'm going to get the dental done and see what if any difference there is with her, if I get another bout of it with no apparent reason then I will ask about a referral.

I'm confident its not environmental / stress at home as nothing has changed

I would think it is unlikely it is a dental issue if she is having periods of stasis and then eating again with no dental treatment.

ETA- has she had a GA recently? I would be very cautious putting her under GA for a dental unless it is 100% vital. If she has another conditon causing the stasis then a GA could be risky for her.

 

[Dave81]

She had a GA in January for her spay but nothing since, other than her random bouts of stasis she is quite a healthy bunny its just annoying not knowing what I can do to help her

 

[Snowberry]

She had a GA in January for her spay but nothing since, other than her random bouts of stasis she is quite a healthy bunny its just annoying not knowing what I can do to help her

What does her usual diet consist of? Is she bonded to another bunny? What happens when she goes into stasis? Does she slow down first or go from eating fine one day to nothing the next?

 

[Bunny Buddy]

She had a GA in January for her spay but nothing since, other than her random bouts of stasis she is quite a healthy bunny its just annoying not knowing what I can do to help her

Did she have any stasis episodes before the spay?

If not, then how soon after the spay did she have her first stasis episode?

(I'm thinking surgical adhesions when asking these questions - Erin most probably has surgical adhesions secondary to her spay surgery).

 

[Dave81]

Her normal diet consists of an egg cup full of SS pellets split into 2 portions, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, unlimited hay (2 varieties), Graze On (dried grasses) and then a stick of FibaFirst before I go to bed.

She doesn't have veg much as I took this away to try to reduce the stasis episodes.

Fluffy is bonded with Jezebel as I got them together just over a year ago, when her stasis starts the 1st I know is when I get up in the morning to find her looking uncomfortable, there are no warning signs before hand and she is eating fine the day before with no slow down

 

[Dave81]

Did she have any stasis episodes before the spay?

If not, then how soon after the spay did she have her first stasis episode?

(I'm thinking surgical adhesions when asking these questions - Erin most probably has surgical adhesions secondary to her spay surgery).

Just checked back through my posts to the forum as I have always posted about the issues, she was spayed on 5th January, her 1st stasis episode was 28th February

 

[Bunny Buddy]

Just checked back through my posts to the forum as I have always posted about the issues, she was spayed on 5th January, her 1st stasis episode was 28th February

It could be many things, but given the above adhesions would certainly be a contender. I forgot to ask how long you had her before she was spayed because if it wasn't long then the other questions are pretty irrelevant as you wouldn't know her stasis history prior to that.

 

[Dave81]

It could be many things, but given the above adhesions would certainly be a contender. I forgot to ask how long you had her before she was spayed because if it wasn't long then the other questions are pretty irrelevant as you wouldn't know her stasis history prior to that.

I got her and Jezebel at the beginning of October 2011 so it was just less than 3 months before they went to be spayed, it does seem too be too much of a coincidence that she started with this after her spay.

I think my next course of action is to ask the Vet to check for surgical adhesions i've had a quick look online and it states that radiography or ultrasound can be done to check

Thanks for the replies its helping, I would never have possibly linked it back to her spay last year so now I have an avenue to follow

 

[Bunny Buddy]

I really hope it isn't adhesions because given the frequency of these episodes and the number she's had this year it would be good to find something with a more definite cure, though the prognosis might be better than I've previously read. I suppose though having a answer would be good, at least you'd know what you are dealing with.

It was missed on Erin's x-rays a few times because nobody was looking for it, just at gut activity. It's apparently quite difficult to interpret on x-rays but I suppose it's a lot easier if that's actually what you are looking for.

 

[Dave81]

Hopefully it's not that but if it is at least I have an answer and can then look at ways to try help the problem such as change of diet .