Am I expecting too much too soon? (Stasis)

Fergie came home yesterday am and was pretty much back to his normal self by lunch time... Ate pretty much everything put in front of him, seemed less keen on hay but wasn't too worried seeing as he's only just started eating normally again.

We had pretty decent sized poos (darker than usually) but lots of them last night which was great but today I just feel like we've had a bit of a back step

I've given him a very teeny amount of pellets am and pm just to check he's eating. He wasn't very interested this morning but ate them eventually, this afternoon he is not bothered at all. He's had some herbs and spring greens and ate them fine though. Worryingly he is definitely not bothering much with hay

He's still on meds 3x daily. Last time we had a reason for stasis and even after a dental he jumped straight into his hay nomming away and that hasn't happened this time. His poos have also got smaller than they were last night and I can't see any hay in them.

Don't know if I'm expecting too much too quick... Just disappointing how well he was doing last night

Is he having a good fluid intake ?

Can you remind me when he last had a Dental ?

Jack's-Jane said:

Is he having a good fluid intake ?

Can you remind me when he last had a Dental ?

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He seems to be drinking ok, I've been changing his water 3x a day to make sure it's fresh.

His last dental was less than 3 weeks ago, the vet did check again on Sunday but he said they were fine

I'm sure he's just trying to worry me a bit more!

Holhol said:

He seems to be drinking ok, I've been changing his water 3x a day to make sure it's fresh.

His last dental was less than 3 weeks ago, the vet did check again on Sunday but he said they were fine

I'm sure he's just trying to worry me a bit more!

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Did the Vet comment on the precise nature of his Dental problems ?

Jack's-Jane said:

Did the Vet comment on the precise nature of his Dental problems ?

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If I remember rightly it was 2 teeth on either side of the lower arcade (2 RHS, 2 LHS) that had some really minor spurs I think on the tongue side. Absolutely no damage or ulceration to the tongue or cheeks, upper arcade was absolutely fine.

He's been eating tonnes of hay recently - definitely ate a huge pile the night before he started being stasisy and has been eating at least body sized ball per day. It's only since yesterday morning he's been picky with it so not sure whether to put it down to just not having full appetite back yet. He has eaten some overnight but not as much as usual x

Holhol said:

If I remember rightly it was 2 teeth on either side of the lower arcade (2 RHS, 2 LHS) that had some really minor spurs I think on the tongue side. Absolutely no damage or ulceration to the tongue or cheeks, upper arcade was absolutely fine.

He's been eating tonnes of hay recently - definitely ate a huge pile the night before he started being stasisy and has been eating at least body sized ball per day. It's only since yesterday morning he's been picky with it so not sure whether to put it down to just not having full appetite back yet. He has eaten some overnight but not as much as usual x

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Hmmmmmm, I am still thinking that pellets may be playing a part. Of course I could be very wrong. But having seen the dramatic results after stopping feeding pellets to one of my 'gut problem' Rabbits I will always consider pellets to have the potential to cause a GI tract problems in some Rabbits.

Jack's-Jane said:

Hmmmmmm, I am still thinking that pellets may be playing a part. Of course I could be very wrong. But having seen the dramatic results after stopping feeding pellets to one of my 'gut problem' Rabbits I will always consider pellets to have the potential to cause a GI tract problems in some Rabbits.

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That's what I'm seriously thinking at the moment... He's on meds til Thursday so I was planning on cutting them out on Friday, he's already dropped to a sprinkle of them today but at the moment he's getting anything that will get him to eat. I think as soon as his appetites back theyre going - he is quite happy with some herbs for breakfast instead

I've just been and bought a couple of different hays to see if it's him being fussy, hoping by Thursday he'll be back to eating everything!

Holhol said:

That's what I'm seriously thinking at the moment... He's on meds til Thursday so I was planning on cutting them out on Friday, he's already dropped to a sprinkle of them today but at the moment he's getting anything that will get him to eat. I think as soon as his appetites back theyre going - he is quite happy with some herbs for breakfast instead

I've just been and bought a couple of different hays to see if it's him being fussy, hoping by Thursday he'll be back to eating everything!

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Just caught up with this thread ... I hope so too! You have been through enough stasis to last a lifetime I should imagine :shock:

Jack's-Jane said:

Hmmmmmm, I am still thinking that pellets may be playing a part. Of course I could be very wrong. But having seen the dramatic results after stopping feeding pellets to one of my 'gut problem' Rabbits I will always consider pellets to have the potential to cause a GI tract problems in some Rabbits.

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I have also had a bunny who would have GI issues regularly. When she felt well she would eat pellets like they were going out of style. For a long time I thought it was a good sign, until I realized she would always get worse after she seemed to be getting better. Although I did not take her off pellets entirely, I did limit her pellets and spread the feeding throughout the day so she would not binge and overload her gut. When she went back to eating her hay well, I cut back even more on her pellets to a tablespoon or less per day.

Is your bunny on any pain meds?
Before stopping meds early, check with your vet to see if the dosage should be lowered to a maintenance level to your bun does not relapse.

MightyMax said:

Just caught up with this thread ... I hope so too! You have been through enough stasis to last a lifetime I should imagine :shock:

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He seems a little bit better this morning. I gave him a couple of pellets and he ate them straight away and it looks like he's eaten some hay overnight - there were a couple of little poo piles in his litter tray/hay area! still waiting for nice golden poos though...

Think this is started to get to me a bit - had a bad dream about having 6 babies all in stasis at the same time, they were talking to and telling me their tummies hurt! :shock:

bunny momma said:

I have also had a bunny who would have GI issues regularly. When she felt well she would eat pellets like they were going out of style. For a long time I thought it was a good sign, until I realized she would always get worse after she seemed to be getting better. Although I did not take her off pellets entirely, I did limit her pellets and spread the feeding throughout the day so she would not binge and overload her gut. When she went back to eating her hay well, I cut back even more on her pellets to a tablespoon or less per day.

Is your bunny on any pain meds?
Before stopping meds early, check with your vet to see if the dosage should be lowered to a maintenance level to your bun does not relapse.

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That's fairly similar to mine - but he only got 1/2 egg cup per day before this stasis split over 2 feeds. He's had it dropped to 1/4 spread over 2 feeds (he gets about 8 pellets at a time now) just so I can see he's eating at the moment

He's on metacam 2x daily - not stopping meds earlier than advised but only on 3 days of gut stimulants this time as he was eating much better, he's on metacam for 5days so last one is Saturday

Hoping I've seen a bit of an improvement this morning but getting very sick of stasis!

Holhol said:

He seems a little bit better this morning. I gave him a couple of pellets and he ate them straight away and it looks like he's eaten some hay overnight - there were a couple of little poo piles in his litter tray/hay area! still waiting for nice golden poos though...

Think this is started to get to me a bit - had a bad dream about having 6 babies all in stasis at the same time, they were talking to and telling me their tummies hurt! :shock:

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Oh goodness poor you!

I think you are fast becoming the Forum expert on unexplained stasis. I have to say it's rare I get to the bottom of an episode of stasis, and really find what it was all about. I think what we feed them and stress play a bigger part than we all imagine. Or maybe that's just my buns

MightyMax said:

Oh goodness poor you!

I think you are fast becoming the Forum expert on unexplained stasis. I have to say it's rare I get to the bottom of an episode of stasis, and really find what it was all about. I think what we feed them and stress play a bigger part than we all imagine. Or maybe that's just my buns

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That is all I can imagine it must be! Nice to know that the stress of stasis isn't affecting fergie in the slightest though - he's just been metaclopped and when I set him free he nommed his basil and did a big flop!

Holhol said:

That's fairly similar to mine - but he only got 1/2 egg cup per day before this stasis split over 2 feeds. He's had it dropped to 1/4 spread over 2 feeds (he gets about 8 pellets at a time now) just so I can see he's eating at the moment

He's on metacam 2x daily - not stopping meds earlier than advised but only on 3 days of gut stimulants this time as he was eating much better, he's on metacam for 5days so last one is Saturday

Hoping I've seen a bit of an improvement this morning but getting very sick of stasis!

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Thanks for the update. Stasis can be a stubborn problem and it is often hard to determine the underlying cause.

It was also stressful for me to have a loving pet with stasis. It is often like being on a roller coaster, with the first hill being the highest yet more to come.