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How long in rabbit stasis?

Salann

New Kit
My 1 year old male rabbit started to be a bit off it last Saturday, I noticed he hadn’t eaten his dinner up and he hadn’t done any poos overnight. So I thought he might be in stasis. I kept him hydrated, and gave him some simethicone. The next day he was pretty much the same so I had some metoclopramide and Zantac in and metacam, so gave him some of that, as it was the weekend and vet closed. I took him down to the vets Monday morning, she felt his belly and said there didn’t seem to be a blockage, checked his teeth, which were fine and said to continue with the medication I was giving him. The last couple of days he has done poos, although not as many as normal and all he will eat is parsley and a bit of baby leaf salad. He won’t his normal kale, he isn’t eating hay, although he has always been naughty and not eaten much of it. He has lost weight due to him not eating much. On himself he seems ok, when I bring him out he runs round and jumps about. So my question is would he be doing that or would he just sit there if he was really poorly? And I don’t know what to do next, I don’t particularly want to stress him by taking him back to the vets if I don’t have to and wondered if to just continue with the meds a bit longer. How long does it take for them to start eating properly again?
 
How did the vet check the teeth? Sometimes the bunny needs to be sedated so the vet can get a better look at the bunny's mouth.
Sometimes it can take many days for the bunny to get back to normal.
Rabbits often hide their pain, discomfort, illness as long as they can.
You may want to have a phone consultation with your vet so you can provide an update to see if he/she wants to change any meds/dosages or add any meds or to syringe recovery food.
 
My 1 year old male rabbit started to be a bit off it last Saturday, I noticed he hadn’t eaten his dinner up and he hadn’t done any poos overnight. So I thought he might be in stasis. I kept him hydrated, and gave him some simethicone. The next day he was pretty much the same so I had some metoclopramide and Zantac in and metacam, so gave him some of that, as it was the weekend and vet closed. I took him down to the vets Monday morning, she felt his belly and said there didn’t seem to be a blockage, checked his teeth, which were fine and said to continue with the medication I was giving him. The last couple of days he has done poos, although not as many as normal and all he will eat is parsley and a bit of baby leaf salad. He won’t his normal kale, he isn’t eating hay, although he has always been naughty and not eaten much of it. He has lost weight due to him not eating much. On himself he seems ok, when I bring him out he runs round and jumps about. So my question is would he be doing that or would he just sit there if he was really poorly? And I don’t know what to do next, I don’t particularly want to stress him by taking him back to the vets if I don’t have to and wondered if to just continue with the meds a bit longer. How long does it take for them to start eating properly again?

Gut stasis can be a secondary symptom to another underlying problem such as Dental problems as mentioned by bunny momma. So whilst it is important to treat the symptoms of gut stasis it is equally important to try to identify and treat the primary cause. Personally I would take the Rabbit back to the Vet today to be re-assessed.

The following links may be useful to read :

http://anyflip.com/dvpt/hzvv

http://www.veterinaryirelandjournal.com/images/sa_mar_2015.pdf

http://rabbitwelfare.co.uk/pdfs/ROWinter10p7.pdf
 
How did the vet check the teeth? Sometimes the bunny needs to be sedated so the vet can get a better look at the bunny's mouth.
Sometimes it can take many days for the bunny to get back to normal.
Rabbits often hide their pain, discomfort, illness as long as they can.
You may want to have a phone consultation with your vet so you can provide an update to see if he/she wants to change any meds/dosages or add any meds or to syringe recovery food.



Hi and welcome to the Forum :wave:

I agree with bunny momma - so often the teeth are a cause, and a vet cannot usually see the back teeth without sedation. Some vets are able to, but they are few and far between!

Some info here on stasis ...

http://anyflip.com/dvpt/hzvv/basic

http://rabbitwelfare.co.uk/pdfs/ROWinter10p7.pdf


I hope your rabbit gets better soon :)
 
He was a very good bunny at the vets and let the vet have a good look at his teeth and she said they were beautiful! But I don’t know if it’s possible to miss anything Back there. Also I was wondering do you just stop the meds when they start to get better or slowly taper off? He has done more poos now and weeing, so I wondered if he was dehydrated as he doesn’t drink a lot. He could do with eating more as he is still been fussy.
 
He usually has burgess pellets and then veg like kale, baby leaf salad, rocket, the odd carrot. Hardly any hay, I have tried quite a few varieties and he just eats his other food and hardly touches the hay. I can’t get him to drink much either, so I swapped from a water bottle to a bowl the other day to see if he preferred that, but I can’t really tell if he has been drinking. I heard you can put apple juice in it to encourage them? But what sort the fresh or the dilute? And I am guessing sugar free.
 
He usually has burgess pellets and then veg like kale, baby leaf salad, rocket, the odd carrot. Hardly any hay, I have tried quite a few varieties and he just eats his other food and hardly touches the hay. I can’t get him to drink much either, so I swapped from a water bottle to a bowl the other day to see if he preferred that, but I can’t really tell if he has been drinking. I heard you can put apple juice in it to encourage them? But what sort the fresh or the dilute? And I am guessing sugar free.

If a Rabbit does not eat much hay then they can be very prone to gut motility problems and Dental problems.

http://rabbitwelfare.co.uk/pdfs/ROWinter10p7.pdf


Has your Rabbit only recently stopped eating much hay ?

How much pellet feed does he have. as a rough guide an eggcupful a day is recommended for a medium sized Rabbit, The bulk of the diet should be hay/grass

Some info about Rabbit diets here :

http://www.therabbithouse.com/diet/

https://rabbitwelfare.co.uk/rabbit-diet/

https://www.harcourt-brown.co.uk/ar...heets/recommended-diet-for-adult-rabbits/view

Your Rabbit will be getting some water from the fresh Veg. I use a Prebiotic called Avipro Plus for Rabbits with GI tract motility issues whose water intake I want to maximise

http://www.vetark.co.uk/pages/Avipro-Plus_4.aspx
 
He usually has burgess pellets and then veg like kale, baby leaf salad, rocket, the odd carrot. Hardly any hay, I have tried quite a few varieties and he just eats his other food and hardly touches the hay. I can’t get him to drink much either, so I swapped from a water bottle to a bowl the other day to see if he preferred that, but I can’t really tell if he has been drinking. I heard you can put apple juice in it to encourage them? But what sort the fresh or the dilute? And I am guessing sugar free.


Yes you can put apple juice in the water to encourage more drinking. It's not a long term measure, but can be quite useful in hydrating the gut. Just a couple of teaspoons of pure apple juice in a bowl of water.

As I mentioned, the teeth can't usually be seen unless under sedation - it's reckoned a vet can only see about 50% of a rabbit's mouth without sedation. Some vets can do 'conscious dentals' and can see the whole of the mouth and do the dental without GA.

If a rabbit doesn't eat hay, it's usually because he can't. It's worth considering whether teeth are at the root of the problem?
 
If a Rabbit does not eat much hay then they can be very prone to gut motility problems and Dental problems.

http://rabbitwelfare.co.uk/pdfs/ROWinter10p7.pdf


Has your Rabbit only recently stopped eating much hay ?

How much pellet feed does he have. as a rough guide an eggcupful a day is recommended for a medium sized Rabbit, The bulk of the diet should be hay/grass

Some info about Rabbit diets here :

http://www.therabbithouse.com/diet/

https://rabbitwelfare.co.uk/rabbit-diet/

https://www.harcourt-brown.co.uk/ar...heets/recommended-diet-for-adult-rabbits/view

Your Rabbit will be getting some water from the fresh Veg. I use a Prebiotic called Avipro Plus for Rabbits with GI tract motility issues whose water intake I want to maximise

http://www.vetark.co.uk/pages/Avipro-Plus_4.aspx

He has never eaten lots of hay, but I guess the amount has just reduced over time and he has eaten more veg etc.. instead.
 
What other things could also be causing him to not want to eat as much, if it is not his teeth?
I will see how he goes but if his eating is not back to normal I will take him back to the vets, but I don’t know what they will suggest next, blood tests? She seemed to rule out his teeth last time after a good look, but since you mentioned he might have to sedated I don’t know whether to mention that? Also would he need an X-ray?
 
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What other things could also be causing him to not want to eat as much, if it is not his teeth?
I will see how he goes but if his eating is not back to normal I will take him back to the beta, but I don’t know what they will suggest next, blood tests? She seemed to rule out his teeth last time after a good look, but since you mentioned he might have to sedated I don’t know whether to mention that? Also would he need an X-ray?


Hi there :)

You could get an X-ray done whilst he's under sedation.

Unless your vet can do 'conscious dentals' he won't be able to see the back teeth very well :)
 
He has been eating a bit better(although very picky) and pooing, but I noticed this morning there were some soft poos and he had some stuck to his bum which I had to wash off, he doesn’t normally have them, so didn’t know if it was to do with the GI stasis? And is it normal or should I be worried?
 
He has been eating a bit better(although very picky) and pooing, but I noticed this morning there were some soft poos and he had some stuck to his bum which I had to wash off, he doesn’t normally have them, so didn’t know if it was to do with the GI stasis? And is it normal or should I be worried?

It may be a cecotroph which Rabbits normally eat straight form their bum. This is part of the process of digestion in Rabbits

http://rabbitwelfare.co.uk/pdfs/ROWinter10p7.pdf

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=18+1799&aid=2932

Cecotrophs are produced in the cecum and if the motility of the cecum is compromised this can lead to inappetence and gut stasis

http://rabbit.org/disorders-of-the-cecum/

http://wildpro.twycrosszoo.org/S/00dis/Miscellaneous/Caecal_Impaction.htm

Hypomotility of the cecum can initially present in similar ways to those associated with Dental problems.
 
He has been eating a bit better(although very picky) and pooing, but I noticed this morning there were some soft poos and he had some stuck to his bum which I had to wash off, he doesn’t normally have them, so didn’t know if it was to do with the GI stasis? And is it normal or should I be worried?


The soft poos are most likely to be cecotrophs, which are also called 'night droppings'. A rabbit will usually eat this directly from their anus, but dependent on diet and other factors they could either leave them or not eat them all and they get stuck to their bottom :)

some info here:

http://rabbit.org/disorders-of-the-cecum/

http://wildpro.twycrosszoo.org/S/00dis/Miscellaneous/CaecotrophAccumRabbit.htm


Yes it could be connected with the GI stasis and so long as he produces normal poos as well, and is eating lots of fibre and is well hydrated then I should keep an eye on him. By well hydrated I mean drinking but also eating fresh green herbs/veggies that have been washed and still wet from the water, if that makes sense :)
 
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