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Possible stasis? ( Biscuit 2.7 yrs ) is there hope?

Hi everyone,

Admit I've only just found this site and need help please.
Our boy (rescue house rabbit /had since 3 months) has not been eating since 2 days. Never been sick before and very lively.

Had a few tiny abnormal poops yesterday ...got appt at vets..he got 4 injections metacam,ranitidine, buprevet and vomend.
We have metacam and emeprid to administer at home.
Today no poops and has eaten a few fresh dandelion stalks and sips of water.(one small wee) Currently trying to feed him recovery sachet food via syringe.
Should we just keep going or leave him be.
How long without pooping can we leave him pls?
we love him so much but don't want him suffering.

Thanks for reading x
 
Hi

Welcome to the forum, don't give up if he's showing signs of eating, try to encourage him as much as possible. You've done the right thing in getting vet treatment and continuing care at home. Sometimes they take a while to recover from stasis, sometimes it happens quite quickly. Make sure you have some of his favourite food to hand to try and tempt him as much as possible. If there's no improvement or he goes downhill then definitely get back in touch with your vet but hopefully if he's eaten and drunk a little bit things will start to get moving in his gut soon (and the meds should help). Hope Biscuit makes a full recovery.
 
Hi

Welcome to the forum, don't give up if he's showing signs of eating, try to encourage him as much as possible. You've done the right thing in getting vet treatment and continuing care at home. Sometimes they take a while to recover from stasis, sometimes it happens quite quickly. Make sure you have some of his favourite food to hand to try and tempt him as much as possible. If there's no improvement or he goes downhill then definitely get back in touch with your vet but hopefully if he's eaten and drunk a little bit things will start to get moving in his gut soon (and the meds should help). Hope Biscuit makes a full recovery.

I agree. You should keep trying to encourage him to eat by himself. Good things to try are strong-smelling herbs. Crush the leaves so that he can smell them to tempt him. Give him lots of Dandelion leaves if he will eat them, plus any other forage that he will eat. It's good also to rinse any plant material in water, to increase his water intake. While he's not eating enough by himself, he should be having regular syringe feeds. If he's not keen on the taste, sometimes it helps to mix in with the recovery food some organic baby food (Ella's or similar) with ingredients suitable for rabbits (fruit or vegetable).

Obviously continue with the oral medication and don't hesitate to take him back to the vets if you're concerned.
 
Thank you so much for your time and replies. All noted and we wont give up. Thanks for giving us (me and my 2 daughters) hope xx
 
I'd echo Orenoko & Omi's advice. Recovery can be slow, but hang on in there. That he is nibbling is good & hopefully he'll step that up. my vets advise keeping up with the syringe feeding til he is eating normally; its good for keepng their fluids up & often stimulates appetite so tasty herbs / greens offered straight after is recommended.

I hope he makes a full recovery soon
 
Thank you so much for your time and replies. All noted and we wont give up. Thanks for giving us (me and my 2 daughters) hope xx

There is some useful information about Gut Stasis on here :

http://anyflip.com/dvpt/hzvv

If he continues to have no more output over the next few hours I'd call the Vet again for advice. Fluid therapy (fluids given either IV or subcutaneously as well as orally) are almost always very beneficial as part of the treatment of Gut Stasis, as you will have seen having read the above link.

Gut stasis can be a secondary symptom of another problem, frequently Dental problems. Did the Vet check Bunny's teeth ?


In the absence of any poo output over the next few hours I would want Bunny to be reassessed by the Vet. Good luck and I hope Bunny improves soon x
 
I'm really sorry your bunny is poorly [emoji17]

I agree with the advice given above. It can take a few days for a rabbit to recover from stasis so keep going with the syringe feeds and medication and offering him fresh food to tempt him. It is encouraging that he's eating some dandelions for himself.

If there's no output and you need to take him back to the vet for reassessment it's worth asking if he can be prescribed cisapride. It works on the lower gut so should help him pass poos. I've had very good results with it in my bunnies have had stasis.

I hope your bun is feeling better soon.

Sent from my SM-T585 using Tapatalk
 
Thank you for all the advice, knowledge and tips to help get Biscuit well again. It is going slowly but some small success...feeding him a few mls of recovery food after which he has nibbled some hay and dandelion leaves plus a bit of parsley. Very small bits but still and the best thing ever... Just one almost round poo. Moist and covered in yellow mucus tho?
Will keep you updated.
Thanks again
 
Hi and welcome to the forum and I also very much endorse the advice above.
I have a bun who is quite prone to episodes of stasis - the latest only a few weeks ago, so I know how you feel , as we all do.
The positives are that Biscuit is nibbling and having some water and you are also assisting with critical care.
From my own experience, stasis is something which the sooner you can identify and start treating, the better and quicker the recovery can be. And it looks like you have identified it quickly and got vet assistance so you are giving Biscuit the best chance of recovery. I know these next few days are going to be stressfull - but getting food, hay, dandelion, parsley and/or herbs plus any critical care is a great positive. The Critical care helps with the digestive tract. Jane as always, gives a wonderful and informative insight so looking at Janes links might help. And she is right - there could be a secondary issue going on so perhaps ask your vet to do additional checks on teeth and temperature. There are some very good meds that can be prescribed - Scrappy above has given a good one and I use metaclopromide and ranitidine for my bunny when she goes into stasis.
Sending loads of vibes for Biscuit and please update us when you can with how Biscuit is getting on. xx
 
Thank you for all the advice, knowledge and tips to help get Biscuit well again. It is going slowly but some small success...feeding him a few mls of recovery food after which he has nibbled some hay and dandelion leaves plus a bit of parsley. Very small bits but still and the best thing ever... Just one almost round poo. Moist and covered in yellow mucus tho?
Will keep you updated.
Thanks again

Thanks for updating us and I'm pleased that he's starting to improve. Don't worry about the mucus as this often happens with the first few after an episode of stasis. Carry on with the good work :)
 
Keep it up. You are doing a good job.

You need to keep food going in to get poo out. The state of the poo will give you an indication of what's happening - there should be lots of nice big, round ones. Small, hard, odd shaped ones means you need to keep up with meds, feeding and fluids. No poo at all is serious as the guts will be at a standstill or there is a blockage, and you need an urgent vet appointment. You will find you are celebrating every tiny improvement. Welcome to the world of bunnies, and to RU .

My experience is that it takes about 2 weeks to come out of stasis properly. Meds etc need to continue until bunny has been eating and pooing normally for a couple of days. Stopping too soon can be a backwards step.
 
Thank you for the last posts and taking time to reply. I'm so grateful. Things not good.. Not eating/drinking anything unless force fed.
No poos since the single one yesterday.
One gush of orange urine after we massaged him gently. Feels very bloated.
Just hunched looking uncomfortable mainly /ears up and teeth grinding.
We are desperately sad. No one to talk to who understands.
Don't want him to suffer especially if it's a blockage. How many more hours or days could we keep going with the metacam and emeprid and force feeding tiny amounts?
Appreciate folks can only give advice. Guess I'm asking how much longer would you give it. The thought of him not being around is so painful but we want what's best for him. Thanks
 
I'm really sorry there hasn't been much improvement since yesterday [emoji17] Personally I would take him back to the vet as soon as you can. The hunching and tooth grinding indicate that he's in pain still so his analgesia would probably need to be reviewed. I would also ask them to do a blood glucose test to determine whether there is a blockage. Surgery is an option if there's a blockage, which unfortnately like all surgery is not without risk. The orange urine is most likely due to the dandelion which very often strongly discolours the urine. That in itself isn't a cause for concern.

If it's any consolation, one of my bunnies once had a severe bout of stasis which lasted two weeks and she pulled through, so there is always hope.

If you can get Biscuit to the vet today, they might want to keep him admitted so they can monitor him and get him through the worst of it. They would be able to give him syringe feeds, monitor his temperature and blood glucose and give him lots of fluid therapy which will be extremely beneficial to his gut.

I understand how difficult it is because we don't want to see our buns suffer. However this is something bunnies can recover from with a lot of intensive nursing and vet intervention.

Sent from my SM-T585 using Tapatalk
 
I'm really sorry there hasn't been much improvement since yesterday [emoji17] Personally I would take him back to the vet as soon as you can. The hunching and tooth grinding indicate that he's in pain still so his analgesia would probably need to be reviewed. I would also ask them to do a blood glucose test to determine whether there is a blockage. Surgery is an option if there's a blockage, which unfortnately like all surgery is not without risk. The orange urine is most likely due to the dandelion which very often strongly discolours the urine. That in itself isn't a cause for concern.

If it's any consolation, one of my bunnies once had a severe bout of stasis which lasted two weeks and she pulled through, so there is always hope.

If you can get Biscuit to the vet today, they might want to keep him admitted so they can monitor him and get him through the worst of it. They would be able to give him syringe feeds, monitor his temperature and blood glucose and give him lots of fluid therapy which will be extremely beneficial to his gut.

I understand how difficult it is because we don't want to see our buns suffer. However this is something bunnies can recover from with a lot of intensive nursing and vet intervention.

Sent from my SM-T585 using Tapatalk

I agree with all of this and it's what I would do. Once the vet has ruled out a blockage, they can treat him with fluid therapy and frequent syringe feeds. Sending him lots of vibes.
 
Update on Biscuit( Day 5)

I was getting my daughters prepared to say goodbye to Biscuit yesterday . Despite consultation with online vet we were feeling he was in pain and the force feeding was tough.
The online vet said to up the doses of metacam and emeprid so we did and amazingly last night he started eating(fresh dandelion leaves and kale) and pooping (about 40 mosist smaller than normal but not much smaller and lots of mucus (clear).

We have hope.. thanks all for the encouragement to keep going. Today eating a little more and enjoying some gentle cheek stroking. More similar poops .

Realise we have to keep on it as hes not himself yet and a bit smelly . after metacam dose may give him a little wipe .
Good luck with all your buns . How very special they are.
 
Oh I am so pleased about this :D Well done Biscuit and well done Biscuit's Mum!

Yes, it does take quite a while sometimes for them to start to show signs of improvement, but the important thing is to persevere with the treatment. Rabbits can metabolise quite high doses of Metacam and sometimes vets will prescribe a low dose when the rabbit requires more aggressive pain control.

It will now be important to continue with the medication and supplementary syringe-feeding for a few days until he is completely back to normal eating and pooing.
 
I'm really pleased to read your update [emoji3] I'm glad the vet told you to up the pain meds as I'm a firm believer that getting on top of the pain is key to helping a bun get through a stasis episode.

It's not unusual for a bun to get a bit of a messy bottom during a stasis episode due to a combination of less fibre and medication so Biscuit will need a bit of a clean up. But it should resolve itself once he's eating normally again.

Well done, it's a tough gig getting a bun through a stasis episode but you're doing a brilliant job.

Sent from my SM-T585 using Tapatalk
 
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