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Frequent GI Stasis

D

Dallenxo

New Kit
Hi all, looking for some advice! We have 4 indoor rabbits. Current they are all separate and have their own enclosures filled with all the things they need. We’ve recently had to take 2 of the buns to the vets due to GI Stasis. Both have recovered and are doing fine. We’ve not had any episodes of GI Stasis since last year as we change their diet, exercise habits and cleaning routine just so we had more of a routine. This seemed to help massively and we’ve not had an episode up until about two weeks ago. They have breakfast in the morning of half an egg cup of pellets and split a bag of herbs between them, the same for their dinner. They also have an IKEA carrier bag holder full of hay twice a day for them to go through.
Does anyone know why this time of year the GI stasis episodes flare up or if there is anything we can do to prevent these?
Thank you in advance!
 
Welcome to RU.

GI stasis is a symptom rather than a condition / illness in itself. Rabbits being the sensitive creatures they are will commonly stop eating when exposed to physical or emotional stress & so the gut slows down- there is always a reason. identifying the reason is not always so easy but its the best starting point. Have you / your vets identified any reasons why your rabbits have stopped / reduced eating in the first place?

Their diet sounds good
 
joey&boo said:
Welcome to RU.

GI stasis is a symptom rather than a condition / illness in itself. Rabbits being the sensitive creatures they are will commonly stop eating when exposed to physical or emotional stress & so the gut slows down- there is always a reason. identifying the reason is not always so easy but its the best starting point. Have you / your vets identified any reasons why your rabbits have stopped / reduced eating in the first place?

Their diet sounds good
Click to expand...

I agree with J+B. Did the Vet comment on your Rabbits teeth or if they are at all over weight ?

Some information about Gut Stasis here :

https://rabbitwelfare.co.uk/rabbit-health/illness/gut-slowdown/

http://anyflip.com/dvpt/hzvv

https://veterinary-practice.com/article/working-together-on-gut-stasis

The Rabbit digestive system :

https://rabbitwelfare.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/article-ROWinter10p7.pdf

https://rabbitwelfare.co.uk/rabbit-care-advice/rabbit-diet/rabbit-digestion/
 
Hi, thank you for the links, I’ll give them a read through later on.
Unfortunately no, it always seems to happen around late August/September. I think the cause for the GI stasis 2 weeks ago was Kale. It’s use to be a regular in the buns diet but we then we changed things up with mainly herbs and other green. We have it to them and the next day he’d stopped eating. For the most recent episode, I’m unsure as to what it would be as we have a pretty stable routine. I don’t think any of them are over weight and the vet did mention the teeth of one of our other rabbits, but said she would just check it when we took them in to have their nails cut, but it was a different rabbit to the one that was taken ill. I’m going to have a think and see if there was anything at all that might have cause the upset.
 
I agree that your rabbits' diet sounds very good. Bramble leaves are excellent for rabbits' digestion, so you could consider adding a few of these occasionally. I also think that tree leaves are helpful. They should be from trees that are OK for rabbits to eat such as Hawthorn, Willow and Hazel and you could feed them either just as leaves or give them the twigs plus leaves to nibble on.
 
Are the Bunnies moulting as this can slow the gut down, also do they drink from a bottle or bowl as bowls seem to encourage them to drink more, keeping them hydrated. What type of hay do you give them?
 
We often get an episode around the moulting for both buns.

We're trialling easing this with extra fibre supplements which seems to be helping but to be honest with ours theres also been dental issues each time.



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