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BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately!  Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES 

The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet.  It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

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Forum DIET & CARE Stasis worries!

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    • GemmaW
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        Hi all,

        I’m really quite worried about my bun Mini. We got a new bun in January (Jay) and they are now bonded. They seem happy enough (grooming, sitting together, eating together) but since Jay arrived Mini has had a series of health problems. She had stasis in February (before they bonded) so I was super paranoid while bonding them in case she got stressed out, but all was fine. Then 2 weeks after they started living together she was diagnosed with a UTI. We stopped giving her Baytril last Thursday for the UTI as she seemed better. We then had some symptoms recurring over the weekend (incontinence and a wet tail, some grinding of her teeth too). I was all ready to take her back to the vets, then she suddenly seemed better on Monday – tail dry, no accidents, still eating/drinking/pooping fine.

        Now, this morning she wasn’t very interested in food – ate a few pellets and a bit of veg, then when I came home from work she still wasn’t much interested. Would eat nothing but a few sprigs of parsley and a bit of carrot. Definitely less pooping than usual today (but she has eaten and pooped at least and she’s drinking ok) and she seems quiet and withdrawn – she’s crunching her teeth right now So obviously I’m freaking out given she’s had stasis in the past.

        I’ve separated her off from Jay for tonight (they can still see smell each other) just so I can keep an eye on what she’s eating and drinking. Otherwise he immediately gobbles up any food I leave for her I plan to call the vets for an appointment asap tomorrow (it’s 9.20pm here). I do have some Ranatidine and Metacam in the house from last time and I’m wondering if I should give her a dose…

        I’m just tearing my hair out that she seems to have been constantly ill for two months – it’s making me sick with worry. I’m going to ask the vets to do a thorough check up to try to establish what’s underlying all of this. Hopefully it will be ‘something’, but I did wonder about stress…has anyone ever has to separate two seemingly ‘bonded’ bunnies because the pairing was making one ill? 


      • Kokaneeandkahlua
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          Awww I hope your vet can get to the root of the cause!

          I had to separate mine before; Kahlua was sick with head tilt and Rupert was humping and biting her (what a sweet guy he is!) It’s understandable somewhat because he is fear-aggressive, and is developing cataracts so he likely was scared of her strange movement but it was totally heart breaking that he wouldn’t support her when she was ill.

          I thought the bond was broken. We did some play time together as she was recovering, and let them sleep together with a divider. She was so happy to see him. He couldn’t care less. It took a few play sessions and they were fine together again as if they were never separated.

          Certainly there is potential for a more permanent breakup, but that was my experience.


        • GemmaW
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            Yeah, I suppose it must be very confusing for them when their buddy is acting strange.

            I ended up putting them back together last night because Jay was going crazy because he couldn’t get to her & she just seemed so sad trapped in the pen on her own. Means I couldn’t monitor if she are anything overnight, but she munched on a bit of hay just as I was going to bed.

            This morning she really doesn’t want to be handled, is backing away from me & squeaking if i go to lift her. I hand fed her & she ate some parsley & carrot. But I think this is a pain issue. Whether it’s UTI-related or not she’s limiting her movement & sitting hunched up. Let’s see what the vet says when I can get her there…


          • Sarita
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              I’m glad you put them back together – sick rabbits can comfort one another and it can speed up any healing process.

              Let us know what the vet says – perhaps she needs another round of meds for the UTI.


            • GemmaW
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                Well the vet has suggested either bladder stones or her bladder could have slipped back into her pelvis, apparently it can happen to spayed bunnies & causes incontinence. She said she certainly has a UTI anyway. So she’s had injections of antibiotic & painkiller to keep her going til we take her back tomorrow morning to go for X-rays. Hopefully they’ll be able to get a urine sample for analysis while she’s under too.

                She’s still eating odd bits & the vet wasn’t awfully concerned about stasis tonight (though warned that the sedation could trigger it). She suggested Fibreplex, which we have, but Mini won’t eat!

                The vet is letting us use one of their pet carriers so we can take Jay down to the vet with her tomorrow to see her off. I’ve been taking them together every time but our vets has a family of practices so they will be taking Mini off to another practice for the X-rays etc. I think Jay will drive them all mad if he’s cooped up that long!


              • GemmaW
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                  So today Mini had x-rays and an ultrasound and the vet found no sign of stones or sludge which is great news. She did say Mini had emptied her bladder just before being sedated so it was hard for her to tell if the bladder was positioned right or not.

                  She’s recommended starting Mini on Propalin, which is not licensed for use in rabbits but she has prescribed it before and knows it’s commonly done. It’s otherwise used for dogs with similar problems – incontinence caused by urethral sphincter mechanism incompetence (SMI) in neutered animals.

                  A search in the BB forum brought up nothing at all – perhaps it isn’t widely used outside the UK (or is called something else?) – anyone have any experience of it?


                • Sarita
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                    I’m not familiar with that – maybe someone else will be.

                    It doesn’t seem like anything is really licensed for use in rabbits – most medications are used off-market for rabbits so I wouldn’t be too concerned about that (at least in that respect).


                  • MayMegan
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                      How’s your bunny doing? I just got back from the emergency vet clinic with my bunny who has stasis. He was prescribed medicine, so hopefully he gets better. Hoping your bun is doing well!


                    • GemmaW
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                        Hi there!

                        She’s doing much better since she’s been on the Propalin *phew*! It seems to have cleared up the incontinence issues *mostly* (we still get occasional accidents) and she seems soooooo much happier. I now wonder if the incontinence problem, plus a bit of stress from the new bunny etc, was underlying the gut stasis back in February.

                        She seems a lot happier now anyway and she’s been running around and even binkying, which we haven’t seen her do for ages. It’s so nice to see that she’s finally feeling well and happy and getting to enjoy having a friend. Since Jay arrived in January she’s just seemed so fragile and poorly – I was starting to worry that we’d caused more problems than we’d solved by getting her a boyfriend! And we’ve found a great pet sitter who is happy to give the meds twice a day while we’re away which is a relief!

                        All the references to Propalin (Active Ingredient: Phenylpropanolamine) that I’ve seen are from here in the UK but definitely worth considering if your spayed bun is suffering incontinence issues

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                    Forum DIET & CARE Stasis worries!