GI Stasis

[OliverBun]

Hey guys,

My 8 yr old dwarf rabbit Oliver is going through some GI stasis. He’s eating, and still pooping some; although his poops are irregular. He will wake up in the morning poop a little (although far less than normal), not poop all day, and then poop more at night; but still not at normal levels. During the day he just sits in hi “sick” area and doesn’t move much. He will hop around some in the evening, but sees to have very little interest in doing his normal activities.

I took him to the emergency vet over the weekend where he got a shot of fluids and we were given cisapride. He saw his regular vet yesterday, and she did x-rays, gave him another short of fluids, a pain med and an injection of reglan. His x-ray showed excess gas but not much else.

He was sent home with reglan and cisapride that I give to him orally twice a day. 

But I’m concerned because his vet said that he should be back to normal by today after all those injections and he’s not. I tried calling her, but she had the front desk people call me back saying if he gets any worse take him to the emergency vet, since she has no availability until next week. Obviously, I’ll take him to the emergency vet if necessary, but I want to avoid that if possible because they don’t seem to have much rabbit experience and all they want to do is hospitalize him…and hospitalizing him there would both be very expensive and stressful on him since I’m pretty sure they keep rabbits in the same area as loud dogs and cats and keep them in a brightly lit, empty cage. I feel that would make him worse, not better.

Is there anything else I can be doing? Is it possible that he’ll still be ok even though he’s not better like the vet said he would be? I’m very worried that he’s not recovered like the vet said he would be. Any advice would be much appreciated!

[Sarita]

Did your regular vet check his teeth?

[OliverBun]

Yes. He had GI stasis back around Christmas time. It came around the same time as a slight wheezing sound when he slept. Once he was through the stasis, I had him sedated to see if we could find why he was wheezing. He got full x-rays, blood work and some minor molar spurs filed. The vet said the molar spurs were tiny, but she filed them while he was sedated anyway. Since then his health all around has been perfect, including his teeth….besides this GI stasis issue. Well, that and the wheezing is still happening. But the vet thinks that may just be his “normal” now.

It’s evening now. He’s still disinterested in his normal activities and pooping very little. He also seems to have less interest in food than earlier today, which is troubling.

[Lucky Star]

My last rabbit had GI twice and the here are the best things I have found:

Keep checks on his temperature. Mine had a small fever that we had to fix in order to make him feel better.

Have you tried papaya and pineapple? That is what my vet recommended and it worked somewhat. A small dish filled with mainly papaya or pineapple juice with small pieces of the fruits in it can entice him to drink it and they help his digestion.

Exercise! See if he will play with anything at all, even just a little bit.

Distractions. My rabbit liked to have music on for short periods, as long as it was very quiet. Actually, I am not sure if he liked it or if it kept him awake and he decided to eat and drink and move because he couldn’t sleep with the music on, but either way he would eat and drink and move more when the music was on.

I would also try any type of veggies/hay that he especially loves. Mine was very picky but would eat some orchard grass hay as long as it was very fresh because it was new and he hadn’t had it in a while.

Overall, keep taking him to the vet whenever anything changes (unless it is really stressing him out. My last rabbit LOVED the car so I didn’t have to worry about that, but if it is more stressful than helpful you should keep that in mind.)

[OliverBun]

I’m starting to wonder if this is GI stasis. Oliver spends the majority of a day behind a chair in the living room seeming depressed. Despite his meds and pretty regular intake of food and water, he isn’t getting better. We’re on day 5 now and there’s pretty much no change.

Here’s the weird thing–he does poop in the evenings when he is slightly more active; and they’re regular poops. I just put our dog’s bed on the floor (which is, for some reason, Oliver’s favorite place to poop) to encourage Oliver to go to the bathroom. He hopped right up to it and pooped maybe 15 normal looking poops. Now he’s back behind the chair looking depressed again.

Last time he had GI stasis he just didn’t poop at all and seemed much less depressed. Is this still GI stasis, or is this something else? I guess I thought stasis was a lack of normal looking poops….

[MK]

My rabbit just recently went through EXACTLY the same thing: excess gas.
She was a full week on reglan to get her gut moving, and metacam to help the discomfort. It took a while for her to speed back up to normal eating, but Oliver should probably be getting a little better now. He sounds like he might be. Just do what the vet prescribed, and keep an eye on his temp, like Lucky Star said, and also on how much he eats.

[OliverBun]

As of now he’s eating and drinking plenty. I read this forum a lot and I see a lot of people recommending baby gas x for their buns. Do you think that would be helpful for him?

I don’t want to overload him, since he’s already on cisapride and reglan.

[sodapop]

Hello,
I wouldn’t if he is eating and drinking regularly again. My bun took a few days to recover after treatment when he had it. Does your bun sit hunched and look uncomfortable also their belly’s tend to swell and get hard if he has GI.

[OliverBun]

Ok thanks everyone. His stomach is swollen, but he’s not sitting any different than he usually does.

I’m always such a wreck when he’s off. I have to go in to work today (which is a 2 hour drive away) and my fiance leaves for work at 2. So Oliver will be home alone in his cage for  5 hours today, which is making me so nervous.

This morning he had a few poops that were strung together. He also seems to have a decreased appetite. Fingers crossed that he’ll be better when I get home tonight!

[Lucky Star]

Sending you and Oliver good thoughts! Hope he gets better soon!

[LongEaredLions]

(((((Vibes for Oliver))))
Have you tried some simethecone for the gas, and some gentle tummy rubs?
Hope your boy gets better soon!

[OliverBun]

Thank you for the vibes! I haven’t done simethecone, because the vet didn’t think that was important. He also gets tummy rubs regularly. I also work from home, so he’s out all day for maximum exercise time.
I still think he’s off. He’s not pooping nearly as much, and he’s far less active. Last night he fell over while trying to stand on his hind legs. I took him to the vet, and she told me that he’s probably just pooping in different places, so I’m not seeing as much poop. She says he’s no longer in GI stasis and may be acting weird due to some arthritis. So she gave me pain meds.
I’m not buying it. I’m obsessed with my rabbit. I know where he poops and how much. He’s pooping significantly less. He also is not experiencing significant arthritis pain. The meds make no difference for him. He can still hop in his litter box just fine.

I don’t know what else to do at this point. I know there’s something going on, but the vet says he’s ok. I’m losing my mind!

[Sarita]

Well I guess my advice is to seek another opinion from another vet if you aren’t satisfied with what your current vet is telling you.

It’s really hard to know if our rabbits are in pain too – they hide it very well – so while it may not appear to be painful, I really don’t think there is anyway to know for sure.

[LongEaredLions]

Perhaps get a second opinion? Take him to a different vet and see what they say. A devoted bunny owner like you is usually right about the health of the bunny.

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