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Forum DIET & CARE The beginnings of what appear to be GI stasis- What helps and what hurts?

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    • Pom
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        I got a 2 year old rabbit not even a week ago, and now she’s showing the beginning signs of what I believe to be GI stasis. It is EXTREMELY difficult trying to help her when I got her so recently, and she does not respond to being handled at all (I heard about the famous stomach massage, but when I attempted to handle her at all even to check her stomach it was a stressful ordeal for her and I don’t want to put her under any more stress than she needs to be under)

        Basically what’s been happening is this: Two days ago my rabbit suddenly became more withdrawn than usual, and ate and drank less than usual. She would eat pellets (I don’t have her on unlimited pellets) but would NOT touch her hay and was reluctant to eat veggies. I checked her litterbox and her poop was noticeably smaller in size, and there wasn’t as much as usual.

        Eventually in the middle of the night she did start to eat hay again, and now today the opposite problem (yet still equally as worrisome) has been happening: She no longer wants to eat pellets, but does eat hay and veggies more readily. This alone isn’t something to worry about because pellets aren’t that necessary, but now her poop is increasing in size, but decreasing in amount. She seems to strain really hard trying to pass droppings as well.Other than the size and amount of her poop changing, the color and shape remains the same.

        Later on last night I saw her drinking some water and she ate more hay which is good.

        I found some poop strung together with fur in her litterbox, which leads me to believe that she’s ingested a lot of fur and might have a blockage. I’ve tried to figure out the cause of her new problems and I came to two possible reasons: Stress or ingesting too much fur? (Or both, but overall she doesn’t seem to have any teeth problems considering she had her teeth examined about a week ago it’s very unlikely)

         Now, I’m wondering a few things:
        -Will more veggies help her or hurt her? I’ve been thinking about increasing the amount of veggies she gets so she’s not dehydrated, but I’m also worried she will get gas/MORE stomach problems
        -She is ending a shed, and I stupidly barely groomed her earlier because I was super nervous about her getting more stress than she needed. Should I attempt to groom her anyways? She is a very shy rabbit who is easily stressed
        -Should I even bother giving her pellets at this point if she doesn’t want to eat them? Or should I leave them out so she’s tempted to eat as much food as possible?

         

        Sorry for bugging you guys on this forum so much, but I’m really worried about this and I want to do the right things so the problem isn’t worse when she gets to the vet (Speaking of vets, I heard that vet visits can stress your rabbit out a LOT so should I try to call them more than visit them?)

         

         


      • JackRabbit
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          Hopefully those with more experience with stasis can offer more advice. I’ve only been through it once (caught it early). If there is a buildup of fur and food, hydration is extremely important to help soften and break things up so they can pass. Greens provide fiber and, especially when served wet, additonal hydration.

          No, it won’t hurt if she only eats her veggies and hay (and water) for a few days. Moshi has a sensitive tummy, and it’s not unusual for us to have to switch him to just hay and water for a day or so (veggies upset his tummy sometimes).


        • Tessie
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            Hey, I have had a few stasis problems with mine.
            So the key thing to remember is that you always want them to eat, regardless of what it is.

            Usually when they’re not feeling well, they don’t want pellets, but leave them out in case. You can also try moistening the pellets with warm water, this can make them more appealing.
            In terms of veggies, avoid gassy veggies like broccoli and kale. But offer plenty of options to see what she might fancy; fragrant herbs often work well, mine love basil and mint. Making veggies wet can also make them more appealing, and it also helps with hydration, like JR said.
            My vet once suggested trying baby food or apple sauce, so the key thing is really to have them eat something.

            I also find holding the food out to them makes them more keen to try it. If things get bad, you can always use critical care.
            You can try tummy rubs, and keep an eye on her butt to see how her poops are.

            As for the vet, I don’t think mine mind it much. I mean, if your pet is sick, then obviously they need to go to the vet, so unfortunately for them, whether or not they like it is kinda irrelevant, haha!


          • Bam
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              I’ve had beginning stasis-problems with my bunny Bam. What’s worked for him are the above mentioned tips + baby gas-drops (simethicone) fed in a syringe every 2-4 hours, plus tummy massages for 15 minutes every hour. The tummy massages I’ve performed according to the instructions on this very helpful site, scroll down to mechanical treatments. http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html

              As Tessie writes, whether or not the bunny likes to go to the vet or not is not really relevant if the bunny is very sick.


            • EstherBun
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                We had gone through stasis several times with our old bun, the biggest thing is knowing what caused it and treating that and getting them to eat again. My vet always did an x ray to see what the blockage was (usually fur) and once, just stress, no blockage. With it probably being fur, our vet prescribed a medicine, but I can’t remember the name of it that helped to ‘slick down’ the fur to allow it to pass easier.

                Things thst I have read and tried, pineapple juice was suggested for a fur blockage, but my baby has a super sensitive tummy so it resulted in gas. Papaya supposedly helps to break the fur down, j don’t know that there’s merit to that, she just naturally loves it and it is one of the first things she will eat.

                Ad far as veggies, avoid gassy ones like kale and broccoli, because then you can make the situation worse. Parsley and cilantro to usually do the trick.

                If your bun will not eat and shows no progress, check with your vet, critical care helped my girl a lot, and usually my vet would administer fluids which would usually help jump start things.

                Best of luck! It is scary, feeding consistent foods, primarily hay based helps (sounds like you’re doing this)

                Also, with the seasons changing if your bun is molting, be very diligent about grooming. My buns first time was during a major molt.


              • bunnluff
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                  I’ve been lucky I’ve never had the stasis in either of my 2. Though they have had every other ailment under the sun. What worked for me one time when I suspected stasis (not sure if it was that or just a small back up/constipation) was I had some canned pineapple and I opened the can and syringe fed the juice to my bunny every couple of hours until I saw normal poop again. Little did I know this bunny would be know as my constipation bunny. She almost never has diarrhea but has spells of teeny tiny poops sometimes. When I up the veggies and add in Bene-bac, all seems to be well with both of my bunnies poops. Really well formed and massive piles in the litterbox.


                • Sarita
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                    I recommend you read this article from a very experienced rabbit vet named Dr. Susan Brown and read her suggestions on what to do and what not to do:

                    http://rabbit.org/sluggish-motility-in-the-gastrointestinal-tract-2/

                    This vet has alot of experience and I think her recommendations are pretty spot on….


                  • Pom
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                      Thank you all for your advice/informative articles!
                      Right now her poop has returned to normal size and there is more of it (although still not as much as normal) and shes eating/drinking a lot more which seems to be an improvement? I am still going to seek vet help though.
                      How quickly do rabbits recover from stasis (or in this case the beginning stages of stasis)? Does it depend on the rabbit? In the article it mentioned that in about 3 days some rabbits will start creating droppings again on their own, but I think that’s in the case of rabbits that have stopped pooping altogether.


                    • LittlePuffyTail
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                        I’ve had rabbits come out of stasis very quickly and others take several days to get their system back to normal.

                        Glad to hear there are poops and that she’s eating. That’s the most important thing, is that things are moving through.


                      • Pom
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                          Oooh I see! I’ll be sure to keep patient and keep everyone updated then and also continue to carefully monitor her health. Her appetite is starting to bounce back too and shes returning to her curious self. She’s even gone out for floortime again! She’s not all the way back to her old self but seeing signs of improvement, even just little slow ones like these, is such a relief! I think now that we have much more of a solid schedule going on, she’s not as stressed and maybe that’s contributing to her getting better?


                        • Flabebe
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                            Thats most likely helping out since rabbits like a routine!


                          • ell92
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                              Hello, I am new to this site and was wondering if anyone had any advice for me.

                              Last week my indoor rabbit Harvey was showing signs of GI. He was very lifeless and floppy in the morning but was picking at his food and drinking so I called the vets for an appointment but by the time I got home in from work in the evening he was running around the garden bonking his footballs so I cancelled the appointment.

                              Since then I have been keeping an eye on him, he seems he normal self running about but I have noticed he doesn’t appear to be pooing in his litter tray. However there are a few pellets in the garden. He seems to be drinking and peeing a lot. I can’t really tell how much of his food he has eaten as he keeps throwing his food bowl around but when given breadsticks he eats them and he has been grazing on the grass in the garden.

                              Just wondering if anyones bunny has acted like this in the past? He is currently getting his winter coat and his character normally changes during this time so wondering if I am over reacting (again)

                              I will try and contact the vet tomorrow but wondering if anyone had advice in the meantime.

                              Hope it was ok to post here, thank you for reading xx


                            • LBJ10
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                                ell92 – I went ahead and approved your post. We do ask that when you have a question, to create your own thread. If you piggyback on someone else’s thread, then people may not see your post because the original question has already answered. Or your question might distract people from the original poster’s question.


                              • ell92
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                                  Thank you

                                  I wasnt too sure whether to start a new post or not, thank you for letting me know xx

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                              Forum DIET & CARE The beginnings of what appear to be GI stasis- What helps and what hurts?