Gi stasis recovery/difficulty with diet

[Squishy]

Hi friends! My little mate Squishy is going well after some time at hospital and then home care. He isnt completely out of the woods and is still on metacam, panacur and cisapride. He is pooing quite regularly and he has a ferocious appetite for fresh greens. He is drinking water on his own as well. the only thing is he won’t touch his hay. He used to eat it none stop and only have small amounts of fresh leafy greens (basil/kale etc..) as treats throughout the day.

When he returned from hospital the vet decided as he was eating greens that we continue this type of food because we were happy with him just eating something. Only now it seems it’s all he wants. I’ve even placed extra hay around our apartment so it is plentiful for him to take nibbles at. He completely ignores it. Even when I offer him what usually are his favourite bits. But he is constantly begging for greens and would eat a bucket load if I gave it to him.

Oh! I still give him critical care mix twice a day which he eats off my fingers.

My main concerns are:
a. What the reason is he isn’t interested in his normal diet of mostly hay. (I guess perhaps he is spoiled for choice now that he has been getting way more greens than normal)
b. I might be under or over feeding him greens. (I spread it out over 24hrs)

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. One idea I have is maybe getting him some good quality pellets to replace most of the greens as it may be similar to hay in regards to his tummy. Not sure.

Thanks for listening and helping us out!
-Jacob and Squishles (Melbourne Australia)
??

[Jadeo09]

Well my rabbit stops eating hay when she gets molar spurs have you had their teeth checked?
You can over feed greens and give them diarrhoea. Can you but dried weeds/herbs they are better because they don’t give diarrhoea as easily and have high fibre.
Have you tried different hay.
My favorite’s are alfalfa king Timothy and readigrass is OK too. And was once the only hay she would eat.

Can you get dandelions and fresh grass free from pesticides or insecticides. Away from traffic. Preferably your back garden? That’s another option.

[Squishy]

Teeth are really good. Checked right before coming home.

What dry herbs would you recommend?
I will try and grab some grass from a friend’s backyard on the weekend as we live in an apartment.

Thank you!

[Bam]

If his teeth incl molars really are fine, he may just prefer fresh greens to hay. I know my bunnies do, they eat less hay and more fresh greens in the summer. I try to include fresh grass in their daily diet, because hay is grass, only dry.
Of you’re over- or under-feeding your bunny is best seen if you weigh him regularly. I weigh mine on a digital kitchen scales, in a plastic bowl.
As I’m sure you know, bunny poop is a source of info on bunny health too. You want firm round fecals and not a lot of excess cecals.

[Bam]

And as for replacing greens with pellets, it’s not recommended unless your bunny has lost weight. Pellets are rich and bunnies should eat very little rich food, unless it’s a pregnant doe, a young growing bunny or an
ill rabbit that needs extra nutrients.
As for dried herbs, my bunnies like mint and oregano and basil.

[Jadeo09]

In americahttp://www.amazon.com/Tivo-Ribwort-Plantain-Healthy-Natural/dp/B00M0AU27O/ref=sr_1_8?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1443138320&sr=1-8&keywords=dandelion
http://www.amazon.com/Tivo-Dandelion-Healthy-Natural-Quality/dp/B00M086ON2/ref=sr_1_4?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1443138379&sr=1-4&keywords=dandelion
Best one http://www.amazon.com/Tivo-Dandelion-Healthy-Natural-Quality/dp/B00M086ON2/ref=sr_1_4?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1443138379&sr=1-4&keywords=dandelion

[Jadeo09]

If your in UK
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Excel-Nature-Snacks-Mountain-Meadow/dp/B004H12KYM/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1443139136&sr=8-9&keywords=burgess+excel

[vanessa]

I read an article by Dana Krempels, http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html on bunnies, stasis, and diet. She is a senior biologist and respected for her bunny knowledge. The standard on greens, seems to be 4 cups of greens every day, for each 4 or 5 lbs of ideal weight. Dana’s article disagrees with the fear that too much greens can cause runny stools. A bunny that is not use to a certain food might get a runny stool, so if your bunny has a delicate stomach, then introduce new greens slowly. Of my 4 bunnies, 1 has a delicate belly. The others eat any new green no problem. I give mine all at least 4 cups of greens a day, and their poops are great. The moisture in the greens helps to hydrate the stomach contents to aid in pooping. It sounds like you are doing good. I would increase his greens, not his pellets, and try different types of hay. And keep up with the pain medication, so his pain doesn’t prevent him from eating. My little guy with the sensitive belly also had stasis and was recovering from it when I adopted him. He doesn’t eat as much hay as the other bunnies, and sometimes I don’t see him eating it at all. So I just make sure to give him as much greens as he will eat. Maybe his belly is needing the moisture from the greens, and that is why he is avoiding the hay. Does he have a water crock or bottle? Try the crock if he has a bottle, to make sure he is getting enough fluid. Stasis is traumatic for a bunny, and it doesn’t surprise me that his eating habits are a little different during his recovery. I think you should keep up with the veggies, water, and keep offering different hays, but don’t increase his pellets. Let us know how it goes.

[Jadeo09]

Every rabbit is different.
Vegetables aren’t what most rabbits naturally eat so that’s what I imitate.

This is because a teaspoon of veg gives my rabbit diarrhoea.
My specialist vet says rabbits only need hay and that’s best for them. No veg no pellets.
I only feed mine what they find mostly in the wild

[vanessa]

Jadeo09 it sounds like you take good care of your bunnies and they are lucky for that.

[Jadeo09]

Thanks you do too, I suppose we all have to adapt for each rabbit. Boo is very sensitive and has to have a certain diet, its trial and error though to see what suits our rabbits best.

[vanessa]

I do agree with you though – veggies are really salad greens. And bunnies don’t eat salad greens in the wild. They eat fresh and dried grass, leaves that fall, shrubby plants, all way more fibrous and tough then our soft salad greens. Our greens are a good substitute – and a healthy bunny candy. My little guy can’t eat grapes. They give him runny stools. My second pair of buns (outdoor buns that I have just brought inside) eat better than my salad and hay buns. Their preference is grass, then hay, then pellets, then salad greens. I did seed my lawn for them so they got a good variety of grass, but grass and hay is definitely the most natural diet. I also plucked leaves off trees in my yard. Some lists of bunny foods (and bird foods) list specific plants as good, others list those same plants as bad. So one of the good/bad trees in my yard, the bunnies were munching up the fallen leaves like candy. So that became their staple leaf food. I would like to keep my second pair on a grass/hay diet, but I need to find more varieties of hay, and start growing grass to cut for them.

[Squishy]

Thank you for the help and discussion everyone!

Squish is doing great! Bought him all the different oxbow hay varieties as well as my local fresh hay source. He is slowly eating more hay each day. Not as much as he used to just yet. But he is on track.

He drinks a lot of water. So that’s good.

I give him a tiny bit of oxbow pellets each day as well as fresh greens. He loves basil, buk Choy, kale, continental parsley and a bit of mint and dill. Organic if I can.

His poos look big and normal but I’d like them to have more hay in them (lighter colour) but I am stoked on his recovery! I have a disability so we spend so much time together and I’m so relieved he is his happy bouncy self. ??

[Jadeo09]

Great news!
I’m really glad he’s improving!
That’s a great idea planting grass seed down for them I bet they love it.
Boo gets to frightened outside in her pen and I’ve never forced her to do it she stomps and sulks whenever I tried. I’d love to be able to do what you do with yours.
Boo loves her indoor jungle climbing on the dining table and chairs and couch etc. Under the bed in between storage boxes she seems happy enough though ☺

[Author]

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