Bombur has Enterotoxemia when he was about 6 months old. He needed to stay at the vet for 36 hours. It was pretty scary, but honestly I’m glad he was at the vet. They force fed him and gave him fluids and painkillers. I had a dying bunny go into the vet, and 36 hours later he was happily eating all the food. If he ever had stasis like that again, I would keep him there. For me anyways, it was his best chance.

Hmmm, do you have a strong reason to suspect a blockage? Such as, has she eaten a lot of fabric or carpet?

How confident are you with syringe feeding and giving meds?

Our vet (which isn’t a true ER), will usually keep bunnies there until they start pooping on their own again, but they are not an ER so there aren’t crazy fees (just “cage” fees, which are cheap), and they aren’t monitored overnight. But they are able to get the correct amounts of CC into them and give them their meds on schedule. Our vet also usually doesn’t do x-rays unless a blockage is suspected for sure. Typically if there is a partial blockage (such as from fur), the treatment is to try to push it through with syringe feeding. Your vet can assess how likely they think a blockage is. Not showing immediate recovery is not necessarily indicative of a blockage.

If the vet can give you pain meds (and possibly motility meds), possibly fluids, and you feel confident syringe feeding, I might opt to treat at home if the vet supports it (which it sounds like your vet does) because it will be less stressful for your bun, which helps with recovery. But if you aren’t confident with getting enough food into her, then an overnight stay might be necessary. Would the exotics specialist be there if you left her overnight? How long would you be away at work?

Sorry if this isn’t that helpful! I guess I would say if your vet feels comfortable with her being treated at home, I would personally go with that recommendation. But if you aren’t confident with that choice then there is no harm in having them stay at the vets overnight (assuming they would actually see the exotics vet).

That seems very high to me, but I realize veterinary costs vary widely by location. My guy had 3 bouts with stasis during his first year and has had nothing since, and his 24 hour stay each time was about $100 to $125 including meds, fluids, laser pain therapy… They did all the things I would expect. They only have a tech at night but the tech can administer fluids and meds as needed and call the on call vet if absolutely necessary. So it was an easy choice at $100. At the prices you’re being quoted I don’t know if I could afford to leave him! My main concern with you bringing him home is that you won’t be there the whole time to check and recheck, give critical care and meds, etc. Can you check in at lunch or is there someone who can help?  My vet I don’t believe did radiograms because stasis is fairly common without any blockage. In one case I believe he ate cat food because he’s insane and thinks cat food is delicious (cat food is no longer accessible). Another time he got into some glossy paper which I brought in and the vet said although it caused a tummy ache it would not cause a blockage. The 3rd time I wasn’t sure what caused it. The point being if you have any idea at all if he got into something it can help determine how likely a blockage is.

@pinkiemarie my vet is on the same page regarding blockages (and he sees A LOT of rabbits).

Slightly off topic, but when Thor has had stasis, the vet advised me to feed critical care every 4 hours (which I also believe is what it says on the package). Does anyone have other data on how often to feed critical care during stasis?

Not sure if it is relevant, but here is my experience with vets and stasis: We have a pretty good exotic vet here. My vet is also of the opinion that blockages are commonly not the cause of stasis.

Thor has had stasis three times, monitored at home twice, then had to stay at the vet for 2 nights once. The difference between these times was that when she stayed overnight her temperature was low (99F), which they said was a sign that she was in danger of passing if not consistently monitored. I do think it is much less stressful for the bun to be at home if at all possible!

(((good vibes for Stormi))) let us know how she is!

my vet that moved was also in agreement with every 4 hours.

I can imagine every 4 hours being better to keep a steady amount of food coming, plus it would probably be helpful when it’s hard to get a large amount of food into the bun at once.

Oh good thanks for the update! I hope your little one is pooping soon!

Fingers crossed! My vet says CC every 3-4 hours, although not during the night, because the bun needs to rest. My 1.5 kilo bun got 15-20 ml CC per portion. (That was all he ate, if the bun eats a little bit on their own, you dont have to feed quite as much CC(. Radiographs to rule out blockage, metoclopramide for gut motility every 6-8 hours. Recovery may be very slow, in really bad cases more than a month. Its important to weigh the bun often so you know if you need to increase amount of CC.