Bunny doesn’t eat and poop at night after recovering from gi stasis

[neyth]

<p class=”_1qeIAgB0cPwnLhDF9XSiJM”>Hi guys, I’m new to the forum.
My bunny is a 4 years old only child. I’m with her all day and she’s free roam except for the bedroom, so she’s alone during the night.
About a month and a half ago she had a case of gi stasis that was treated at the vet and since then I noticed she doesn’t eat and poop much (if at all) during the night and in the morning I find her on the same chair I left her laying at night.</p>
<p class=”_1qeIAgB0cPwnLhDF9XSiJM”>When I wake up I offer her food and she eats it without much enthusiasm, then she usually goes poop and it’s small and dry. In a couple of hours, she starts progressively being more active and starts eating on her own and pooping normally, except for the occasional “doubles” of poop (two poop drops merged together). She eats a ton of hay during the day, she doesn’t eat much pellet which she loved prior to the gi stasis.</p>
<p class=”_1qeIAgB0cPwnLhDF9XSiJM”>Vet checked her teeth, did an x-ray and said she’s healthy.

Do you think these might be signs of depression/loneliness or something else health-related my vet didn’t think of? I don’t mind her sleeping at night but the small poop is concerning, especially considering she’s prone to stasis. Also, if I wake up later than usual, she “wakes up” (or starts being active) later too. Lastly, she peed on me one morning I woke up later, which she never did even before getting spayed.</p>

[DanaNM]

Hmmm, it seems like something else might be going on health-wise. Can you describe her diet in detail, just so we can get a full picture? It is really good she eats a lot of hay, but that also makes it surprising that her poops are small still. I wonder if there could be an ingredient in her pellets that doesn’t agree with her?

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[neyth]

She used to eat about 120 grams of three to four different veggies (it should convert to about 1,5 cups but I’m not entirely sure) plus 40 grams (should be about 2/3 cup) of Versele Laga Cuni Complete Pellet (it’s a European brand approved by vets) which she always ate.
I’m saying used because after the stasis she had loose stool for a while so I reduced her veggies intake and I’m just now slowly reintroducing them and she’s now at 40 grams of veggies (half a cup) and 1/3 cup of pellet at most, plus a lot of timothy and meadow hay. By the way, her pellet is a lot larger than the oxbow so 1/3 cup might seem a lot but it’s a lot less than the recommended dose.
I tried switching her pellet to oxbow and bunny (one of the best European brands) but she refuses to eat those.

[Bam]

Cuni complete is an extruded pellet, so it weighs roughly half as much as Oxbow pellets do per volume. (I have control weighed these 2 brands against each other). As you are saying, its weight that matters. 2/3 cup is still a lot, though, unless she’s a big rabbit.

Just the other day I read in a Facebook group that Versele Laga has changed the recipe for CuniComplete and that many buns dont approve of the change.

(There are other brands than Oxbow  that are good, for example Burgess and Supreme Science Selective. A good pellet should have at least 20% fiber.)

Its great that she’s eating hay. Hay is more important than pellets for an adult bun.

When she was treated for stasis, did the vet look at her teeth at all?

 

 

 

 

[neyth]

Yes he checked front teeth and molars using an otoscope. It’s great she’s eating hay but I’m worrying she won’t get enough nutrients without pellet. And that strange behavior of being inactive when I’m sleeping is worrying me too since it’s followed in the morning by a batch of small poops

[Bam]

As long as she eats some pellets and lots of hay, she wont get nutritional deficits. Its good to keep an eye on her weight though. I weigh my bun in a bowl on kitchen scales. Ideally you want to weigh a bun every week and write down the weight. If you find she’s losing weight sth isnt right.

Small poops first thing in the morning probably means she’s been inactive during the night. Do the poops go back to normal size during the day?

 

[neyth]

Yep they progressively go back to normal size during the day. I’ll start weighing her weekly, thank you for the suggestion. Do you think 1/3 cup of versele laga is a good amount? she weighs about 2,2 kg

[DanaNM]

It is often hard or impossible to see the back molars without anesthesia or x-ray, bunnies have 24 molars in that tiny mouth. So it’s possible she has molar spurs in the back that the vet couldn’t see.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[neyth]

mh they did multiple full-body x-ray for the stasis, but it’s probably better if I get an appointment to have her teeth checked

[DanaNM]

Gotcha! Checking the teeth more thoroughly would be my next move based on her symptoms!

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

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