Can rabbits have chronic GI stasis?

[Krose]

We rescued my little guy from the SPCA in August, since then he has had 2 major bouts of GI stasis as well as a couple of little tummy ache days early on. Today he showed signs of stasis again but I jumped right on treatment (metacam, raglan, infant gas-x and tummy massages) and he seems to be doing better. My vet, who is comfortable with me home treating him at this point unless it gets really bad, recommended that I go back on his full dosage of medications to jump-start his gut, so that’s the plan.

However he seems to get these larger bouts about once a month (October 6th, November 13th, December 12th) He gets a little less than a quarter cup of pellets (Kaytee Timothy complete alfalfa free) Free Choice Oxbow Western Timothy Hay, and 2 cups of leafy greens (arugula and romaine lettuce so far, adding parsley and eventually cilantro at the recommendation of my vet to mix things up)

So my question is, can stasis be chronic? Am I doing something wrong with his feed? He is about 16months old (SPCA thought he was around 1 when we picked him up, though he could be closer to 2 at this point) and weighs about 4.5 lbs (weighed in Nov.)

Thanks in advance!!

[jerseygirl]

Oh yes, it can be chronic.

GI stasis is usually a symptom of something else and there can be multiple causes. So it takes a bit of work to figure out what is causing it.
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.pdf

Im sorry you and bun are experiencing this! It’s great that you are able to turn it around quickly and have support of your vet with this.

How long was he with the SPCA before you adopted him? Do you know if he had previous bouts there?

How does his diet differ now from when he was there?

[Krose]

Hi JerseyGirl,

He was at the SPCA less than a week before we adopted him, they held him for neuter (for about 2.5 weeks since they won’t let animals go unless they are fixed, and we had it bumped up to right of the tail end of the 4-H fair) and said that everything with the neuter was normal. So unless they were not telling us something he did not have the issue there.

The first time he had it it did not seem like there were extenuating circumstances, normal day on Wednesday, fed him his dinner, did not want to eat Thursday AM. The second time we thought it might be residual gas along with stress, it was the first time we had left him over night and our neighbor came over to feed him. This time he ate his breakfast, I went to work, my fiancee fed him lunch, which he ate, and when I got home 3 hours later he was uninterested in food. 

He did not get greens there, mostly pellets and a letterbox full of hay with a cardboard box to remodel. He also didn’t have much time out of his cage and came from a home that didn’t handle him much.

We started greens with romaine lettuce, then arugula and parsley. 

[Chelsea]

How old is he? You could try a different food and see if it helps. With my lop with chronic stomach issues switching him off of oxbow to a different food seems to really help – I wish I had tried it long ago. Sherwood Forest seems like the best bet in terms of least amount of additives, but my rabbit really doesn’t like it. He loves Supreme Science Selective and it is definitely easier on his stomach even though it is probably not as good as Sherwood. We also have to be really careful with greens – parsley and kale both give him tummy issues.

[Krose]

The SPCA thought he was about a year old when we adopted him, so he could be anywhere between 16 and 24 months at this point depending on if he was closer to the year or year and a half mark in August.

Did you switch him off oxbow hay as well? Where do you get Supreme Science Selective and how did you switch him off the foods?

[Jessica]

I can’t speak about the tummy troubles, but I just switched my bun from oxbow to Sherwood and she absolutely loves it, she picks it out of her mixed pellets right now. I went with Sherwood in hopes of avoiding some of the tummy and urinary problems that are so common. I figured the cleaner the diet the better

[Chelsea]

Supreme Science Selective is sold at Petco or online:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01BHVDSGS/ref=crt_ewc_title_huc_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
COMPOSITION
Alfalfa meal, soybean hulls, wheat, wheatfeed, flaked peas, linseed, beet pulp, soybeanmeal, soya oil, monocalcium phosphate, calcium carbonate.
NUTRITIONAL ADDITIVES/Kg
Vitamin A 15000 IU, Vitamin D3 1500 IU
ANALYTICAL CONSTITUENTS
Crude protein 14.0%, Crude fibre 25.0%, Crude oils and fats 4.0%, Crude ash 8.0%, Calcium 0.6%, Sodium 0.3%, Phosphorus 0.4%.

Sherwood you have to order online, but they will send you free samples:
http://store.sherwoodpethealth.com/food-samples/
Ingredients: Alfalfa hay, timothy hay, whole safflower, whole flax*, Monodicalcium phosphate, salt, choline chloride, essential amino acids, chelated minerals, B-vitamins, cobalt carbonate.
Guaranteed Analysis
Crude Protein,minimum14%
Crude Fat, minimum5%
Crude Fiber, minimum (maximum)24% (29%)
moisture, maximum10%
Calcium, minimum (maximum)0.7% (1.2%)
Phosphorous, minimum0.4%
Salt, minimum (maximum)0.25% (0.75%)

For comparison, here’s the info for the Kaytee one:

Ingredients:

Sun-cured Timothy Grass Hay, Oat Hulls, Wheat Middlings, Dehulled Soybean Meal, Ground Wheat, Dried Cane Molasses, Ground Flax Seed, Salt, DL-Methionine, Dicalcium Phosphate, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Vitamin A Supplement, Choline Chloride, Mixed Tocopherols (preservative), Ferrous Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Zinc Oxide, Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Copper Sulfate, Niacin, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (source of Vitamin K activity), Rosemary Extract, Citric Acid, Cholecalciferol (source of Vitamin D3), Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine Mononitrate, Folic Acid, Calcium Iodate, Biotin, Cobalt Carbonate, Sodium Selenite, Dried Aspergillus oryzae Fermentation Extract (source of Protease), Dried Bacillus licheniformis Fermentation Product, Dried Bacillus subtilis Fermentation Product
Allergen information: Manufactured in a facility that processes peanuts and other tree nuts.
Guaranteed Analysis:
Crude Protein (min.) 13.0%
Crude Fat (min.) .1.5%
Crude Fiber (min.) .20.0%
Crude Fiber (max.) .25.0%
Moisture (max.).12.0%
Calcium (min.) 0.25%
Calcium (max.) 0.75%
Phosphorus (min.) 0.3%
Salt (min.) 0.25%
Salt (max.) 0.75%
Iron (min.) 150ppm
Copper (min.) 15ppm
Manganese (min.) 70ppm
Zinc (min.) 60ppm
Vitamin A (min.) 3,000IU/lb
Vitamin D (min.) 200IU/lb
Vitamin E (min.) 20IU/lb
Riboflavin (min.) 3mg/lb
d-Pantothenic Acid (min.)….. 4mg/lb
Niacin (min.) 16mg/lb

It certainly has a lot more stuff in it, for better or worse. The molasses would be a bit concerning for me.

We buy bales of compressed timothy hay from local growers, so I can’t really help you there.

To switch foods we did one week with a 25% mix new/old, then 50%, then 75%, then 100%.

[LittlePuffyTail]

How big is your bunny? It’s possible that’s too many pellets for him.

I had 2 bunnies that would frequently get stasis. It was occuring so much, my vet told me to drastically reduce pellets. It really helped. My little boy is about 4.5 lbs and only gets about 1TBSP timothy pellets per day. Some buns just can’t handle pellets well. My vet is actually quite anti-pellet and feels bunnies are healthy on a pellet free diet.

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