No longer about grooming. Worried about possible GI Stasis now?

[Samara87]

I said before I was worried about Mr. Binkins not letting me groom him. But I’m starting to get worried. He’s pooping less, and a lot of them are coming out strung together. He isn’t hunched over, but he’s sitting under the footstool, all mopey. He’s eating a LOT of hay, and I broke down and gave him some pellets last night, although I’ve been trying to avoid them to get him to eat more hay. He’s eating his veggies, I’ve given him two salads a day, and he eats them over a period of a few hours. Right now it’s romaine and red leaf lettuce. He also won’t let me get near his tummy. I cant tell if it’s hurting him, or a reaction to me pissing him off by trying to groom his underside yesterday. I also havent seen him drinking much water, but I’ve heard a lot of rabbits drink at night, or get enough liquid from their greens that they dont drink much. I really don’t want this to turn into a full blown stasis episode, is there anything I can do for him before it gets there?

[Samara87]

I’m trying to give him simethicone, to try to maybe get rid of some gas if he has any, and he isn’t having any of it. I don’t want to chase him around trying to make him eat it. Right now I have a dose mashed up in a strawberry that he’s not interested in. I’m not sure what to do. He has some energy and is doing a few binkies, but he just doesnt seem the same.

[jerseygirl]

If he’s pooping, you’re ok. Even strung together is a good thing as it means the hair is passing through as it should. It’s great he’s eating lots of hay. Good boy!!
He may just be out of
sorts because of the moulting. Mine get a bit cranky and dislike my touching them to get that lose fur.

I’d encourage more fluids if you can. The greens should be providing some. Does he use a sipper bottle or bowl?
Sometime they really like cold herbal teas (not iced tea drinks as they have lots of sugar).
Do you have something like critical care on hand, just in case?

When my rabbits have been a bit off their regular good, I’ve always found they’ll go for more natural forage. So things like willow leaves or rose leaves and petals. Raspberry leaf is another good one good for the gut.

[Samara87]

I don’t have Critical Care, I couldn’t find ANY in my town. I’ll have to go to Petco to find it. Funny that my local feed store wouldn’t have it. >,< Or papaya tablets, or anything else. I did get him to eat a teaspoon of canned pumpkin mixed with mushed pellets last night, and after that he pooped about thirty normal sized poops. And he has both, a sippy bottle and a gravity bowl. What kind of tea would he like? Maybe peppermint? I have peppermint tea bags.

[Samara87]

Oh, he hasn’t pooped too much since last night, so I was thinking of giving him more pumpkin and pellet mash, just in case. How much is too much per day? Last night was a teaspoon of pumpkin, and maybe a tablespoon of mashed up pellet mixed together. He ate it right off the plate.

[Bam]

Peppermint is traditionally used for stomach problems in humans and most bunnies like mint. If he won’t drink tea, you can try giving him just the dry or wet contents of the bag.

Dosage in tablespoons rather depends on how much water you add to the dry ground pellets. On the CC package, it says three tablespoons of dry CC mixed with water per kg (ca 2 lbs) bodyweight per day. That’s just to give you an estimate, since you don’t have CC, but you have ground up pellets. This dose is rather a lot, I’ve never managed to get the full dose into a bunny.

[Samara87]

So, if I mixed three tablespoons with water and fed him that, it would be similar to a dose of CC? I think that’s more than I gave him, it was more like a tablespoon of prepared mixture, mixed with a tablespoon of pumpkin. And I read somewhere that if you have too much mint, it can be a stimulant. So how much would be too much for him? He’s between 6 and 7 lbs. 

[Bam]

3 tbsp mixed with water times 3 because he’s about 3 kilograms, divided up into 4-5 separate meals per 24 hs. But this dosage is for bunnies that eat nothing but CC – no hay, no veg, nothing. Since your bun is eating some on his own you won’t have to give him as much.
That he gobbles is great. Bunnies in stasis or with gas generally refuse to eat so you must syringe-feed them.

[Bam]

And for the peppermint I don’t know what dosage is suitable. Mint is a bunny-safe herb so you could try with like a little bit, a pinch or so and see if he eats that.

[Samara87]

His eating has been good, which is why I don’t understand why his poop has been so weird. A LOT of it has had hair in it, and what hasn’t has either been smaller, kind of shriveled looking ones, or larger than normal ones. None of his poops for the last four or five days have been the average ones. Which is why I’m trying to get him back to regular poop now, before it decides to progress to something more serious.

[Samara87]

I’m wondering if his diet has been a little too sugary, and maybe thats causing this? He gets a few raisins a day and a bedtime treat when he goes in his cage, usually a strawberry. He’s been getting that for months, so I’m not really sure if that would cause this now. He did get bok choy for the first time a few days ago, but I’m not sure if this was going on before that or not. We went to the vet about a week ago, and his poop was fine then.

[Bam]

It’s not uncommon for bunnies to feel a little under the weather during a shed. They may become grumpy or even outright aggressive and you may see symptoms from the stomach. This may be the case with your bun.

[Samara87]

Hmm. Well, I imagine it’s just it then. I think I’ll just give him the pellet and pumpkin mixture during, since he seems to be enjoying it and it seems to be making him a bit more regular, and leave him be unless he starts acting weird. Do you think giving it to him in the morning and night would be ok? One serving at breakfast, one at bedtime?

[Bam]

If you could give him the pellet/pumpkin mash 3 times a day I think that would be ideal, but that may not be possible if you work all day. Is he still refusing to have his tummy massaged?

[Samara87]

He stretches out long and lets me run my hands down his sides, but he still wont let me put my hands under him really. And I can do the pumpkin mash today, and I start training for work tomorrow, but its only 3 hours so I’ll be able to do tomorrow too. Thanks

[Samara87]

So, I haven’t seen any big hairy poops in a few days. He’s not pooping more than he was, but they’re basically the right size, some are a little on the large size maybe. But giving him the pellets and pumpkin, and mixing a dose of simethicone in with it seems like it’s helping pretty well. Still seems like he’s not pooping quite as often as he should be, and I’m wondering if he’s getting enough water? I’ve been giving him two-three salads a day, drenched pretty thoroughly with water. Anything else that would help?

[Bam]

I know some members have put a tiny amount of unsweetened applejuice or mashed up apple in the water-bowl to entice their bunny to drink more. It should only be a little and you should serve normal water too, in a separate water-bowl, because some bunnies don’t drink at all if there’s sth in their water.

You can keep up the pellets/pumpkin + simethicone for a while longer imo. And if he lets you, do a little tummy-massage. Here’s a bunny-tummy-massage video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnuxGLa2reg

[Samara87]

Oooh, I’ll try the apple. He LOVES apples. When I feel like he’s ready to stop getting the pumpkin and pellets, is it ok to stop all at once, or gradually cut back? I don’t know if his system can get dependent on the extra fiber somehow, and stopping the pumpkin might screw things up again? I also think stopping the pumpkin and pellets is going to leave me with a ticked off bunny lol. He loves it, even with the simethicone.

[Bam]

The pellet-pumpkin mash is healthy, so you can wean him off it gradually when he seems well enough, no stress. Swift changes in a bunny’s diet should always be avoided.

[Samara87]

Good, I was hoping as much

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