Stasis again…

[Rainn]

It seems Rain is going through stasis once again, which is the third time in the last six-eight months. The situation is the same like always, it’s on a day where the only rabbit vet office nearby is closed until Tuesday. I’m not sure what to do as the stasis is recurring and I know one of the major reasons is because she refuses to eat hay. We’ve tried almost every type Oxbow has to offer, and I’m trying to convince my parents about switching to Small Pet Select.

I’ve brought this up with her vet every time but the vet is really certain there’s no teeth problems, and it’s just because Rain prefers pellets and veggies so she doesn’t eat anything until she gets those. I’ve noticed that her sneezing fits always remain even after she finishes her antibiotics, I feel this may have to do with refusal to eat hay.

At least this time she’s readily eating romaine lettuce, her gas drops + pain medication, and Critical care. Her temp seems okay too, ears aren’t super cold or hot. But she’s giving a hard time with drinking and water, and I think it’s partially why she’s not passing much stool. Yesterday she managed to pass quite a few slightly small but mostly normal looking stools, but not many yet today. She’s been sitting in one place for most of the day but she did go upstairs and do binkies for a while. I can feel that her tummy has some blockage or something, it feels a bit swollen on both sides. What should I do to help her be okay until she can see the vet on Tuesday?

[Rainn]

Oh one more thing, should I be keeping her away from pellets right now? Do those make stasis or gas worse, or can I give them to her if she feels like eating them? She current eats Oxbow’s garden select pellets so I’m not sure if they are further irritating her stomach or something.

[DanaNM]

Sorry she isn’t feeling well, it’s true these things always seem to happen on holiday weekends.  🙁

I would give her whatever she feels like eating (aside from ultra sugary treats), and if she will eat romaine or other greens, feel free to give her extra, served wet to get some extra water into her.

Keeping her moving is good, and the fact that she’s willing to eat something is also very good. I’m glad you have pain meds and gas meds on hand. Is she molting currently?

Has your vet taken any x-rays? Given the recurring issues, I think some imaging might be helpful (I would request the head and abdomen, so you can be extra sure there isn’t anything going on with the teeth).

Long term, if you can’t get to the route of the problem, there are some pellet brands that are very high fiber and meant to be free-fed. Something like that might be better for her gut health.

Are you somewhere with a local source of hay? My bunnies always seem to prefer hay from the feed store over any bagged hay from the pet store. They also do love the mini-bales from the Binky Bunny store, I get them the oat hay as a treat sometimes, but oat hay is fine to feed as a primary hay.

. . . 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.  

[Rainn]

Thank you so much for your response, as always it’s very helpful. She has been molting a bit from her dewlap/neck area but not too much, I’ve been plucking as much as she allows it.
I’ll definitely ask the vet about getting x-rays, and looking into locally sourced hay sounds like a good idea too.
A couple hours ago I got her to eat her third serving of the Critical Care (I waited 3-5 hours between each serving) and I think second serving of one leaf of romaine lettuce. She seemed to have passed some of it out, but she keeps eating some of her normal stools so I have a hard time knowing exactly how much she’s pooping. Her stomach feels worse at least based on touch :/ I’m worried since she’s eaten plenty but it still doesn’t seem to be easing up. Should I continue giving gas drops? This time my concern is about her stomach getting too pressured from the fiber and medications compared to last time where the goal was to make her eat anything at all 😓

[DanaNM]

If she is eating poops, that’s great because it means at least something is coming out. I would continue gas drops, pain meds, and gentle tummy rubs, as long as her belly doesn’t seem too painful to touch. As long as you are getting little bits of food into her regularly, that should help keep her stable. When I’m just trying to keep a bun stable until I can get to the vet, I worry less about getting the full amounts of food into them, and rather just trying to get some food in to keep things from completely shutting down. You could also syringe some very watery CC to get extra fluids into her. I think the fact that she is eating something on her own is very good. Rabbit digestive tracts actually require food to go in in for things to be pushed out, so as long as she is still eating some food on her own, poop should come eventually.

How is her behavior otherwise?

. . . 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.  

[Rainn]

She’s been a bit slower today, which makes sense because I was watching her the whole night so she probably got interrupted sleep. Some poops were made in the morning. She ate lettuce without any hesitation luckily! When I give her softened pellets she’ll take those too. Hopefully if she can keep up this till tomorrow things will turn out fine like last time. Overall her behavior isn’t super concerning, she’s still keeping her fur pristine and is demanding pets.

[DanaNM]

She sounds like she is doing well! Poops, eating, and grooming are all great. Fingers crossed she keeps improving!

. . . 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.  

[LittleLionMan]

I literally laughed at the holiday weekend thing. It’s ALWAYS the holiday weekend! I want to say that it sounds like you know what you’re doing! Mine also goes through periods where he seems to be heading towards stasis. He has signs that tell me when he’s not feeling well (refusing treats, running away from me, general posture, even his eyes), at which point I break out what I call “the gamut” (gas drops, critical care, sometimes pain meds, tummy massage). Since my bun also doesn’t drink much in general I try to wet his greens so he gets in extra water, even when he’s not sick.

Also, take note of what you’re feeding him that may cause issues (if you haven’t already). Over the years I’ve learned that my boy has a bit of a sensitive tummy. he gets gassy with leafy/dark greens and cruciferous veggies, which causes him to stop eating. We mostly just stick to romaine to avoid tummy issues.

I believe they can’t OD on gas drops.  I think somewhere with says to give them gas drops every hour for 3 hours. I find that by the third hour my boy is feeling better. I think you can also continue critical care as a supplement until theyre back to normal so you don’t have a relapse. Also if you have never done this you can listen to their tummy sounds! I always do this to make sure everything sounds strong and frequent. If they’re faint or nonexistent you’re heading towards stasis/in stasis, and if they’re bubbly (esp when you massage) then you’ve got some gas.
overall it sounds like you’re doing great and your bun is on the rebound. Congrats on surviving another bout of bunny digestive drama!

[Rainn]

*Another explanation for peeing outside of her box is that it’s cleaning day for her box so right now it’s still full and she might be telling me to clean it faster. But will it work if i put a puppy pad underneath the litter, as in will urine’s color show up on it?

[Rainn]

Thank you guys! Yes, her stomach was a bit gurgly the whole time through this so I think it was really bad gas that could have been stasis.

Overall she seems to be doing well. But this morning I found something really concerning, there was a puddle of pee on my bathroom floor (she never pees outside of her box) and it was a pretty dark orange with tiny dark red flakes. I’m really worried that those flakes are blood…which could mean uterine cancer couldn’t it? I know I might get tons of criticism for this, but Rain is not spayed and she is almost 4 years old. Reason being there’s only one qualified vet that can handle rabbits here and she herself said that Rain is really small and the surgery would be a huge risk. Rain doesn’t go near other rabbits at all, and I kind of thought there was more chance of her getting seriously ill from a spay combined with poor aftercare from having inexperienced owners. Could the flakes possibly be from eating a bit of strawberry this morning? The pee left a really bright red residue which I’m hoping is too bright for it to be blood.

[DanaNM]

A test to see if there is blood in the urine is to add some hydrogen peroxide to see if it fizzes. Certain veggies can cause the urine to get darker, but not usually with specs in it. I haven’t really noticed strawberry causing this though (usually it’s things like red chard or beet greens).

I don’t want to be alarmist, but at her age and unspayed, she could have uterine cancer (usually the rates are around 60-80% by age 4, and then increase from there). If it is early though, usually the vet can do an emergency spay and often all of the cancer can be removed.

Give your ongoing issues with her, I think it’s worth looking into. Pain of any sort can cause gut issues, so pain from cancer could be contributing. Are there any other vets in your area (even if you have to drive an hour or two) that are more confident with spays and rabbits?

. . . 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.  

[Rainn]

I’ve heard of antibiotics also causing this sometimes perhaps? She’s on baytril right now. Yes I will give the vet a call today and ask about looking into this. I’ve emailed a bunch of vet clinics in the past about rabbits and spays and all of them usually ended up directing me to the clinic I currently take her to :/ I can keep trying though. Thank you for the response 🙏

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