Stasis Recovery questions

[alienat]

Hello everyone!

A bit of backstory if it’s relevant:

I have a 7 year old dwarf rabbit. On friday, 2nd of june, he started having very limited eating and pooping, but because of an emergency with another family member, I entrusted his care to my mother and brother, for three days. I gave directions to them, but they are not rabbit-savy and couldn’t even handle him or get him out of his enclosure. Throughout these 3 days he ate and pooped very, very little.

On tuesday morning, 6th of june, he seemed to be doing better. He ate some hay and pellets as well as some greens. but he stopped pooping again in the afternoon, and since he hadn’t pooped until the next day’s (wednesday) afternoon, I took him to the local clinic. The vet, who claimed to be knowledgable on rabbits, gave him an antibiotic injection (unkown which one it was) and perscibed only 2.5 cc of mineral oil, twice a day. That night, he pooped a lot of big, mucus-covered poops, and then stopped again. On thursday, he wasn’t pooping at all, but was eating a lot of greens happily, just no hay or pellets.

On friday afternoon he wasn’t looking well, and he had started peeing all over himself, as he was visibly straining to poop, but only urine came out. I took the risk and rushed him to a more distant clinic, a 40-minute drive from home, where the best rabbit vet I could find in the city was. She checked him thoroughly and found him full of food, said the peeing was due to straining, that his teeth are perfect and so is his weight (1.5kg). At the time we got to the vet, he hadn’t pooped in a whole day, but as soon as we put him on the table he did 2-3 very small and unformed poops. She said he just had a bad episode of stasis, but is coming out of it.

She perscibed simethicone twice daily, and 15mg baytril once a day, and told me to continue the mineral oil. She gave him no gut mobility aid, and told me to let him eat whatever he wants. There was no mention of massaging him, even though she told me he was also pretty gassy, but since I had read that massaging can help, I started doing that as well.

He started pooping a bit more on saturday, mostly while I was massaging him, but had very bad convulsions 1 1/5 to 2 hours after I gave him the first dose of antibiotic (baytril). I told the doctor and she told me to stop the mineral oil, but continue the rest.I stopped that, and the antibiotic because I was terrified and I read over on medirabbit that baytril might in high doses cause seizures, and the packaging of the pills mentioned 1 15mg pill per 3kg of bodyweight.

All his poops since Sunday 11th of june have been wierdly shaped and sort of mushy/wet and darker than usual. The vet said that’s because he has only been eating fresh leafy greens. His genitals (peenis and scent glands) also got swollen on saturday, but the doctor said it was due to straining and to give him chamomile compresses. The swelling has gone down only a little.

Yesterday and today he ate a couple of his normal pellets, and literally 2 strands of hay. He is pooping more, and without the aid of massage at the moment, but there’s more mucus strings along his poops, which are still wet and not porperly formed, sometimes coming out in long mush tubes, as if pushed out of a tube, and he produces what look to me like very soft and mushy cecotropes. He is still not eating hay and pellets like normal, and it sounds/feels like there’s still gass in his belly. He was a lot more energetic and alert today than all the other days, but he has episodes where he lays on his belly strange and seems to be struggling. He still jolts when he passes urine/ tries to poop (usure which of the two it is that causes the jolt/strain)

I have contact with the vet, but because she has a baby at the moment, I cannot be bothering her all the time with questions.

My main concerns I guess are: if it’s normal for the poop to be abnormal all these days, if the mucus is normal and if it’s normal that he refuses dry foods like pellets and hay still. He is my first rabbit and even though i’ve had him 7 years, he has never had any health issues before. I have read that recovery can take a while, and I know he’s on the older side, but I was hoping maybe someone with more experience might have some insight?

Lastly, I need to say thank you for this place, even though I just joined today, I have been scouring the forum here for information all these days and it has helped enormously.

 

 

 

[DanaNM]

The treatment he was prescribed is very unusual for stasis. Your bun is definitely a fighter! Normally the recommended treatment for stasis is pain medication (very important), and sometimes fluids, sometimes a motility aid, and almost always syringe feeding if the rabbit isn’t eating. Syringe feeding and pain meds alone can often bring a rabbit through a stasis episode if it’s not too severe. Mineral oil is also not a normal treatment for rabbits. Sadly non-rabbit savvy vets can often do more harm than good by prescribing treatments that would be standard for a dog or a cat.

Antibiotics are not usually prescribed for stasis. Baytril is a fairly safe antibiotic for rabbits, but unless there is a sign of infection it usually isn’t prescribed by rabbit savvy vets.

All of the antibiotics and mineral oil may have given him what’s known as cecal dybiosis, essentially an imbalance in the microbes in the cecum, leading him to produce all those excess mushy poops.

In my opinion (and remember I’m a stranger on the internet) what he needs now is fiber, hydration, and supportive care. Pain meds (meloxicam is standard) would be very helpful but it sounds like your vet is hard to get a hold of. Gentle tummy rubs are OK, but don’t be too aggressive with them as the condition he’s in is painful. Encouraging gentle movement is also helpful.

It is important that he eats, so keep offering him whatever he will eat, even if it’s greens, but it would be good to get some more substantial food into him. Can you find critical care or another recovery food in your area? If not, you can make a pellet mash by grinding up pellets and mixing with water. You can try offering the pellet mash as is, and if he wont eat it, you can syringe feed it. You can also try offering fresh grass in small amounts if you have it in your area and it is from an area without sprays or pollution from roads.

The real question is the cause of the initial slow down. At his age and breed, he could have a dental problem that made him eat less hay. Or it could have been due to poor care by your relatives. Does he normally eat his hay well?

. . . 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.  

[alienat]

Hello, thank you so much for the reply and the information!

The rabbit vet told me, since he was eating vegetables, I shouldn’t syringe feed him. He doesn’t eat the mashed up pellets, I might try mixing them with a bit of apricot to see if he’d like that? Before I force feed him? I want to try and avoid unnecessary syringes because he absolutely hates it. He has never tolerated handling and holding well and I don’t want to stress him out if i can avoid it. He has never had any issues with his hay. His front and back teeth were checked at the vet’s and she told me they looked great.

I live in the middle of a city so finding fresh, safe grass is difficult, but I will try and see if I can find anything. In terms of greens, i get him chicory, lettuce, dill, mint, parsley and grape leaves, usually, i hope none of those make things worse? He’s never had issues with them before. He occasionally gets a hibiscus flower from our balcony too.

I will have to order critical care, but it will take several days to come. I will do it, to have it in case of future emergencies, but for the next few days I won’t have that option.

In regards to medicine:

I know for a fact that in my country, painkillers are avoided like the plague in human patients if it can be done, especially anti-inflammatories. I am not sure if this also extends to vet practice. I couldn’t find anything about meloxicam for pets available here in my brief research, only for humans, which seems to be way too high a dose per pill. I will ask my vet next time I get the chance, though.

I definitely try to be gentle with the rubbing and he seems to enjoy it. I also try to encourage him to run around a bit each day, he just seems to be very weak and tired a lot.

I am unsure about the cause. The doctors all seemed to just say “well, at his age…” Which doesn’t help me much.

Could it have been a hydration issue, since the days got suddenly hotter lately, or the very last batch of hay I got wasn’t of the best quality? I am going to try and get him pellets for seniors rabbits next, maybe the regular pellets aren’t good for him anymore? I just don’t think anything changed before this whole thing happened…i think for sure it wouldn’t have escalated so much if I was there when it started, because my relatives couldn’t do the round-the-clock care I’m doing now, and they definitely didn’t understand how vigilant they had to be with making sure he’s eating/getting enough water, unfortunately.

(After I made the first post, he ate about 10 pellets and at least 5 very small pieces of hay, other than fresh greens. He hasn’t pooped anything other than very little dirty mucus the past 2 hours though.)

[LBJ10]

They sell “pet grass” at pet supply stores. It’s usually just wheat grass.

Meloxicam/metacam are sold as a liquid for animals. Usually the vet will add flavoring to it to make it palatable. For bunnies, it’s usually a sweet flavor.

[alienat]

Thank you so much for the information!

I can only find something called “Cat grass” in pet stores here, is it the same?

Also, I did manage to find the drug under the name metacam, for animals, but it’s strictly sold only if you have a perscription from the vet, so I’ll need to get that first.

 

[alienat]

Update:

He has pooped quite a bit today, but the mucus and very soft/wet/mushy stool persist. He has eaten some little few pellets, absolutely devours his fresh greens, and even munched on a couple stems of hay. He seems to have moments every few hours where he goes to his hay and wants to eat, eats just one strand and then stops again. He also still has times where he sits in a corner nearly unresponsive unless I bring him something he really loves, like mint or lettuce. I will attempt to syringe-feed him pellets later today because I am 100% sure he has lost weight during this ordeal, and I tried picking him up today and he just felt so weak.

As I’m typing this, he just flopped over on his normal spot on the floor. He usually does this when he’s comfy, I hope it means he isn’t struggling too much at the moment.

[pinkiemarie]

Hello, I hope he’s feeling better today. My rabbit has been sick several times over the last year and when he’s sick I have started picking out all of the soft hay tops from the hay pile and feeding them to him by hand. I can get him to eat those a lot of times when he isn’t interested in the rest of the hay so if he still isn’t eating his hay well you may want to try that.

[alienat]

Hello! He seems to be doing better, most of the time. Thank you so much for the tip!! I actually noticed mine doing this by himself last night, picking out only the softer/smaller bits, I am going to follow your example and pick them out for him manually.

[Bam]

It does sound like he’s improving! It sounds wise to feed him pellet mush because he needs sunbstantial food to regain his strenght. You can mix pellet mush with unsweetened canned pumpkin (plain, not pie filling) or small amounts of unsweetened baby fruit- or berry puree and see if he will eat the mix voluntarily. Dont give too much sugar since dugar encourages the growth of undesirable gut microbes.

Cat grass is not a specific type of grass, its often wheat, barley or oat or a mix of those grasses. It’s fine for bunnies.

If your vet is very much against anti-inflammatory pain meds, there are a few other painkillers that rabbits can have, one is maropitant (one brand name is Cerenia) and another is metamizol (one brand name is Novalgin). These drugs might not be available in all countries and regulations regarding them also varies between countries. There are also the various opioids.

You will probably see weird-looking poop for quite some time.

[alienat]

He is doing a lot better today, yesterday he actually ate a nearly-normal portion of pellets by himself, but I’m keeping the canned pumpkin tip, in case he stops again. I will make sure to avoid sugar.

I see, I will get some cat grass today then! Thank you very much.

I spoke with the vet again and she told me, since his mood and activity seems to be back to almost normal since yesterday, we shouldn’t give him any more meds. My main concern now is that he’s not eating enough hay.

I didn’t know that, thank you. For some reason I thought the poops are meant to return to normal as soon as stasis ends, I have been really worried at how they’re all different shapes and really soft/wet etc.

[LBJ10]

Yes, cat grass if often wheat grass, but can also be oat or barley. Nothing wrong with any of those grasses. They are safe to feed to a bunny. Fresh grass will “feel” like veggies, but it will have more fiber.

[alienat]

I see, that’s great! I will get him some cat grass today then, thank you very much.

[alienat]

Update:

Yesterday and until this morning  he was visibly improving a lot. His stools were still wet and the wrong color, but they were much firmer and closer to a good shape, though some were much larger and longer than usual.  He was also eating more pellets and a good amount of hay.

Now, for the past 2 hours, he has pooped maybe 1 or 2 normal stools, and the rest has been clear jelly-like mucus, quite a bit of it. I saw pictures on medirabbit and it looks like what is described as “plugs” but he’s pooped 3-4 of them the past hour. He was eating his hay up until 10 minutes ago and I just gave him some little dill and parsley which he ate in a flash. Activity levels/ behavior has been normal since yesterday, with only some of this weird jolting/straining move occassionally when he’s peeing/pooping. The swelling on his genitals is still there.

I cannot find my vet on the phone and the earliest i’ll be able to take him to get checked out is monday. I wanted to ask how urgent this seems, because the 40 minute drive there is hard on him and he gets very stressed out just being in the carrier and I hate putting him through it for no reason. It reassures me that he’s eating almost normal (only has some difficulty with pellets still) and looking normal, but the clear, colorless jelly is unlike anything i’ve seen before.

[Bam]

Ample amounts of gel like poop can/will lead to dehydration, so its very important that he keeps hydrated. In a very young bun this would be a veterinary emergency. I’m very sorry you cant reach a vet during the weekend, I’m in a similar situation where I am.

The gel is probably due to irritation of the large intestine, which in turn is a result of  the dysbiosis, but in my opinion it shouldnt be clear if he has been eating. It should be more like poop covered in mucus, not just clear mucus.

Keep a close eye on activity level. If he becomes less active he might need warming up (a warm water bottle wrapped in a towel will do great). Rabbits can get hypothermic when they’re poorly, and that’s extremely dangerous for them.

 

[alienat]

yeah the vet situation here is very bad, my rabbit-savvy vet is open only 3 hours a day, only on weekdays, unfortunately.

I will do my best to keep him hydrated.

He has also been pooping actual poops, the gel just seems to come seperately. Very weird.

I will keep a close eye on his temperature too, thank you so much!

[GlennTheLionhead]

Im sorry you and your floof are going through this.

I also go through frequent bouts of statis with my girl Nellie so I can relate to how stressful these situations can be. Your post has encouraged me to do a little reading regarding the mucus in poops and the concensus online seems to be anything ranging from GI irritation from statis or a possible GI infection to cases such as dysbiosis as bam mentioned and another condition called mucoid entersis also came up when searching for causes of excessive mucus – although you may have already scoured through the net yourself.

I too have experienced issues with limited access to vets and my rabbit vet being located further away – are there any other rabbit vets around you could try contact for a phone consultation, even if they aren’t necessarily accessible they might be happy to advise over phone and could provide some better insight?

Im terms of hydration, gently syringe feeding a few ml of water might help to keep him hydrated – I usually do this during stasis but use the little 1ml syringes when feeding water to reduce the aspiration risk, or alternatively watery critical care / pellet mush could be helpful to keep him both hydrated and nourished.

It can be difficult to advise on the right course of action but in my personal (non expert) opinion, if the mucus has continued for several days I would likely keep the appointment on Monday despite the 40 minute drive to be on the safe side and rule out/identify other causes of the persistent mucus.

Good luck and please keep us updated!

[alienat]

Yup, I’ve done my best to read everything I could find on mucus, I haven’t yet found something that matches exactly his current condition, except maybe just plain irritation from the whole ordeal. He’s having a lot less mucus today, but his overall state seems a little worse than yesterday.

There are 3 vets who know about rabbits in the whole city/area, one of them I have heard horror stories of and the other is at a very high end clinic that will not give phone consultations and is very far away. The one I went to is 40 minutes away, unfortunately. And in general vets here are very reluctant to help over the phone because they’re not getting paid.

He hates syringes so I try to limit them to what’s completely necessary, but I hive him fresh water in a bowl and he very willingly drinks a lot of it. I will start him on critical care once it arrives, because he hasn’t been eating enough pellets, for sure.

Yeah I think i’ll definitely bring him to the vet on monday. I wil make sure to post updates!

 

[Bam]

It’s really, really great that there is actual poop as well, not just the clear gel! It means it’s not true diarrhoea, and that there’s not a (full) blockage

How is he doing now?

[alienat]

He’s had a lot less mucus today, only very little that came with his poop. However, he hasn’t pooped too much all day. He seems to go about 2-3 hours without pooping, and then have a bunch of them all at once. I have never before monitored his pooping times too closely, so I don’t know how normal this is. His mood today hasn’t been great either, and he has eaten almost no pellets, but a good amount of greens and hay. He feels very bloated too, in his abdomen, which worries me a lot because it wasn’t like that the previous days.

His poops are still odd shapes and kinda wet and many of them are way too big and elongated. He has hotot markings (black on the ears and around the eyes) and i’ve read something about megacolon, but could it be that, considering the fact that he’s 7 years old now and never had any poop issues before in his life? I will contact the vet first thing tomorrow.

 

[LBJ10]

It isn’t unusual for there to be mucus as they recover from a bad stasis episode. I guess I wouldn’t be too alarmed yet as long as he is still pooping and things seem to be progressing.

It’s normal for poop production to slow during the day when bunnies are mostly sleeping. So I wouldn’t take him not pooping for a couple of hours as a bad sign. Just keep monitoring him. If he stops pooping altogether, then you will know there is a problem. If he is gassy, you could try some simethicone.

[alienat]

I didn’t even think of that, now that you said it, he does poop a lot more at night/early in the morning. That makes sense.

He was on simethicone last week for 3 days, I might give him some more again, I read that it doesn’t really harm them even if there isn’t gas. Thank you!

[Bam]

Do you have simethicone baby gas drops? They wont harm but they could help with the gas. (There’s little scientific evidence for its use with rabbits, since simethicone is designed for human babies, who can burp. Rabbits cant burp, but they certainly can pass gas from their other end).

Getting him to move around would probably be the best thing in order to get the excess gas out. Exercise is very important for peristalsis (movement of the intestines). Its a lot less hard on the body than massages or motility drugs.

The English spot markings (esp if the marks on their back are very few) can indicate megacolon. A bun needs a double copy of the gene (ie one from each parent) to be affecred from a very young age, but its highly reasonable to think that one copy is enough to make the bun susceptible. Megacolon can be acquired i e develop during the bun’s lifetime. It has to do with the innervation of the gut, as I’m sure you’ve already read up on.

I wouldnt suspect megacolon just yet though. The root cause of your bun’s problem doesnt seem altogether clear, but I feel that your vet’s intervention was a bit unusual. Vet practices and guidelines differ greatly between countries and regions though. Anyway, this could still be about dysbiosis ie a radical disruption of your bun’s GI microbiota. This can happen v v fast but take a loong time to mend itself. The best remedy is hay, but if he wont eat hsy, there are some probiotics (benebac for example) that might help.

 

[alienat]

Yup, I still have the gas drops, the doctor 10 days ago told me to give him simethicone for 3 days. I will give him some more again to see if it helps.

I see, yeah, I don’t think it’s megacolon either, it’s just what mostly pops up when I search for very large poops and his colors seemed to match, and he’s a dwarf/lionhead mix, not of the english spot breed, if that matters.
I try to encourage him to move as much as I can, but especially today he showed 0 interest in doing anything. He is eating a lot of hay though. I can’t find benebac here, but I will be bringing him to the vet tomorrow or at the very least contactign them if he shows some drastic improvement, and I will ask for probiotics. Thank you so much!

 

 

[Bam]

It is completely lovely that he’s eating a lot of hay!! The importance of hay for rabbit GI health (incl teeth, they are an important part of the GI system) cannot be exaggerated.

Simethicone is as a rule given once per hour for a few hours when s bun first presents with inappetence. Then you can give it every 2 hours. Simethicone is not absorbed into the body, it cant penetrate the gut lining, it stays in the GI canal and gets pooped out in its entirety. Some recent findings indicate that it can actually have a lubricating effect in the intestine.

[alienat]

i’m giving him simethicone.  unfortunately, he hasn’t pooped or eaten hay the past 7 hours. He has eaten some greens, though he’s at the moment not looking well at all.

He’s visibly bloated, I can also feel it when I touch his belly. And he started doing the characteristic “pressing his belly/back end on the floor” and seems to be straining to poop again. The past 2 hours he has also been reluctant to eat the greens. He has 0 interest in running around nevermind how much I encourage him to. I can hear gurgling sounds from his belly too. His temperature is still good. It is currently 3am here so calling a vet is out of the question :/

[Bam]

How is he doing now? He does seem to need a vet now. The gurgling sounds means things are moving, but there is gas. The gas has to come out. This is my favorite bunny massage video, at around 4 minutes Mary S Cotter demonstates how to very gently elevate the bunny butt to help gas escape:

https://youtu.be/JnuxGLa2reg

The rabbit in the video is very well behaved, when I’ve had to do this type of thing I’ve had the rabbit in my lap, not on a table.

 

 

[alienat]

Okay so, he was doing worse and worse, didn’t poop for about 12 hours in total. At 8am he thankfully passed a lot of poop with some mucus, and since then he’s been eating both hay, greens and pellets and passing poop/looking active and not like he’s in pain. It is now 2pm, I am going to buy him some new pellets today because I think the reason he isn’t eating the ones he has now is that I switched too abruptly to the ones for senior rabbits (thinking they might be better/encourage him to eat more) and he doesn’t like them.

I spoke with the vet and she said that short of putting him under aneasthesia to xray him she can’t do anything more, and that because of his age that’s dangerous. She also said to continue giving him simethicone twice daily (last night, as was adivsed here, I gave him a dose every hour for the first 3 hours and then every two hours until earlier today).

Thank you so much for the video link! I happened to watch it when this whole thing started and I have been  using this technique to massage him/ elevate his bum since then, and even though I keep him on a desk to do it, and he hates handling normally, he seems to enjoy it and can sit there for hours getting his belly rubbed.

I will keep monitoring him and posting updates.

[Bam]

We’d be very happy for updates! Fingers crossed that he’s on his way to recovery now!

[alienat]

Update!

The past two days he’s gotten nearly back to normal, his appetite is huge as it always has been, he’s eating pellets, hay and greens in good quantities. His overall mood and activity is also looking completely normal.

The poops haven’t yet returned to normal shapes, but their quantity is good, and today there was yet another big blob of mucus along with 2 poops right in the middle of his enclosure. I suppose his gut is still irritated?

Another thing which isn’t an issue but I find interesting is that while he was perfectly litter-box trained before, almost exclusively pooping in his litter box, ever since this whole thing started, he just poops and pees everywhere, even in his favorite sleeping spots, or randomly across the middle of the floor, which he never ever did before. It’s not a big deal for me, just something strange.

I also wanted to thank everyone here one more time for yoru support and advice, it all really really helped me stay calm. 🙂

[DanaNM]

Wonderful news! As his appetite continues to stay normal his poops will likely return to normal. That was a very bad bout of stasis so I wouldn’t be surprised if it took some time. Being in pain can cause buns to lose box habits as well.

. . . 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.  

[alienat]

I see, the vet also said it’s probably because of how upsetting it all was for him, that’s good to know! Thank you!

[LBJ10]

That’s great! Glad to hear he is doing better. Keep in mind he is also 7 years old. Perhaps the stasis triggered other pains in his body, like arthritis pain. Does he have a litter box with a cut out side?

[alienat]

Thank you, I will definitely mention arthritis to the vet next I take him there. His litterbox does have an entire side that’s like 2cm from the floor so he can enter very easily.

[Author]

Messages