Up and down stasis recovery

[Sam]

Hey guy!
One of my poor babies is dealing with stasis. Lady has had it a couple times but poor Tramp has it now and his recovery is not anything like hers, which is throwing me.

In Lady’s recovery, she’s always  into veggies first, then pellets, then hay and she eats steadily more during recovery. Tramp on the other hand, has eaten a fair amount since yesterday afternoon, to the point I’ve skipped the last 3 critical care feedings cuz that boy is pounding some lettuce and hay. But I noticed yesterday, he seems to decline in the afternoon for some reason and do better in the evening/early morning. Both yesterday night and the night before he was eating hay first, then veggies, the pellets. Sometimes he’s interested in eating veggies on his own, sometimes he only eats them from my hand. With pellets I’ve only seen him eat them from my hands, and I’ve been monitoring like crazy. But like clock work, between 8am and 5pm as basically uninterested in food, water and movement.

Vet is a different emergency vet than we normally go to as their regular emergency vet didn’t have an exotic vet on staff the night he got sick but is listed as one of the ones for my state that is indeed rabbit savvy and was recommended by our usual emergency vet. They saw no blockages in his xray. They prescribed .35ml of cisipride every 8-12 hours, 1.2ml of metacam every 24 hours and 1.8ml of reglan every 8 hours. Funny I know the metacam is for pain but it seems like after his metacam doses is when he starts just laying around and becomes a lot less interested in food. It seems like the past two days between 8-5 He’s lethargic and uninterested in food. Yesterday I assumed it was cuz I couldn’t call off work and had to bring him in with me for feedings and he didn’t like being in a strange new place without Lady because as soon as we got home he improved. But today, we’re home, they have been cuddling all day and he’s still not shown much interest in food since 8am, which was his last metacam dose. He ate a bit today at 11, but not as much as Lady did and I’m so tired and so anxious and so worried about it being one step forward and two steps back. He takes so poorly to the force feedings, even in a burrito he’s completely torn my arms up (with me in long sleeves) and so I always  get so excited when he starts eating again, but now that he’s uninterested again I feel like crying. He also is not interested in drinking at all so I’ve been giving him pedialite via syringe (roughly 3-5 ml every 2-4 hours in attempt to remedy the fact that he is not drinking and has only peed a couple times since Wednesday night. He also has only had small, irregularly shaped poops since then and only ever in the evening/early morning) and my husband suggested that maybe he is just extra full from the excess of fluids, idk guys I’m just so scared and don’t want my bunny to decline because of me. Lady had to have her molars fixed back in may and had stasis because of that and with those two things happening so close together, I’m in debt up to my eyeballs, I honestly had to think about pawning my engagement ring for vet bills.
Is the up and down thing normal in stasis recovery? As long as he’s eating something should I just calm the heck down? Could it be due to the fact that bunnies aren’t very active during the afternoon hours? I’m sorry if this is all over the place, but I just really need some guidance

[Bam]

The up and down thing is actually common in stasis. This is one of the very frustrating aspects of stasis recovery. It can feel like 2 steps forward and 3 steps back  then 3 steps forwards and one back again, and again. The important thing here is to not try to rush things.

Metacam can make a bun a bit drowsy. Not as drowsy as opioids, but still noticeably drowsy. Idk if it is about relaxation due to pain relief, but that seems likely, since metacam is tbe same type of med as ibuprofen for humans. I have noticed this side-effect in my own buns. It is transitory though, with long term use it subsides. Many buns benefit from getting their daily metacam-dose divided by half and given 12 hours apart. Rabbits metabolize metacam rapidly. I had a bun that needed long term metacam, and it made a big difference when I started to give half of it it every  12 hours instead of the full dose once per day.

My rabbit savvy vet prescribes Pepcid (famotidine) together with Metacam (meloxicam) to prevent damage to the stomach lining. You could suggest this to your vet perhaps. As many of us hooms have experienced, ibuprofen-type meds can cause stomach ache. Pepcid is otc  and inexpensive, but needs to be dissolved in water because it only comes in the form of pills.

Rabbits are normally not active during the afternoon, as you say. Its common for buns to not eat or poop much during this time. My bun will come running for a treat in the afternoon, but once the treat has been devoured, she goes back to her customary afternoon hibernation.

Small irregularly shaped poops are typical of stasis recovery. It just means the bun has eaten less than normal. As long as there is poop, this is not a huge worry. It means stuff is passing through and that is  prio one.

It’s kind of good that he doesnt eat too much pellets, since pellets require ample water intake. Some buns will eat pellet mush (pellets soaked in water, plain or mixed with sth yummy like mashed banana), or critical care, from a plate or a spoon.

When a bun doesnt eat much dry food, it wont drink much. Buns on a diet comprised of fresh veg and fresh grass may not drink at all.

I do understand that you are very worried.  It is very stressful to have a poorly bun, and it does get expensive. You can weigh Tramp every or every other day and keep a weight diary, that wsy you’ll know if he gets enough calories per day.,(allow about 50 grams plus/minus for stomach and bladder contents).

Rabbits as a rule hate being syringe fed. This is a good thing. A feisty bun is a bun that has strength.

Please keep us updated.

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