My bun was diagnosed on Saturday with GI stasis. We're waiting for blood work results. We're at four days now (Tuesday) and she's the same as she was. She eats greens and pellets just fine, but her hay input is nonexistent and her poop output is like 80% less than it normally is.
The vet gave her some gut mobility medication and recommended critical care for a few days, and to continue to feed her greens. I've been feeding her a ton of greens. Her water input is fine as well. Her poops are still there but much slower. I know the golden rule is as long as the poops are there, that's good, but
I'm looking if anyone has any extra tips to help her. I know about baby gas drops. Should I grind up some hay and spread it over her salads? Should I add more fruit? Should I also syringe feed her water?
I am not an experienced bunny owner. She is my first. I'm so stressed out I can't sleep lol
by Complex_Cow1184
12 Comments
Did the vet check her teeth at all?
If she’s eating everything but hay fine, I’d be highly suspicious there are dental reasons as the root cause.
Did your vet prescribe a pain medication? Metacam or Gabapentin are the common prescriptions.
There is very limited evidence for gut simulators like Reglan and zero evidence for dimethicone (gas x). Just Metacam has clinical evidence for effectiveness in treating GI stasis in rabbits.
Rub the belly if you can while she’s laying down, it helps keeps things moving.
Don’t let her just lay in one place, make sure she’s moving around every now and then.
Also I always syringe feed water the second i notice my bunnies are off, moisture is so so important
Ask your vet for meloxicam. It’s an NSAID pain reliever that’s safe for rabbits (for humans too). My vet insists I keep some in the house. It relieves the belly pain which will get them eating again.
I give it at the first hint of stasis and he’s usually eating within a few hours.
My vet tried something he’d never used on rabbits before because we were running out of options. We were on day 4 of little to no improvement, so he gave him a b12 shot. Within 12 hours my baby was back to eating, pooping and running around.
The only thing my bun would eat was treats initially. I didn’t want to overfeed him with treats but the vet said for a day or two, if that’s all he’ll eat it’s better than nothing to encourage his gut to keep moving. It took mine probably a week before he started on hay again.
Don’t stress your bun by fussing over her too much if you don’t usually and try not to take her out of routine. Try and encourage her to run and move about, movement can help gut movement.
What kind of pellets do you use? And have you ever considered megacolon as a possibility? My Tramp has similar coloring though he’s not a lion head and when I brought up that possibility we ran fecal tests to rule out e. Cuniculi and began giving lactulose twice daily after Tramp was in the emergency vet for GI stasis twice in one month. Since then stasis has ONLY come up when he’s due for a teeth trim vs previously it was hitting out of nowhere.
Re: pellets, I’ve heard that using grain free is awesome for buns with tummy issues, we’re transitioning to Sherwood here
You can try some fresh and washed grass too. My bun will always go for fresh grass and mint before hay. Hay intake will slowly increase over the course of a week
Looks like you have some ideas for the GI stasis so I’ll just chime in about not eating hay.
My rabbit was always against eating hay. He’s had mushy cecotropes because of it, digestive issues, messy bottom, regular vet visits for grooming and antibiotics due to the messy bottom. Lots of issues. We started feeding him **oat hay** and **first cut timothy** (he really only tolerates Small pet select) and now he’s doing so much better! I’d recommend trying different cuts of timothy, different types of hay, and different brands. Rabbits can be really picky lol.
Hay is usually the first thing they stop eating with teeth issues. Did they just look in there or do an xray to check? Teeth can do all sorts of weird shit.
My bun has teeth issues, and little alfalfa is enough to get him to dig around and eay hay to find it. Don’t give too much. You can also try a softer hay, like 3rd cut Timothy. Try a hay sampler box.
B12 and appetite stimulation supplements are another idea. Sherwood has a good one. I’d only start critical care syringe if they dont eat on their own or the poops start getting smaller. They may eat critical care, dust or mush, on their own.
If it is fur in their gut with those string poops, my vet suggested Laxatone and that works wonders. Just ensure they are drinking water. Laxatone is contested on whether it is safe, so ask a vet.
Used to give my bunny massages on his back and sides daily to ensure everything always kept moving, he never got GI Stasis in the 13 years he lived.
From the UK but infacol colic drops for babies was recommended and helped my bunny
Update. She’s eating on her own now! She’s started eating hay again. It’s been a very slow process we’re at almost a week now. But it seems to be getting better. Hopefully she will be okay.