Anxiety over rabbit with GI Stasis

[Jksmall5084]

Hi everyone. My bunny Rue has been battling GI Stasis for the past month. She’s been on cisapride and has been back and forth from the vet numerous times. The last time I took her in about a week ago, the vet said that she was completely fine, her abdomen felt normal, she was alert, didn’t exhibit any signs of pain etc. so we should start weaning her off the meds.

This is the second time I’ve tried to wean her off the meds. The first time she just steadily declined with her poop getting smaller and smaller and her becoming more and more lethargic during each day of weaning. This time she seemed to be doing pretty well for the first 3 days, but then last night she wasn’t really interested in eating (wasn’t interested in her treats), but would munch some hay and eat some lettuce and cilantro, and had mostly small poops. She was also super into trying to eat cardboard. The vet told me not to worry if she had small poops, but her lack of interest in food concerned me.

This morning, she was similar to last night, not super interested in hay, but would munch on some and had a bunch of small poops. Then a couple hours later, she was hopping around and acting normal. Eating hay doing a few zoomies and binkies, and her poop seemed to normalize.

And now she’s back to how she was last, night, she just been sitting loafed and not interested in treats or food. She’s been munching on hay here and there and has eaten some lettuce, but it has taken some convincing. Her tummy is gurgling and I’ve been trying to give her belly massages as much as possible.

I am just at my wits end. I am so anxious about her being ok and am just so exhausted. This has been going on for over a month now and I am about to return to work full time on Monday and I just don’t know what to do. I’m just really looking for any support or advice anyone has. This has been such an isolating experience. Thanks for taking the time to read all this!

 

[JBun]

How gradually do you try getting her off the gut stimulant meds(how many days, how gradual a reduction in the amount of the med)? What is her usual diet? Does she normally eat a pile of grass hay the size of her body per day? Did the vet find any particular cause for the stasis, and was a thorough dental exam done, xrays, blood work, fecal float test(to rule out parasites)?

When a rabbit fluctuates repeatedly from being fine, to lethargic and not eating, it can sometimes be due to a sensitivity to a particular food in their diet. Do you notice your rabbit acting uncomfortable soon after eating any particular food? Have you ever tried an elimination diet, where essentially you start with just free fed grass hay(ensuring bun is eating it really well and monitor body weight/condition) for several days to weeks, before gradually starting to add one food back in at a time, to try and see if there is a particular food causing the problem?

I had a new rabbit that kept repeatedly going into stasis, just as he was starting to recover from the last bout. I discovered it was due to a sensitivity to pellets, as I noticed him belly pressing and eye squinting soon after he was fed his pellet ration. Once I removed pellets from his diet and put him on a free fed grass hay, forage, and greens diet, he never had a bout with stasis again.

So it's trying to discover the cause of why this keeps happening with your rabbit. Looking for any clues/symptoms that can link it to a particular cause.