lynne2809
Well-Known Member
Hi all!
I have a 1.5 year old neutered male Lionhead named Mickey. I rescued him when he was around 2-3 months old from a terrible situation of neglect.
I absolutely adore him and he travels with me to and from college (my college is about 2.5 hours from my home).
Mickey has never had any health issues until about 2 weeks ago. Mickey and I moved back to college about a month ago and he seemed to be settling in nicely and he adjusted to our new apartment quickly after being at home with me all summer. I did not change anything in his diet. The main change was that while I am home for the summer, Mickey was free roam 24/7 and I never locked him in his cage. However, while I am at school, I put Mickey in his cage while I am gone for class and while I am asleep at night. About 1-2 weeks after we returned to college, I noticed that Mickey was not acting himself. He was hiding and would not take treats from me, but he had been eating and pooping normally during the day, so I assumed he was just in a strange mood. I put him in his cage for the evening assuming that he would eat and poop a ton overnight (like he always does). I woke up the next morning and he had not eaten or pooped at all and he was hunched in the corner of his cage. I started treatment with Critical Care, baby Simethicone drops, and monitored him all day. After about 12 hours, he still would not eat or poop and he was not acting himself, so I decided to take him to University of Georgia's teaching hospital (it was a weekend so all of the closest veterinary clinics were closed). Mickey ended up staying at UGA for 3 nights and he had X-Rays and bloodwork done and he received fluids, Critical Care, pain meds, and monitoring. He ended up snapping out of it and began pooping and eating normally again. I brought him back to my college apartment but decided that the stress of being in a new place may have been what threw him into stasis. I decided that it would be best for me to bring him home for the rest of the semester for my parents to take care of him (we have another bunny at home and my parents absolutely love Mickey). Mickey adjusted very quickly to being back home. He definitely prefers to be here as he has full access to the entire room all day long. I have been home with him all week to monitor him but I am returning to school today. My parents will take great care of him and keep a close eye on him and I also have a Ring camera to watch him on while I am gone. I will also come home every weekend or every other weekend to visit him and I will come home if anything happens. I also think that his diet may have contributed to his stasis - up until his episode, I was feeding him unlimited Oxbow Adult Timothy Hay Pellets. I am thinking that he may have been getting too much protein in his diet which could have also contributed to the stasis. I decreased his pellets to 1/4 cup per day with unlimited hay, but his poops are still a very very dark brown color and they are a little bit more moist/wet than I would like. I was expecting them to be lighter brown/golden once I decreased his pellets. I am not feeding him any fresh fruits or vegetables right now while he is recovering (he used to get 1-2 tbsp. of fresh banana or carrot every day). My question is: should I be concerned that his poops are so dark/moist when he is being fed a proper diet and he seems fine otherwise? Is it okay for me to be only feeding him 1/4 cup of pellets per day (he definitely prefers pellets over hay)? Will he stave himself and cause further issues if I am limiting his pellets? I took him to his regular vet yesterday for a check up and she said that he was in "perfect health" and that he looked great, I am just really paranoid after his stasis episode. I am just really worried that he will go into stasis or that there is an underlying cause contributing.
I have a 1.5 year old neutered male Lionhead named Mickey. I rescued him when he was around 2-3 months old from a terrible situation of neglect.
I absolutely adore him and he travels with me to and from college (my college is about 2.5 hours from my home).
Mickey has never had any health issues until about 2 weeks ago. Mickey and I moved back to college about a month ago and he seemed to be settling in nicely and he adjusted to our new apartment quickly after being at home with me all summer. I did not change anything in his diet. The main change was that while I am home for the summer, Mickey was free roam 24/7 and I never locked him in his cage. However, while I am at school, I put Mickey in his cage while I am gone for class and while I am asleep at night. About 1-2 weeks after we returned to college, I noticed that Mickey was not acting himself. He was hiding and would not take treats from me, but he had been eating and pooping normally during the day, so I assumed he was just in a strange mood. I put him in his cage for the evening assuming that he would eat and poop a ton overnight (like he always does). I woke up the next morning and he had not eaten or pooped at all and he was hunched in the corner of his cage. I started treatment with Critical Care, baby Simethicone drops, and monitored him all day. After about 12 hours, he still would not eat or poop and he was not acting himself, so I decided to take him to University of Georgia's teaching hospital (it was a weekend so all of the closest veterinary clinics were closed). Mickey ended up staying at UGA for 3 nights and he had X-Rays and bloodwork done and he received fluids, Critical Care, pain meds, and monitoring. He ended up snapping out of it and began pooping and eating normally again. I brought him back to my college apartment but decided that the stress of being in a new place may have been what threw him into stasis. I decided that it would be best for me to bring him home for the rest of the semester for my parents to take care of him (we have another bunny at home and my parents absolutely love Mickey). Mickey adjusted very quickly to being back home. He definitely prefers to be here as he has full access to the entire room all day long. I have been home with him all week to monitor him but I am returning to school today. My parents will take great care of him and keep a close eye on him and I also have a Ring camera to watch him on while I am gone. I will also come home every weekend or every other weekend to visit him and I will come home if anything happens. I also think that his diet may have contributed to his stasis - up until his episode, I was feeding him unlimited Oxbow Adult Timothy Hay Pellets. I am thinking that he may have been getting too much protein in his diet which could have also contributed to the stasis. I decreased his pellets to 1/4 cup per day with unlimited hay, but his poops are still a very very dark brown color and they are a little bit more moist/wet than I would like. I was expecting them to be lighter brown/golden once I decreased his pellets. I am not feeding him any fresh fruits or vegetables right now while he is recovering (he used to get 1-2 tbsp. of fresh banana or carrot every day). My question is: should I be concerned that his poops are so dark/moist when he is being fed a proper diet and he seems fine otherwise? Is it okay for me to be only feeding him 1/4 cup of pellets per day (he definitely prefers pellets over hay)? Will he stave himself and cause further issues if I am limiting his pellets? I took him to his regular vet yesterday for a check up and she said that he was in "perfect health" and that he looked great, I am just really paranoid after his stasis episode. I am just really worried that he will go into stasis or that there is an underlying cause contributing.
