GI Stasis Treatment

[HalaBuns]

Thank you all for your help.

I have managed to get her eating hay over the last few hours and she has brightened up a lot / become a little mischief

She was sent home on Thursday with 2 day’s worth of Metacam, but no gut stimulants. We finished the Metacam, but I asked for some more anyway, just so I could have it on hand in case she seemed like she needed it. she was doing really well though, so I didn’t give her any further doses. I wasn’t able to speak to the vet on Saturday either, but as she seemed to be improving, I didn’t follow up again. I’m just waiting for them to call me back now to see if they think I should be resuming any treatment.

Sticking to hay only for a few days seems to be the way to go. I had already spent several weeks removing items from her diet when I thought they might be triggering her upset tum and thought we had got to a good place, but i could have go it wrong of course. When I start reintroducing things, how long would it take to show that it’s not agreeing with her?

You’re right, it is quite draining and I’ve been watching her like a hawk. I’ve pretty much been in a bunny-induced lockdown since Thursday haha. Thank goodness I can work from home though, this would have been quite difficult to manage otherwise.

 

[Diane R]

Thank you all for your help.

I have managed to get her eating hay over the last few hours and she has brightened up a lot / become a little mischief ☺

She was sent home on Thursday with 2 day’s worth of Metacam, but no gut stimulants. We finished the Metacam, but I asked for some more anyway, just so I could have it on hand in case she seemed like she needed it. she was doing really well though, so I didn’t give her any further doses. I wasn’t able to speak to the vet on Saturday either, but as she seemed to be improving, I didn’t follow up again. I’m just waiting for them to call me back now to see if they think I should be resuming any treatment.

Sticking to hay only for a few days seems to be the way to go. I had already spent several weeks removing items from her diet when I thought they might be triggering her upset tum and thought we had got to a good place, but i could have go it wrong of course. When I start reintroducing things, how long would it take to show that it’s not agreeing with her?

You’re right, it is quite draining and I’ve been watching her like a hawk. I’ve pretty much been in a bunny-induced lockdown since Thursday haha. Thank goodness I can work from home though, this would have been quite difficult to manage otherwise.

Such a relief she has started eating hay! Usually it's a good idea to keep them on pain meds and gut stimulants for a day or two after they seem better. I would give it a couple of weeks at least on hay only, then introduce one new food at a time at two week intervals and keep a food diary. It may not be the diet of course but it would be good to rule it out before doing more tests.

 

[HalaBuns]

Such a relief she has started eating hay! Usually it's a good idea to keep them on pain meds and gut stimulants for a day or two after they seem better. I would give it a couple of weeks at least on hay only, then introduce one new food at a time at two week intervals and keep a food diary. It may not be the diet of course but it would be good to rule it out before doing more tests.

The vet just called and told me to put her back on metacam for another 4 days, as well as simethicone, if it’s not too stressful to get it in to her (she hates it).

I told her about my plan to restrict her to hay only for a while and she said to also include a tiny amount of pellets. My other bunny will certainly be overjoyed about that, but I’m feeling that may not be the best thing for her at this point?

 

[Diane R]

The vet just called and told me to put her back on metacam for another 4 days, as well as simethicone, if it’s not too stressful to get it in to her (she hates it).

I told her about my plan to restrict her to hay only for a while and she said to also include a tiny amount of pellets. My other bunny will certainly be overjoyed about that, but I’m feeling that may not be the best thing for her at this point?

You could see how she gets on with just a few pellets and take it from there?

 

[JBun]

It's up to you, but I would exclude the pellets in case they are part of the problem, at least for a few days. Just until she stabilizes. Then maybe see how she does with just a pinch each day, and monitor for any signs of digestive upset. And if none, gradually increase the amount each day. My rabbit that couldn't have pellets, I tried decreasing the amount first, to see how he did, and even just a pinch of pellets(just 7 of them) started to make him act uncomfortable. So he couldn't have any at all. But not all rabbits will react the same, so it's just cautious trial and error, to see if food is the issue and what your bun does best with.

Then if you've successfully reintroduced pellets for a few weeks with no problems, I would start on non cruciferous greens one at a time, small amounts, for a few days, then gradually increase if there are no problems. Like Diane R mentioned, maybe give it two weeks for each new food introduced.

Some vets aren't too familiar with hay only diets, so it makes them uncomfortable to recommend it. But I've had rabbits on hay/greens only diets for years because two of mine had megacolon and this is the diet I found helped them the best. And the two megacolon buns and my other rabbits, all did really well on this diet. I've only had one rabbit out of maybe a dozen, that didn't do well on a hay/greens only diet, so I had to put him back on pellets. Hay only restriction is a recommended protocol by many experienced rabbit vets, for digestive issues in rabbits. It's always been my experience as well, that good quality grass hay quite often helps correct and/or fix a lot of digestive issues in rabbits, provided the hay is good and the rabbit actually eats the hay well.

https://rabbit.org/intermittent-soft-cecotropes-in-rabbits/ (temporary restricted hay diet article)

I'm surprised your bun doesn't like metacam. Most of my rabbits go nuts for it!

 

[HalaBuns]

It's up to you, but I would exclude the pellets in case they are part of the problem, at least for a few days. Just until she stabilizes. Then maybe see how she does with just a pinch each day, and monitor for any signs of digestive upset. And if none, gradually increase the amount each day. My rabbit that couldn't have pellets, I tried decreasing the amount first, to see how he did, and even just a pinch of pellets(just 7 of them) started to make him act uncomfortable. So he couldn't have any at all. But not all rabbits will react the same, so it's just cautious trial and error, to see if food is the issue and what your bun does best with.

Then if you've successfully reintroduced pellets for a few weeks with no problems, I would start on non cruciferous greens one at a time, small amounts, for a few days, then gradually increase if there are no problems. Like Diane R mentioned, maybe give it two weeks for each new food introduced.

Some vets aren't too familiar with hay only diets, so it makes them uncomfortable to recommend it. But I've had rabbits on hay/greens only diets for years because two of mine had megacolon and this is the diet I found helped them the best. And the two megacolon buns and my other rabbits, all did really well on this diet. I've only had one rabbit out of maybe a dozen, that didn't do well on a hay/greens only diet, so I had to put him back on pellets. Hay only restriction is a recommended protocol by many experienced rabbit vets, for digestive issues in rabbits. It's always been my experience as well, that good quality grass hay quite often helps correct and/or fix a lot of digestive issues in rabbits, provided the hay is good and the rabbit actually eats the hay well.

https://rabbit.org/intermittent-soft-cecotropes-in-rabbits/ (temporary restricted hay diet article)

I'm surprised your bun doesn't like metacam. Most of my rabbits go nuts for it!

Oh she laps up the metacam, it’s the simethicone she would love to burn in hell! Although I even struggled a bit with the metacam this evening, I think she may have formed a negative association with the syringe. Got there in the end though.

 

[HalaBuns]

Can I also say thank you again for all the advice. I would be a bit lost if it were not for this forum

 

[Mariam+Theo]

I know you can't give Gigi lots of treats right now, but maybe put some mashed banana or apple sauce in a syringe for your other rabbit. If Gigi sees that she is not the only one getting bugged with a syringe she might be more open to taking her medicine. Also, your other rabbit will love it and if s/he ever got sick s/he would be more open to using a syringe.

I highly suggest removing all pellets as JBun suggested! When Theo had a bout of stasis, he couldn't get over it so I removed all his pellets and kept him on a hay only diet for 1-2 months; it really helped. I also changed the brand of his pellets to something better for him, and I could really tell a difference when I added them back to his diet. I think I made his stasis worse because I was super worried about him and kept giving him medicine hoping it would help. Eventually, I backed off and he got better. He still gets gassy sometimes (like once every 2-3 months), but always jumps right back to normal after about an hour.

Praying that Gigi gets better and you can find the issue!

 

[HalaBuns]

I know you can't give Gigi lots of treats right now, but maybe put some mashed banana or apple sauce in a syringe for your other rabbit. If Gigi sees that she is not the only one getting bugged with a syringe she might be more open to taking her medicine. Also, your other rabbit will love it and if s/he ever got sick s/he would be more open to using a syringe.

I highly suggest removing all pellets as JBun suggested! When Theo had a bout of stasis, he couldn't get over it so I removed all his pellets and kept him on a hay only diet for 1-2 months; it really helped. I also changed the brand of his pellets to something better for him, and I could really tell a difference when I added them back to his diet. I think I made his stasis worse because I was super worried about him and kept giving him medicine hoping it would help. Eventually, I backed off and he got better. He still gets gassy sometimes (like once every 2-3 months), but always jumps right back to normal after about an hour.

Praying that Gigi gets better and you can find the issue!

Thank you, that’s a good tip! Sadly Kiki also hates the syringe since a course of baytril a few months ago, so I have some work to do with both of them.

They’ve had no pellets since I brought them home from the vet on Thursday (although I did sneak some to Kiki earlier whilst G was having her post-medication strop). I will keep that going another week at least I think.

I certainly think her old pellets were a trigger for her and they are now on Timothy hay based pellets recommended by our vet. Which they don’t actually like very much, so are probably not really missing.

This process is hard! She was eating fine at 6.30. I gave her metacam at 7pm and it’s been a struggle to get her to eat anything since. So I gave her some simethicone too an hour and a half later in case she was gassy and since then she’s just been mad. I think she’s fed up with being handled. I offered her some dill just to make sure she would eat something and she took that and had a bit of hay, but not enough for me to be able to relax and do anything else with my evening.

10.30pm and she’s finally hopped into her litter box and is munching away, so I might be able to go to bed soon!

 

[JBun]

Yeah, my rabbits hate the simethicone too. A little trick I've done is give the metacam first then the simethicone. Or what works even better is draw up the simethicone into the syringe first, then do the metacam in the same syringe. That way you get them both in at the same time, but the tastier metacam is going in first.

You know what, I would withhold metacam and simethicone for now, especially if she isn't showing any signs of feeling unwell prior to administration. There's a possibility the meds are contributing to her feeling sick again. I had a rabbit in the past that I was sure was reacting negatively to the meds she got, because she would be doing fine and then would start acting sick again after her meds. It might not be the active drug itself, but the carrier suspension syrup. They usually contain artificial sweeteners, and I know sometimes that alone can cause digestive upset for some rabbits(and some people too).

 

[HalaBuns]

I think I would prefer to. I really feel that if I had just let her be last night, she would have been fine all evening.

This morning we have struggled again, so not sure it helped any anyway . 11pm and 1.30am she was in her litter box eating and the pair of them were very active. 4am I checked and she wasn’t eating but was relaxed and purring away when I pet her. 7.45... whoah. She was cold, kept running away and wouldn’t even let me pet her. I think she was so terrified I was going to pick her up and give her horrible medicine again.

I’ve calmed her down and we’re sticking to belly rubs this morning. She’s had a nibble on a hay cube, which is generally a sign she’s heading in the right direction and will hopefully tuck into some proper hay soon.

I just wonder what happens in those early morning hours that brings on the change in her.

Still in my pj’s at 9am. Thank goodness for working from home!

 

[JBun]

There are a lot of us on here that understand your pain. Dealing with a bun going through GI stasis is pretty stressful. You're always worrying about if they are getting better and if you are doing the right things to help them.

 

[HalaBuns]

There are a lot of us on here that understand your pain. Dealing with a bun going through GI stasis is pretty stressful. You're always worrying about if they are getting better and if you are doing the right things to help them.

Completely and I feel I got it a bit wrong last night. Stress management with her seems crucial at this point.

The focus today has been lots of love, head rubs and belly massage. She’s eaten a lot of hay and been really playful. I even got a little binky earlier

 

[JBun]

That's great! It's always so nice to see when their behavior starts being more normal.