HELP! Early Stasis?

[ams1786]

Just noticed that bun's droppings are very small. She has no other symptoms as of yet - she's still eating fine as far as I can tell, very active.

Background: she's an unspayed, 8 month old, 6.8 lb rex. Went to the vet last week and they said she was a bit chunky and needed to lose a bit. She also said to get her eating hay properly before spaying, which bun usually refuses to do.

Consequently we switched to orchard for several days which she wouldn't TOUCH, so a few days ago I gave her access to Timothy again, which she'll munch on but won't eat nearly enough of.

She's also been on a reduced diet of around 1/4-1/2 cup pellets per day, but she doesn't usually eat them all. She's also had no treats in the past week, and has lost some of the excessive fat folds (sadly) already. I felt like she was mad at me for this and maybe ignoring her food a bit...

Vet also said to give unlimited vegetables, so I've upped her intake a bit. Also introduced a few new vegetables this week, though one by one, and she seemed to take to them fine. Past several days she's been getting two pieces of kale, a small piece of broccoli, a few snap peas and a small piece of red pepper. She's been eating those ravenously, and seems to be eating fine now.

Could anyone please help advise me what to do and what to look out for? Could this be early stasis and, if so, could we stop it in time? Is it possible it's just a reaction to changes in diet and, if so, how should I change it back? Was on hold with vet for half an hour but couldn't get through. Also, would exercise help or hurt or not make a difference? Thanks, any advice would be greatly appreciated! I've read all the stuff online but don't know what to do in this particular situation or how to stop it.

Oh, also gave her a papaya tablet which she gobbled right up, but it's the human version so I only gave her one.

Sorry for the rambling.

 

[JBun]

It sounds like either she's getting too many carbs, or it could also be some of the veggies she's getting. I would feed on the low end of the pellets, the 1/4 cup, or even less as long as she'll eat enough hay. Stop the broccoli and don't feed any other cruciferous veggies, sometimes they can cause gas problems, and also stop the snap peas as they have carbs in them.Stick with more green leafy veggies like green leaf lettuce(not iceburg), cilantro, and parsley and avoid anything starchy or sugary. The added moisture from the greens will also help, but slowly introduce like you normally would with a veggie. And if your rabbit drinks out of a bottle, then offer a water dish. They tend to drink better out of a dish. The key is getting your rabbit to eat more fiber from eating hay. If there isn't a change in a day or two you could try cutting out pellets entirely to see if that helps. But if there is still a problem with your rabbit not wanting to eat hay even when the pellets are reduced, there may other alternatives. Oh, and maybe hold off on the papaya tablets.

This is an early sign of stasis, so good for catching it. Just keep an eye on her poops everyday, as well as her severely reducing her food intake or stopping eating and pooping altogether, and also watch for reduced activity like sitting for long periods in the back of the cage hunched up, and tooth grinding. Exercise and letting her run around can help a lot as well.

 

[LakeCondo]

Have you tried compressed hay cubes? They aren't quite as good as hay stalks, but maybe she'll eat them.

 

[Imbrium]

if you have any feed stores in your area that carry multiple types of hay, you might ask them if they'd be willing to let you take a little sample of each one for your bunny to taste-test before you commit to buying a bale - they'll usually let you grab a handful or two of each free of charge. there's SO many kinds of grass hay out there, there's bound to be one she'll like! (mind you, if you try "cereal" type hays like oat, wheat, etc. you'll want to pick out any bunches of oats or w/e that are in the hay as the excess carbs are bad for them... which is a real pain in the a$$ if you have bunnies that will ONLY eat either alfalfa or oat hay and are getting too old for alfalfa, lol. *shakes a fist at her girls*).