Hi everyone.  This is our first post here.  We have a little lionhead bunny, Dandelion, that is nearly 3 years old.  She has had several GI Stasis problems over the course of her little life.  Recently she had a bad episode witha very large gas bubble trapped in her stomach, and had to be hospitalized for 2 days.  It was very scary.  We're pretty experienced in taking care of her now because she has had so many episodes (4 -6 a year).  Normally some tummy massages, a little simethicone, and if needed some meloxicam, and metoclopramide will do th trick and she'll be ok.  This time nothing was heping so we brought her in thankfully.  She is back home since last night, and this morning would not eat her greens.  Stayed home to take care of her and rub that little belly into a fine moving machine.  It may just take some time since this episode was so bad.  

I've looked all over the internet and asked her various vets (we've found a good office now but it was tough) what causes this, and the answers are always so unsatifactory.  We do not feed her pellets or fruit or any store mixes.  She gets plenty of western timothy hay, and lots of fresh greens with a good variety.  She eats better than us usually.  Her bonded mate, Giovanni, eats all the same stuff, and gets none of these problems.  She does clean him alot though.  However she's had these issues before they even met.  We're at our wits end trying to figure out things that we can do differently to help prevent this as it is crazily stressful on bunnies and humans alike.  Does anyone have any good insights into what causes gas and stasis problems?  Her poos are much smaller than her partner's in general.  Can bunnies have a stricture?  Can hair remain in the gut for a long time maybe not always causing a backup but clogging the pathway kind of like a fatty artery? 

well Any opinions or feedback would be greatly appreciated.  Time to rub the belly.

Yes.  She gets regular dental treatments every 4 - 8 weeks.  This last incident her teeth seemed just fine they said as it had only been a short while since they were last trimmed. 

Thanks for the info.  She has a recheck on Saturday so I will be asking the doctor to see if she can find anything more abnormal than just gas like an ulcer or abcess.  She has been pretty good since I last posted.  She was running around with her playmate, but then seems to have gotten lethargic again and not pooping in the last hour.  I may just be too focused on it though.  Here's to hoping she poops out that critical care she ate a bit ago.  

lashkay, I do know others use laxatone as a preventative during molting time. Using it for years without issue like you have done. I think the caution is using it when a rabbit is already has a large gut impaction. Last thing you want then in not being able to soften up the mass with fluids. In general use though it's up to the caregiver. As general maintainance: water and hay primarily the other aids (such as papaya and laxatone) as secondary measures. In my opinion.

In the gut, gas is produced all the time. If you have a fairly normal flora and balance, it is not an issue. If you have a mild imbalance, stasis will form. If it is severe and sudden imbalance, you get bloat.

I love reading the articles that you send me on bunnies. It helps me to understand the information owners are receiving and their interpretation of events. That helps me speak with owners more clearly.

Can you link where it's mentioned how simethicone works? Because that does seem odd, making one big one instead.
I use Ovol for gas, like many others and have found it very helpful, getting a non eating bunny running around and eating after just a couple hours.

NVM, i looked it up -

Chemical action and pharmaceutical effects

Simethicone is an anti-foaming agent that decreases the surface tension of gas bubbles, causing them to combine into larger bubbles in the stomach that can be passed more easily by burping. Simethicone does not reduce or prevent the formation of gas in the digestive tract, rather, it increases the rate at which it exits the body.^[1] However, simethicone can relieve pain caused by gas in the intestines by decreasing foaming which then allows for passing of flatus. Simethicone is not absorbed by the body into the bloodstream, and is therefore considered relatively safe, with sources reporting the worst side effects as bloating, constipation, diarrhea, gas and heartburn. While sold as a treatment for colic, randomised controlled trials have not borne this claim out.^[2][3]

Simethicone solutions of differing concentration also have industrial applications for reducing foaming in certain chemical processes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simethicone

With bloat, it's said the gas collects because of a blockage or a plug if you will. I suppose even if the gas bubbles go from lots of small ones to one big one, it's still the same amount of gas trapped. So if there is an actual blockage, I don't think smithecone could actually worsen the situation.

Using smithe is one of those things you can use early on before seeking vet treatment or if your rabbit seems a bit off. You can see that at the beginning of a stasis episode or just from a bit of gas from foods. I've also read an article by a vet where he said he didn't use it much in treatment anymore as gas was rarely an issue in stasis. There was no caution though about it being harmful to use - just that it may be of little use.   In Jerseys last episode, she did have a bit of gas in her cecum but motility drugs go her right again. So I'm not convinced that gas isn't an issue in stasis...I thinkit does start to build during a gut slowdown.  Then again, her "stasis" could have just been a bad gas episode.  Chicken or the egg scenario.

I've always gotten the impression that it is an inert substance and have not come across warnings not to use it unless it was to do with a batch recall. It's one of those "jury's out" situation whether it's effective though. I have used it and seen positive effects for mild gas episodes in the rabbits.