Mini Rex with frequent gas and Gi Stasis

[bbmeep]

Hi everyone, this is my first time posting but I have been reading forums on here for years! I’m hoping to get some opinions on my mini rex’s digestion issues.

I have two bonded rabbits, one girl mini rex named Marnie and one boy hotot named Ham. They both get the same exact food which is unlimited oxbow timothy hay, fresh greens twice a day (romaine, cilantro, endive, sometimes parsley, sometimes dandelion greens), one tablet of papaya/pineapple enzyme twice a day.

My mini rex, Marnie who is 2 years old has had frequent bouts of Gi Stasis and gas ever since we adopted her when she was only a few months old. She’s had an x-ray done but it didn’t show anything wrong. Currently when she gets into these bouts we give her reglan, metacam and simethicone as well as syringe feeding her water. She has had so many that the vet actually gave us a bunch of this medicine to keep on hand this summer and we’re already almost out! I’m very frustrated because I’ve tried taking things away from her diet (I stopped doing pellets a year ago) but she still gets episodes and they seem to be increasing in frequency. We’ve had to take her to emergency care at least 3 times this year and its financially exhausting (not that I would ever not take her because of that!) Meanwhile my other bunny has no issues at all with gas ever! He can eat anything and loves fruit as a treat and is always fine. My vet said that she thinks my bunny (and mini rexs in general) are just prone to having gas but I’m not convinced and am worried about the long term effects of constant reglan and metacam use. There is also a current shortage of reglan so they might have to give us the compounded stuff which I’ve read isn’t a good option. We’ve talked about possibly doing interventions fluids at home because this happens so frequently but my vet has been hesitant to let us even though I have 10 years of experience taking care of bunnies 

I’m thinking about going to another vet to get a second opinion but its surprisingly hard to find a highly rated bunny vet in the Chicago area and my current vet is recommended by the House Rabbit Society.

She just had another gas episode yesterday and luckily I woke up at 5 am and caught it just in time with meds and she’s doing much better today, she always bounces back quickly.

I’m wondering if anyone has had experience with frequent gas and Gi Stasis and has any input? I know its crazy but is it possible that oxbow hay is too rich for her? We usually order a big box of it but when we run out we feed her KayTee hay and I’ve noticed that when we go back to oxbow its a trigger for a gas episode but maybe its just a coincidence because then we’ll have her on oxbow without incident for a while before she gets gas again. Should I try to stop the papaya/pinapple enzyme? I’m giving those to her on advice from my vet as they said that it helps move the hair in their digestive tract along. My very first bunny who just passed two years ago never had oxbow hay or papaya and only had one or two gas episodes in her whole 9 year life, but I’m not sure if she was just not prone to gas or if oxbow and papaya are connected in anyway.

Sorry for the long post! Any insight will be greatly appreciated! 

[Wick & Fable]

Something a lot of people don’t think about in terms of hay is that it’s a plant that grows in a field somewhere. A large difference between Kaytee and Oxbow hay is the ratios of certain dusts and pollens that cling to the hay, from their cultivation location. This is why Wick has terrible sneezes with Kaytee, but not Oxbow. Potentially, she could sensitive to the shift in pollens and dust from one hay to another, so keeping it consistent would probably be best. Have you tried different types of hay to see if one encourages more consumption than another? Typically I give Wick Timothy, but in the evening I top it off with orchard so he keeps eating.

Unsure of the enzyme from papaya and such, but Wick gets a splash of apple cider vinegar -with the mother- in his apple, since I’ve had him. The bacteria in the mother helps regulate pH levels and the increase in urine acidity detracts bacteria transmission and mites and flees. It also helps eyes and fur. It’s pretty great reportedly. Wick’s pretty fabulous, so maybe that’s why, haha.

Maybe you need to start a simple diet and add complexity as an experiment. Stick with just romaine and one type of hay and see how it goes, then adjust if you’d like to add variety.

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[kirstyol]

One of our buns, Bramble, also has frequent gas/stasis issues he does also have issues with his teeth mind you but the two are not always related. We have tried just about everything and now tend to just manage him with meds at home when its safe to do so. We only give ranitidine and metoclopramide – Metacam should never be given on an empty stomach therefore we avoid it usually because when he starts eating he doesn’t need any pain relief anyway (its also not good long term), occasionally we will give him some after syringe feeding if things go on too long. We have the luxury of living five minutes away from the animal hospital so day or night we can take him if it gets too much or goes on too long, but I know not everyone can do this and therefore its better to go to the vets straight away.

[LittlePuffyTail]

Has your vet checked his teeth? There may be a connection. Teeth problems can cause food to not be digested properly. Young bunnies are less prone to dental problems but best to rule it out.

[bbmeep]

Thanks guys!

I’ve never heard of apple cider vinegar but now I’m very curious! I think the hay pollens could definitely be a trigger but she gets gas and stasis even when her hay has been consistent for months. I should also mention that when she’s not having an episode she is a veracious eater! She does binkies over a fresh hay top off and I work from home so I’m usually topping it off once every 3 hours or so. At various points I’ve thought that maybe sometimes slightly wilted greens could be the culprit but I can’t be sure.

She has had her teeth looked at and they only filed down one tiny spur and said they didn’t think it was the cause. We live an hour away from the nearest bunny vet. It stinks. You would think a big city like Chicago would have more options but nope. I did find one thats still far away but I’m tempted to call and get her in for a second opinion. I had no idea that metacam was bad on an empty stomach! My vet didn’t mention anything about that and they seem perfectly happy just medicating her for the rest of her life but she’s only 2 years old! They told me to always give metacam with reglan because reglan’s effects can be painful on the body? But I usually stop metacam after 2 doses and taper off reglan gradually and she doesn’t seem to be in pain even when they’re not given together.

I usually don’t force-feed her even though we do have critical care because I’m always worried about a blockage. I honestly think warm water syringe feeding and simethicone have been our best tools but I still give reglan because I’m deathly afraid of loosing her and I know Gi Stasis can be deadly.

One other thing is that on sometimes she pees outside of their litter box and I think most of the time it co-ensides with a gas episode. My vet said its just way of letting me know that she’s not feeling well but what if she has a problem with her bladder which causes her pain and then she stop eating? I know bunny urine can vary in color her definitely do. They go from light yellow with a bit of white calcium floating around to orange to brownish. I’ve mentioned this all to my vet and they said its normal so I just feel like I’m banging my head against the wall at this point!

[Wick & Fable]

Make sure you get apple cider vinegar **with the mother**. The “mother” is what makes the vinegar and it has all the good bacteria in it. It settles at the bottom, so you just shake up the bottle before pouring a bit in the water bowl.

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[bbmeep]

I made an appointment with a new vet, surprisingly he is closer to my house than I thought. I found her via the house rabbit society so I hope she is good. I will let you know if they have a new opinion on whats going on with my bun! She is currently eating and drinking happily on her own with only a tiny dose of reglan this morning.

[LittlePuffyTail]

Good luck at the vet apt!

[kirstyol]

metacam is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory, like ibuprofen it shouldn’t really be given on an empty stomach. ive never heard of metoclopramide (reglan) causing pain, certainly not in humans anyway. Depending on how long things go on for you really should consider syringe feeding, the guts wont start moving if there is nothing for them to move and an empty bunny tummy is very dangerous.

When did she have her tooth filed down? have her teeth been checked since?

[bbmeep]

Update: I took her in for a second opinion and 500$ later they still don’t know why she gets stasis so often. We went over her diet, ran blood work, did a fecal check, tested her urine and did an overall physical check. They looked at her teeth and eyes all was good! They’re also testing for e cuniculi, but that’s just for us to know and probably not a factor in figuring out her issues with stasis.

This weekend she had loose stools and we stopped greens for a bit and they went back to normal. We’re slowly adding greens back in and seeing how it goes. I’m out of ideas ?

I totally forgot to ask the vet about apple cider vinegar but plan on asking when they call with the results of e cuniculi. We’re also stopping the papaya enzymes for now to see if it has any effect.

[DanaNM]

When she isn’t in stasis, do her poops look normal (round, uniform in size and shape)?

Also, what color is she?

I was fostering a bunny with chronic oscillation between stasis, gas, and soft mushy mucousy poos. Even when “normal” they were not normal (irregularly shaped, some very large egg shaped ones). The vet thought it was something like cow-pile syndrome/ cecal dysbiosis, which was thought to be genetically linked to his color pattern.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[bbmeep]

Oh interesting! She’s a brown mini rex. I have two bunnies so its kind of hard to know exactly which one is her poop but in general both of their poops look normal but once I’ll see some oddly shaped ones or small dark ones. When she’s having and episode I isolate her to monitor her poop and thats when things get mushy until she feels better and they go back to normal.

Do you know what happened with the foster bunny and his condition?

[bbmeep]

I just noticed your picture after I hit submit! She looks exactly like the bunny in your photo! All brown, with a darker nose and some grey and peach tones under all the brown! I’ll try to change my photo to be of her since idk how to post it here!

[DanaNM]

***EDIT**** Hmmm, the white and brown bunny on the left in my photo is Bertha, and she is healthy, but her color pattern IS linked to cow pile.

The solid brown color (the bun on the right, Bunston) isn’t associated with it, but our shelter coordinator is taking care of a bunny that is also solid color and has something similar, so who knows? We really don’t know much about it.  

Here’s some info on it (it’s still a very new thing in rabbit medicine, hard to diagnose):
http://vgr1.com/megacolon/
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_diseases/Differential/mega_differential.htm

It is a very rare thing, even IN rabbits with those markings, so it would be important to rule out all other possible causes before turning to this. Has your vet done an x-ray of her cecum? In the bunny I was fostering, his cecum was super distended and not functioning properly. The vet didn’t call it CPS, but he had the hotot markings and most of the symptoms of the “wet” version of CPS.

I wrote about the saga with him here: https://binkybunny.com/FORUM/tabid/54/aft/155807/Default.aspx.

Unfortunately I don’t know how he is doing now. He went into “sanctuary” care with the rabbit rescue, I’ve been a bit reluctant to ask about him. I had been planning to adopt him to bond with Bertha, but that wasn’t going to work out with how ill he was. I know the shelter coordinator had another bunny with a similar condition, and he got 3 times per day ciscipride to keep him moving, and she said maybe they could be bonded and “have the grossest litter box ever”. ha!

I believe member Sarita had a megacolon bunny, and jerseygirl also had a bunny that she suspected had it (although never confirmed).

With megacolon/cow pile bunnies, their poops are NEVER normal, even when they aren’t in stasis, so it very well could be something else going on with your girl.

I got a lot of feedback on Pippen from members here, and many suggested returning him to more natural forage: dandelion, plantain (the weed Plantago)
I also relied on this list of medicinal herbs to try to help his little tummy as much as I could: http://www.disabledrabbits.com/herbs.html.

The other thing is, is her weight staying constant? Megacolon/cow pile bunnies will lose weight and have trouble gaining it back…

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[bbmeep]

Thank you for all the info! I’m not sure that she fits the criteria for megacolon because sometimes she has normal poop but I could be wrong. She is also not underweight (she was actually a bit overweight when she was on pellets but we’ve gotten it down a little)

We’re dealing with another gas episode today I feel like there has to be something specific causing this but I can’t for the life of me pin point it so I’m just banging my head against a wall

[LittlePuffyTail]

Sorry to hear she is unwell again. Very frustrating for sure. Does simethicone give her any relief?

[DanaNM]

Sorry she isn’t well again

You’re right, she doesn’t sound like a megacolon bun. Do tummy rubs help her at all?

The only other thing that comes to mind is something that was mentioned by my vet once. Sometimes during spay/neuters there can be small adhesion that form on the GI tract, that can cause problems later on.

Did her x-ray show which part of her GI was slow or gassy? That might give some clues.

Sorry again, that must be very stressful.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[bbmeep]

Thanks guys this Saturday we ended up at our vet who took an x-ray and she had really bad GI Stasis or “Bloat”. Her stomach was taking up almost half of her abdominal area and was pressing on her other organs. I thought, from everything I read online, that it was the end BUT luckily, our vet assured me that bloat isn’t always a death sentence (though he did say her odds were 50/50) He gave her sub q fluids mixed with Vitamin B, C, reglan, metacam and baytril (her blood work showed elevated white blood cell count) We kept her at the vet until they closed at 1 pm and she got a second round of fluids right before we picked her up. I could tell as soon as we picked her up that she was feeling a bit better, probably because of the pain meds. She was SO round, she was like a total sphere with lumps (from the sub -q) It took until Sunday mid-afternoon for her swelling to start to go down and even now I can tell she is still a bit swollen but she looks and feels much better. I can feel her stomach has gotten a bit smaller and she’s no longer so spherical. The vet also filed down her teeth when we were there. He said he still doesn’t think that her teeth are the problem because the spurs were quite small. We have a follow up on Thursday and I will press him on this because this is the second time she’s had to have her teeth filed down (though both times the spurs were tiny) but from what I’ve read teeth problems almost always equal GI issues.

Right now I’m keeping a food diary for her. Right before this terrible GI episode she was getting parsley they day before and the morning of. So we will not be doing parsley for a while. I’m trying an elimination diet basically. We’re doing romaine this week because it seems like a safe choice and I will slowly introduce other greens one at a time and see how she does. I’ve also ordered new hay from small pet select. I did this once before a few years ago and they loved it but I went back to oxbow because its more economical but I swear, there’s something about oxbow hay that doesn’t agree with her. Right now they’re on KayTee hay until the small pet select batch arrives. I’m also thinking of putting her back on pellets, just a sprinkle on her greens because I’m not sure that she’s getting all of the vitamins she needs just from hay and fresh greens. We took her off of pellets because we assumed they were causing her GI issues but she’s been off of them for a year and her GI issues have only gotten worse.

I have a whole list of questions for this doc (he’s our new vet) and I’m going to insist that he and I come up with a strict regimen for her because every time we go in they make her better but don’t send us home with any actionable things to do. They just insist she’s prone to GI issues but I’m convinced there must be a trigger and we have to pin point it because this her life!

We’re also going to ask for sub q fluids and equipment to administer at home since she has always responded so well to them and its a coin toss if oral stuff will work on her episodes. 50/50% I’d say is the oral success rate so we end up taking her in half of the time and not only is it stressful on us and her but also putting us in serious debt She is worth it thought, as she is literally the sweetest and happiest bunny I’ve ever seen.

Currently tracking her poop output which is making our other bun very irritated as I keep kicking him out of one of the bins She is eating and pooping but not as much poop as our other bun is outputting. Belly rubs definitely help and she usually enjoys them unless she’s in a lot of pain.

Thank you for for all of your help and support, I will give an update after the vet, just in case anyone else is going through the same thing! I’ve gotten a lot of ideas from reading other threads on here with similar issues.

[LittlePuffyTail]

I think you have a great plan with the elimination diet and food diary as well as keeping fluids at home. When I had several stasis episodes, the vet showed me how to do it at home (or my husband rather, since I can’t do needles) and we kept the supplies at home in emergencies. Sometimes the fluids really help perk them up so it’s nice to have another home option before running to the vet.

(((((More Healing Vibes)))))

[Mindy]

How’s Marnie doing? Has she had her vet appointment yet?

I have a 3 year old mini rex that I’ve adopted a little over a year ago and he’s having the same issue.

He is currently having another gas episode today, his 5th one since I’ve had him (which lead me to read your post as I’ve been searching and reading all day trying to find a way to help him).

I’ve had kind of the same experience at the vet also where they took X-rays to find nothing wrong to then ship us home with no actionable things to do…The closest rabbit savvy vet to home is two hours away. I’m thinking the same thing, that there is a reason why it happens and there is a way to prevent it…but what and why?

His gas episodes seems to last around 12-13 hours.

Having a sick bunny is very stressful, hopefully she is feeling better

[Jcr5000]

I am having the exact same issue with my little Dutch rabbit. We’ve been chasing gas/stasis issues for 5 months! He’s been to 3 different vets (2 ER/teaching hospitals and his local vet) with no real answers. His x-rays and ultrasound look normal. His bloodwork showed possible exposure to e cuniculi, but we’ve gone through 2 rounds of treatment with no change. His blood panels have shown some inflammation, but that’s the only oddity with that test. We’ve tried diet elimination and changed his hay source with no change. He also had a small spur trimmed off his teeth about 2 months ago with no change. We had a stretch of about a month with no issues when he started on cipracide, but about two weeks ago he started with the episodes again (one every other day on average).

We do have at home treatment (sub-q fluids, critical care, heating pads, and even bupramorphine via syringe). Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t and it’s off to the ER.

I am beyond frustrated and heartbroken over not being able to find a solution (not to mention the financial stress). He’s currently at one of the teaching hospitals in the area known for their exotic care. They want to try a CT scan to see if it shows anything different from the ultrasound.

Any update you have on your little Rex would be appreciated, because as you said, it’s like banging your head against the wall. It’s gotten to the point that my husband and I trade off staying up with him at night and not really leaving the house often as we’re afraid we’ll catch an episode too late.

Sorry for the rambling.. but one other thing. At the first signs of gas/stasis when he’s sitting uncomfortably, he poops EVERYWHERE. He’s normally very particular about going in the litter box, but when an episode starts, he poops 30-40 poops (that are normal looking) all over his living space, then completely stops. That seems to stump every vet we’ve seen so far!

[bbmeep]

Hi everyone, I’m so sorry I haven’t posted in a while but unfortunately I didn’t have any good insights to share. Marnie still has GI Stasis episodes ranging from every 3 weeks to every 2 months if we’re lucky. We’ve had a lot of diagnostic test done and the only thing we found was a mild case of dental disease. I thought that that would be our breakthrough moment for her but now I’m not sure it is.

She has been having her teeth looked at/filed every week (!!!) for the past 3 weeks and that did not stop her from having a GI stasis episode today. When we had her skull x-rays done they showed that the roots of her teeth were growing too far into the surrounding muscles so we’ve discussed the possibility of having them shaved all the way down to the gum line because in theory the roots should follow suit and shrink. We have not had this done yet though and I’m not sure if we will because as I’ve mentioned her teeth have been pretty good lately with the weekly visits and she’s still having GI Stasis episodes so it makes me wonder if the teeth are just a part of the puzzle we’re looking at.

Other things that worry me are her bladder because when she goes into Stasis she starts to pee everywhere (outside of her littler box) and I wonder if its just a sign she’s giving me that she’s not feeling well or if theres something up with her bladder? I need to discuss this further with my vet because I’ve only mentioned it off hand and we were so focused on her teeth it kind of got lost in the dust. Also they did do a urinalysis maybe 6 months ago when we did a series of diagnostic tests and it came back just fine. So far they’ve tested her urine, her poop, her blood and for e.cuniculi and none of those things have revealed any underlying issues. She’s also had a few x-rays done during GI stasis to rule out blockages and the rest of her organs (at least the ones you can see when taking x-rays of the stomach , GI and cecum) looked fine. I would be interested in doing a full body scan of some sort and another x-ray of her skull to see how the teeth roots are looking since her last x-rays.

Thats really all I can think of. Its frustrating because everything I’ve read about GI stasis is that its a symptom of something else going wrong but for Marnie it seems to be a condition rather than a symptom – or we’re missing some vital clue.

Her current diet is strictly Timothy Hay (I get the most fibrous 1st cut kind from Small Pet Select) and water obviously, and this seems to keep her stasis free for about 2 months which for her is a long time.

We were at the vet today and he also seemed like he was loosing his mind and had no answers. She’s seen 3 vets in her 3 year life and none of them have been able to solve this or even finger the actual trigger. Today he suggested that maybe she has allergies because her nose and eyes have been runny and her teeth looked fine. We’re going to maybe try some benadryl next month but it hasn’t been widely used on rabbits so its a bit tricky. We’re going on a family trip this month and our vet is also on vacation so for now we’re just trying to keep her stable. Of course we have to board her and her mate at the clinic while we’re gone so she can get her meds and be looked after  which means I’m just going to be a ball of stress the whole trip 

It hurts me so much to watch her be in pain and to know that other bunnies out there are going through the same thing  I hope we can call find an answer.

[Rio and Buns]

My boy had the same issues during his whole life. He would go through bouts of stasis every few months or so, though sometimes they would be closer together. I never did figure out what was causing it, but it also made me think that it IS a condition rather than a symptom of something else, like you said.

Gosh… I know how extremely stressful and upsetting it is. It always made me feel so helpless because I could never find a solution to keep it from happening again, and it killed me to see him hurting. I hope you and your vets can find that solution, and that your sweet girl lives a long and happy life. You’re a great bunny parent.

[DanaNM]

That all sounds so stressful for all of you.

Not sure if you have considered this with your vet, or if it would help Marnie’s symptoms, but when I was fostering that bunny with chronic GI issues, one possibility our vet brought up was that sometimes rabbits can get adhesions in their GI tract due to scar tissue from their spay/neuter. In my case, the vet thought it was more likely a congenital issue with the nerves surrounding the cecum (related to the EnEn gene), but he said the scar tissue thing also happens sometimes.

I’m not sure how much you have played with her diet, but I’m wondering if supplementing with critical care and/or lactulose to keep her gut very hydrated might help? The critical care would also make sure she gets her necessary vitamins, because she won’t get everything she needs from just timothy hay. You can also try wild forage. This was suggested to me by others with sensitive tummy buns: plantain, sow thistle, dandelion, fennel. Wild weeds have way more fiber than cultivated veggies, so are better for bunny tummies.

You might also ask your vet about putting her on a maintenance dose of motility medication (ciscipride is usually well tolerated over longer periods). Looking back at Marnie’s symptoms, she doesn’t sound like a megacolon/Cow pile syndrome bun, but people have had some success with daily ciscipride and lactulose for megacolon buns.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[bbmeep]

Thank you so much Rio and Buns! If you don’t mind me asking, how long did your boy live to? One of my biggest scares with this constant GI Stasis is that it will shorten Marnies life and I just can’t handle the thought of that which is why I keep pressing on with diagnostic testing and trying new things for her 

She’s doing well right now, but last night was a roller coaster, she would eat a little and then would immediately start to bloat and her stomach was making some scary loud noises. I stayed up all night gently massaging and syringe feeding her a little bit of water and simethicone here and there. (Also is lactulose similar to simethicone, I had never heard of it)

DanaNM – did you ever explore the adhesions? My vet has suggested this as well but he said the only way to know is to do exploratory surgery and thats way to scary for me to consider. He said we could try an ultra sound to see if we can spot anything but it can be hard to see without going inside. 

We got her just after she was spayed, she still had her belly shaved in fact, and although she started having GI Stasis bouts pretty early on they used to be less severe and sometimes she would get through them on her own with just a little massaging. But now a days it takes throwing the whole kitchen sink of treatments and definitely SUB Q to start so I wonder if it is from the spay neuter, could they get worse over time? The adhesions I mean? Something I should ask my vet.

I wonder why my vet is so hesitant to have her on a low dose of daily cisapride, I have read others who do low dose maintenance with it.

The funny thing about critical care is that, historically it has made things worse. I’ve read that it can draw fluid from the body into the stomach, leaving the intestines de-hydrated if you don’t mix it with enough water so maybe that is what has happened. But I swear every time I’ve tried critical care I’ve regretted it. My own theory is that its very rich and her body isn’t able to process it for some reason but obviously not a very scientific theory.

I am worried about her vitamins and failed to mention that I had been trying out some holistic things this past month in the form of dried flowers. I got some organic dried flowers from small pet select and had been giving her about a teaspoon every other day. She LOVED them BUT then she had 2 GI Episodes within the span of 3 weeks so I think we’re going to stop the dried flowers for now. I ran the dried flowers by my vet before I started giving them to her and he also agreed that they could be a good thing and I’m not sure how to reconcile the GI Episodes with the dried flowers.

The dried flowers I got were these, I tried not to give her too many of the hawthorne berries because I thought they might have sugar: Flower Power Berry Blend includes a mix of Calendula, Red Clover, Lavender, Rose Petals, Elder Flowers, Hibiscus, Hawthorne Berries, and rose Hips.

I’ve been trying to find a kids vitamin liquid that I could add to her water but I haven’t had any luck with sugar free ones …the search continues. She does respond well to vitamin c and b complex shots (my vet gives them to her when she’s in Stasis and they really perk her up)

Thank you all for your kind words and suggestions!

[Rio and Buns]

He lived for about 7 years. During his last days he was going through a bout of stasis but I’m not sure if that alone is what caused his death, since I was always able to get him through it all the other times. I believe some other factors contributed to it as well.
Definitely don’t give up on trying new things. You might just find some miracle that works for her.

[Bam]

Any scarring can get worse with time. (Adhesions are a form of scar tissue). To me this seem like the most likely cause, because it’s a well known complication in humans that undergo reproductive tract surgery. I agree that exploratory surgery sounds very scary.

Another cause of frequent tummy trouble of a more serious nature is megacolon. Megacolon can be either hereditary (often associated with the English spot coat pattern but not unheard of in buns of other colors), or it can be acquired. Megacolon buns get stasis and gas often. We had a megacolon bun here that was managed with lots of fiber and pumpkin seeds, among other things.

How does her most normal poop look? Megacolon is also known as cow pile syndrome due to the shape and consistency of the affected individual’s fecal poop.

[DanaNM]

We didn’t pursue the adhesions idea, because the vet thought the congenital problem was more likely (he had loss of muscle mass, a very dilated cecum, cecal dysbiosis, gas buildup, plus stasis).

But yes, the treatment for adhesions would have been exploratory surgery, which I felt was very scary as well. I did discuss it with my rescue coordinator (this sick bun was a foster), and she did say that the vet wasn’t in the practice of attempting surgeries they didn’t think would be successful.

Whenever I’ve fed critical care, I mix it up much thinner than the package says, so it is about the consistency of pancake batter. With Pippen (the bun with GI issues), I was starting to feel like it might be making him worse too, but we tried eliminating each food type (other than hay of course) and nothing really seemed to make a difference.

You could try drying veggies/weeds, like dandelion and plantain. Some bunnies do much better with them dried.

Has your vet identified which part of the gut is sluggish? That might also help with treatment and medication ideas. Certain meds work more on the lower GI, others on the upper. I’ve also heard of GI buns being on maintenance doses of ranitidine, which I think is actually an acid reflux drug.

I would probably at least try the ultrasound if I was out of options….. and maybe discuss the success rates of surgery, and whether your vet has had experience with it?

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[bbmeep]

Rio and Buns – 7 years wow you must have gone through so many GI episodes with him! You’re such a good bunny parent! My very first bunny lived to 8 and I was heartbroken so I can’t imagine loosing my little Marnie ever, honestly. She has stolen my heart.

We are actually on our way to the emergency overnight vet because this episode has been a doozy. I wrote earlier today how well she was doing well that lasted about 8 hours and now her stomach is super distended so I think I need to get the 24/7 people to pull her through this one because the oral meds are obviously not doing enough. I also gave her a pro-b which I think may have been the culprit because she was doing fine for those 8 hours and then bam – gas. Its so frustrating because the other times I have given her pro-b it seemed to work super well and I was almost hoping the pro-b would become a staple in the treatment plan since she has been on antibiotics so many times in the past.

Our vet has not identified which part of the GI is the issue. Sometimes I want to find another vet but he’s so highly rated and is on every bunny website with endorsements and she has seen 2 other vets who didn’t even identify her teeth as a possible piece of the puzzle, which our current vet did, so then I tell myself I should stick with him and keep trying to figure this out. I wish Marnie could just tell me which part hurt and how that would make things so much easier wouldn’t it!

I’m not sure if she has megacolon, I’ve brought it up with our vet and he said it could be but wasn’t sure. What makes me hesitate is that she has bouts of totally normal poop and from what I’ve read megacolon bunnies never had normal poop? There also doesn’t seem to be much of a treatment for it other than diet – eliminating greens and pellets- which we’ve already done to no avail.

I definitely want to do the ultrasound, at least if we know its adhesions we can think and research what the heck to do about it instead of waiting for the next episode to happen :/

[bbmeep]

Hey guys sorry for the double post tonight and my probably incoherent ranting but I’ve been awake for about 24 hours now — I just dropped Marnie off at the emergency vet and she’s now getting IV fluids and meds and I’m pretty confident it was the right choice because she just looked like she was in so much pain. I hope I can pick her up tomorrow but we’ll see how she does overnight.

My question is about Baytril (enrofloxacin) antibiotic for use DURING GI Stasis. I’ve been told so many different things by my regular vet, the other vet at the clinic I see when my regular vet isn’t around and the emergency room rotation vets which I have gotten to know all of at this point.

Whenever we end up at the ER they convince me that she NEEDS to go on Baytril because it will kill off the bad bacteria in her stomach/cecum and that will stop gas production and the bloating will go away and the rest of the system will be greatly alleviated.

My regular vet is OK with bayril – sometimes we use it and sometimes we don’t – he likes to do a blood test for white blood cell count to see if they are elevated and if so then we start on baytril along with the motility/pain meds.

The other vet at my regular clinic that I’ve seen from time to time is absolutely against Baytril and says its unnecessary and the bacteria will restore itself you just have to give it time. She says the emergency room doctors overuse it.

Has anyone had experience using baytril to treat GI Stasis? The thing that worries me is that she has GI Stasis so often and she’s been on Baytril probably 5 times since December and that seems like wayyy to many times right?! But the emergency room vets always talk me into it because they assure me that its very safe and the likely hood of her developing a resistance is almost nil. And sure enough when the motility/pain/gas -x meds don’t work and we add in Baytril she always gets better.

What are your thoughts on using it long term? Should I be worried about it doing more harm than good in the long run? Is it enough to give pro – b after the antibiotic ? I am worried that I am forever ruining her intestinal flora.

Thank you again!

[Bunny House]

Hi!

One of my buns has been going through stasis for 3 weeks and is slowly recovering. Have you kept her on probiotics and prebiotics this whole time? Some bunnies might just not have enough good bacteria in their gut all the time. Also antibiotics are not recommended because it can kill the bad bacteria but also what ever good bacteria is left during stasis.

Bacteria will not restore itself in severe cases like yours, you need to support her good bacteria and then the bad bacteria will be starved out.
It can take up to 6 months to build back up the good bacteria nd if you keep putting her on enro, it will kill what she has left. Bunnies should always be on pro and pre-biotics when on antibiotics.
Florentero is a great prebiotic that we just switched to.

Keeping her hydrated is key, metacam (only for so many days) and making sure her gut sounds are still there.
She may also have an issue with her receptors in her tummy telling her to empty her stomach so that causes stasis. You might want to try cesaprid on her and see how it does. That is what we used on my lion head and it got him pooping again!

[Author]

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