GI stasis surgery?

Hi!
I have a 4 month old mixed race dwarf lop boy. 5 days ago he stopped eating.
I brought him to the vet, they gave him medication for pain relief and to get the intestines working again, and some antibiotics.
Yesterday he spent all day at the vet with iv therapy, the vet also told me they did some gastric probing and got out a lot of fluid from the stomach.

However, the bun's tunmy soon became swollen again. They told me they suspect it might be an occlusion and today I go to get some x-rays and maybe an ultrasound (I got x-rays done the first day of stasis and they showed gas but no occlusion). They told me if there indeed is an occlusion surgery will be needed.

However, today the bun made two small droppings. Is it possible that there is an occlusion then? The stomach is still swollen, but it sounds like liquid is swooshing inside. He still is very apathetic, he stays crouched and doesn't move much. I don't want to put the bunny through surgery unless absolutely necessary since I heard it is very dangerous.

Any advice is much appreciated. Thank you!

Welcome to RO. I'm so sorry you're going through this! GI stasis is scary and difficult to watch a bunny going through. I've never had a rabbit go 5 days without either getting better or passing away.

If you trust the bunny-savvyness of your vet and they believe him to have a blockage/occlusion, surgery may well be needed... and the sooner, the better in my opinion, as the longer he goes without eating and drinking normally, the weaker he'll get and the more dangerous surgery will become. A full blockage that hasn't resolved itself within 5 days probably isn't going to. I don't recall what type of anesthesia is typically used in rabbits and whether it's processed more/mostly by the kidney or liver... but getting IV therapy means they're giving him fluids, preventing kidney damage from dehydration and that surely helps.

The bottom line, to me, is that surgery may be risky but GI stasis will kill your rabbit for sure if you can't find and eliminate the underlying cause . We'll be keeping your sweet little bunny in our hearts and thoughts - I really hope he pulls through!

Thankfully, the choice was made for me. This morning the bun finally started pooping more so the vet ruled out an obstruction. He kept him on IV therapy the entire day anyway, and told me that his condition is not yet stable. This afternoon he didn't poop anymore but he is still pretty alert and still nibbles on hay so at last I have some glimmer of hope that he might pull through.
Thank you for the kind thoughts.

It sounds like he's taken a turn towards recovery! Nibbling on hay is a great step in the right direction. Has simethicone (baby gas drops) been given to him at all? Rabbits have a hard time dealing with gas; simethicone is very safe, so it won't hurt him if gas isn't the cause of the stasis.

Yes, I gave him simethicone since day 2, three times every day until last night, when I started giving it every 3 hours since the tummy was very bloated.
Tonight he seems to be in pain, and I don't understand why. There is teeth grinding (which I haven't heard before, he only stood crouched and not moving) but the tummy is less bloated than yesterday. There is however a lot of liquid inside, I can hear it swooshing when he jumps. The vet didn't give me any pain relievers so I can only give him gas drops until tomorrow, which I hope will be enough. I just don't understand why he is in pain now, after passing some poo.

I think you definitely need pain meds- meloxicam is usually what they prescribe to give orally at home, but buprenorphine is also an option. If you Google "pain medication for rabbits" you can see the types of meds. One thing recommended to have in a "bunny first aid kit" is Bayer's children's aspirin for emergency pain. I could not advise giving it though, but perhaps you could call an ER vet or something like that? I know it's terrible to watch your bunny in pain.

I'm not sure if your rabbit is eating enough hay to keep his GI tract moving on his own- were they syringe feeding him at the vet? If he's not really eating enough, you can buy Critical Care which is very good for syringe feeding. If you don't have access to that, crush up some pellets and add hot water to make a mush thin enough to draw up into a syringe (with no needle). Let it cool enough not to burn bunny's mouth and feed to him. You can also feed canned plain pumpkin (not pie filling!) and unflavored Pedialyte for children. You need to push very small amounts into your bunny's mouth through the syringe, and put the tip of it in sideways right behind the front teeth so it doesn't squirt down his throat. You can give bunny tummy massages as well- if he reacts painfully because of the fluid in his stomach I would stop though. Also, check his ears frequently to be sure they are not cold. Cold ears and pain can mean a rabbit going into shock and you must warm them up. You can plug in a heating pad, put it on your lap and put a thick towel over that, then hold bunny on your lap. I've often just put a blanket over the bunny and held them against my body for warmth, holding their ears in my hand to warm them.


One more thing I might ask about tomorrow is motility meds to get your rabbits GI tract moving. Metoclopramide is one that is often given. Ranitidine- Zantac I believe- can be given also, and it is over the counter. Again, you want a vet's recommendation on this- I'm not a vet, just someone who has had rabbits and several emergencies which required me to figure out how to keep my rabbits alive until I got vet care. Sometimes, we do our best and nothing works. But I'm hoping for your bunny to pull through this! Pooping and eating hay address great signs.

I hope this helps.

DeeNtheBuns nailed it across the board. I'm shocked that you vet wasn't already giving pain medication. If he seems to be in pain or getting worse, then unfortunately you need to go back to trying to find the root cause of this stasis episode.

I'm sorry I wasn't clearer - the vet did administer pain medication, but at the office. He gave me none to have at home over the night.

Today I got the bun to the vet office the whole day for IV therapy (on the first day they gave ranitidine, metoclopramide, simethicome, an antibiotic that starts with M and one more syringe; since then they added some more stuff but I am not sure what).
He made some more droppings today, and still nibbled some hay, but the vet said it is not enough yet. The tummy is still a bit bloated too. I was hoping that since he started pooping the recovery would be faster; now I am worried again since it is the second day since he started pooping but he is still pretty under the weather.