Behaviour after gut statis

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Ophelie Segura

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Hello everyone, a couple of weeks ago we noticed out bunny stopped eating and pooping, took him to vet who diagnosed him with gut statis and kept him for a couple of days. Since we brought him back he has been eating like crazy, he always beg for more food, jumps on everything we put in front of him and he’s also drinking much more water which also means peeing much more. The annoying part is he is normally a litter trained rabbit, but now he is peeing everywhere even on our bed.
Any similar experience and/or advice?
Thanks.
 
Welcome to RO! That's an odd situation for sure... I can't really begin to guess without more info, so I've got some follow-up questions. How old is he? Is he neutered? What's his housing set-up and diet like? When he pees on things he shouldn't, is it mostly soft surfaces like beds, sofas, blankets, clothing, etc.? Because that's not abnormal for some rabbits, even if they're normally litterbox trained.
 
He is 2 years old, not neutered (never really had to).
We changed his diet a bit as the vet made us realise we were giving too much pellets to our bunny so we reduced significantly and increased greens (that was few weeks before gut stasis though) now we give a tiny spoon in of pellets in the morning and night, he has unlimited amount of hay in his cage. And we give him two cups a day of fresh veggies (mix of rocket salad, kale, celery, dill, parsley, bok choy...etc)
And yes he tends to pee on soft surfaces. But he never did this before. And he drinks heaps. He has a big bowl that I have to replace 3 times in 24hrs when before I replaced it just once.
Thanks for your advice
 
The pee could be related to not being neutered but given his age, that doesn't strike me as being particularly likely. Spays are VERY important for female rabbits because of the extremely high chance of reproductive cancers in unspayed females... but for males, neutering is really only necessary for behavioral reasons or to make it safe to bond them with another rabbit (and the behavioral issues usually involve the spraying of urine up to 6 feet in the air and aiming for eyes, lol). I feel like if you were going to need to neuter him for behavioral reasons, it would've come up by now.

When I hear drinking more (3x more, no less), peeing more and peeing outside the box despite normally being litter box trained, the first thing that comes to mind is some sort of UTI. I recommend making a vet appointment for him in order to either confirm that or rule it out.

Also, a comment on the GI stasis... Gas is a common cause of that, so you might try reducing or eliminating the cruciferous veggies from his diet to lower the chances of it reoccurring. To copy/paste from a post I just made in another thread, heh... The most common cruciferous leafy greens include kale, collard/turnip/mustard greens, bok choy, arugula and watercress (many of which aren't nearly as obvious as the broccoli/cauliflower/cabbage most people associate with being cruciferous). Some rabbits can tolerate them in small to moderate doses while others are especially sensitive to them. Rocket salad is mostly arugula... combined with kale and the particularly gas-inducing bok choy, that could definitely be causing gas issues.

House Rabbit Society has a great list of veggies. Pretty much ANY lettuce other than arugula is a good choice for a gas-prone bunn. Cilantro is particularly popular with most rabbits (other than our Nala, who loathes it), as are various herbs. Wheatgrass is tummy-friendly and super easy to grow. Parsley or spinach are good options from the "high oxalic acid" list.
 

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