GI stasis?? Please help!

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Cinnabunn

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Hello everyone, so I woke up today to feed my male rabbit his normal veggies and pellets and immediately noticed he had no interest in them. I also notice he is just sitting in one corner of the room and I’ve tried offering his favorite treats and foods and nothing 😞
I have baby mylicon in hand and metacam that was prescribed to him for his recent neutering surgery. ( it was 2 1/2 weeks ago) I didn’t use all of the metacam up because the vet said not to give it if he was doing well, which he was. Should I give him a dose of the metacam to help with his pain? Along with the baby mylicon? The only thing I got him to eat earlier this morning was a divisive tablet that I give as a treat every day. He has moved around a couple of times earlier & some poops flew out. I will include pictures of them. They do not look normal to me. Since these poops I have not seen anymore poops come out.
unfortunately my vet is closed today. Any advice would greatly help please! This is the first time my rabbitngoes through this. He is 5 months old.
 

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I will usually try baby gas drops initially for the 3 doses an hour apart, maybe offer some of my rabbits usual leafy greens, try some gentle belly massage, encouraging my rabbit to hop around, and making sure to safely warm my rabbit if they're chilled. Then after that if my rabbit doesn't get to eating again, experiences true diarrhea(not just mushy cecotropes), has signs of bloat, and/or I have any other serious concerns, then I know it's time to get my rabbit right to the vet.

I can't suggest whether or not you should use the metacam as it's prescription, so that's something that only you can decide or your vet can suggest. But if you do decide to give any, it's important to always make sure there is a little bit of food in the rabbits stomach, and also some water. Just like when we take ibuprofen.

And also be aware that if you're considering syringe feeding without first having your rabbit examined by your vet, that if your rabbit has bloat(the actual stomach, not just the belly area) or a complete digestive tract blockage, syringe feeding any significant amount could prove harmful as it increases the pressure on the stomach, digestive tract, and internal organs(eg. the heart and lungs), when nothing is moving through.

https://rabbit.org/gastrointestinal-stasis-the-silent-killer-2/
https://rabbit.org/vet-listings/
 
I will usually try baby gas drops initially for the 3 doses an hour apart, maybe offer some of my rabbits usual leafy greens, try some gentle belly massage, encouraging my rabbit to hop around, and making sure to safely warm my rabbit if they're chilled. Then after that if my rabbit doesn't get to eating again, experiences true diarrhea(not just mushy cecotropes), has signs of bloat, and/or I have any other serious concerns, then I know it's time to get my rabbit right to the vet.

I can't suggest whether or not you should use the metacam as it's prescription, so that's something that only you can decide or your vet can suggest. But if you do decide to give any, it's important to always make sure there is a little bit of food in the rabbits stomach, and also some water. Just like when we take ibuprofen.

And also be aware that if you're considering syringe feeding without first having your rabbit examined by your vet, that if your rabbit has bloat(the actual stomach, not just the belly area) or a complete digestive tract blockage, syringe feeding any significant amount could prove harmful as it increases the pressure on the stomach, digestive tract, and internal organs(eg. the heart and lungs), when nothing is moving through.

https://rabbit.org/gastrointestinal-stasis-the-silent-killer-2/
https://rabbit.org/vet-listings/
After I posted this something just kept telling me he was in a lot of pain. He was just in the corner, wouldn’t move and he was squinting his eyes. I went ahead and decided to give him the metacam, I knew the exact dosage since he had just had it prescribed two weeks ago. I gave him that, tried belly massages and also gave him water with a syringe every 30 mins. Not too much just enough to get liquids in him. After about an hour and half of the metacam he began moving around! & just looked better overall. He came up to me when I walked into his room and I offered a healthy treat and he actually ate it! I also gave the mylicon for the next 3 hours and he has slowly eaten his hay on his own & the veggies I had left in his bowl from earlier.
what should I do from here on out? I know for sure my vet won’t re open until Monday. Do I just keep doing hay and water no pellets? Offer critical care?
I am soooo glad I had the metacam. I think once his pain was under control he was motivated to eat again. He has had a few more poops since eating, still odd or smaller a but something is something! This is all so scary. I don’t know what could have caused it, the only thing different was yesterday I gave him some mint to try and he had never had that. Could the mint have caused this? I won’t be giving him anymore either way just to be safe. Thank you so much for replying.
 
Last edited:
I forgot to include picture of his poops after. I think some are cecotropes mixed in, but poop still doesn’t look completely normal.
 

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It's possible he's sensitive to mint. Sometimes you just never know what caused a temporary stomach upset.

If he's eating hay well, I wouldn't worry about pellets for today. Good quality hay is usually the best thing to help settle most stomach upset. Though I would recommend looking over the veggies for any sign of spoiling, and also check the hay and pellets. I would also continue to monitor eating, drinking, pooping, and behavior.
 
It's possible he's sensitive to mint. Sometimes you just never know what caused a temporary stomach upset.

If he's eating hay well, I wouldn't worry about pellets for today. Good quality hay is usually the best thing to help settle most stomach upset. Though I would recommend looking over the veggies for any sign of spoiling, and also check the hay and pellets. I would also continue to monitor eating, drinking, pooping, and behavior.
Thank you!! I won’t be giving him mint anymore. That is the only thing I could think of that was different. He is munching on hay so I will just keep pushing that for now along with water. Hopefully it makes everything return to normal. Either way on Monday I will be calling the vet and see if he thinks I should still bring him in.
 
If he's back to normal on Monday, I would probably be hesitant to bring him to the vet. Vet visits can be quite stressful and the stress itself can cause a rabbit to go into GI stress. If you think something else is going on, do what your gut tells you. I myself reserve vet visits for when/if I feel it is necessary. I'd fear a visit could cause a recuperating rabbit to have a relapse.
 
My 2 girls are frequent flyers with stasis. My vet does allow me to keep metacloprimide at home . I’m in WI and They always seem to get sick at night during a sNow storm. They are rescues and do not tolerate touching so belly rubs are out. They get plenty of movement as I try to catch them to medicate.
a good relationship with your vet will allow you to have sone guidelines for when you can’t reach them .
The emergency veT in my area is hit and miss with rabbits. They wanted to put my head tiltedr down because they told me he couldn’t possibly eat like that. He was 8 pounds and I’d had him for 5 years after I adopted him
But they insisted I couldn’t care for him properly and he was going to die . They just didn’t know
About rabbits
I keep mylicon , metachloprimide and
metacam on hand
This may not work for everyone since you need to be confident and have a trusting relationship with your vet
Obviously this is helpful at the beginning of an episode when they are not in acute distress. Then there is no option but seeing a vet .
 
If he's back to normal on Monday, I would probably be hesitant to bring him to the vet. Vet visits can be quite stressful and the stress itself can cause a rabbit to go into GI stress. If you think something else is going on, do what your gut tells you. I myself reserve vet visits for when/if I feel it is necessary. I'd fear a visit could cause a recuperating rabbit to have a relapse.
I agree with this, when I took him in for his neuter he did look quite stressed. Poor thing. So far he seems to be doing ok, still eating lots of hay and drinking water. He has pooped a lot more and they are looking more and more normal! Which I’m so thankful for. Thank you for the advice.
 
My 2 girls are frequent flyers with stasis. My vet does allow me to keep metacloprimide at home . I’m in WI and They always seem to get sick at night during a sNow storm. They are rescues and do not tolerate touching so belly rubs are out. They get plenty of movement as I try to catch them to medicate.
a good relationship with your vet will allow you to have sone guidelines for when you can’t reach them .
The emergency veT in my area is hit and miss with rabbits. They wanted to put my head tiltedr down because they told me he couldn’t possibly eat like that. He was 8 pounds and I’d had him for 5 years after I adopted him
But they insisted I couldn’t care for him properly and he was going to die . They just didn’t know
About rabbits
I keep mylicon , metachloprimide and
metacam on hand
This may not work for everyone since you need to be confident and have a trusting relationship with your vet
Obviously this is helpful at the beginning of an episode when they are not in acute distress. Then there is no option but seeing a vet .
Omg that is so sad that they wanted to put down your rabbit like that. In my area there are really only two exotic vets and one very rarely has appointments available or will but 2 or 3 weeks out which is useless when your rabbit is in need of urgent care. My regular vet does have appointments almost always same day but they were closed for the weekend because of the new year holiday. Asking them about keeping meds at home is such a good idea though, I was lucky enough to have the metacam left over from his neuter surgery on hand. I think it helped with any stomach pain he was having and then it let him eat again. For sure I will talk to my vet about having some at home, hopefully they go for it. I also do have a doe and you never know when she could be next. This is the first time my buck goes through this and I hope it’s not a frequent thing! It’s really stressful to not see them doing well 😞
 
I would continue with gas drops and Metcam for pain. Veges and hay. Watch his poops closely. If he continues to poop than not obstructed and would supplement with Critical care. If his appetite is back, he might eat the critical care mixture out of a bowl vs syringe feeding.
 

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