Possible Stasis?

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Hey guys... I think Butterscotch might have GI Stasis... This morning, he ignored his breakfast, which is out of the ordinary for him, but I figured he was mad because I woke him up for once, so he was just saving it for later. This evening, my husband went out to round up Butterscotch and Ellie to put them away for the night. Ellie went straight into the house, but Butterscotch sat like a rock and wedged himself into a corner and wouldn't budge. I ended up going outside and picking him up. He kicked a little, so he's obviously alert.

I gave him the usual Bunny Observance test. I set him on the floor, and he is hopping around like normal. When he's not hopping, He has been laying stretched out. I offered him pellets, and a little bit of pineapple, and he refused. My husband is doing the Banana Test as we speak.. And he did have a few bites of banana.. His tummy isn't making the usual food digesting sounds, so that has me on edge.

We will be putting him in a bun cage for further observation, and I'm going to wrangle Ellie and bring her in with him, so he has company (in a separate cage, of course).. If I don't see any pee spots or poop, he and Ellie are going on a road trip tomorrow morning to the vet. Unfortunately, the emergency vets around here only cater to dogs and cats. I figured I'd call them to find out, and they absolutely refused to see me if I brought them in. I assume they just don't want to get sued if something bad happens, which is understandable. I'd rather stay up all night watching over him then to send him to someone who knows next to nothing about rabbits...

From those of you who have dealt with it, what sort of thing should I look for?

I appreciate any and all help. :)
 
If you have critical care on hand, feed that as soon as you can. If not, I would mush up some pellets, banana (for flavor) and water in a blender and force feed him. It sounds like a vet visit is already planned- or I would suggest that too! :p But if he's not eating much, food will be the best course of action at this point. Good luck! Stasis is not fun.
 
I've also had some success with giving simethicone for babies - 1 ML each hour up to 3 times if needed. A warm water bottle can help too. And offer greens and hay often. Sometimes they eat some if you keep bothering them with it. Hope it's just a little tummy blip and over soon!
 
If I have a rabbit that's not eating, I always start with simethicone. If it's gas, then that will sometimes help and get them back to eating within a couple of hours. If it's something else then the simethicone shouldn't make any difference.
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html

If you decide to syringe feed before going to the vet, you should be aware that if your rabbit has a full blockage or a bloated stomach, that this could be potentially harmful. Never syringe feed if there is a bloated stomach as this increases the pressure in the stomach and also on the heart and lungs. A bloated stomach will either be noticeable visually, or upon very gentle palpitation will feel like an inflated balloon just under the bottom of the rib cage. With a full blockage, nothing is moving through, so adding more content will cause pressure to the digestive system and other internal organs, and you can only really know if it's not a full blockage by seeing the vet. If it is a full blockage, this sometimes requires surgery to correct.
 
Thanks guys. :)

I woke up a bit ago, and figured I'd come check on them. Ellie's cage is full of poops... Butterscotch doesn't have a single one. It looks like we're going on a road trip in the morning. :-/

I did feel their stomachs, and in comparison to Ellie (they're both 8 pounds,and have nearly the same dimensions), Butterscotch doesn't seem to be bloated. His stomach is a bit firmer than Ellie's though. He has been more bunched up than he usually is. He also *may* have grunted at me, but since Ellie is right next to him (and is a bit of a ventriloquist), it may have just been her saying "Leave my brother alone!" She is the most vocal of my three buns. He did eat a single slice of hay, but I think that was just to throw me off and make me think he was fine.

Luckily, our vet opens at 8 am on Saturdays, so I'll be able to get them down there pretty quickly. :) These rabbits... They do a great job of worrying us, don't they?
 
Yeah at this point, the vet is unfortunately unavoidable - you clearly have a stasis case, but you need an x-ray to make sure there is no blocage. It would also be advisable to understand what caused it. Stasis is an effect, not a cause. So there is probably something else and the vet will have to assess the global health of your bunny. Normal stasis sans blocage generally ends well with a gut mobility drug (Reglan), pain meds (Metacam), hydratation (with the smallest 1ml syringe to avoid risking putting water in the lungs), and force feeding critical care if the rabbit doesn't eat on his own. It happened to Aki twice last year. I panicked completely and thought she was going to die because she trembled and looked really bad, all hunched and in pain, but she began eating and pooping a bit after 12hours and was back to normal three days later. Rabbits really don't manage pain well and shut down completely even with a mere stomach ache so I always keep Metacam in my cupboards and give it before even calling the vet everytime I notice one of mine acting weird ^^'. Gently massaging his belly every 4 hours or so also helps the guts to work when they are a bit slow.
Of course, if there is a blocage, it's more complicated and the prognostic isn't as good.
I hope for you both that it's just a simple case of stasis. Keep us posted!
 
So, I just returned from the vet (very busy day!) He happened to pee on the way there (I guess the bumpy roads knocked it out of him), and there were two poops in his carrier. After the initial struggle to weigh him (he ran away from the scale, and ran as fast as he could go on the slippery counter top. He didn't get hurt. :) ) after the tech left, he snuggled up with Ellie in her carrier. Who'd have guessed that two, big rabbits could both moosh themselves into one carrier... Lol.

She felt him all over, and she said his belly feels fine, but she felt something around his bladder that she's pretty sure are bladder stones. :-( she wanted to do an xray, but the machine isn't working, so they will call me to come back when it's up. They did do an ultrasound, though (and Butterscotch laid there perfectly! He didn't kick or panic or anything), and she did see little bits of something in his bladder, so she did give us some Metacam and Enrofloxacin to give him once a day. She also suggested putting greens in his cage that he doesn't get often, but that he has had before (parsley, cilantro, etc), to try and tempt him to eat. She also mentioned that bladder stones can be prevented, but once they are there, they need to be surgically removed. Fortunately, Butterscotch is 4 years old, so I'm sure he'll be fine with few difficulties. :)

We just got home, and I put both buns in their cages (since I'm going to have to catch them again soon, I'm just leaving them in the cages for now.. It'll help me monitor Butterscotch's bathroom use too). I put a few food pellets (only like 1/8 of a cup, which is next to nothing for such a large bunny, but I don't want to upset his belly anymore than it is) in their cages, along with the hay they already have. I also have some fresh parsley that I gave them. I gave the first dose of each medicine, and I kid you not, Butterscotch was eating before I even cleaned the syringes out!

So, even though we just started on this road, I'm so glad the vet has Saturday hours so we could get him on the path to wellness as soon as possible.

I will definitely keep you guys updated. Thanks for your help!
 
Vet appointment #2 today. In around half an hour, I'll head home to pack up Butterscotch and Ellie, and we'll see what's going on with Butterscotch. The xray machine was fixed on Monday evening, so they're ready for us!

Butterscotch has been eating and acting like normal since we started with the Metacam. He was even doing the "Bunny periscoping" this morning (standing on his back feet, nose in the air ^_^). I'll update again after the appointment!

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Really hope everything is ok with him. The bladder stone thing sounds scary :(
My parents' dog had this last year and needed surgery. She recovered but it was a rough road. And rabbits are so delicate.. good luck.
 
Well, everything went pretty well. ^_^ She took his weight again (and he laid on the scale...no running away!) And he did really well in the xray machine.

She said he looks pretty good inside. He did have a bit of a gas bubble, but no stones. She thinks he must have passed whatever he had over the weekend. I did pick up some of the simethicone drops on our way home to help break that bubble down.

Though the vet is a rabbit savvy vet, they apparently don't get many rabbits in the office, so the tech wanted to get some pictures for their Facebook page. Butterscotch and Ellie have decided they want to join the modelling business, and are available for booking whenever... haha... Butterscotch is just happy that they didn't post the picture of Ellie standing on his head. ^_^

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