Hi everyone,
First time posting here! We found our bunny Bean on the side of the road about two months ago. She has been through a lot -- her hind legs were broken and never reset/treated, her ears were chewed off, and she has what seems to be permanent bald spots around her ear "stumps" and eyes. Needless to say she has a lot of character and we have grown to love her dearly in a short time. We are very experienced dog and cat rescuers but this is our first bun.
Yesterday morning she was not eating -- VERY unusual for her. I knew about GI stasis so we took her to the emergency vet right away. They did an xray and listened to her gut, checked her teeth (they're fine) and diagnosed stasis on the spot. They kept her overnight and gave her fluids, motility drugs, baytril, critical care, and pain meds. We picked her up this afternoon and while she is not out of the woods she has certainly improved a lot and seems to feel better. We are now watching her closely and continuing with home care -- the meds, syringe feeding, etc.
My question is this: I have received A LOT of conflicting information from vets, vet techs, and online about what kind of diet is best for a stasis-prone bun. Some people, including two vets at the ER, are telling us to restrict leafy greens and encourage her to eat pellets. This seems counterintuitive to me. Wouldn't the greens do more for her gut than the pellets? She does LOVE her pellets, but I figure they offer no hydration and are just a lot of condensed dry matter -- is that really what she needs? My lay person logic and instinct says she'd do better with more fresh veggies to loosen things up. Is this totally incorrect? Why is the vet telling us the pellets are the best thing? Aren't they the most unnatural of all the foods available to her (hay, veggies, pellets)? I would think a wild rabbit's diet would be closer to hay + veggies. Also, she was eating plenty of pellets when the stasis hit her, so doesn't it make sense that they could have contributed to the problem?
We are also giving her orchard hay which she is sort of casually interested in but doesn't seem to enjoy consuming in large quantities. The pellets are Nature's Promise Timothy Pellets. Are these okay?
Please advise, I am so confused here. I'm not convinced these vets really know what they're talking about! I don't want to keep offering a generous amount of pellets if they are harming her, and I don't want to restrict the fresh produce if it will help her!
Thanks in advance!
First time posting here! We found our bunny Bean on the side of the road about two months ago. She has been through a lot -- her hind legs were broken and never reset/treated, her ears were chewed off, and she has what seems to be permanent bald spots around her ear "stumps" and eyes. Needless to say she has a lot of character and we have grown to love her dearly in a short time. We are very experienced dog and cat rescuers but this is our first bun.
Yesterday morning she was not eating -- VERY unusual for her. I knew about GI stasis so we took her to the emergency vet right away. They did an xray and listened to her gut, checked her teeth (they're fine) and diagnosed stasis on the spot. They kept her overnight and gave her fluids, motility drugs, baytril, critical care, and pain meds. We picked her up this afternoon and while she is not out of the woods she has certainly improved a lot and seems to feel better. We are now watching her closely and continuing with home care -- the meds, syringe feeding, etc.
My question is this: I have received A LOT of conflicting information from vets, vet techs, and online about what kind of diet is best for a stasis-prone bun. Some people, including two vets at the ER, are telling us to restrict leafy greens and encourage her to eat pellets. This seems counterintuitive to me. Wouldn't the greens do more for her gut than the pellets? She does LOVE her pellets, but I figure they offer no hydration and are just a lot of condensed dry matter -- is that really what she needs? My lay person logic and instinct says she'd do better with more fresh veggies to loosen things up. Is this totally incorrect? Why is the vet telling us the pellets are the best thing? Aren't they the most unnatural of all the foods available to her (hay, veggies, pellets)? I would think a wild rabbit's diet would be closer to hay + veggies. Also, she was eating plenty of pellets when the stasis hit her, so doesn't it make sense that they could have contributed to the problem?
We are also giving her orchard hay which she is sort of casually interested in but doesn't seem to enjoy consuming in large quantities. The pellets are Nature's Promise Timothy Pellets. Are these okay?
Please advise, I am so confused here. I'm not convinced these vets really know what they're talking about! I don't want to keep offering a generous amount of pellets if they are harming her, and I don't want to restrict the fresh produce if it will help her!
Thanks in advance!