MUCOID ENTEROPATHY/GASTRIC STASIS/INTESTINAL PARESIS and related problems are most common in young rabbits shortly after weaning and have a 60-100% mortality rate.
Gastric stasis is known as the 'silent killer' so please consult your vet immediately you spot any symptoms. Your bunny can be saved - but urgent treatment is absolutely essential. Without treatment, your bunny will almost certainly die.
Any GI Stasis requires IMMEDIATE treatment to stimulate gut motility as soon as possible. This is NOT a condition which can be left until tomorrow. We cannot over-emphasis the importance of prompt action in this illness.
An URGENT visit to a rabbit-savvy vet is strongly advised for a professional diagnosis and advice. Don't be fobbed off with the response I once had, along with no advice given: "bring her back in 3-4 days if she's still not eaten or drunk anything, and we'll open her up...". YOU can help and it is important that you do so - or your bunny will almost certainly die.
We have divided this page into 2 sections:
- Gastric Stasis/Blockages in adults
- Mucoid Enteropathy in bunnies usually aged 4-12 weeks
GASTRIC STASIS IN ADULTS
In the straight-forward case of gastric stasis caused by stress, a furball or blockage, often the first pre-symptom is a reduction of droppings in his/her litter tray and these are likely to be much smaller and drier than normal. This should set alarm bells ringing...
Rabbits are very susceptible to stress and their bodies respond to this with their digestive system shutting down due to excess adrenaline being produced. Therefore, always minimise any stresses to your bunny.
If you notice that a food bowl has barely been touched overnight or the droppings are reducing in size or number - seek advice IMMEDIATELY. At this stage, prompt treatment can save your bunny's life.
The next symptom can be dehydration which can progress rapidly in warm/hot weather. Due to the blockage, your bunny loses his/her appetite, feels bloated and stops drinking and this is the first noticeable symptom. To the inexperienced bunny-keeper, the coat feels like that of a soft toy and if you pinch the scruff, it will remain tented rather than instantly spring back into place as it should do. By this stage, dehydration can be advanced but, a vet can administer rehydration fluids much more effectively than via syringe-feeding - so please take your bunny to the vet as soon as you spot any suspect symptoms. In advanced cases of dehydration, it will be very difficult to find any loose skin to pinch at the scruff as it will appear to be 'clinging' to the bunny's body - which will probably now be quite hard and swollen.
Our treatment methods are summarised below but, much more effective is PREVENTION RATHER THAN CURE. To help prevent stasis occurring, always feed large quantities of fresh long meadow hay (not the often stale, plastic-bagged stuffed from pet shops!) which can be supplemented by other high fibre products such as Spillers' ReadiGrass and/or Dengie HiFi. Feed adults fresh vegetables and grass and, during a moult, always pluck or comb away any shedding fur to prevent it being ingested - this grooming is required at least 1-2 times daily during a heavy moult.
The veterinary examination should include taking the bunny's temperature to check for signs of infection and examining the teeth - incase the bunny has overgrown molars (spurs) which are sharply cutting into the sides of his mouth and making eating painful.
Your bunny will be uncomfortable and possibly in pain so your vet might also prescribe painkillers.
MUCOID ENTEROPATHY IN YOUNGSTERS
The first indications are a lack of appetite, sitting in isolation from hutch-mates, possible excessive thirst. This can be promptly followed by diarrhoea then constipation, sometimes passing lumps of yellow, jelly-like mucus. The abdomen swells with fluid contents and the rabbit 'balloons', sits huddled and rapidly loses condition, sometimes developing a 'razor-like' feel along its spine.
Untreated, the condition progresses rapidly. Dehydration becomes more obvious, the bunny swells and the abdomen feels like a tight balloon. Sometimes, rumblings can be heard from the abdomen and, upon palpation by an experienced handler, a hard core can often be felt, usually at the lower right of the abdomen, indicating a blockage of the caecum. All bunnies should eat a pile of hay equivalent to their body size every day.
We treat straight-forward stasis with a combination of:
 | Offering greens - dandelions, dandelion leaves, parsley, grass, apples, banana - anything 'wet' (to help increase hydration and to hydrate the blockage) and high-fibre feeds such as straw, hay, ReadiGrass, |
| Syringe-feeding (baby food, Burgess Excel mixed into a pulp with water, pro-biotic, dilute Cimicat or Lactol...) to ensure your bunny gets some nutrition during the illness |
| Supreme Science Recovery solution - an excellent product which provides nutrients and essential fibre. |
| Raw pineapple juice (contains bromelin, an enzyme which helps to break down the substance which binds fur together creating furballs) |
| Some vets use liquid paraffin to help hydrate the blockage and encourage it to move through the GI system |
| Motility stimulant (if appropriate) to encourage gut motility to return |
| Lots of water to restore hydration. Sometimes a bunny will drink from a bowl when they refuse a bottle. If not, then syringe feeding water is essential. Always aim the syringe towards the side of the mouth - never towards the throat as this can lead to accidental aspiration and death. Syringe water very slowly, 1ml at a time and wait until your bunny swallows before syringing any further fluid. It can be a good idea to flavour the water with pineapple juice to give it some taste and encourage your bunny to swallow. |
| Infacol (available from the 'baby' counter at supermarkets or chemists), can help disperse uncomfortable gastro-intestinal wind. |
| Metacam for pain relief |
| Saline solution given sub-cutaneously for rapid rehydration |
| Baytril (orally) to prevent GI infection |
| Gentle tummy-rubs can help ease pain, pass wind and seems to make the bunny feel more comfortable. Don't be rough as your bunny may already be in pain and have tender abdominal organs. Rough stimulation could lead to an internal rupture with probably fatal consequences. |
Antibiotics are recommended for GI infections - and must be prescribed by a vet.
Motility stimulants, such as metoclopramide or Prepulsid (the drug has been withdrawn but a few vets might still have limited supplies for such emergencies), can be administered - but only if there isn't a major blockage of the intestinal tract. An X-ray may be required to diagnose this if any blockages cannot be felt via GENTLE palpation. Again, a vet's professional opinion is essential.
Infacol (available OTC from supermarkets/chemists) can help when the rabbit is suffering from audible wind. Similarly, offering a heated pad or hot water bottle wrapped in a towel to sit on, can be soothing - but don't use boiling water and check to ensure your bunny isn't chewing it.
We highly recommend syringe-feeding Supreme Science 'Recovery' Solution which should be available from your local veterinary surgeon. Since its launch, we've used this with impressive results and achieved much success in sustaining bunnies through their illness who've then progressed to make a full recovery. We can't recommend it highly enough!
Treatment takes about a week and on about the 5th day, there could be large quantities of clumpy droppings, sometimes coated in mucus, as gastric motility is resumed and the impacted caecum empties.
The rabbit should then be fed grass, dandelions and hay to stimulate further gastric motility followed by their usual diet as your bunny regains his/her lost weight.
Gastric stasis can be induced by feeding a poor diet with inadequate fibre - long hay, grass, veg. It can also be stress-induced and these factors must be addressed to prevent future occurrences.
'Furballs' (trichobezoars) are caused by fur being swallowed by animals in the normal course of them grooming themselves. It is more common in longer-haired breeds (Angora and Cashmere) and during the moulting season.
Normally, this is prevented by regular grooming - increasing during the moulting season using a shedding comb (available via mail order from our online shop) together with always feeding a high fibre diet to ease the transition of the fur through the alimentary canal to be expelled in the droppings. However, if insufficient fibre is consumed, then fur can clump together in the stomach where it affects normal digestion and can block the passage of contents from the stomach. All rabbits should ideally eat a pile of hay equivalent to their body size - every day and it is essential to pluck or comb away any loose fur, using a shedding comb, to prevent it being ingested.
The rabbit will refuse to eat and gradually waste away. Palpation of the stomach and/or contrast radiography can locate the furball.
One treatment to administer 10ml of raw pineapple juice or papaya which can help break down the furball.
Ample quantities of hay must also be given during treatment and recovery.
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