Our poor little Rodolfo experienced a bout of GI Stasis this week – he’s now back with us recovering well but we wanted to spread awareness to all Rabbit owners.

GI stasis also known as ‘Gut Stasis’ is a serious condition which affects Rabbits and can be life threatening if not treated immediately.

Stasis is when a Rabbit’s muscles in the stomach and intestines contract less and food/gas starts to build up.

A few causes of GI Stasis can be;

Diet, such as low-fiber diets or overeating high-energy pellets

Dehydration

Pain

 Stress (loud noises, moving to a new environment, change in environment etc)

Ingesting foreign bodies

This can occur at any point, so it’s important that Rabbit owners are very confident reading their rabbits body language to notice a change in them.

We noticed Rodolfo was uncomfortable in his stomach area (very tense), he turned down treats and wasn’t as active – when we spotted this we immediately took action and called our Vets. He was hospitalised over night as he had a high blood glucose level (which your vet should always check!) and was sent for x-rays to determine if he had any sort of blockage. Luckily he didn’t, he was administered gut stimulant and pain relief and was eating and toileting overnight and came back to us the next day.

Signs to look out for:

Reduced or no appetite

Smaller or no droppings

Hunched or bloated appearance (pushing their belly into the floor in discomfort)

Lethargy

Grinding teeth or grunting

Please contact your vet immediately if you spot any of those signs in your rabbit.