G.I. Stasis vs Bloat and How to Spot Them Quickly in Rabbits

Gastrointestinal stasis or G.I. Stasis is when a bunny’s digestive system stops working or slows down. Now this can happen for a number of reasons and is preventable for the most part.

How to spot G.I. Stasis:

• Doesn’t eat as much or stops eating all together
• Isn’t as active or not active at all
• Not Drinking
• Hasn’t pooped
• You hear grinding of teeth (this means your bunny is in severe pain)

What causes this is more than likely a poor diet. Rabbits need a high fiber diet. A proper diet should be 80% good quality hay (timothy, orchard, oat) and 20% good quality pellets. Pellets should not be their main diet and often times we find this to be the case. G.I. Stasis can also be cause by dehydration, shock, stress, or essessive pain.

What should you do if you see the signs of G.I. Stasis? Go right to the vet. If going to the vet is not an option or they are closed; the next best thing is to always have Oxbow’s Critical Care on hand – it is a life saver! If caught early enough G.I. Stasis can be treated and your bunny can make a full recovery. The vet should always be your first option, however, we always have Critical Care just in case.

Bloat or Acute Gastrointestinal Dilation can happen to any bunny at any time even if your bunny is perfectly healthy.

What is bloat? Bloat is a blockage of the intestines and since rabbits can’t throw up this is life threatening. Most of the time when a rabbit gets bloat they swallow a fur-ball and this creates a blockage. Rabbits produce a lot of saliva to soften food and this continues into the stomach, making more stomach acid, and producing gas – all that cannot escape! This causes their stomachs to get hard and bloated and puts them in immense pain.

How to spot Bloat:

• Suddenly stops eating and drinking
• Stops moving or very little movement
• Hard stomach or enlarged stomach
• Very lethargic
• Teeth Grinding
• No pooping

Bloat is life threating and can happen very fast. If you think your bunny is having symptoms of bloat get to a vet immediately! Their stomachs must be decompressed and sometimes may require surgery. Unfortunately, even with veterinary care not all can make a healthy recovery. Bloat has nothing to do with diet, the environment, or you; unfortunately it sometimes just happens.

As always we hope you can find value in this article. If we can save just one bunny’s life then taking the time to write this will be worth it!

Email: HappilyEverAfterRabbitry@gmail.com

Phone : (484)-755-0800

With Love – Happily Ever After Rabbitry

Article #8

November 30, 2023

Sources: https://www.ohare.org/images/harelines/v13n2.pdf – Thanks to Dr. Barbara Oglesbee, DVM for writing this excellent article.

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