Bunny keeps getting sick!

Question
QUESTION: Hi! I have a bonded (neutered) pair of male rabbits, both about 6-7 years old, and I've had them for about 5 years and they've always been healthy and fine.

This summer, one night I walked in to find one bunny huddled in the corner. His tummy was swollen and hard and he wouldn't eat, so I rushed him to the emergency vet. His temp was very low (around 96). They gave him pain meds/motility agents/fluids. His teeth and everything else seemed fine. He started eating after a couple hours and he came home and seemed like nothing happened.

About a month later, I found him (again) hunched in the corner. This time his tummy wasn't swollen or hard, but again he wouldn't eat and I rushed him in, and again he had a low temp. They again gave the same treatment and after a couple hours he came home and was fine.

Finally this morning, about two months after the last issue, I found him again huddled and not eating, and again brought him in and his temp was again 96. He's been at the vet all day today, they're warming him up and doing the same protocol, and syringe feeding him. He's passed about 5 small stools while he's been there.

So the question is, why does this keep happening?? He's living in the cage with the other bunny, and the other bunny isn't having any of these problems at all. In between hospital visits, my sick bunny is completely fine and normal, active and curious. Just last night he was hopping and bopping all over the place, climbing on me and acting like a happy rabbit. Is there anything else they can check him for while he's there? Is there anything else I can do to prevent this from happening all the time?

Thank you!

ANSWER: Dear Lisa,

It sounds as if he is suffering from chronic, periodic very painful problems of the GI tract...but why?  GI pain can cause a bunny to go into shock, and hence the hypothermia.  It's lucky you have been so vigilant and have been able to save him each time.

Question:  Does he produce normal-shaped poops (like cocoa puffs), or are they rather large, rubbery, and misshapen?  If the latter, what color is the bunny?

I ask because if he is white with dark eyes and pigmented spots, he is more likely to be showing signs of a progressively bad GI condition linked with this color.  Some vets call it "mega colon" but it's not really exactly the same thing in rabbits as it is in other species.  It's more similar to Lethal White Overo Syndrome in horses.

I will wait to hear back from you with the details.

Dana

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi! Thank you so much for getting back to me.

He is a dwarf rabbit, and his friend is a lionhead, and I can't tell whose poo is whose because it looks the same- always like cocoa puffs. He is cinnamon coloured (not sure what the official term for that colour is) with dark eyes, so it can't be related to that. The only other thing I can think of that is at all different is he has a lot of porphyrin in his urine, which I've had tested numerous times and have never gotten any results that show anything "wrong", the vets just say that sometimes rabbits have that issue and it's not a sign of anything.

Thanks again for your help!

Answer
Hi, Lisa

I have a friend who had a bunny who would periodically go into bouts of stasis and hypothermia as you describe.  The bunny would apparently just get incredibly painful GAS.  She remedied the problem by warming up the bunny with warm water bottles and heating pads (extremely important to be able to take temperature!  See http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/sickbun.html for details) and giving pediatric simethicone and tummy massages.

The ileus treatments can be found here:

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html

I hope this helps.

Dana