rabbit seizure

Question
hello Dana i have 7 pet rabbits 2 of whom are inside. my almost 6 year old male indoor rabbit was having his bottom washed, he suffers from gut stasis, but has been fine for quite some time now. i had him on his back drying his bottom off with a towel when he started nibbling on his dew lap then he flopped and started shaking on his side, he was very limp. i thought he was dying, and was very upset. the vet checked him and told us several things it could be. he didn't give us any treatments for anything, but said if it happened again to bring him in and there is injections to help it. there is only 1 rabbit vet here in Perth WA and very expensive, so were unable to go there. also Thompson redwood the best pallets here is what they always eat ,i noticed after several days that none of them were eating these,only their greens, and were really hungry. i got them new ones and they are all eating again. i was wondering if it was medical problem or hunger that caused this. have never seen it before. i hop[e you can help me . thanks kerry

Answer
Dear Kerry,

As weird as this may sound, it is possible that his upside down position somehow cut off his breathing, and he fainted.  We once had a rabbit who had a very loose soft palate.  We found out the hard way that turning him upside down for any reason would cut off his windpipe opening, he'd turn blue and go into a seizure!  Fortunately he recovered when we flipped him back over, allowing him to breathe again.  But we were never able to safely put him under total anesthesia, and any ministrations that usually required holding him on his back had to be done with him on his sternum.  A little more challenging, but doable.

I didn't see it happen, but from your description, this doesn't sound like a typical epilepsy-type seizure.  It really sounds more like inability to breathe.  An epileptic seizure usually doesn't result in the rabbit going limp right away:  they go very stiff, may thrash, and this goes on for several minutes before they recover.  

I don't know whether hunger could have contributed to the bunny's susceptiblity to the problem, but it's good that you've gotten better pellets now.

Now the question is:  why does your bunny suffer from chronic GI stasis?  If you've never had his molars checked for spurs, then now is the time.  This is probably the *number one* cause of chronic GI problems (including cecal dysbiosis, which causes messy butt) along with incorrect diet.  I think you'll find these articles useful:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/poop.html

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/dental.html

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

It's worth it to take him to the good bunny vet for the dental exam and possible molar filing:  it might well solve the whole problem!  Until then, you can use this dry bath protocol that will help keep him clean without turning him upside down:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/buttbath.html

I hope this helps, and that your little guy will be on the complete road to recovery (with filed molars!) soon!  :)

Take care,
Dana