Recovery from GI Stasis

Question
Dear Professor Krempels:
We are "newbie" bunny parents (about a year now), and our bun is approx 3 years old.  He just went through a bout of GI stasis (12/14/06), and is in recovery.  However, I'm not sure how long recovery takes, and don't want to freak out at every little thing.  The night he went through GI Statis(12/14/06) we took him to the emergency vet twice, which I'm sure stressed him out.  Now today because his fecal production is less than yesterday, and because we want more guidance, we are taking him to his regular vet.
We are on a good track with his care:  Reglan and subQ fluids (Normasol), and we are trying Critical Care syringe feedings with him.  We tried Pancrezyme, which our bun DID NOT like after 1.5 doses, so the emerg vet said we could stop it.
I guess all this goes to say that I want to give our bun as little stress as possible, but feel stressed myself b/c I don't know what to expect in the recovery process.  Will fecal output go up and down?  Approximately how long does the process take?  Will he feel "tired" for a while as he recovers?  I feel like my stress about it all is probably not helpful to him, and I don't want to drag him to the vet every other day...
Any information you could give (or websites you could point me to) would be much appreciated.
Thank you so much,
Amanda M.

Answer
Dear Amanda,

(Sorry for the delay.  My DSL has been down--they're having problems with Earthlink all over Florida--and only now am I able to access the AllExperts site.  I'm going to have to put myself on "vacation" on this site until they get the problem fixed, so I'm sorry I might not be available for followup questions right away.)

Don't worry--recovery can go in fits and starts with ileus (=GI stasis).  The main thing to do is to find out WHY he went into ileus, which is not a disease in itself, but a *symptom* of a problem somewhere in the system.  The most common causes are incorrect diet:

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

and undiagnosed dental problems causing pain/stress:

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

For a complete rundown on ileus, its emergency treatment, and its causes, please read:

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

This version is from a veterinary journal:

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

Your bunny will be a bit lethargic as he recovers, but if he's getting fluids and food, he will gradually begin to pick up.  But don't forget:   the ileus may be only the tip of the iceberg.  Until you find the underlying cause for the ileus, it could happen again.

I hope the articles above will help.

If you are interested in joining a free listserve where more than 5000 subscribers are available to help you with problems like this, then you might consider joining EtherBun:

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

Hope this helps!

Dana