GI Statis

Question
Thank you
Yes I'm in Australia. The vet did checked her teeth and they appearred be be normal , and worn evenly no overgrowth at all. She is a relatively fussy eater and currently only will eat certain chinese vegetables like buk choy, pak choy and choy sum. Though occassionally she will eat radish topsor carrot tops but often they are ignored.I still offer different greens every meal along with her favorites but they are usually pushed away in disgust! She doesn't seem to eat as much crude fibre such as Hay and grass or chew on wood as other rabbits seem to. They  are always there for her she just ignores them or throws them as  far away as possible from her eating mat.
She won't eat fruits or carrots or any of the vegtables that seem high in sugars. Though, the one treat she will chase you round the house for are dried cranberries(called Crazins here). I restrict her intake of them.


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Followup To
Question -
I'm sorry for repeating myself, However I realised I inadvertently added .au on the previous email which would have made my email incorrect.

Trying to shorten my question.
I have an 18month old cashmerre lop  house Rabbit. She has had a previous severe case of GI Statis which was treated immediately and successfully by my vet who at the that time read all the printed off internet material I had found to help treat her. A year later she has another mild case of statis  we think , but the difference is  her appetite is good this time except she herself has stopped eating any pellets, she is getting a diet of succulent greens , hay and grass though the last two she tends to never really eat much of though they are replenished daily.

We have given repeated subcutaneous fluids, we have also treated her for pinworms though no evidence of that was present.

My vet is stumped what esle to do for her. Her weight is constant , as she is eating huge amounts of food, just her bowel movements are not normal.

The pooh remain as long grain link ropes.
Answer -
Hi, Philippa

I answered your question previously, but here's a cut-and-paste of my reply, in case you didn't get it.

Dana
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Dear Philippa,

Are you in Australia? That's the only place I know where companion rabbits are illegal, which makes it a challenge to find a good vet. I'm glad you have one!

Has your vet checked the bunny's molars? Besides a diet too rich in starch and too low in crude fiber, dental (especially molar) problems are the most common cause of chronic GI stasis/ileus in rabbits. The pain of molar spurs can cause stress that slows the gut, and this will result in the type of symptoms you are seeing now.

Please read the following articles:

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

and

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

for additional information. But I think your bunny needs a very thorough, deep oral exam to see if there are molar spurs that need to be filed. These are very common, and once they're filed and being properly maintained, I'm betting the chronic ileus problem will abate.

Hope this helps. Please write back if you have any other questions.

Dana  

Answer
Dear Philippa

The vet may have checked "the teeth."  But when I say teeth, I mean *molars."  The incisors might look perfect, but many rabbits with perfectly occluded, entirely normal incisors have horrific molar problems.  Only a *very* experienced rabbit vet will think to check the molars, which is why I urged you to read the following.  PLEASE READ THIS, and feel free to share it with your vet:

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

I cannot overstate the importance of checking her molars.  The symptoms you describe are highly consistent with molar problems.  Please have this checked ASAP.

Hope this helps.

Dana