# G.I. Stasis causing a seizure?



## Mindy (Apr 30, 2011)

Please someone, I need help diagnosing what happened to my bunny, I have many others and I really don't want to loose them too because of some preventable (if it is preventable) cause.

One of my rabbits, Reese, passed away this morning after about 36 hours of lethargy. He was 1 year and 15 days old. He was born unintentionally to two of my other rabbits, Oh Henry and Sweet Marie. Sweet Marie has chronic pasturella, and we think Henry may have been exposed to a virus (he was a rescue bunny and later some of his siblings were killed by a virus). Henry had always appeared healthy and hearty however, and has never shown signs of any illness. I know Reese must have been a carrier to the pasturella, I don't know about the virus, but he only showed symptoms of sneezing starting 36 hours ago.

4 days ago, my husband and I were introducing him to Henry after both males were fixed 2 months ago. We had thought by this time their hormones would balance out. They had been together before on occasion and had minor tiffs, but nothing serious. Reese got along with sweet Marie perfectly, and we wanted to put the 3 together. This time however when we were working with them they weren't fighting, but Henry was aggressively chasing Reese around, and Reese was getting very stressed because of it. When we weren't able to be in the pen with them, we put the boys back into their own cages but had them placed next to each other so that we could coordinate feedings and that they could see each other. 

36 hours ago I noticed Reese began to sneeze and wasn't eating very much, and I immediately isolated him and we gave him fruit juice, herbs, and his favourite, blueberries to him overnight. In the morning it was apparent he had lost interest in food. I brought him to the veterinarian yesterday morning. 

The vet seemed to think he could have developed an ulcer, and could not give him pain medication as a result. She also said that although his guts were moving, she felt his lack of appetite needed to be addressed. He had lost enough weight that I had noticed a significant difference in him. We started supportive care as soon as we got home, and fed him every 3 hours, rubbed his tummy (which he seemed to enjoy) every 2 hours and gave him 1 dose of an antibiotic, and 2 doses of a pepto-bismol wonder-drug for bunnies. He didn't seem to respond to any of it and kept trying to hide. We put him in his cage for 2 hour stretches and we kept it quiet and dark, with lots of food and water. But he still didn't respond. 

At 5 in the morning, I was doing a half-hourly check on him and he couldn't lift his head. He was disoriented and clearly in a lot of pain. My husband called the vet clinic and we immediately began the drive to the emergency clinic. Reese was loose in my arms, just hanging, and about 2 minutes from reaching the driveway to the clinic he began franticly trying to get away, when he did he fell head first onto the seat and couldn't move. I picked him back up and he began to seizure in my arms. He died as we were pulling into the clinic. 

I didn't know what to do as he was dying, and I felt helpless, and I knew he was suffering. I had dealt with stasis before with another rabbit Rolo, and with supportive care he was fine. But I am completely devastated by how he didn't respond to care, and by the fact that he began flailing uncontrollably in my arms. The vet we took him to also ruled out the use of pain medication because of the risk of an ulcer, but I can't help but worry that it was the pain that put him into some sort of shock. 

I've tried to write out as many details as I can remember about the last 36 hours, and I hope that someone can read this and tell me what I can do to keep this from happening ever again. All of my animals are neutered and spayed, and the conception of Reese's litter occurred prior to our ownership of them. Henry and Marie aren't related in any way. Henry is a holland lop and Marie is a mini rex, Reese was a mix of the two. 

Please help me so I can put my mind at ease and learn from whatever I did that kept me from saving Reese's life.


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## Mindy (Apr 30, 2011)

I miss my bunny Reese so much please help me get something out of the loss of him. He had such a short little life but he was my little baby.


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## pamnock (Apr 30, 2011)

It's really hard to speculate about what happened without knowing exactly what was going on. Blood work could have given some indication of the rabbit's metabolic response to his condition. GI stasis can most certainly cause seizures due to electrolyte imbalances.

It is possible that stress was the cause of Reese's condition, but it's impossible to say for certain.

I recommend caution with pepto use in rabbits.

I do believe pain medications should have been in order. There are many pain meds that can be used, even if an ulcer is suspected.

A necropsy may have also helped to answer some questions: Internal pasteurella infection? Heart abnormality? What did the lungs look like?


I use Nutri Cal for dogs when I have rabbits in stasis. However, stasis is just a sign of the primary condition, which can be any number of health issues.


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## Mindy (Apr 30, 2011)

Thank you so much for your response, 

In the moment when he died we were eager to just have him laid to rest and ordered a creamation and turned down the opportunity to have the necropsy done. Now I wish we had him analyzed to find out what caused this, just for my own peace of mind. I appreciate your input so much because of that. 

What other medications would have been able to have been used to control pain in Reese? This was something I sought a second opinion on with the vet in the emergency because his condition had degraded so much at around 1am. I know he was in pain, and to be honest, I just wanted him to be comfortable, especially in the end. Once the siezures started it was a completely aweful experience. I would have loved it if they would have taken a chance on the pain medication, or at least have run blood work or done an ultra sound (I don't know if an ultrasound shows ulcers or not). 

I guess if I ever run into this again I want to be clear with the local exotic vetrenarian so that my rabbits are notforced to suffer. Again, thank you for responding.


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## pamnock (May 1, 2011)

Here's a good article on pain management in rabbits. 

http://www.rabbit.org/health/pain.html

Some types of NSAIDS would usually be avoided if gastric ulcers are suspected (COX-1) - Metacam is a COX-2 and safer for the GI system. Sucralfate andFamotidine can be used for treatment for ulcers in rabbits. Endoscopy is most commonly used to diagnose gastric ulcers, blood tests can also indicate antibodies for H pylori, a bacteria commonly responsible for ulcers. However, since the vet didn't appear to do any diagnostics for an ulcer, we don't know for certain that was even an issue.

It's possible that stress could have led to shock due to the complex physiological response of increased hormone excretion, blood pressure increase, and proteins and carb breakdown in tissues. The GI stasis was an indication that this could have occured. (The GI system slows down during periods of stress)


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