Gas?

I think Alfy has gas as her stomach has been a bit swollen for the last day and it was gurgling last night. She's still eating, but not quite as much hay and I'm keeping an eye on her drinking. She still seems lively but wasn't happy about me picking her up. I've given her some infacol to start trying to reduce it.

I just wanted to check that I think I've made the right diagnosis. As I said, she's still eating and nudging me to be stroked, she just seems a little subdued.

Is she pooping normally?

Also, are you able to give her any simethicone (baby gas drops)? They're often recommended in cases of gas as they can help reduce it, and it's quite safe for bunnies.

Oh sorry, infacol is simethicone. She's pooping- she had some meadow hay last week and was being selective and not eating enough so I bought her some Timothy and she started eating more again. However, her poos were a bit darker from not eating enough hay and they still seem darkish but she is pooping. Yesterday there were a few leftover cecotropes though?

I think she's feeling better and the gurgling has stopped though she still isn't happy about having her tummy touched! Are there any veges I should avoid for the time being?

These are her poos :/ they don't look too good? She just are a cecotrope in front of me though!

For a gurgling and gassy bunny, Infacol/Simethicone is the best thing It couldn't hurt to give her another dose since it's completely harmless, so if you're still worried about her, feel free to do that just to absolutely make sure it's cleared up. Her poops, though well formed do look quite moist and as there perhaps isn't much hay in them?

I would mostly just push hay right now, I've heard that cilantro/coriander can be good for upset tummies, and most herbs and lettuce (no iceberg) are all very mild greens. Just avoid things like broccoli, bok choy, cauliflower and cabbage as they all have a tendency to cause gas.

Most of the potential gas causing veggies are supposed to be very strictly limited anyway due to not being "leafy greens"... of the leafy green veggies, the ones that are somewhat related to cabbage like kale and bok choy are ones to be a bit stingy with.

Just because you have one mild run-in with gas doesn't mean you need to cut those veggies out completely, mind you.

Gazzles gets gassy now and then (and got GI stasis from it the other day). I've been feeding her and Nala kale on a *very* regular basis since they were a few months old (for a good while it was the only leafy green Nala would eat) and occasionally feed bok choy... with kale, I give my girls 2/3 to a full bunch at a time usually (it dropped to 2/3 recently because I got a third rabbit that's housed separately; 1/3 goes to him) and Gazzles is a little piggy, so I know she eats some of Nala's share in addition to her own. In over a year of feeding generous handfuls of kale, Gaz has displayed pre-stasis symptoms ONE time (reduced appetite that was quickly restored with at-home remedies, eliminating the need for a vet trip) and has developed stasis only once (last Thursday). On a handful of occasions, she's had a normal appetite but still appeared to feel a smidge gassy so I've given her a dose of simethicone just in case. Most of the time, she inhales her kale and does just fine with it.

What I'm getting at is that every bunny is different and when it comes to bunnies being prone to gas, the degree to which they're sensitive to gas causing foods runs the gamut. Some can't have those foods at ALL... others, like Gaz, are usually fine with them but every once in a while get a bit of gas. If your bunny is only mildly prone to gas, you can continue to feed them in reasonable amounts - just keep simethicone on hand, moderate portion sizes to whatever size she seems to tolerate well and be aware of the early warning signs of gas so that (like you did this time) you can administer simethicone promptly and prevent the gas from worsening to the point of becoming serious.

To figure out how sensitive she is, I'd treat it like introducing veggies for the first time - if you want to feed kale or bok choy, feed a very small amount. If you do that a few times without issue, then give a slightly larger portion the next few times. Should you encounter any gas issues, cut back to the last portion size that was reliably tolerated.

I've been feeding her kale so it might be that, though she did seem fine on it. She didn't like her new hay last weekend though and didn't eat as much so it might be a mixture of things.

Took her to the vet who is keeping her in overnight because she's very bloated and stopped drinking water. She was still relatively lively though so I'm sure with a little special care she'll be terrorising us again tomorrow!

Aww, poor thing... I've never had to leave my bunns overnight; I think I'd go nuts without 'em! When Nala and Gaz got spayed, they were my only pets at the time and we lived alone in a 3 bedroom house - it felt SO empty without those little naughties!

I hope she feels better soon! ray:

It does feel odd without her bounding up to me when I come in. She's doing better apparently, she's eating lots and has pooed and is on meds for gut stasis. Vet sounded very positive so hopefully she'll be home tomorrow!

Thanks for everybody's help!

thisisfliss said:

It does feel odd without her bounding up to me when I come in. She's doing better apparently, she's eating lots and has pooed and is on meds for gut stasis. Vet sounded very positive so hopefully she'll be home tomorrow!

Click to expand...

I'm so glad to hear your baby is doing better!!:goodluck
Please keep us posted with how she is doing.

Vanessa

thisisfliss said:

It does feel odd without her bounding up to me when I come in. She's doing better apparently, she's eating lots and has pooed and is on meds for gut stasis. Vet sounded very positive so hopefully she'll be home tomorrow!

Click to expand...

I'm so glad to hear your baby is doing better!!:goodluck
Please keep us posted with how she is doing.

Vanessa

I'm a little surprised they're still keeping her overnight if she's doing that well. Seems like most vets only keep rabbits overnight if it's truly medically necessary or if their owner isn't comfortable with providing whatever care/monitoring may be needed (for example, someone fairly new to bunns may not be confident in their ability to treat something semi-serious) simply because rabbits tend to recover much more quickly/smoothly in familiar surroundings.

If you have the chance, you might swing by the vet's office and drop off a blanket or a small toy or two or something - anything that smells like you and/or her. Rabbits are *really* scent-oriented, so having an item or two that smells familiar can be very comforting to them when they're in an unfamiliar environment and surrounded by strangers .

I think they kept her in because she still isn't drinking, only getting the water sprayed on her veges. She's only 6 months old too. I feel more confident them helping her out and administering her meds.

[ame]http://youtu.be/LbyC6CWbm5M[/ame] this link will tell you what to do

Thanks guys. That video is really helpful and Alfy let's me massage her for a bit and I think it's helping.

She's home, eating veggies and pooing, though I know it could take a while for her poo to get back to normal. She's still not drinking huge amounts but we're putting water on her veg and she is drinking little bits. She's got enough medication for tomorrow so hopefully she'll improve again tomorrow.

She's running around quite happily and was obviously pleased to be home last night because she was binkying. She's lying on her side in pain a bit but the tummy massages seem to be helping so fingers crossed she will be back to normal and terrorising us again soon!

She was cleaning herself a lot last night, is this normal after they've been ill? I think she might be beginning to molt so it could be that?

thisisfliss said:

I think they kept her in because she still isn't drinking, only getting the water sprayed on her veges. She's only 6 months old too. I feel more confident them helping her out and administering her meds.

Click to expand...

*Nods* I suppose I'm used to hearing that a dehydrated rabbit was given sub-q fluids and sent home... but I can totally understand the vet keeping her if they realized that you'd be more comfortable with that . I'm sure you would've done a wonderful job had you taken her back home... can't fault you for being paranoid, though - we're all paranoid and overprotective bunny slaves and definitely better safe than sorry!

Alfy is recovering from her gas episode. The vet gave her a longer course of meds.

However, I gave her a small amount of romaine last night after a diet of hay & pellets for a few days, and her stomach started gurgling again and was a bit bloated. I know romaine is meant to be fine for buns, does anyone else have a bun with such a delicate stomach that they get gas from romaine?

Different buns have different sensitivities, your bun may just be intolerant of romaine. Then again, she may be one of those very sensitive buns who just can't have greens. When she's feeling better you can try small amounts of other types of veggies to see if it's greens that give her problems or just romaine. Bunnies tend to do better on herbs than lettuce, perhaps she'd be fine on some basil, mint or cilantro.