Odd behavior from gas?

[RobM]

A few months after we brought our rabbit home there was a night where she was unresponsive. She wasn't eating and sat very still we let her out of her cage (we keep her indoors) as we often do and she only went under the couch and sat there.

The next day she was fine. A few months later the same thing happened. This time after reading a magazine article that said if your rabbit isn't eating we should take her to the vet immediately, so we did.

After a few tests and an expensive bill the vet said it was gas (showed us an x-ray) and said she would be fine. Now, tonight she is doing it again. She is laying on her side and sprawled out like before and not eating.

She wont drink from her water dispenser but drinks if we hold a bowl of water to her. We can nudge/pet her but she wont move and we cant afford another trip to the vet. Is it gas again? Why does it keep happening? What can we do to prevent it?

 

[RobM]

Also it seems she is constipated. There aren't any pellets in her cage and we cleaned it yesterday.

 

[Watermelons]

How to fix it now.
Offer her lots of different food to choose from, treats if necessary to encourage her to eat. Hay in particular would be best though. If you can find cilantro, this is supposed to help reduce gas naturally so if she eats some it should help. Keep encouraging her to drink, add a little apple juice to her water to make it more appealing. If she will NOT eat anything, at all, syring feed her.
Grind up some pellets, (if you have access to cilantro add this into there as well) with some pineapple or apple juice or water, in a blender until its kind of milk shake consistancy. Ideally it would be nice it this mixture was luke warm before feeding. You can then get this mixture into a syring, and syring it right into her mouth. Little bits at a time and let her swallow inbetween.
You can syringe baby gas meds into her "simethicone" dont know the dose however, somebody else will be able to help you with this.
Give her tummy some massages, and keep her warm.

Future.... will need more information
What are you feeding her now? what type of pellets, and what type of hay? How much hay and how much pellets does she get per day? Fruit or veggies? What kind of rabbit? How old? Underweight/overweight?

 

[RobM]

Thank you, ill try this now. Her pellets are the fortidiet brand. Its supposed to be for juvenile rabbits. We give her timothy hay. We give her pellets 3-4 times a day, about a 1/4 at a time and unlimited hay. We give her veggies about once a week. Its a lionhead mix and about a year and a half old... last time the vet said she was a little overweight but it wasn't too bad.

 

[RobM]

Yesterday she had eaten some cabbage core that had fallen on the floor.. we didn't stop her thinking it was ok.. After looking it up I found that cabbage causes gas and can be dangerous for rabbits. =(

 

[Watermelons]

Well for future...
I would probably switch her off the juvenile onto the adult, 17% protein is much to high for an adult rabbit. The Kaytee is nice that the adult formula is %12. Keep offering the timothy all the time. You can try offering certain veggies like Cilantro that are good at helping with gas, on a daily basis if you like. You can offer fresh papaya every so often, or papaya tablets, like say once or twice a week.

 

[RobM]

Thanks for all your input I appreciate it. I would of liked to take her to the vet and its not a matter of vanity I just really cant afford it. Thanks again I will let you know how she is doing tomorrow.

 

[tonyshuman]

Cabbage doesn't cause gas for all bunnies. You just have to introduce all new things slowly. Here's our home treatment of gas protocol:
http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=11931&forum_id=10

 

[ZRabbits]

Have to agree, some bunnies take certain veggies very well and other don't.

Example:

Tried Brussell Sprouts. The boys loved them. But unfortunately it gave Dobby gas pains. Poor thing. I haven't stopped the brussell sprouts for all of them, but I do limit the amount Dobby gets.

That's why you should always slowly introduce one new food at a time and see the reaction your bunny has to it.

K