Upset bunny tummy

My bunny Gimpy hasn't quite been himself these past few days. I noticed he wasn't eating much of his hay, but I had bought him a bag of Oxbox(timothy & orchard) when his normal hay is a different brand. It sometimes takes him a day or 2 to switch over so his lack of hay eating wasn't too concerning. Plus I was still seeing him eat a little bit of it.

Then about 3 days ago He started pooping a bit on the floor and a few pee spots. He's done it before and I had just changed his litter and clipped his nails so its not uncommon for his to protest by doing this. but it usually only last a day and then he goes back to normal. But thats not the case here. For 3 days he's poop and peed on the floor. He's still going into his litter box too.

He's also not been eating all his pellets. I usually feed him before bed and by morning his pellets are gone. Thats how I can tell when something isn't right as he doesn't eat all his pellets. So for the past few days he's only been eating about half his pellets, and even left some of the oats I had mixed in, when normally the first thing he does is dig through and pick out all the oats.

So today I woke up to him having peed in on his cardboard box and there was 3 spots of diarrhea. I noticed last night when I was cleaning up his poops that they were smaller and kind of tear dropped shaped too. He only ate a bit of his pellets over night. After I cleaned up his cage he did come over and have a big drink and ate a few pellets. So he is still eating a bit and drinking. He is moving around and seems alert.

So what should I do to help him? I dont' want him getting sicker. He has been shedding a lot lately and with his lowered hay intake i'm a little worried. I'm going to go out this afternoon and buy him his regular hay and see if that helps. Anything else work for upset tummies? I tried pumpkin before and he wouldn't eat it.

You can try some Bene-Pac. It's a probiotic for animals. You can get something similar at TSC too, it's called something else, (I'm blanking) but it's the same thing.

If he's gassy you can try simethicone. It's in the baby section of a drug store or department store. It's drops that break up the gas bubbles.

Also if your rabbit likes to be petted or held, try gently rubbing his tummy.

Goold luck! If it gets worse, better safe than sorry and call the vet!


Edited to add: I just read in another post, the probiotic you can by at Tractor Supply Company is called ProBios. It's for horses and cows and is the same as Bene-Pac.

I just got back from buying him his old kind of hay and hes eating some of it right now. So thats good.

I also bought him some Gas drops(orange flavored, Infacol). I have Oval drops at home but they are mint flavored and I wasn't sure if he'd like mint.

I went to a couple different petstores looking for Bene-bac but wasn't successful.I remember seeing it somewhere before but I couldn't find it at any of the stores I usually go to. I called and there is a place on the other side of town that has Bene-bac for dogs. Can you use the dog stuff for rabbits too? Can you use Human probiotics? I have a bunch of gels caps of those I could mix up into some juice of something.

How much Simethicone do i give him? He is around 5lbs

I just use the dropper and put simethicone on his veggies. You can squirt it right into his mouth too. Read the directions for babies and give him the smallest amount. It's safe because it's not absorbed into his system. It just breaks up the bubbles.

You can give him human probiotis, but be sure there's no milk or yogart in it. Yes, the dog kind is the same as Bene-Pac!

Go easy on fruit juice, too much sugar. I'd be wary of fruit flavored stuff too. I'm not sure what it is, so limit how much you give him!

my buns love the mint tablets......but their fav is the cherry tablets.

Ok so a couple hours ago I picked him up to check him out and gave him 20mg of simethicone. His butt is dirty(dried so I think it was from during the night) but his tummy was soft but it did feel a bit big.

I went out and bought him the Benebac. It comes in 1g tubes. How much do I give him?

It looks like he ate a bit more of his hay. I'm going to give him another dose of the simethicone and then clean out his cage tonight so I can monitor his poops better.

Poor bunny I hate seeing him not feeling well

Check out Dana Krempels' article on stasis -- it's got some good information: http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html.

The Bene-bac should have instructions on it. Usually 1 g per 10 pounds, so you'd give 1/2 gram. Most important is hydration -- are you sure hes drinking enough? Especially if he's had some diarrhea, he might be getting dehydrated and that could lead to stasis.

I wouldn't give him any oats till his belly gets better -- the starch can lead to gas and bacterial overgrowth. I'd also check his pellets if they're new and see if they smell fresh or moldy. There may be something wrong with them that is upsetting his belly and why he won't eat much of them.

Brush him well each day so he doesn't ingest any of that shedding hair.

If you see any more diarrhea or he doesn't start eating more hay and drinking more, take him to the vet asap. He could have an infection or imbalance in his stomach and in rabbits that can go downhill quickly.

How is Gimpy?

Sorry I didn't see this post andyour messages. UsuallyPM's would notify me on my regular email, but nothing showed.

I did see Bene-bac atG&E Pharmacy, but I never had the chance to use them. Not sure how much I would give Gimpy.

I do have Nurti-Cal and Critical Care if you need some. I alsogive Alfalfa hay and Alfalfa pelletsto bunnieswhodon't eat.

Another cause for not eating is when bunnies have problems with their teeth. Is his teeth bothering him or is his mouth sore and causing him not to eat?

Hydration is veryimportant for sick bunnies.

He doesn't seem to be getting any worse. I cleaned his cage/litter box tonight to make it easier to monitor his poops. I let him run around for about an hour. He hopped around a bit, would come over for pets and is acting fairly normal. I gave him 2 doses of the simethecone this afternoon and 1 dose of the benebac.

His tummy is still feeling soft when I press it but it does feel "full" and more round then normal.

He ate a bit more hay and I saw him eat a couple pellets but nothing much. I haven't seen him drink since the afternoon but I haven't been in my room the whole time.

I guess i'll see how he does overnight

If you don't think he is drinking, give him some wet greens, like parsley soaked in water.

Well overnight seemed better then last. He still peed on the floor but there are small poops in the litter box and on the cage floor. No diarrhea.

He ate a little bit of pellets over night. I can't tell if the hay pile is smaller but I did see him eat a few strands before bed.

Should I feed him greens if he normally doesn't get any? He's never eaten parsley or herbs when I'd offered them before. He will sometimes eat lettuce but other times he just leaves it. The only thing I have at home right now is romaine, cucumbers and red peppers. Should I try feeding a small piece of any of those?

If you can get the electrolyte drink for children that is sold almost everywhere and syringe this to him that would be very helpful. (Pedialyte)
You also can get a fresh pineapple and squeeze the juice from it and syringe a few cc's of fresh pineapple juice several times a day.

I probably would not feed the pepper and cucumber as these are 2 gasey veggies.


keeping him well hydrated will help a lot.

Thanks,

I do have some unflavoured pedialite that I was going give to him. I just need to find a syringe

I'll also stop by the store and pick up some parsley and mixed greens this afternoon to see if he'll try them.

I just gave him 2 eye droppers full of pedialite and about half a tube of benebac. I also brushed him really well and gave him a little tummy massage.

He wasn't too happy as he peed on me and then peed 2 more times in this cage as soon as I put him back. He thumped around a bit and threw his box around but now he is grooming. I guess he doesn't like being forced to drink. He doesn't seem to mind the benebac too much.

My mom just brought over some parsley but he doesn't seem to want it. He sniffed it and then ignored it.

That's too bad he ignored the parsley. Just leave some out and he may eat it on his own time. I had a foster bunny who only ate parsley, and didn't touch his hay or pellets.

Here are some more greenfood suggestions. Carrot tops or dandelions.

Try to give more liquids. The eye droppers are very small amounts.

My mom checked at the store but there wasn't carrot tops or dandelions. She did buy some mixed greens but he's not eating those either. Hes never really ate green/veggies when I offered. The only things he'll eat are carrots, dandelions(sometimes), carrot tops(sometimes), and he LOVES bananas. So I've never fed him veggies on a regular basis, only gets the odd piece of banana or carrot as a treat maybe every few weeks.

I"ll keep up with giving him pedialite. I just wasn't sure how much to give him at one time. I got 2 eye droppers in and figured I didn't want to push it and stress him out more. I'll keep giving him a bit every few hours.

Should I give him some more simethecone today? Can giving it to him hurt, or cause side effects?

This is the worse time for him to be sick too. My grandma passed away last night so its a little hectic around my house and today i'm starting to puppy sit a 4 month old puppy for the weekend. So I won't be able to keep as close an eye on Gimpy as I have to keep my room closed off from the puppy. Of all the times for him to get sick! Ugh

degrassi wrote:

My grandma passed away last night

Click to expand...

I am sorry. Our condolences to your family.

Sorry that you lost you Grandma ray:

Give Gimply as much pedialyte as he will take. The little droppers don't contain much liquid like Stan said .

you can also give him another dose of simethicone ( about 1 cc) ; it will not hurt him at all to get the simethicone.

OK I gave him a dose of the simethicone and about 4 eye droppers of pedialite. I couldn't get much more into him as he started to get mad and ended up wearing most of of the last dropper.

He ate a little bit of lettuce. But I haven't seen him eat much hay today. He chewed it a bit but I think he was just cutting it up and didn't actually eat it. He ate a couple pellets earlier this afternoon.

Atleast he is alert and acting normalish.