Hi would really appreciate some advice recently my rabbit keeps getting gassy stomach I have not changed her pellets or her veg but recently I have given her green oat hay which she is not used to also I have given her newley cut hay which of the 2 do you think could be causing the gas I have heard you need to wait 4 months before feeding newly cut hay is this right any advice appreciated.
rabbit with gassy stomach
- Thread starter nora123
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When a rabbit is having digestive problems from it's diet, it can be a little difficult to figure out what the problem food is. Most often it is either the pellets or veggies that are the culprit, but I have heard of a few cases where a certain type of hay has caused the upset. Alfalfa can, especially if introduced into the diet too quickly, and I have heard of mature oat hay with grain heads, causing digestive upset as well. I haven't ever heard of having to wait 4 months to use new hay. I do usually wait a month though because of possible parasites in the hay. I suppose that a very green early cut hay could possibly cause issues from being too rich, like fresh grass can sometimes cause problems, so may need to be introduced more slowly. What is your newly cut hay like? You could try a different grass hay for this bun to see if it helps. Maybe something more mature and with thicker stems, but most digestive upset I've read of or encountered, has been because of a particular veggie causing it(most often a cruciferous veggie), or because of a sensitivity to pellets and/or treats. So if you are feeding her any cruciferous veggies or sugary treats, you may want to try stopping those to see if it helps. Sometimes it even becomes necessary to cut the food back to a grass hay(non grain) only diet to get the digestive problems to clear up, then very slowly try reintroducing foods, one at a time, so that it is easier to pinpoint the problem food, and paying very close attention to the rabbits behavior to catch any upset early on. With my rabbit that kept having digestive upset and stasis, it ended up being the pellets(sugars and carbs in them) that caused it. Once I cut those from his diet he stopped getting sick.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cruciferous_vegetables
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cruciferous_vegetables
Thanks yes ive brought her and her partner into the lounge to keep an eye on her just taken her to the vet who has given her a shot of rimadyl for pain and metoclopramide gut stimuland, he told me to syringe feed her with an added prebiotic until she starts eating properly but at least her back teeth are fine thanks goodness, I have stopped the veg oat hay and only going to give her small amount of pellets the ones i use are called science selective which dont contain any sugar but it still could be them, so if no improvement will stop them as well, trouble is she is not a great hay eater so dare not cut everything out just yet. but now i know her teeth are ok she is going to get the touch love approach hay hay and more hay little monkey thanks for your advice this site is great as everyone understands how stressful it is when one of your bunnies is not well friends and family listen but I dont think they understand lol I bore them to death with it but many thanks.
rebeccalyn7
Well-Known Member
How is she travelling?
Hi do you mean to the vet by car it does stress them but she was not eating before the car journey so really had no choice as I thought it may be molar problems but its not, so keeping on with the metoclopramide gut stim pain relief and syringe feeding her liquidised pellets she seems a lot better today she is picking at her hay and nibled a few pellets and the pain signs she was showing has stopped so heres hoping many thanks for your reply.
Hi my little bunny is fine now it was the burns green oat hay I cut that out and she seems fine now just thought I would mention for future reference in case other people come across the same problem on oat hay. may help someone in future.
