Reoccurring bouts of gas and tummy sickness

[Deliciosa]

Vet has no idea what it is, so maybe someone here can offer a likely explanation?

Since February, poor Mimi has been suffering from occasional bouts of bad gas. Her appetite will go down, her tummy makes gurgling noises, and she's pressing her gut down to the floor while being lethargic.

These bouts will last a couple days and happen maybe once a month. She still eats and drinks water during the gas, just less than normal. I force feed her a DIY critical care mixture of water and mushed up pellets if she's eating too little.

The vet did and x-ray and even ordered a blood panel which came up clean. I don't know what to do about this, poor Mimi is in pain.

 

[JBun]

What do you feed her each day(what kind of pellets, hay, and veggies/treats)?

 

[Deliciosa]

Pellets: Martin Little Friends - Timothy adult rabbit food
Hay: Oxbow Timothy
Veggies: Usually parsley or cilantro and bits and pieces of other things. She had some romaine lettuce before she got sick this time around.
Treats: Martin Little Friends - Banana muffins, no more than 5 pieces each day and occasionally a small piece of fresh banana or pineapple.

 

[JBun]

Some rabbits have very sensitive digestive systems and will react and have problems with certain foods. Some have problems with certain veggies causing upset or gas, others have problems with sugars and carbs causing the digestive upset. I have one rabbit that can't have any pellets or treats, because he gets an upset stomach from the sugars and carbs, and will get GI stasis if it gets bad. So he has a very strict diet of hay, specific leafy greens, and nothing else. Since I changed his diet, he no longer has an upset stomach or stasis problems. So with your rabbit, it could be either the pellets/treats or one or more of the veggies causing the problem. You'll want to try and figure out which it is, and stop feeding that food in order to avoid the digestive upset from reoccurring. Usually with veggies, it's more often a cruciferous veggie that causes the problem, but other veggies can do it as well. If you are thinking that it might be the veggies, or one specific veggie, then stop feeding it and see if that stops the gas problems. It's a process of elimination basically. If removing veggies from the diet doesn't fix it, then you'll need to look at the carbs and sugars in her diet. You would want to start with removing treats first. That would be no carrots, fruit, banana, pineapple, or muffin treats. Then see how she does with that. If it is still happening then you will need to try reducing pellet amounts until the gas problems stop. You may even have to eliminate pellets completely. It is also a possibility for a certain kind of pellets to cause problems, but not another pellet with different ingredients. But if you find it's the sugars carbs causing the problem, then non sugary veggies can be brought back into her diet. And if you end up having to eliminate pellets from her diet, then you will need to make up for that by adding lots more veggies and/or some alfalfa hay(slowly introduced into the diet, and only if there aren't bladder sludge problems).

You didn't mention anything about her being on any meds, but I thought that I should also mention that certain meds can cause gas problems as well.

 

[Maureen Las]

Do you use simethicone when your bun has gas ?

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/f22/bloat-gas-10385/

 

[Deliciosa]

Okay, will it really be alright if she goes without veggies for a month? Because these bouts only occur about once every month.
No angieluv, I don't - I use a bit of probiotic that the vet gave me. Where can I get simethicone?

 

[JBun]

If it's only happening once a month, then it probably isn't the veggies, unless there is one that you are only feeding one time a month, and she is feeling sick after that. If it was one of the veggies, then it would be happening pretty much whenever you fed that veggie. I'm not quite sure what could cause gas to only happen once in a while like that. Maybe try stopping sugary treats, like the banana, pineapple, and muffin treat, and see if that stops the gas problem. That's what I would try first. Also try and keep track of what you feed her each day, and if she gets gas again, look back to see if there was something different you were feeding in the days before it happened.

Simethicone is just otc gas remedy for people. I get the infant gas relief suspension. Dosage is 1-2cc of the 20mg/ml suspension, every hour for 3 hours, then 1cc every 3-8 hours as needed. Simethicone may help reduce the gas pain. Pain control is really key to getting a rabbit eating again on its own.

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html

 

[tonyshuman]

I would cut out the treats for a few weeks and see if that improves it. They sound pretty heavy in carbs and maybe a bit too much (although I don't know how big the pieces are). Also maybe see if you can correlate it with one of the veggies you feed. Some bunnies have sensitivities to some veggies, and I know cilantro can be difficult for a few bunnies.

 

[Deliciosa]

Mimi is fine now - appetite great, lots of energy, happy. So hopefully she's fine now.
Thanks for the advice, everyone.
Can anybody recommend a healthy, low-gas diet for Mimi? I'm just stuck on what to feed her.

 

[tonyshuman]

Other than avoiding things with carbs, it differs for every bunny. For some bunnies vegetables in the broccoli family are a problem, like cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, collards, etc. I have also heard of cilantro being a problem. The ones that are almost universally tolerated are red and green leaf lettuce, romaine lettuce, and spring mix. Some hays can even be problems for some bunnies--notably oat hay (if there are still seeds), and orchard grass (sweeter).
That's rarer.
My guys are pretty tolerant of just about any vegetable. However, if I deviate on how much pellets they get (and Tony and Muffin only get 2T combined), or they get a couple extra treats, they will have cecal issues. If we go to the vet, come home from being boarded, or go on a car trip, they may get gas. When my bunny Ben got neutered, he got gas. If Muffin gets a little points on her teeth and her mouth gets a little sore, she can stop eating pellets and will get funny poop. That reminds me--I need to plant some wheat grass for her to eat--it often solves the tooth problem.

To prevent problems, I give probiotics whenever something is up or could be stressful, and give simethicone if needed. I often will feel their bellies for the right texture to see if they need simethicone. A slightly tighter or more lumpy stomach, instead of a doughy stomach, is bad. I am lucky that both Tony and Muffin like the taste of simethicone tablets (cherry flavor) so I just give half of one of those per dose. I also make sure they are always eating lots of good hay and have good water available. If something is a bit wrong, I will mix up a bowl of pedialyte using these single-serving powder packets, which they love, and that will help as well.

Unfortunately it's one of those things you have to find the right balance for and that can take time and trial and error.