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Are your buns moulting at the moment??

Gemmapookie

Wise Old Thumper
And of those who are, have they had any gut issues during their moult?

Im sure theres a link between the 2 :wave:
 
Mine haven't started yet. Not looking forward to it though as last year both Daisy and Poppy had a couple of episodes of stasis each, both during times of heavy moult. My buns now go on a low dose of Zantac during their moult (my vet's advice).
 
Mine haven't started yet. Not looking forward to it though as last year both Daisy and Poppy had a couple of episodes of stasis each, both during times of heavy moult. My buns now go on a low dose of Zantac during their moult (my vet's advice).

Thats very interesting, Ive never heard of that being done before. Defintaly something to think about, thankyou :wave:
 
Hi Gemma,

I'm going to keep a close eye on this thread. Bunny gets stasis episodes, and so does Poppy but not so frequently, and we haven't been able to identify why. But (and I hate to say this for fear of jinxing it) they have both been fine for a good few months now - basically all through the winter months so far. BUT, Bunny started a moult last week and like you I have been wondering whether moulting might contribute to his episodes, so I have been keeping an extra close eye on him and brushing him with the furminator much more than I used to to try and help him through it.

I really am not enjoying his moult - every morning I go downstairs half expecting him to be tummy pressing, but so far so good *keeps fingers tightly crossed, and touching wood*!
 
Hi Gemma,

I'm going to keep a close eye on this thread. Bunny gets stasis episodes, and so does Poppy but not so frequently, and we haven't been able to identify why. But (and I hate to say this for fear of jinxing it) they have both been fine for a good few months now - basically all through the winter months so far. BUT, Bunny started a moult last week and like you I have been wondering whether moulting might contribute to his episodes, so I have been keeping an extra close eye on him and brushing him with the furminator much more than I used to to try and help him through it.

I really am not enjoying his moult - every morning I go downstairs half expecting him to be tummy pressing, but so far so good *keeps fingers tightly crossed, and touching wood*!

Its horrible isnt it. 3 of mine have started moulting in the last 2 weeks and all 3 of them have had gut issues :shock: Max and Timmy had what I think was either abit of gas, or difficulty moving some fur along. I managed to get them back on track within half an hour or so without veterinary treatment. Charlotte had gas and was on the verge of stasis and has had to have treatment, shes moulting the worst by far.

It occured to me that every time I take a sick rabbit to the vets, said rabbit is moulting. With Mimi her head tilt was during her moult aswell. And I lost Tilly to a blockage whilst she was moulting :cry:
 
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She doesn't have any as far as I'm aware! She's just moulting. They're with x-vic-x at the moment being bonded, I'm sure she'd know if something was wrong but I'll ask her to check..

Oh I see, well dont worry. Im sure its not the case that all moulting rabbits will have gut problems.

Im just trying to establish if other people have noticed that their bun is moulting when it has gut issues.
 
In 2010 when Smudge had a few episodes of stasis around Oct-Dec time I askedy vet if fur could be the cause. He said he doesn't believe that fur in the stomach causes stasis. Smudge hasn't had any true stasis episodes yet this winter (one day he sulked cos Nutmeg wasgetting medicated banana andhe wasn't and refused food but within half an hour was eating again) so I believe it was coincidence or maybe something to do with the shop brought herbs they had over winter that year, this year they haven't had any, only dried forage. I know though that moulting takes a bit of a strain on their systems so sometimes they need some extra energy to deal with it.
 
Its horrible isnt it. 3 of mine have started moulting in the last 2 weeks and all 3 of them have had gut issues :shock: Max and Timmy had what I think was either abit of gas, or difficulty moving some fur along. I managed to get them back on track within half an hour or so without veterinary treatment. Charlotte had gas and was on the verge of stasis and has had to have treatment, shes moulting the worst by far.

It occured to me that every time I take a sick rabbit to the vets, said rabbit is moulting. With Mimi her head tilt was during her moult aswell. And I lost Tilly to a blockage whilst she was moulting :cry:

I'll try and come back to this thread an update on how we are going with this moult. It would be really interesting for both of us to monitor this over a period of time.

I do feel for buns when they moult, as the amount of fluff that comes out during a short brushing session is shocking, and to think that they are licking that and ingesting it during washes is quite shocking! I know they are designed to consume some, but I still find it quite :shock:. I also read (here I think), that it takes an awful lot of energy to moult, poor buns it must be quite an ordeal :(
 
My large and really fluffy lionhead had the odd bout of stomach issues (gas and slow slomach movement) during moulting and also generally during winter, but after observing her and her "output" during said episodes closely, it seems to be from ingested fur, largely from the mane underneath her chin, a place which is an absolute no-no for me to touch or brush :roll:

I've recently taken to bringing her to the vets every two weeks for a thorough brush (we need three people for this procedure) and so far this year we've only had one episode of gut problems, but that was brought on by her eating large chunks out of my wool sweater :roll:
 
Its horrible isnt it. 3 of mine have started moulting in the last 2 weeks and all 3 of them have had gut issues :shock: Max and Timmy had what I think was either abit of gas, or difficulty moving some fur along. I managed to get them back on track within half an hour or so without veterinary treatment.

Just read this and I'm going to be extra vigilant when I get my new bunnies this weekend. Just wondering what you did to get Max and Timmy back on track? I've never had a rabbit with stasis but it sounds terrifying so if there is anything I could do to help prevent it I would like to know. I hope Charlotte gets well soon!
 
I don't think it's the actual fur on its own that causes the problem as normally that will pass through the system. With my bunnies it was thought to be more a combination of the fur together with a possibly sluggish gut caused by the stress on the body.

FHB touch on this subject at the RWAF conference and talked about rabbits actually eating their hard poos, which during a moult can be full of matted hair and could, therefore, cause problems in their gut. I've never seen any of mine eat hard poos, but that's not to say they don't as a few people there said that they had observed this behaviour in their rabbits.
 
both of mine are moulting like mad at the moment, ive got a bit of a moult routine; brushing them twice a day, hay only diet and regular pineapple. they actually seem to be fine so far but am keeping a close eye on them!
 
Just read this and I'm going to be extra vigilant when I get my new bunnies this weekend. Just wondering what you did to get Max and Timmy back on track? I've never had a rabbit with stasis but it sounds terrifying so if there is anything I could do to help prevent it I would like to know. I hope Charlotte gets well soon!

With Timmy and Max I set them up next to a warm hot water bottle, syringed some cooled (but still warm) boiled water and did a VERY gentle tummy massage. This procedure has helped my buns numerous times when theyve started to seem off, got them eating again and avoided vet visits. If after an hour of trying this there is no improvement I then call the vet as I did with Charlotte :wave:
 
both of mine are moulting like mad at the moment, ive got a bit of a moult routine; brushing them twice a day, hay only diet and regular pineapple. they actually seem to be fine so far but am keeping a close eye on them!

Interestingly i usually do the pineapple thing too, but havent this time round. Hmm, best get them some in I think :)
 
With Timmy and Max I set them up next to a warm hot water bottle, syringed some cooled (but still warm) boiled water and did a VERY gentle tummy massage. This procedure has helped my buns numerous times when theyve started to seem off, got them eating again and avoided vet visits. If after an hour of trying this there is no improvement I then call the vet as I did with Charlotte :wave:

Thank you!

I'm writing myself a little book of all the tips I've been given from this forum so that I have quick reference to it if need be in the future!
 
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