Help! Bun Full Of Wind!

Any help or advice desperately needed!!

Two weeks ago my 1 year old Mini Rex was rushed to the vets when I found him on the Saturday morning stretched out in obvious pain and refusing food. His litter tray was full from the night time.
The vet diagnosed it as a case of ‘impaction’ and injected him with an antibiotic and a dose of metaclopromide. Within an hour he was eating again and soon passing poos – by the end of the day he was totally back to normal.
I hadn’t a clue what had been the cause – the only suggestion was newspaper as he’d recently been shredding it. I decided to spread his daily portion of pellets (Super Excel) across 2 meals instead of his normal 1 just in case it was too much all at once (as he’s a bit of a tiggy!). The vet asked about his hay intake and I stressed that he loves his hay and has an unlimited access to it day and night (as his bedding is primarily hay).

Anyway exactly two weeks to the day later I was confronted by exactly the same scenario. :shock: Back I rushed him to the vets (seeing a different vet in the practice this time) he confirmed tum probs again and gave him jabs of antibiotic and metaclopromide. I asked if it was impaction or was it GI Statis? His reply was that ‘He’s just full of gas and his tum is distended’.
Again I said I hadn’t a clue what the cause was and he asked does he have hay (which seems to be the main consensus for avoiding gut probs) and of course I said yes. He concluded that they have buns in regularly with gut problems and it’s just ‘one of those things that happens…’

Basically the next few hours were hell…he wasn’t improving, eating, pooing, was still stretched out in pain and was literally shuddering with the pain he was in. I phoned back the vet (it was the same one he’d seen earlier) and he said to leave it a couple of more hours and if he was still the same to bring him back down. So with no improvement and with me tearing my hair out at seeing him so distressed back we went.
He felt his tum again and said that it was exactly the same – the metaclopromide hadn’t touched it. He gave him a further dose of metaclopromide plus a painkiller (thank god) and literally tried to manipulate his tum to get the gases to start moving…many burps followed…he also encouraged me to give him pineapple juice (which I did).

He seemed much happier (all shuddering went) having had the pain killer but it wasn’t until 4 hours later that he started to slowly pick up and start eating and it wasn’t until the Sunday morning that he actually pooed. We went back down on the Sunday morning and another vet was on call. She was very happy with his progress (as his stomach had literally gone from feeling like a massive blown up hard balloon to its normal self). Again she asked about the hay access and asked if anything had changed recently (No), eaten anything different (No). She said that it could even be the weather changing as he’s not as active in the cold so is sitting about more (even though he’s got a 2 tier hutch). She suggested splitting his pellets into 3 feeds instead of the two now (he also has cabbage or carrot most days).

So here I am – another stressful weekend over and still no wiser!
Has anyone had similar problems, any suggestions or advice? The strange thing is he’s been really well up until these two incidents.
This incidentally followed him being spayed 2 weeks earlier. The vet concluded that this couldn’t be a contributing factor or it would have happened sooner – but I can’t help thinking it’s all a bit too coincidental.

Help!! And sorry for the long posting!!!!

According to some people, cabbage has alot of gas producing things in it, so cut that out and see if that helps... broccolli supposedly causes excess gas too... one of my rabbits died from impaction, he ate newspaper, so please be careful. Try some oats too, that helps with furballs I think.
Also I'm sure I read that too many carrots can cause GI Stasis. Try him on just hay and pellets and see how he goes from there.
Oh and please don't worry about long posts, we really will help no matter how long the post is! I hope the little guy gets better soon!
Also has he had diahorrea or stopped pooing altogether?

awwww im so sorry to hear about it. was this merlin that was ill?
iv have this many a times, what we call bloat but only ever had it in babys
glad to hear he is ok now
becky

Ollie gets this but i can now spot it before it gets too bad a use infacol and tummy rubs.You would need to look at diet lots of fresh veg and hay and a bit of dried food see if that helps.And what cabbage is it spring green is the best one to give.

I was getting deja-vu reading your post. As someone has said, cut out the veggies (and I would cut them all out). See how he goes on the predominantely hay and water with a few pellets diet. In a few weeks, re-introduce veg little by little to see if you can find out if any are causing the problem. Its very difficult because Totti and Brody love their veg but Totti is prone to stasis and Brody to sticky bum if they have more than the smallest amount. I feel like I'm depriving them but its for their own good.

Thanks for your replies - I feel soooooooooooo guilty He's doing his best 'Oliver Twist' impression this morning - licking his empty bowl looking for veggies & has weeed all over the floor and not in his litter tray in protest!! He's had his 1/3rd of his Excel (amount fed = 50g per day split into 3 portions) and has got lots of hay but is still managing to make me feel awful ...

Delphinum - Decided to cut out his greens for the mo even though cabbage and cauliflower leaves are his favs and he's had them with no probs since he was young...

Joanne - Yes, did try the tum rubs before but could you tell me more about Infacol - dosage to give & how/when to give etc????

Luvabun - Cutting out veggies for the time being...

Rexybexy - Hi Bex, yep it is Merlin. Actaully I'm glad you replied as i was going to ask you if you'd had the same prob with your Rexes...Total nightmare at the mo as I'm so worried it's going to keep happening and my previous buns have never had tum probs

What's adding to my worry is the vet mentioning that sometimes tumours can cause recurrent tum probs :shock: He did say that as he's young it's probably not that but of course it's made me worry myself silly!!

The good news is today he's fine - apart from dissing me and acting like a starving wretch that is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh forgot to say should Excel Forage keep being fed or should I cut that out too??? (I've not fed him it since he became ill at the weekend as I didn't know if it could be contributory but again he's had this since being a youngster).

Thanx everyone :thumb:

aaawww so sorry to hear about your bunny being so poorly.
Any bunny that has had several attacks of gut statis, we immediately put on a hay only diet, no veggies, no grass, no pet shop treats, just hay!hay! and more hay!.
We keep the 34 rabbits here on mostly hay, and they only (I would definately not give pellets three times a day however small the feeds, as it stops the bunnies eating hay properly)
Rabbits that have gut statis are in danger of getting it again, so with these rabbits we stick to the above diet strictly for life.

Bunnies who have healthy tums may have a handful of fresh herbs several times a week, but we do not give veggies at all.

Bunnies are very healthy, happy and lively on a hay only diet, and teh dried food as a treat rather than the main feed.
Perhaps you could try the hay only diet plus small handful dried feed in the evenings (1 tablespoon maximum in a 24 hour period)diet for two months and see what you notice about your bunnys condition etc.

Best wishes, and your bunny is beautiful

Adele forgot to mention that you'll have to get used to the pleading, I'm starving look :lol: :lol: I've had to learn to ignore that (its very hard) but I am rewarded by a fatter, clean bummed Brody :lol:

This is, perhaps scarily, exactly what happened to Abbie - it's the noises and shuddering you mention that rings big bells with me, the sudden improvement following treatment and the sudden deterioration for no apparent reason whatsoever. And that nothing you try ever makes it go away. And Abbie was spayed not all that long ago either.

Has he stopped using his litter tray - Abbie lost all her litter training whilst she had this. Fortunately it's returned now.

We still don't know what's caused it for Abbie. But for her it wasn't gas/stasis/impaction etc, it is unlikely to be EC (Abbie didn't respond to the EC treatment). It isn't her diet as she still got it even when on hay and readigrass only (no veg or pellets). She's physically in very good condition - no teeth problems at all.

We think Abbie has a big stone in her bladder - so our current thoughts are that the noises aren't gas (we thought it was her passing wind/burping) but her grinding her teeth, perhaps because she's in pain every time she passes urine? Since her last visit to the vet around 10 days ago, when she was given an anti-inflammatory injection, she's been significantly better.

Perhaps if what you've tried so far still doesn't work, get your vet to have a feel for a stone in her bladder. Maybe even have an xray, to be sure. Our vet missed the stone first time he saw her, and he had a good feel around. To be honest there were more obvious possibilities then so it made sense to treat them first. It was only when his initial thoughts didn't solve it that he had another feel around and found something in her bladder that was very hard and kept it's shape when pressed.

When we get the xray results back (long story, but it'll be a while) I'll let you know.

Have replied on Tufty.

This is my first message but I’ve been reading for some time. I felt I had to join and reply as like many others I know the anguish of a bunny with GI Stasis.

I agree with everyone who said that veg should be removed from his diet, but what finally got my bun eating again was the herb dill, this is used against indigestion, flatulence and stomach ache in humans and seemed to do my bun the world of good, but only in the smallest quantities (a leaf at a time). This may also stop his dirty looks and your guilt as they love the taste.

Another thing I found to help the guilt is hand feeding him hay, he knows that you’re not starving him and loves the attention and you know that he is eating healthy hay. But don’t force the issue as he is already stressed.

A probiotic did wonders for mine - lactobacillus acidophilus in a dried powder - must be non-dairy. You could also consider taking the hay off the floor and putting it in a rack to avoid bacteria from his discharges been eaten.

I found that raising the rear end during his massages helps the air escape.

Hope this is some help and good luck

ye i have loads of problems the last year with babies getting bloat it was so upsetting nursing them and was hard to look afer about 3 at a time with the same prob. casper my ghost chin got it where the intestinse (sp) were all blocked up causing a bulid up a gas but eventually got rid of it and touch wood never had it again but they usually get this when babies here is a pic of him just recoving from it and was starting to gain weight again


here he is a few months bk so not all doom and gloom thay can get over it fine an live happy healthy lives

Thanx Adele, Rallybunny, RexyBexy, RussAb & Conny for your replies.

RussAb I will Pm you as reading your previous postings it's startling at the similarities.

RexyBexy I will Pm you too seem as you've got some of Merlin's Reles!

And big thanx to Conny :wave: for making your first post an answer to my plea - welcome and big thanx - do like the idea of the herb dill - may get some of that :thumb: Funny you should mention a hay rack - went out and bought one yesterday so that he's got a wad of hay other than what is down for bedding (although he doesn't toilet on any of the hay as he uses a litter tray - well most of the time! lol) and had to go out in the depths of the night last night after hearing a horrendus bang! Merlin greeted me looking 'all innocent' but his hay rack was now on the floor with all the hay spread eveywhere - it was amusing even in the freezing cold! Looks like I'll have to try again with the rack today and hope he doesn't destroy it again :lol:

Hi Sonnet

Thanks for the warm welcome. I hope Merlin is feeling better and eating and pooping normally……He looks gorgeous.

The dill really worked for my bun……..I rubbed it against his cheek until he bit at it in anger (this took about 2 seconds as he has always been a Bolchy bunny!!!!! :lol: ) and he remembered what a greedy bun he really is :lol: :lol: .

It’s been 3 ½ years since he got stasis and thankfully hasn’t had any sign of it since, so hopefully Merlin’s is a one off too.

Although he was out and about most of the time he actually moved very little, something I didn’t notice as every time I walked into a room he was in he ran up to me so I assumed that he was always on the go …….after his illness I paid more attention and he only moved in the first 5 mins after release, to say hello and for his favourite sound (the sound of a sheet of kitchen roll being torn from the roll - meaning fresh herbs or veg was being dried!!!). I made him run up to me for a leaf of parsley (every 10 mins) and before long he was feeling better and had lost weight too.