What can cause frequent bouts of bloaty gas ?

Yalta is going through a rough patch of frequent bouts of bloaty gas.

We have been able to treat her with Infacol and tummy rubs to overcome each one - and she responds well to this.

The recent bouts seem fairly mild - although it may be that we can spot the early symptoms (since she follws the same pattern each time) and we treat her pretty quickly.

Our vets don't know what could be a cause other than diet.

Her diet is mainly:

Timothy Hay (which she eats quite a lot of now)
Meadow Hay
Super Excel (small handfull)
BunnyBasics Low Calcium food (small handfull)

She used to get a small bit of carrot - but we have cut this out since the recent bouts.

When she was younger her poops were pretty small - and she wasn't interested in hay much at all. Since getting her onto the Timothy Hay nearly a year ago, she eats much more hay and her poops are now much bigger and the 'right' consistency (fibrous).

She seems to poop and pee normally - even straight before and after an 'attack' of bloat.

During the attacks her tummy is bloated but soft - and she gets very fidgety flopping one way then the next - pushing her tummy down, and occassional grinding. She seems more in discomfort than pain during this stage.

The recent bouts haven't got this far thankfully as she responds really well to treatment, cuddles, tummy rubs and Infacol.

We're just wondering if there is something else that could be an underlying cause ?

The only other thing we can think of - is drinking water. She drinks from a bowl, and gulps it down - possibly swallowing a lot of air with the water ?

We've tried a bottle - but she wont touch it and waits until we give in a put the bowl back - on the times when she has used it - it still sounds that she is taking in some air.

Are some buns just far more prone to bloat ?

thanks

Martin + Pam

hi

my bunnies all gurgle and squelch like mad when they drink from their bowls - is that what you mean by sounding like she's taking in air?

She maybe just has a narrow bit of gut and it's just one of those things, as you seem to be doing everything right with diet :?

Re: hi

elve said:

my bunnies all gurgle and squelch like mad when they drink from their bowls - is that what you mean by sounding like she's taking in air?

Click to expand...

Yep - gurlges and squelches describe it perfectly

She has always had these bloat episodes - ever since we had her - its just in the last 2 weeks she has had about 5/6 as opposed to 1 every 5-8 weeks.

thanks Elve

Martin+Pam

Have you tried her on a hay only diet?? :? I had a bun prone to bloat and I found that it was the dried feed (all brands tried!!) that made the problem worse. Seemed she had a very low tolerence to Carbohydrates. She maintained her weight well on a variety of hays (depending on time of year), dark leafy greens, celery, blackberry leaves, occasional dandelion leaves and grass. As far as gurgling when drinking, a lot of my buns sound like a drain!! :shock: :lol: :lol: Jane and Bunsxx

bumps gurgles used to worry me all the time as we can hear her while we are in bed!

i'm glad she is "normal" :roll: