Hi All
My 3 1/2 year old doe chincilla rabbit, Arian, has been losing weight slowly for a the past year or so but she was a bit overweight to start with so is now probably more like the weight she should be, but we don't know the reason for the loss. More recently, her stomach has become very noisy very frequently which is more of a worry. A fortnight ago she was off her food for a couple of days but perked up again and is eating normally. She hasn't been cleaning herself properly though so had to have a thorough clean yesterday (I work abroad and my mum can't properly clean Arian alone). She was quite poor at cleaning herself until last summer when the vet reduced her dewlap (fold of skin under her neck) to give her better access and she's been much better since then. She was also spayed then but was ok for several months before these stomach noises started.
She does look and feel a bit bloated and I think that stroking her sides and tummy might induce the gurgling. Perhaps if she is bloated this explains why she isn't cleaning herself as it could be difficult to reach around..?
We have to change the food Arian gets quite regularly as she's a picky eater and goes off things sometimes. Currently she likes Wagg Bunny Brunch and I'm pretty sure she was having that for a while before the gurgling. She's never liked any sort of hay but she does have access to a large run to graze, and gets some sort of veg a few times a week.
Her behaviour seems normal and she seems happy enough, but something definitely isn't right. I suspect the vet would struggle diagnosing something like this, so does anyone have any suggestions?
Many thanks,
Ben
My 3 1/2 year old doe chincilla rabbit, Arian, has been losing weight slowly for a the past year or so but she was a bit overweight to start with so is now probably more like the weight she should be, but we don't know the reason for the loss. More recently, her stomach has become very noisy very frequently which is more of a worry. A fortnight ago she was off her food for a couple of days but perked up again and is eating normally. She hasn't been cleaning herself properly though so had to have a thorough clean yesterday (I work abroad and my mum can't properly clean Arian alone). She was quite poor at cleaning herself until last summer when the vet reduced her dewlap (fold of skin under her neck) to give her better access and she's been much better since then. She was also spayed then but was ok for several months before these stomach noises started.
She does look and feel a bit bloated and I think that stroking her sides and tummy might induce the gurgling. Perhaps if she is bloated this explains why she isn't cleaning herself as it could be difficult to reach around..?
We have to change the food Arian gets quite regularly as she's a picky eater and goes off things sometimes. Currently she likes Wagg Bunny Brunch and I'm pretty sure she was having that for a while before the gurgling. She's never liked any sort of hay but she does have access to a large run to graze, and gets some sort of veg a few times a week.
Her behaviour seems normal and she seems happy enough, but something definitely isn't right. I suspect the vet would struggle diagnosing something like this, so does anyone have any suggestions?
Many thanks,
Ben