what would cause gas/bloating after every meal? *Updated sort of*

Hi everyone.

I already kind of posted this, but I think it may of dissapeared before anyone saw it.

Anyway..

we have a dental bun, but the last few weeks he seems to bloat up right after he's eaten.

His appatite is fine, and when he poops they look normal, he is drinking and generally himself, but I'm having to give him infacol nearly after every meal because as soon as he's eaten he will hunch and goes miserable, it almost looks like the food is hurting when it's going down, though when I feel his tum after he's eaten is seems full of air.

I have been giving him metacam, and infacol (which he hates and freaks out over) but I don't want to really keep this giving him this as I'm worried about the effects of metacam on his system and stressing him with the infacol, also the vet said 2 drops of the dog metacam, but I don't think that's enough.

He is prone to stasis, but he is eating, drinking, pooping and generally up to mischeif and being himself except for when he's eaten something and then just seems to bloat up.

He's been to the vet who said he didn't think there was a blockage, but said there was a bit of bloat. but it doesn't seem to be improving either, he's been like this for a few weeks now:roll:

He's never really been a hay eater and I don't know if he can eat hay properly because his teeth are in such bad shape but I always have a variety of fresh hay available for him, and he has small amounts of science selective every day/night.

I've cut out all veg for now in case that's contributing, but it doesn't seem to of made a difference.

Does anyone have any ideas, suggestions?.

Could a partial blockage cause this? I don't think he has a full blockage as the poop is coming out ok

Any replies, Info, ideas would be truly welcome.

Thank You..

Martin

is it veg hes eaten?

ive seen many posts saying certain veg causes gas and i didnt quite beleive it until i gave Alvin a load of dandelion leaves and my did he puff up :shock::shock::shock:

i personally would stop feeding the food that is not agreeing with your little un and stick to other foods that dont. some bunnies just have more sensitive tummies than others its what i keep getting told by the many vets alvin has seen

doh sorry its not the veg

what does he eat before the gas?

I don't know the answer sorry BUT I did wonder if the buns eating so fast (like it's a flippin race):roll: could cause any ill effects?? anybun???

I am really sorry for your problem, and again, I am referring to another species.
We had a goat who used to bloat constantly- we have to give her oil after every meal to deflate her ( often used in ruminants) ,after months of resaerch and her losing lots of weight we thought she may have had a hairball, but it turned out to be a tumour in her rumen. I am not suggesting it is a tumour and rabbits don't have a rumen, but it may be a slight blockage somewhere and worth investigating further. Please don't panic, because I am talking about a goat, but it may be worth discussing with your vet.

Thank You for the replies

It's soo stressful when your buns are like this..

@donnamt, I've cut out everything except his hay (which he hardly ever eats anyway, never really has) and his SS pellets. I'm wondering if they may of changed one of the ingredients in the pellet because they seemed to of changed the shape of them. I am going to email them ask. It's usually after he's eaten the pellets that he gets gas, but he's been on these for over a year with no probs.?>..

@lildebs, you know I never thought of that. I was wondering how the air actually gets in his tummy in the first place, and he does eat very fast, also I'm wondering if because his teeth are in a bad way he somehow eats in a way that takes in more air?..

@halfpenny, Thanks!.. sorry to hear about your goat I guess the next step really would be an x-ray, hopefully he's going to the vets this week anyway, (if I can get there, hoping the snow will clear over the next couple of days) but at least an x-ray might be able to see if there anything more sinister going on.. I will mention it to my vet.

Thank you for the replies, I really appreciate this, sometimes you feel lost trying to do the best thing, he's a house bun and I'm with him more or less 24/7 they have such a huge presence.

Thank You..

M

how awful i have no idea why this is happening to him, i guess try a different pellet maybe even try the museli stuff altho everyone against it

hope you find something he can eat without the gas

What kind of hay are you feeding your bunny?

If it is shop bought, I would change to fresh Timothy hay from somewhere like "The Willow Warren", to make you bunny eat more put lots it his litter tray, and sprinkle on some green burns oat hay and some fresh/dried herbs.

My bunny has had numerious stasis episodes, so you have my sympathies.

Sorry if I'm intruding it's just your post has made me think. Mischa sometimes seems a bit bloated after veggies. He eats lots of hay now, especially when it's fresh out of the bag, although he didn't 6 months ago. His tummy makes lots of well, gassy gurgling type noises. I've never had any stasis problems with him though. He eats like a horse.

Heh, we've had a nightmare of a time trying to get him to eat hay.. the vet thinks he may never of been into it because his teeth have always been misaligned.. if he can eat pellets, does this mean he can eat hay?>..

'we've tried all different kinds, timothy, vitaverde with dandilion, brome, oat, excel roughaghe etc, spent a fortune on different hays but he just digs it all out or picks it all up and moves it around but doesn't actually seem to eat much:roll:

yea, I've cut out his veg all together, but he seems to gas up after eating the pellets mostly.. I'm just worried now in case he really can't eat hay because of his teeth, that if I take his pellets away and try and force him to eat hay, he may not be able to and so not get enough:roll:

As soon as the snow has cleared and I can get to the vets, I will take him, in himself he seems fine and were managed the gas at the moment with infacol etc and metacam.

Thanks Everyone..

M

Your bun's diet must compose of 90% hay. They need a huge amount of fiber. The remaining 10% is pellet, green, fruits and some treats.

The hay is also necessary as it helps them wear off the on growing molars in their mouth. If your bun doesn't have hay stem daily, eventually his molar will overgrow, then you need to have teeth surgery. Hay stem greatly reduce the growing of molar (teeth)

If there is more than say 7% pellet, then your bun will eat the pellet, not the hay. As they love pellets. So you need to control and downsize the pellet and focus primarily on hay, especially hay stem. You always give an unlimited amount of hay at all time, far more than enough that should last for days, then refill them when they run low.

I have seen this exact same situation before. My bridge bun Little Happy won't eat hay. As such, there is not enough fiber, thus, the soft poos stuck at the bottom.

You can't get soft poos stuck at bottom if the bun's diet is 90% hay.

If his teeth is no good, you need to do some dental work to fix the teeth once and for all. Your bloat problem can be caused by a lack of fiber, aka timothy hay.

Some member who have this problem try hay cookies successfully, may be you can give that a try

Hi MartinR. Firstly I hope you have a good rabbit specialist vet or can get referred to one. Bloating after every feed sounds unusual.

It sounds to me as if there is something taking up space in the stomach & acting like a ball valve preventing the stomach from emptying properly& that your bun may be feeding hungrily & swallowing a lot of air. Sadly buns can't burp. Do you think the infacol is actually helping?

I feel that your bun needs XR possibly proceeding to a "contrast medium" (barium type). I'm wondering if he has a large fur ball in there, along the same lines as halfpenny. My main suggestion is keeping your bun well hydrated, & getting a diagnosis as soon as possible.

My bun doesn't like eating hay either, (it's dry & hurts his mouth) but there are other ways of getting fiber in. I think we cross that bridge when we have a diagnosis.

Please keep us updated. Everything crossed for you both.

Hi. Am sorry to hear about your bun's problems. I don't have any advice as am still learning rabbit-wise myself. I do, however, have a very fussy chinchilla who doesn't eat enough hay! He prefers the farm hay we've had recently to anything else (including Oxbow Western Timothy!) but still doesn't eat enough.

However; Chewy **loves** Readigrass. I feed it every other day because I'd rather he eat 'normal' hay as well which is stalkier but as he will eat as much Readigrass as I give him I am happy that he is at least getting something better than just scoffing pellets and herbs.

You may well already have tried it but just thought I'd mention it.

This thread might be worth a read, suggestions along the same lines some of the other posters have come up with.

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?t=183496

I'd definitely second Thumps' advice and get investigations done ASAP, as there could well be some kind of blockage/restriction that needs finding/remedying ASAP.

Good luck with finding out what's causing the problems.

When my male lop had an episode with a trichobezoar in the stomach an x-ray was taken in which gas was identifiable. As per Thumps' suggestion, there could be some level of blockage in the stomach which is not allowing it to empty quickly enough. An x-ray would probably be most helpful.

I hope you have success in resolving the problem as soon as possible.

Thank You everyone for all of the replies..

I'm just catching up with everything now.

I made an appointment for the vet (the rabbit savvy one) but we couldn't get there because of the weather, and the taxi wouldn't come up our street, which would of meant walking in sub-zero temps with him in the box.etc, then there was a chance we might of got stranded trying to get back..as there was nealy a 2 hour wait for taxis..

as it happens he's been ok in himself, and been eating, drinking plenty, and still active etc.

he still isn't flopping like he normally does though and is spending a lot of time just sort of sitting in (difficult to describe. but not hunching fully, partially hunching sort of)

I phoned the vets again this morning but couldn't get a taxi, and the rabbit savvy vet isn't in now until tue, so hopefully if the snow stays away he's booked in for tuesday morning.

as he's fine in himself, still eating, drinking, pooping I think he will be ok until then, and I have on hand, infacol, metacam, and SC Fluids. Though the vet still thinks 2 drops of metacam is enough.. and I'm worried If I keep asking for more metacam the vet will wonder why it's getting used up quicker and might not give me anymore.. but 2 drops isn't enough.

it's strange though because I he will go from sitting partially hunched, then suddenly get up and binky across the room and get up to mischief then, a few hours later he will look a bit miserable again..

I'm gradually reducing the amount of pellets to try and get him to eat more hay and have several different hays available, but he won't touch it:roll: he will get up to ridiculous amounts of misheif when he's hungry and there is no food available, and constantly jumps on us or begs in front of us etc for food, but won't touch his hay and it makes us feel sooooooo guilty, but like everyone says here I really want him to get more fibre.

Strangley he's also started moulting again too?.... so I'm brushing him several times a day.

Hopefully on tuesday we can get further, and get it investigated, and get him sorted. it's unusual though because one min he binkying and playing, then the next he's miserable, then a while later binkying and playing again etc, then miserable etc.. though he seems to go quieter right after he's ate

I will keep you posted, and let you know how things work out.. just hope the uk temp goes up and the ice melts so we can get back to normal.

Thank You everyone

M

fingers crossed for Tuesday. i would really love to see the vet get this sorted. poor little man must feel really ****** when he bloats up

In order to treat the symptoms, you could try some peppermint tea, cooled (but still warm is OK). It's good for bunny (and human) tummies.

Readigrass was mentioned earlier, and I'm personally not a fan of that. I've known it bloat up guinea pigs, and I've heard that some buns don't get on with it either, for some reason. :?

How is your bunny today?
Everything crossed for you both on Tues.

Thanks Everyone, I tried some peppermint tea but he won't touch it:s.. he's a very fussy bun.

He's still pretty much the same. it's so strange as he doesn't seem to fit any of the textbook issues.

his appatite is there alright, he's still hunting and foraging for food and begging for treats (though he isn't having any at the moment), does a few poops in the night, and still has mad spurts and pretty active, he will flop for about a min then suddenly retract and go back to a squashed loaf position.. he seems worse of a night for some reason. but it's really depressing seeing him like this as it's not him, he's always been one for flopping and laying down and washing his paws etc, and he never really does it now..

He's booked in for 10:20 am in the morning and the roads are clear, so hopefully we will have more of an idea what's going on tommorrow.

Thank you everyone for your replies. I can't focus on much else at the moment, it's hard to get into anything when your buns are like this:s..

I shall report back when we get back from the vets tommorrow.

M

Everything crossed for you & your bun, - safe journeys & at the vets tomorrow.
Yes many of us on here know exactly how worrying & distressing it is to have a bunny with tummy issues. My heart goes out to you.