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Constant Belly Grumble?

JessiW

New Kit
Hey, I'm new here! :wave: I wanted to post out of some worry for my rabbit Maisy.
We think she is around 7 years old but thinks she's still a spring chicken sometimes.

At the moment she seems less 'chirpy' than usual and her stomach seems to rumble constantly like she's hungry despite eating food. She will normally munch on a carrot through the day and goes crazy for some apple, but over the past two or three days she hasn't touched them and just eats curly kale. Also, she doesn't drink a thing, she'll go without water for about 2 months and then suddenly drink some one day - it is always provided. Her droppings seem normal after looking in to them.

Does anyone know what these could be?
Thanks!
 
Hi there, I'm also new to the forum but have been reading a great deal about buns before and sinse I got mine, I believe the stomach rumbling can be gas which can be caused from certain foods and can be very uncomfortable for them.

Reducing foods which cause gas can help this along with massaging the belly.

As for the water she must be drinking small amounts or just when your not looking?? Don't think they could go that long without water.



Thanks
 
Hey, I'm new here! :wave: I wanted to post out of some worry for my rabbit Maisy.
We think she is around 7 years old but thinks she's still a spring chicken sometimes.

At the moment she seems less 'chirpy' than usual and her stomach seems to rumble constantly like she's hungry despite eating food. She will normally munch on a carrot through the day and goes crazy for some apple, but over the past two or three days she hasn't touched them and just eats curly kale. Also, she doesn't drink a thing, she'll go without water for about 2 months and then suddenly drink some one day - it is always provided. Her droppings seem normal after looking in to them.

Does anyone know what these could be?
Thanks!

Hi welcome to the forum :wave: Can you tell us what Maisy normally eats each day?

A rabbit's diet should consist of at least 80-90% of hay (or grass) and other foods such as pellets and vegetables should make up the rest. It's not really advisable to give your rabbit a whole carrot every day as they have a high sugar content. The same can be said for apple really. My rabbits have never had fruit and they will have a very small piece of carrot only very occasionally.

I think your rabbit must be drinking a little. I can't imagine her droppings would be normal if she wasn't.

It's difficult to say what could be causing the rumbling of the stomach. It could be that it is diet-related.
 
She normally has a bowl of dry food which consists of peas, barley, wheat and oats. We make sure she has a supply of that all the time.
Her meals are a small amount in the morning and two bigger meals in the afternoon and evening which is just curly kale but we give her half a carrot and two small bits of apple each night - I think the carrot and apple is too much now I think about it so I'll reduce her carrot and apple intake from now on.
We give her hay but she never eats it, it always ends up sitting there for days.
 
The muesli food you are giving her is very bad for her, especially when you are giving her it to eat constantly. Take her to the vet, if she has never eaten hay it is likely that she has some serious dental issues, which would account for the selective feeding.

You need to slowly change her food onto something better for her, such as excel pellets or science Select pellets. She should only be getting an eggcupful amount of dry food and never have it ad lib. Make sure you change her diet very slowly. I'd stop giving her carrot and apple and start encouraging her to eat hay or grass. It is very important she has this as the main part of her diet. If she has unlimited muesli she will not eat the hay on offer.

Make sure you pop her to the vet before making any changes.

Good luck.
 
It does sound like gas so it is very important she eats hay and high fibre foods,it is probably not helping that she isn't drinking water on a regular basis. Two months sounds a bit extreme to not have water, she must be getting it from somewhere or else she would die without water just the same as any animal.

I would cut out the muesli and start to introduce a good pellet diet. You could start by adding a few pellets into her muesli and slowly wean her off the muesli all together. That is how I do it and have done it with mine and only offering very small amounts as this will encourage her to eat hay. An Egg cup full twice a day until the full change over is done and then reduce the pellets to one egg cup full a day. Carrots should only be given as treats. Mine only have carrots if they have been ill to encourage eating or as a treat twice a month.

She may need to see a vet. Have you noticed any wet under her chin or around her mouth area as this could indicate bad teeth.

xx
 
It does sound like gas so it is very important she eats hay and high fibre foods,it is probably not helping that she isn't drinking water on a regular basis. Two months sounds a bit extreme to not have water, she must be getting it from somewhere or else she would die without water just the same as any animal.

I would cut out the muesli and start to introduce a good pellet diet. You could start by adding a few pellets into her muesli and slowly wean her off the muesli all together. That is how I do it and have done it with mine and only offering very small amounts as this will encourage her to eat hay. An Egg cup full twice a day until the full change over is done and then reduce the pellets to one egg cup full a day. Carrots should only be given as treats. Mine only have carrots if they have been ill to encourage eating or as a treat twice a month.

She may need to see a vet. Have you noticed any wet under her chin or around her mouth area as this could indicate bad teeth.

xx


Thanks for the advise, I feel so bad that we've been feeding her wrong! :(
She's had no wet or damp under her chin.
I'll ensure to get some pellets and hay this week and try to slowly change her diet.
I did wonder why she's so picky and I think this is why. We've always struggled to get her to a vet but I'll try and persuade my mum even if I have to take her myself - we don't have anything to take her in I think.
Thanks for the advise guys, I feel like I've neglected my rabbit and feel awful.. :(
 
Thanks for the advise, I feel so bad that we've been feeding her wrong! :(
She's had no wet or damp under her chin.
I'll ensure to get some pellets and hay this week and try to slowly change her diet.
I did wonder why she's so picky and I think this is why. We've always struggled to get her to a vet but I'll try and persuade my mum even if I have to take her myself - we don't have anything to take her in I think.
Thanks for the advise guys, I feel like I've neglected my rabbit and feel awful.. :(

You certainly have not neglected your Rabbit my lovely, you just needed a bit of advice is all and you have come to the right place. Please don't feel guilty. I was exactly the same with my rabbits until I joined here. Mine are still on muesli (Chudleys Rabbit Royale) so i can't really talk. Muesli isn't that bad and chudleys is one of the better mixes but its avoided against because of selective eating. Mine get an egg cup of Royale in the mornings and they have an egg cup full of Science selective and Burgess Excell in the evenings along with fresh veggies 3-4 times a week. They have a constant supply of meadow hay and a rack full of timothy hay each day.

Mine are still on muesli because that is what they were on when I had them and I never really changed it over and they eat it all. I would avoid some of the muesli foods out there because they are not that nutritious. I also have giant rabbits so mine need that little bit extra. You need to cut it down or out altogether to encourage her to eat her hay. Her Hay is the most important. Once you have got her eating hay then her staple food shouldn't be an issue but you need to make sure she is eating hay over her other foods. There are many different types of Hay you could try. Mine love timothy hay and always eat that before any extras.

You are not a bad bunny mummy my dear. You clearly love her and want the best for her or else you wouldn't be here xxx
 
Thanks ever so much for all of the help and advise, I'll start slowly replacing the muesli or just keeping a very small amount in the pellets.

We've given her a bunch of Timothy hay and a small amount of pellets and she's gone mad for them!
Her belly noises have reduced as well. I'm going to let her finish the kale she has and then work out when to give her some.
How often shall I give her fresh greens? We're going to try Spinach tomorrow as well.
 
How often shall I give her fresh greens? We're going to try Spinach tomorrow as well.
To give you an idea, we give our bunnies a mug full of greens each twice a day (a mixture of some of the following parsley, carrot tops, cabbage, radish tops, coriander, kale)
Don't forget she will like dandelions, hawthorn, hazel, plantain and other forage food as well
 
Thanks ever so much for all of the help and advise, I'll start slowly replacing the muesli or just keeping a very small amount in the pellets.

We've given her a bunch of Timothy hay and a small amount of pellets and she's gone mad for them!
Her belly noises have reduced as well. I'm going to let her finish the kale she has and then work out when to give her some.
How often shall I give her fresh greens? We're going to try Spinach tomorrow as well.

I think you are making an excellent start in improving her diet :) It's great also that she seems to approve :)

I think you should try to introduce all of the new foods very gradually, so that it's not a large shock to her digestive system.

The aim is to get to a stage where she is having 80-90% hay and/or grass, the rest being a small amount of pellets and the remainder either forage or vegetables. I would do this very gradually though over a period of weeks, not days. I would also try to introduce only one new food at once, so that any adverse reaction to any particular new food can be noted.

Well done :thumb:
 
Muesli is actually bad because it is full of very bad, sugary things. It is proved to be a huge factor in dental disease because it makes them chew in an unnatural way, which means they don't wear their teeth down properly. Of course if the bun eats lots of hay or grass, a small amount of muesli won't cause that much damage and many people feed a small amount of it without any problems.
Don't feel bad; you have seeked out advice. We all start from somewhere and you have made the effort to educate yourself. :)

I have to say that you must have a good vet to hand and she must have regular checkups. I presume she is not vaccinated if you struggle to get her to a vet? You must stress to your Mum how important it is she has a checkup to make sure her teeth are ok and for the vet to listen to her tummy. If you manage to find a good vet you can also ask them advice about vaccinating and caring for your rabbit. Your Mum will be much more likely to listen to a vet rather than some random people on a forum. :) Vaccinating is only required in the U.K so ignore the vaccinating part if you are from elsewhere in the world!

If you are from the U.K, post up in rabbit chat asking for a good vet in your area and I'm sure somebody will help. :)
 
To give you an idea, we give our bunnies a mug full of greens each twice a day (a mixture of some of the following parsley, carrot tops, cabbage, radish tops, coriander, kale)
Don't forget she will like dandelions, hawthorn, hazel, plantain and other forage food as well

Oh wow, I didn't realize she could have those haha. Thanks!
 
Muesli is actually bad because it is full of very bad, sugary things. It is proved to be a huge factor in dental disease because it makes them chew in an unnatural way, which means they don't wear their teeth down properly. Of course if the bun eats lots of hay or grass, a small amount of muesli won't cause that much damage and many people feed a small amount of it without any problems.
Don't feel bad; you have seeked out advice. We all start from somewhere and you have made the effort to educate yourself. :)

I have to say that you must have a good vet to hand and she must have regular checkups. I presume she is not vaccinated if you struggle to get her to a vet? You must stress to your Mum how important it is she has a checkup to make sure her teeth are ok and for the vet to listen to her tummy. If you manage to find a good vet you can also ask them advice about vaccinating and caring for your rabbit. Your Mum will be much more likely to listen to a vet rather than some random people on a forum. :) Vaccinating is only required in the U.K so ignore the vaccinating part if you are from elsewhere in the world!

If you are from the U.K, post up in rabbit chat asking for a good vet in your area and I'm sure somebody will help. :)

I'll try my best, its just right now we're really tight for money and can't afford it at the moment.
We've mixed pellets in to the muesli and she loves the pellets so success there haha.
She had a fight with the bunny we bought her with, who sadly passed a few years ago, and Maisy had to have an operation and a cyst removed from her Heart. We think she's been spayed and vaccinated then. :)
 
I think you are making an excellent start in improving her diet :) It's great also that she seems to approve :)

I think you should try to introduce all of the new foods very gradually, so that it's not a large shock to her digestive system.

The aim is to get to a stage where she is having 80-90% hay and/or grass, the rest being a small amount of pellets and the remainder either forage or vegetables. I would do this very gradually though over a period of weeks, not days. I would also try to introduce only one new food at once, so that any adverse reaction to any particular new food can be noted.

Well done :thumb:


Thankyou. :) And egg-cup full of pellets are being mixed with muesli and we read how much to give to a rabbit of her size, she has lots of hay, and I give her a small amount of carrot every two days just to reduce the amount and slowly get the amount right down. She's slowly taking to the hay and lays by it more than eats it, but I'm sure we'll get there.

She seems more alert and happier now, but she has always made a noise which we give her the nickname 'Bumblebee' - whether she's out running around and comes up to use she'll sometimes make the noise, when we come to her when she's in she'll make the noise as well but not all the time. We assume its just a noise she makes, but I don't know whether she's unhappy? I read up on it but I'm not quite sure, as she's made this noise since she was just a year or two old.
 
I would not assume that she has been spayed if you were not definitely told that she was. Uterine cancer is a massive risk for unspayed does, so I would advise that you discuss this with your vet when you take her. The "Bumblebee" noise, which you have mentioned could be her making a buzzing noise, which is usually hormonal and indicative of her not being spayed. Similarly I would discuss vaccinations with your vet.
 
They need vaccinating every year so when you have some money, definitely pop her to the vet for vaccinating. You should get a free health check as well when she has the jab. X
 
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