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Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Rabbit has gas. helpppp

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    • BiskitRoar
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        Hello.. i joined today to address a serious matter about my Rabbit Biskit. She is about 2years old. Its been a year since I got her. So she used to be a really cheerful rabbit..loved to investigate everything. But its been a week almost and she stopped eating. Not completely but she refuses to eat her hay and her veggies. Even her pellets. I have to force her everyday. She will munch on some celery but then turn away from everything else. I crushed her pellets with some water and she ate a bit of it. I brought her to the vet atleast 6 times. I even had an x ray done for her stomach and her teeth as she seemed that she couldnt chew properly. The xrays showed no signs of maloccusions or anything else wrong with her teeth. She still drinks water and pees but she does not poop. Or even if she does its very small and irregular and has some mucus on. The hay she has is not the best hay and the next cargo is in 2 days. The vet told me to bring her for blood tests on Monday.

        I am really worried for her. She has lost weight too. Earlier today i was massaging her belly and loud noises came from it. I assumed she has gas and when i tried to give her some medicine she ran away from me and wont let me touch her. Guess she is annoyed

        I love her so much and am doing everything I can. Can you suggest me something else I can do to give her some reliefs ?

        Thank you.


      • tobyluv
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          Did your vet not give you any motility drugs? Reglan is one that is frequently given for GI stasis. Your rabbit also needs some Critical Care. That has more nutrition than the regular pellets. It is mixed with water and feed with a syringe. X-rays of teeth may not show every problem that a rabbit has. Your rabbit could have some high points on her teeth. Those can only be seen when the rabbit is anesthetized and given a thorough mouth exam. If she has the high points, they can be filed down.

          For gas, you should get some infant simethicone drops. One brand is Mylicon. You can get it at any grocery store, drug store, discount store. It is very helpful and is completely safe to give. The dosage you give is 1 – 2 ml every hour for 3 hours.

          If you don’t have any Critical Care and can’t get to a vet yet to get any, you need to be feeding her a slurry of crushed pellets and water, using a plunger syringe. You can mix in a little baby food or canned plain pumpkin to make it taste better.


        • flemishwhite
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            I think you need a vet for help soon.  A rabbit vet particularly. 

            From what you’ve written it appears you’re describing classic GI Statis.  Gastro Intestinal Statis..  


          • BiskitRoar
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              Hello. Thank you for replying.

              I actually live in Mauritius and its really hard to get the Critical Care and everything else. I tried giving her Infacol (baby gas drops) and she literally just turns away from it. She has had antibiotics injections as well..
              there arent any specific rabbit vets at all here. They are more specialised in dogs and cats. The vet’s fees are somehow costly and its hard for me to afford some examinations. Im going to bring her for blood tests tomorrow. To check for infections and everything. I dont know what else to do. She seems a little bit better today and she is kinda running a bit. But still refuses her food.

              Problem is that she is a very picky rabbit and its really hard to actually get a syringe near her at all. She will run away from it…


            • BiskitRoar
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                Hello. Thank you for replying.

                There is no rabbit savvy vet here. I live on a tropical island. I brought her to the best vet I know as he is famous for his best treatments. However, he is more “experienced” in cats and dogs. Biskit had dirrhea once and he succeeded in curing her. She is a warrior too ^_^

                I dont know how else to help her.

                Do you think a blood test will be worth it ?


              • Bam
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                  Did the vet tell you to syringe-feed her? Since the X-rays didn’t show a blockage in her tummy, you can syringe feed her pellet mash or Critical Care. You should give her small portions 4-5 times a day. Make the mash/CC runny so she gets hydrated. Bunnies should always have food in their tums. It’s important. Without food, the GI system shuts down. 

                  Gasdrops (simethicone) 0,5-1 ml/hour or every couple of hours is often helpful. Light tummy massages as well: bunny massage, make sure she keeps warm and try to make her move around. 

                  Those things you can do at home, but your bunny will need a vet unless she starts eating on her own. A vet can give sub Q fluids with vitamin B12, a motility drug and a pain killer (gas is painful for rabbits). I just had to take one of my buns in for gas last Friday, he perked up after getting fluids. 

                  Edit: Just saw you’re in Mauritius. So I’m adding more details here:

                  Bunnies as a rule HATE gasdrops. You can’t let them choose though. To give a bunny meds and food via syringe, you wrap the bun in a towel like a burrito and sit it on a table or in your lap. If you have someone to help you, it’s excellent. Buns tend not to cooperate.

                  Motility drugs suitable for rabbits are f ex metclopramide and/or ranitidin. These meds are common and at least ranitidine should be possible to get hold of on Mauritius. It’s often called Zantac in stores. You give 1/10 of a pill for humans (a pill for humans is 150 mg), crushed between the blades of two spoons and mixed with water. Metclopramide is often used as an anti-emetic (against vomiting) in vet practices, so it’s possible your vet can have that. 

                  Any vet can give sub Q fluids. A suitable dose for a 2,5 kg bun is 40 ml. 

                  Meloxicam (often sold as Metacam) is suitable for bunnies, a dogs- and cats-vet probably has that. The type for cats is often used with buns, the dosage is 0,5 ml per kg body weight/24 hours.

                  I wish you the very best with this. Keep us posted.

                  Edit again: I don’t think a blood-test will do much good in your current situation, you need to make her eat and poop first of all and then start digging into finding out what could be the underlying cause. These things are often due to a diet lacking in fiber. Is she eating hay (normally I mean)? Another common reason for inappetence in bunnies is dental problems. 


                • Aki
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                    I have dealt with GI stasis before, like many rabbit owners. Like the other said, you need meloxicam (metacam) for the pain (your vet probably has it, it’s initially for cats) and reglan or emeprid (emeprid is also for cat – it’s against vomiting for them but it acts like a laxative for rabbits). You need it NOW. No rabbit likes to be syringe-fed – you hold her against yourself and you give it anyway being careful to put the syringe on the side of the mouth, behind the teeth. You have got to syringe-feed water too (with a small syringe, about 2ml to avoid drowning her). A rabbit can’t stay several days without eating like that. Mucus is the sign that the stasis has gone so long that ‘bad’ bacteria is developping in her guts. In this situation blood tests are useless, they can be done to determine the cause of stasis when it’s CURED. Stasis can result from a simple case of stress, but if you don’t give the appropriate meds immediately, your rabbit will be dead before you can get any test results. Stasis is an absolute emergency, you can cure it in most cases but you have to do it fast.
                    This is an article about it :
                    http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html


                  • BiskitRoar
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                      Hello there. thank you for your help

                      Zantac is indeed available in Mtius and I will go to the pharmacy to buy it later on. I tried giving her the gas drops on a piece of banana and she ate it just fine. Even seemed to enjoy it greatly. 

                      I will get help from my dad to syringe feed her the pellets. She drinks water just fine. I do give her tummy rubs which seems to help a bit. i can hear gas noises (not as loud as yesterday though) whenever I am massaging her. is this a good sign ? she does runs a bit but most of the time she lies down. I will run after her so she runs a bit. its kinda sad as she used to run after towel whenever we used to wave it in front of her and now she just stays there… but am determined to make her feel better… 

                      I will keep you posted about her


                    • BiskitRoar
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                        Hello again. 

                        i remember telling my vet about the mucus as after the antibiotics injections, there was a jelly like thing in her poop and it smelt really bad. he told me it could have been because of the antibiotics. I hate the fact that there are no experienced vets here. I told him to check her teeth and he told me her teeth were fine. I did insist on the fact that she seems like she cannot chew her food too well (because when i give her hay she will just lick it and when she tries to chew it, she spits it right away) but he didnt do a thorough inspection nor did he advice me to do one. he didnt look inside of her mouth at all. 

                        I will definitely take your advice and not go for the blood tests. Is the metacam available in pharmacy as well ? because its nearer to me (about 5 mins walk) and the vet is far and we dont have a car. we have to take a taxi and the fee is high. I will go right away and syringe feed her the pellets.

                        I really just wish there were more vets with rabbit experience


                      • Bam
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                          Metacam is prescription only here and in the USA, but I have no idea if you can get it in Mauritius OTC. You could ask of course. Say you want the type for cats.

                          Mucus can be a sign of the antibiotics disrupting the GI microbial flora, that often happens with antibiotics, not just in bunnies but in people too because antibiotics kill a lot of the good bacteria in the gut as a side-effect. If you can get Anima-strath in Mauritius it has a probiotic in it that can help with the gut bacteria. I know it’s available in many parts of the world.

                          That you’re hearing gas sounds is in a way good because it means there’s movement in the gut, but the gas must be able to get out. It is painful for the bun to have gas and buns in pain often won’t eat. 

                          Forgot to mention: Don’t put her on her back for syringe-feeding. Have her sit up. We always do it so as one person hold the bun in his lap face against the room and the other inserts the syringe. Give it in small mouthfulls and make sure she swallows between them, you want to avoid her choking on it. The person holding the bun can cover the eyes of the bun to make it less scared. Stabilize the head gently. 

                          So glad she gobbled up her banana-gasdrop mix! Really good sign!


                        • BiskitRoar
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                            I fed her the pellets with water and she ate it. Not all of it but some of it. She is running a bit for now. I also provided a heating pad so she keeps warm.

                            I forgot to mention something. She has something going on with her left eye. Its watering a lot. I will add a pic (or atleast try to) of it. I told my vet about this and he said its just an irritation and said it would be fine. It is less than before but it bothers me to see her like this..

                            I cant figure out how to add a pic


                          • Bam
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                            16835 posts Send Private Message

                              Here is a tutorial with screen-shots on how to upload pics: Pictorial 

                              The eye-problem might of course be just an irritation, she is weakened now by not having eaten as much as she needs to, but unfortunately, a runny eye-problem can occur when a bun has a dental problem and tooth roots are protruding up into the tear canal. Try rinsing the eye with saline (eye wash for humans is good) and see if it gets better. If you see swelling or redness you can use antibiotic eye drops, bunny-safe types aref ex fucidine or neosporin (polymyxin B in some countries) or chloramphenicol.

                              Edit: Glad to hear she’s eaten some and is running. That’s really good!  


                            • BiskitRoar
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                                Here is the pic. I hope it worked ^^’

                                I will try the saline solution but unfortunately for the dental problem..I dont know if my vet will be of much help. Since I insisted that I have a strong feeling that it might be her teeth.. he told me the teeth were fine without a thorough examination of her mouth.


                              • BiskitRoar
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                                  Hello there.

                                  Unfortunately my baby passed away some minutes ago.

                                  Thank you all for your help.


                                • Timber
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                                    I’m so sorry for your loss


                                  • caramel2425
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                                      I have a 3 years old bunny. He was not eating properly since few days. I took him to vet yesterday and found out that he was bloating. The vet has given few medicines but he is still not eating properly. I am very worried about him. Is there anything I can do or yhe medicine takes time to work ? Doctor said there is nothing to be worried about but That is not helping me. Please help !


                                    • Bam
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                                        Keep giving him the meds and if the vet told you to syringe-feed the bunny, do that. You can give a gently tummy massage and try to make your bunny move around, this helps to get gas out. You can give baby gas drops (simethicone), it won’t interfere with other medication.
                                        This is sth to be worried about but if you keep giving meds and food and see to it that your bun keeps warm (but not hot of course), chances are good. What meds did you get for him?


                                      • caramel2425
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                                          Doctor gave a digestive enzyme. And cefixime oral for antibiotics. He is eating a little now and his pee is normal. He is moving around but I feel he is still bloating a little. His sickle is coming out fine. He is making little noises when I’m giving him tummy massage


                                        • Bam
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                                            It sounds normal to me after a bout of gas. Be extremely gentle when you massage him. I don’t know about cefixime for rabbits. Gas is painful for rabbits, so a bunny painkiller is often good to help the bun get his appetite back. Metacam is a suitable type for buns.
                                            It’s very good that he’s eating a little and moving around. Encourage that. He needs to eat and move and poop.


                                          • Bam
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                                              Bisquitroar, I’m so very sorry. I didn’t see this until now.


                                            • caramel2425
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                                                Yes. He hasn’t pooped yet. But I’m feeding him hay so that he poops. That digestive enzyme had simethicone in it. Doctor had given medicines for 5 days.


                                              • Bam
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                                                  That’s good! Make sure he drinks too. Hydration is important for the intestines.


                                                • caramel2425
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                                                    I am feeding him water and ORS suppliment.


                                                  • Bam
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                                                      That is good, but if you have the ORS effervescent tablets, try to make the liquid as flat as possible so he doesn’t get bubbles in him. You can do that by warming it slightly, then let cool.

                                                      Sending you many vibes.

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                                                  Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Rabbit has gas. helpppp