Sorry that this is long, but I want to give as much background info as possible to determine whether one of my rabbits is fat and lazy or actually suffering from bloat.

Just over a year ago I brought home my first bunnies, Hermione & Matilda. They were from a local store but luckily they appear to be healthy and happy. I think they are lion head crosses, and they are both spayed. I feed them a selection of kale, black kale, spinach, carrot, broccoli (very occasionally if left over from cooking), strawberry tops (again occasional). I also have a subscription to the Happy Bunny Club (a UK based monthly box delivery) which provides a selection of dried herbs, veg and fruit which they have every so often as a treat or as a small meal if the veg has run out. 

Hermione is very active. She loves being out of the hutch and chewing anything she can get her little teeth on! She binkies and runs and flops on the floor. She eats anything, except for one time when cabbage gave her diarrhoea, so now no cabbage! She lets me pick her up for a cuddle but isn’t interested in lying with me, she’s much to busy for that. 

Matilda on the other hand is less active. She eats with gusto, especially pellets (I feed them Burgess adult) and hay. With veggies she tends to be a bit slower to start eating than Hermione, sometimes turning her nose up at things like Spinach. Matilda doesn’t appreciate being handled as much. She’ll allow it but when you initially pick her up she holds her back legs stiff and they shake with the effort, it’s quite odd, and after as soon as you’ve settled you can tell she wants to get down. They both love a good petting session though, and will indicate they want it but sitting nose to nose if I’m nearby, and such attention can go on for up to 30 minutes until my arms get tired!  They appear to get along well and both groom the other, though sometimes one rushes at the other and they sit on separate levels of the hutch – it’s usually Matilda who rushes at Hermione. Matilda sometimes humps Hermione as well, but there’s no clumps of fur or fighting so I’m not concerned. I assumed I just had two wonderful if different bunnies.

A couple of months ago I began to feel Matilda was larger than Hermione, around her tummy and rump especially. Like she was more pear shaped. I joked about her being lazy as when Hermione is out of the hutch Matilda will often stay inside, she does crazy runs around the hutch sometimes so it’s not like she never binkies but it is much rarer. She will venture out of the hutch but she’s very slow to jump over the small bars under the door onto their bridge to the floor. She’ll look out for a while and size it up before attempting it. When she is out she doesn’t run, but hops slowly as if she doesn’t like the floor – it’s laminate though I have rugs down – so I assume she doesn’t feel sure on her feet. Sometimes she’ll go a bit nuts and run from the hutch onto an arm chair next to it onto the floor and straight back again, but this is rare. Most of the day she’s laid in the same spot of the hutch, stretched out fully either favouring her right side or fully on her front with her back feet straight out behind her. Very occasionally if Hermione is lying with her she flops onto her back. So she appears lazy but not unhappy.

I took them to the vets a few weeks ago for their vaccinations and my vet picked her up and said “oooh fat bunny!” When she saw the worried look on my face she smiled and said don’t worry, and when weighed she was heavier than Hermione (I can’t remember the weights) but within normal range. Now since then I have been feeling Matilda’s stomach and it always feels quite firm to the touch, like a little balloon. I’m really worried she may actually be bloated. I do sometimes hear gurgling in the hutch, not often, but I couldn’t say which rabbit it is. There’s lots of poops with both of them so it’s impossible to tell which is which, but they are both good with the letter box and I see them both going into it, or leaving some behind where they’ve been sat, and though sometimes they can be a bit small and dark or attached together by fur, on the whole they are healthy in appearance. I picked up Matilda this morning, which I don’t normally do because I know she’s not keen on it, and think her belly was a bit bloated. I tried to rub it for her but she was not having it. Her tummy definitely isn’t flabby, it’s firm and rounded. She didn’t chatter her teeth or give indications of being pain, but clearly didn’t like it, but I can’t say if that was because she was uncomfortable or was unhappy that I was prodding her!

Any advice would be appreciated! Sorry for the long post but I thought the detail would help.