Burgess excel pellets and greens

[B&A]

Hi, 

  My girl Arlo is having her second bought of gas in as many weeks – she’s two and this hasn’t happened before. I am concerned that it is obviously related to diet and would like to make any alterations I can to improve her diet – however there is a lot of conflicting information out there. 

I feed her Burgess excel pellets and greens – usually kale and some herbs, parsley, or basil, mint, thyme, coriander. I give her and her partner Mylo a small bowl of green food and pellets in the morning and evening and they munch on hay through out the day and night, which is fresh and piled around the flat, in their litter box and by their napping areas. 

Am I making  some serious errors here? I am quite worried – I mean – fingers crossed she pulls through this – but have I been making a big mistake with their diet?  Her stomach upset that she had previously and now, their quite loud – you can hear lots of things moving around – she went to the washroom – but obviously something just isn’t right – and it must be her diet. She’s the bigger of my two bunnies too – she’s at least twice the size of my other bunny Mylo who doesn’t seem to have any problems – touch wood.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated. 

[DanaNM]

Sorry your bun is poorly

Kale can make some buns gassy (most are fine with it though). So if you suspect something in the diet is to blame, I would start by eliminating kale and see if that helps. Some buns also just have issues with pellets. I think the true test is to restrict to just hay and see how she does, then slowly incorporate each thing back in, but I would talk to her vet before going that far. Has her diet changed recently? or anything else changed? Does she seem to be eating the same amount of hay as normal? And does she eat a good amount of hay?

Mint and fennel are thought to help with gas, so you might make those a regular part of her diet.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[B&A]

She seems to have perked up a bit. She’s eating and hopping about – I’m keeping a close eye on her though. I thought I was going to have to go to the vets first thing this morning, but I think they’ll just tell me to monitor her since she is eating and quite bright. 

Thanks for the advice, I am going to go to just hay and minimal extras and try to figure out what it is. There haven’t been any changes lately and their diet is generally quite consistent. I suspect so many things though, the kale – the parsley  – the pellets. 

I ordered some timothy hay grass to grow for them too – perhaps that will be good as a fresh green as well as a hay. 

[DanaNM]

Glad she’s doing better!

One other thing to think about, is she molting? Some buns have tummy troubles when they are going through a molt. In those cases the best you can do as a preventative is brush as much as possible, encourage movement, and push hay and moisture (through water in a bowl and wet greens). Plus lots of tummy rubs.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

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