Do GI Tracts slow down when having JUST gas?

[Binkles]

Little-Bit is not feeling well tonight, and I’ve found that you can only see her tummy move (due to a bowl movement) once every five minutes or so as opposed to once every twenty seconds or so as it normally does. I was hoping that maybe she is just having a gas episode especially since it’s Saturday night, but now after having witnessed her GI’s sluggishness I don’t know.

Do bunnies GI tracts slow down when they experience bad gas or do they only begin to slow down due to something that may be causing stasis?

[Binkles]

Well, after about seven or so hours I fooled her into getting excited about her greens. >_> She was being reclusive and hiding but it was just her conditioned reaction to get excited about my tone of voice talking about them, so she ran over briefly to them and then darted back underneath the bed….and re-emerged a few minutes later to munch on them a little. Then she went to her litterbox and came back out and is now chowing down on greens and hay.

Man, what else do you need to say about classical conditioning? I’ll hope she keeps this up! Keep my fingers crossed!

[jerseygirl]

Hope she’s feeling better. I have heard as gas episodes as pre-cursor to GI stasis before….(but I am confused. Is it gas causing pain, pain depresses appetite,  stopping eating then causing gut slowdown OR is it gas as first signs of already present GI issues? ) You know, there are times when their guts are more active and less so. Sorry to be confusing, it’s something I’ll have to go back and clarify in my own mind I think. Main thing is Little Bit is eating!

[RabbitPam]

I’ve noticed that if they are lethargic, use the litter box eventually, and then wolf down food, they have passed the problem.

What concerns me is your saying her tummy moves all the time. I’m wondering if she’s straining at all in her upper tract. It may be a good idea to get a vet check up just in case.

Oh, and I keep some baby simethicone in the house just for gas in case she gets it.

[Sarita]

Well stasis is caused by a great many things including pain (from gas or another underlying disorder or illness), dehydration, blockage or insufficient fiber. You must be very observant to know when she has her bowel movements, I’m definitely not that observant of my rabbits.

Jersey, it’s the pain from the gas that could cause stasis…I do think however many times we attribute way too much to gas for stasis and tend to overlook other possible causes. Gas is definitely not the only cause of a stasis.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

So true-there are many causes for stasis.

GI stasis-is exactly what it says; GI is the gastro intestinal tract, and stasis means stop. Quite literally the gut stops moving.

Gas causes pain same as it does in us. It can be a cause or a side effect, or just painful gas.

[Binkles]

Oh, yes you can see bunny tummies move all the time! All bunny tummies do it. I believe it was a thread that MimzMum posted a while back that clued me into it: Look closely enough at your bunny the next time they are laid out on their side and you will notice that the lower part of their tummy is actually moving! At first you think it’s just an optical illusion from staring so intensely, but it’s not. It almost looks like a wave or a worm wriggling around inside.

But anyway, yeah stasis can be caused by many things and gas can be caused by many things. Sometimes the pain and discomfort from having gas leads to a bun not eating which leads to the tract becoming static. She did not pass a blockage or any exceptionally large poos, so I think it was just gas. I wonder what caused the gas. Haven’t been feeding her anything different or anything.

I think what I’ve found through this particular experience is that the GI tract does indeed slow down when there is too much gas in it. An interesting find I guess, though I don’t know how much it will help anyone.

[Sarita]

Yes, the gas slowing down the gi tract due to gas seems to be pretty common. My rabbit Mango used to have very bad episodes of gas which would cause him to go into GI Stasis – my vet would show me the pockets of gas on the x-ray and we would have to nurse him through with pain medication, gut motility drugs and sub-q fluids. I’m still not honestly sure what caused the gas but I have since taken him off pellets and he’s has other medical issues but has not had the severe bouts of stasis that he had in the past. A few times it took us over a week to get him back to normal. I always have metroclopramide on hand, metacam, buprenex, and sub-q fluids just in case I need them to get any of my rabbits through a bout of stasis until we can get to the vet for an exam. Sometimes my rabbits have go through stasis due to dental or urinary issues.

[MooBunnay]

Raymond has gas a lot, so we keep tablets of simethicone on hand just in case. We have found that for Raymond, a combination of Simethicone and a lot of extra attention (e.g. Brian sleeping next to his cage that night) helps him get excited about eating again.

[MimzMum]

Sorry, I’m just getting to this now.
Glad to hear that Bit is feeling better though. Yup. That was me who posted about the undulating tummy…Fiver’s. Creeped me out because it didn’t move in just one direction. Looked like stuff went from front to back, then back to front again. I think it was Osprey who explained why it did that.

Mimzy was thumping at me the other night for the first time in awhile. He usually does that when he needs a shot of simethicone. He got a treat of broccoli spear in the last few days, so I guess it’s unbalanced his system a bit.

I liken GI stasis to IBS in humans. When I’m blown up like a balloon I don’t feel like moving or eating much either. And knowing what the bunny intestines look like (think world’s wackiest roller coaster) I can imagine that it can take a bit to pass anything that is blocking that up, even if it’s just bubbles. 0_o

[Binkles]

Well she seems to be fine all of today. Must have been a bad ham bone. (Not literally of course!)

Yeah, we get ‘stasis’ too. >< Only difference is that ours doesn't ever decide to completely shut down.

Heres the thread on undulating tummies   I found it to be very enlightening: https://binkybunny.com/FORUM/tabid/54/aff/2/aft/73027/afv/topic/Default.aspx

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