Loss of Bonded Mate – Unrelenting Gas Problem

[Bunnisox]

One month ago (10/08), we lost our bunny Waffuls. Her sister, and life-long bonded-mate of 5 years, Muffins, has had a really rough go of things since. Waffuls passed at home, so I was able to show her to Muffins for a bit before we took her in for cremation. She didn’t necessarily seemed phased by it at the time, or shortly after. A few days afterward, Muffins was seemingly back to her old self – running around, binkying, flopping, playing. She seemed fine for about a little over a week (about 10 days).

Then I noticed she had developed sore hocks. This had to be due to the floor in her room (it was hard wood floor, but I had put down rug pads so it wouldn’t be slippery, but I’m assuming it wasn’t cushioned enough), plus the fact that I hadn’t cut her nails in about 3 months because we had just moved into our new place and I didn’t clip them for some time before and after as to avoid stressing her out. In order to correct the problem, I had to lock her out of her room for about 5-6 days (10/19 – 10/24) while I waited for some mattress padding to come in so I could lay it out on her floor. This definitely stressed her out. She would sit outside her bedroom door for hours, wanting inside.

During that time (10/19), she started to shed/molt. *sigh* Being a bunny that has always HATED brushes, I knew this was yet another stress I had to put on her. I had to pick her up a few times to put her on my kitchen counter in order to brush her and clip her nails. This was super stressful for her.

There was a dramatic decline on the 27th – she was lethargic, not eating much, and she was clearly in pain (hunched up, grinding teeth). It was around this time that I noticed she started having REALLY loud stomach noises (gas). I stayed up with her all night doing belly massage, and giving simethicone, but there was no noticable difference by the morning and I took her into the vet first thing on the 28th.

The vet palpated her abdomen, did some x-rays, ran some blood work, and I provided fecal samples. Everything came back normal except:

1. Her xrays showed there was a lot of gas in her cecum. (we already knew this)
2. The only abnormality in the bloodwork was that her albumin levels were high. The vet said this is typically due to the patient being dehydrated, but she concluded that Muffins was not dehydrated and chalked it up to an error.

She sent me home with some medicine to put on her feet for the sore hocks, and said they didn’t look infected, but that I should try to help them heal up with the medication. The medicine she gave me was labeled “for dogs and cats only” and after not finding any information on it in regard to rabbits, I decided to forego that medicine and use neosporin (the kind without pain relief) on her feet, instead (which the vet said would be fine, as well). But said since they couldn’t find anything technically wrong with her, to keep an eye on her and bring her back if she gets worse.

The day after the vet visit, I was watching her carefully now. I needed to start figuring out what was going on with her. Then I noticed it. Whenever she would eat her pellets, or her greens – she would get REALLY bad gas, then not want to move. I called my vet and they recommended to take away the pellets and the greens and make sure she’s eating plenty of hay and drinking plenty of water. So I did.

She’s been on a hay-only diet now since 10/29, and is still having gas every day – LITERALLY every time she eats. She is eating and drinking really well, and her poops have never looked better or more plentiful. She eats 3rd cut timothy hay, oat hay, and meadow hay. I even found a purely timothy hay pellet (no additives or binders or anything), and have been giving her those. But the gas just WILL NOT GO AWAY!

I attempted to wrap her feet on 10/31 (yet another stress on her), but it didn’t work as well as I would have liked and she ended up kicking off her protective socks and ripping off her vet wrap within 30 minutes and ingesting the neosporin (yay, something else to add to the problems!). I gave her a dose of bene-bac that day, as I didn’t know what effect, if any, the neosporin would have on her GI flora.

I called my vet and asked if there was anything else we can do, or give her to help her out and they are stumped. They said if it continues for much longer, to bring her back in and they can run the tests again. I don’t think I can justify bringing her back in and adding more stress to her just for them to run the same damn tests again (especially if this is all really being caused by stress). I did a phone consultation with a homeopathic rabbit vet from NJ a few days ago (11/06) and he suggested using Rescue Remedy to help with her stress, and then 2 homeopathic remedies for stomach cramping (Nox Vomica and Spascupreel). They don’t seem to be helping at all, either.

Her days are mixed. She seems happy enough when she is running about, playing a little here and there. I’ve seen binkys, zoomies, flops, and happy tooth-purrs, but — whenever she stops to eat her hay and drink water, it goes downhill for HOURS with horrible gas pain and really loud stomach noises, until we belly massage and simethicone it out; then she goes back to running around for 10-20 minutes.. but as soon as she stops to eat again, rinse and repeat. She is grooming herself more than usual, but I’ve only noticed this when she’s in pain from the gas. I would say about 85% of her day is spent in pain, and I cannot stand to see her like this anymore, but I don’t know what else to do. I want to give her pain medication, but she’s always had such a bad reaction to them that I don’t want to make her pain worse by trying them again. I’ve attempted, and the doctors attempted, to give her metacam and meloxicam and it’s made the pain worse each and every time (we’ve tried them abour 6 times in the past, and once recently with all this), even with a stomach lining protectant. I think her and her late sister have really sensitive systems and don’t tolerate medication well. Her sister actually passed due to a bad reaction to metaclopromide, and also had the same intolerance to metacam/meloxicam. I am unsure what else I can do to help her with this damn pain.

Could all this gas be from the loss of Waffuls and the stress that followed thereafter..? The vets I’ve spoken with seem to think that’s the case, because there doesn’t appear to be anything medically wrong with her. I’ve tried giving her chamomile (both the flower and steeped in water) and she wants nothing to do with it. I’ve heard mixed information about valerian, so I’m unsure about that. I want to try CBD oil (no THC), but can’t seem to find any information on that with rabbits, either. My vet doesn’t know anything about it. I’ve attempted to contact HRS and other rabbit organizations about using CBD but no one has responded to my inquiries.

There is a local rabbit rescue in my town that I help with, and they are going to bring over a few male bunnies (one at a time), to see if she responds well to them. But if this fails… if she doesn’t respond well to them, or if she does and the gas still doesn’t go away… I don’t know what else to do.

I’ve literally been spending ALL my time with her. I lost my job 3 months back and I have nothing but time, so it’s all being spent with her now. I’ve been averaging roughly 2.5 to 4 hours a sleep each night now for about 2 weeks. I’m barely eating, and haven’t left my damn house unless it’s to go to the vet or pick up simethicone from the store. I lay with her, I sit with her. I sing to her and pet her and love her. I rub her stomach gently to try and help with gas. I pass out on the floor from exhaustion because I don’t want to leave her to be in pain alone. I’ve been wanting to write all this and post on the forum now for over a week but I just could not get any time to do so; but now that the homeopathic remedies aren’t working, I just had to bite the bullet and come sit down to post this. She followed me into my bedroom and is laying behind me now, waiting for me to finish.

What the hell is going on with my Muffins?? Where is all this gas coming from? What the hell do I do next if a new bonded mate doesn’t work out? I’m so confused and I feel like I’ve finally hit a wall and don’t know where to go from here.

Anyone have any advice or information on any of this? You have no idea how much it would mean to me if anyone could think of anything else that might be able to help her.

Thank you.

[DanaNM]

I’m so sorry for all of this sounds incredibly stressful.

I can’t help but wonder if it is all related to pain and stress. Have her hocks healed and is she back in her room?

There are also some herbs which help with gas, namely fennel and mint. You might try adding those in.

It’s true that depression from loss of a mate can set in months later (it did with my Bertha).

For the bunny gi tract to function effectively it needs lots of fiber and moisture. When things slow down that’s when gas builds up. Does she drink a lot of water? Maybe she is in fact dehydrated and would benefit from sub q fluid?

Sorry I don’t have one answer, but all of these things came to mind. I fostered a bunny with incredibly scary gas attacks, so I feel ya.

. . . 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.  

[Bunnisox]

Her hocks haven’t healed entirely, but are on the mend, and she is allowed back in her room.

She is eating plenty of hay, but it’s third cut Timothy Hay and not as fibrous as I’d like; but she’s really picky about hay, so I’m just glad she’s eating a good amount of it. She’s drinking a good amount of water, so I don’t know if it’s necessarily a hydration issue. Her poops look really good and numerous, so I wasn’t sure if it’s was slow digestion issue as you said… however, I took your words into consideration, and gave her some “Colon Rescue” (it has licorice root, marshmallow root, plantain leaf, and slippery elm bark) from the brand Animal Essentials, and her gas has been gone ever since the first dose. She seems to still have some digestion issues, or pain in the gut, but it’s definitely nowhere near as severe and painful as it was. Thank you for your advice! I had figured since she was producing a lot of poops, it wasn’t necessarily a problem with her digestion.

I also gave her another dose of Bene Bac. But I’m not quite sure how often I can give that to her. Some things I read say everyday is fine, others say it’s best to wait at least a few days in between. Do you have any advice or information about how often to give the Bene Bac?

I tried getting her a new bonded mate, but she wasn’t having any of that. She was super defensive and very territorial, and while the new bunny seemed relatively docile, as soon as she seen him she lunged at him peed on him, and then they fought. She now has a big wound underneath her nose on her lip flap where all her whiskers come from. We took the new bunny back to the rescue, I don’t think getting her a new bonded mate is going to work. I ended up ordering a stuffed animal rabbit but she seems a little scared of it, so we might have to work on that. I did put Neosporin on her wound the first night and it seems to be healing okay, but it’s really hard to tell given its location. It’s still a bit swollen looking, but the wound doesn’t look infected or anything. If it starts to look funky, turns colors, if she starts acting different, or if it swells up more or the swelling doesn’t go down I’ll suck it up and take her to the vet; I’m just VERY reluctant to stress her out right now if I don’t have to.

She’s been in good spirits last night and most of today/tonight. I’m hoping the worst is over. Fingers crossed.

[DanaNM]

I’m so happy to hear that supplement worked! I’ll have to keep that in mind with another gassy bun.

I’ve given bene bac as often as every other day. It’s one of those things that can be given whenever you think it might help (such as after medicine, or a stressful event). I think for isolated doses I’ve given maybe two doses in a week, then waited to see if there was an improvement. Since she’s doing well might as well wait and see how she does without it.

Poor girl regarding the bite, my Bertha got bit in that same spot when a past bond failed (I thought they were bonded but the bond broke about 5 months in). She unfortunately needed sutures as it went all the way through her lip to the nerve, but thankfully she healed up just fine.

Glad to hear she’s doing better!

. . . 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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