Rabbit stomach gurgling, acting off, not her usual self

[Alex&Clary]

Hi, I’m new here, and its because of something that I don’t know what to do about.

My rabbit is approximately 8 months old, she is a mini Rex, who is spayed.  She usually eats with a ton of enthusiasm, and doesn’t spend much time in her cage.

Today while I’ve been home, shes been oddly quiet, usually she wakes me up in the morning by coming and sniffing my face around 7am, but she didn’t make any noise this morning.  She has spent most of her day in her home which is very odd for her.  She is still eating, and has had parsley, as well as timothy hay, and water today.  I’m going to offer her dinner in a few minutes.  She has peed and pooped today.  I noticed her laying around more about an hour ago, and it was paired with very loud gurgling sounds, like a human makes when they are gassy, this concerned me so here I am.  She is currently eating, but will occasionally flop to the side and lay down, even when I bring her out of her cage she won’t stay out, and goes right back.  She doesn’t seem bloated, and her stomach is still soft and squishy, but she is full out flopping a lot more, and is staying down even when I make lots of noise.  She seems to be breathing heavier than usual, but she still seems pretty alert. 

Update on eating:When I gave her her pellets she showed interest, and is eating them like usual.  

Please help me out with any suggestions, I know I’m new so I might not have answered everything, but I’ll try to because I really love my rabbit and I am very concerned right now. I can’t go to a vet right now because its almost 11 pm where I am. 

[Bam]

It sounds like she has a lot of gas. You can give simethicone for gas (baby gas drops), a light tummy massage (don’t if the belly is distended) and it’s good if you can encourage her to move about, that helps the gas to pass. Moving about is probably the best thing to get gas out. Here’s is a short instruction-video about how to massage your bunny: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnuxGLa2reg

Her heavy breathing can mean the gas in her tummy/intestines are pressing on her lungs, so the gas needs to get out asap. I’m glad she’s eating, but this sounds rather like an emergency because of the breathing-thing.

Please keep us updated.

[Alex&Clary]

I haven’t gotten to get baby gas drops, but that is something I’ll be keeping with my emergency things, she moved around a lot around 11:30 last night, and the noises stopped. Her eating increased, however she still seems very sluggish, and not herself, so I will be keeping a very close eye on her!

[Booplesnoot]

Sounds like she’s got the farts. 🙂 Bunnies will sometimes flop and flatten to try to get the gas out. Definitely keep us posted, and if she stops eating or drinking, take her in ASAP. Better safe than sorry.

[Alex&Clary]

She’s eating still, and seems to be feeling tons better, she really wasn’t feeling good. She is feeling really good right now, eating and playing, I think she just needed to work them out! (If any one does horses they would know it happens in them sometimes too) So making her move worked it out of her!

[Bam]

Yep, horses and buns are very similar digestion-wise! Both are hind-gut fermenters and they do encounter similar digestive problems sometimes. So glad you and she fixed it =)

[Alex&Clary]

Yep! My bun seems to be doing a ton better, she is active, and I don’t hear huge noises, and she woke me up by jumping on my face which is normal for her! She seems to be back to herself! My horse actually coliced last night, so I’ve dealt hind gut fermenters having gas issues, except my horse had no noises, and my rabbit had too many noises! Prey animals will be the life and death of me!

[LittlePuffyTail]

Agree with you there, Alex&Clary! I’m a horse and bunny Mama too. I have a horse who has EMS so she’s very high maintenance and a very high-maintenance little lop bunny.

Glad your little girl seems to be doing better.

[Alex&Clary]

Thankfully both of my babies, horse and rabbit, have been very low maintenance until now.

[Author]

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