Strops & sulks…

[Miffy&FlossLove]

Hello. Do any of your buns appear to get in strops and sulks? My little Miffy keeps giving me heart attacks by appearing not to eat or want to play, completely out of character on any other general day, but then after I’ve rushed to the vet, struggled to get some critical care down her and near on developed anxiety… She suddenly decides she’s absolutely fine, starts eating and binkying again and is back to normal!! Don’t get me wrong I’m soooo grateful she’s ok, but she’s done this two or three times now and I’m baffled by it. Can stasis really pass that easily or is she potentially having little sulks? Odd question I know but it is really really really odd! Being new to bunnies, I’m not even sure if this is a thing! She’s not even one yet so still developing her personality

[Bam]

If your vet hasn’t found anything wrong with her, it could be that she gets bouts of gas. Gas is typically painful for rabbits and makes them refuse to eat. When the bun passes the gas, the bun is fine again, like nothing happened. This is fairly common in rabbits. You can give baby gasdrops (simethicone) to help relieve the gas. Making the the bun move around is good too, and a light tummy massage like in this video can also be beneficial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbyC6CWbm5M

The underlying cause of gas is often dietary. Does she eat a good amount of hay? Hay is immensely important for the whole GI tract in rabbits, starting with the teeth. Some buns are sensitive to certain greens, other buns are sensitive to pellets. You could make a food diary for her to try and pinpoint what is causing the gas.

[Miffy&FlossLove]

Yes she eats tonnes of fresh hay every day! I really limit their pellets and treats and get a handful of greens each… their diet is predominantly hay which is why it’s so baffling!

[Asriel and Bombur]

What type of greens do you feed her? Greens are often the culprit. Are you feeding cabbage or broccoli or anything in that cruciferous family?

[Miffy&FlossLove]

No they don’t get any of that. They have fresh spring greens and corriander, the odd handful of kale as a treat and the occasional handful of parsley instead of corriander but I restrict these two (kale and parsley) due to calcium content. They don’t like fruit so don’t have any of that and I tend not to even vary their treats! Pellets have always been the same too and I get the hay from where I always get it, which they LOVE. They’re both absolutely fine now and I guess we’ll never know, the vet was stumped too!

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