So Lola has been acting funny recently and I need to take her to a vet (again...) but wanted to ask....

She keeps making these hiccup/grinding teeth/sneeze/grunt noises which she's never done before.  They happen in spurts and aren't happening all the time. She also has seemed to have labored breathing and is still eating but just picking at her food when she normally devours it. She actually is really listless and keeps rolling around and flopping....

I introduced mustard greens to her diet recently - could that be why she isn't eating? I tried putting a little orange juice on her greens and she'll lick it all off and nibble at it for a second and then ignores it.

She is pooping and peeing but her poos do seem to have a lot of fur in them because she is going through a shed...they are normal shape though.  Could it be a shedding issue?

She had an eating/pooping issue the other week and I thought gas might be the issue - and when I took her to the vet 2 weeks ago they said she was ok.  But it just seems "off" and not her.

Also - kinda semi-related - what is the recommended dosage for infant simethicone?  I want to make sure I know in case I think it's gas related and decide to give her any.  ETA: she is about 5 lbs.

How does her tummy sound? This could be gas.
Simethicone: 1 mL every hour for the first three hours every hour and then 1mL every 3-8 hours. It should work VERY quickly.

Also, do you have an CC on hand in case you can't get to the vet soon? It never hurts if she does stop eating.

Her tummy sounds and feels ok...but she's letting me massage it which is weird because that's her one "stay away" area and usually when I touch it she runs away....

I do have CC on hand. She's been nibbling some pellets but usually if I give her them alone she devours them like treats so it's almost like she is trying to eat but just doesn't feel well enough to actually eat all of it.

Could hair build-up cause gas?

Thanks for your help! The boyfriend is en route to CVS to get the Simethicone.

{{{Lola}}}
Definitely try the simethicone. If she's letting you massage her tum, it does sound like she could have bit if gas.

GI upsets often are a result of something else going on. Her having 2 so close together definitely warrants the vet visit. Have you got an appt?
I hope you're able to get to the bottom of it.

ok so i am 90% sure it's because of her shedding (still calling the vet tomorrow) - she just had a poo that was about a half an inch long and was pretty much just one giant clump of hair.

she's shedding and i am brushing her everyday right now and i would say i am getting about a softball size of hair a day (with it just sitting it there not clumping it up - then it's only about a handful).

i read a little online and it said too limit pellets and try to get them to eat more hay. will Simethicone help this at all? what about something acidic?

It could be gas, she could be having tooth problems, it could be the new greens or she could have something else going on. It could even be a combo of all or some of these things.
When was the last time she saw the vet and what was it for?

Simethicone can be given in repetitive doses safely until symptoms resolve. My buns range between 3-6 pounds and I give them 0.6 mls of simethicone each hour until their tummies don't feel tight. I also try to get them moving around so the gas shifts.

Please read ingredients on the simethicone also. I've noticed a change in them from the sweetener maltitol to some different ingredients: carboxymethylcellulose sodium and microcrystalline cellulose and my vets didn't know if these were safe for pets.

Vibes that she's feeling better soon. Is there an ER vet you can call for help if she gets worse?

Ok - so we just made another trip to the grocery store (boyfriend is being such a trooper tonight even though he was slightly embarrassed that i was in my pj's).

We got her some baby food, pineapple juice, and a mix of her favorite greens. We mixed the baby food with the Simethicone and she lapped it right up. She also had about 3 tbsp of pineapple juice and half a handful of cilantro. She's actually rearranging things in her condo and jumping from level to level right now - so I think she is feeling a little better...I can just see it in her eyes. Boyfriend thinks she was just pulling the wool over our eyes for treats.....

I'm going to give her at least another hourly dose of the Simethicone. I'm glad you all said she could have it in hourly intervals. And I did actually look at the ingredients and got the one with the least "crap".

she was at the vets 2 weeks ago just for a check-up and was fine - which is why I don't think it's teeth problems. That and her favorite treats are the Tigertail snacks that are super hard so I know they would be painful for her to chew if she was having issues and she begs for them and knows when it's time for her treat.

I'll keep you all up to date - I'm probably going to sleep next to her pen tonight.

Thanks so much for all your help so far - I really, REALLY appreciate it.

Glad to hear she's doing better. Once that gas is relieved they brighten up well. If her gut stalled enough to breed bad bacteria she could relapse. As much hay as you can get her to eat and maybe a few less treats (what are Tigertails?) will keep her insides moving nicely.
Also if she's a big pellet eater you might want to go leaner on those as well...they can sometimes cause gut trouble. A house rabbit really doesn't need pellets as long as she's eating lots of hay.

I hope you both can get some rest. Kudos to your bf for being the knight in shining armor!

I hope Lola is feeling better today.

She actually is really listless and keeps rolling around and flopping....

This is definitely a sign of bad gas or tummy pain. They just keep flopping and trying to get comfortable.

Definitely try to get her to eat more hay while shedding. I usually offer more wet, leafy greens as well. If one of my bun's is having tummy problems, I strictly limit or cut out pellets for a few days.

How is she feeling now?

Morning Update: Lola seems to be back to her normal self.  I took a pic of her nightly bowel movements (I'm assuming no bunny owner is squeamish of bun poos ) and noticed that they were not their normal uniform size.  There weren't any that were a huge mass of hair like last night but it still wasn't quite normal.

Right now she is happily eating her favorite greens and a reduced amount of pellets (~1/8 a cup opposed to her normal ~1/4 a cup that she gets 1x a day).

I'm *really* thinking this is all shedding related since she's never had a big fur blowout and isn't really right now to the level that some members describe their rabbits going through...but enough that it's more than usual.  I groom her everyday but we all know how much they love to lick and clean themselves so I don't know how to get her to quit ingesting as much as she is.  She also gets her cage vacuumed out daily (because I'm OCD....) so I'm trying to alleviate the issue as much as possible but am open to suggestions!

Do you all still think this still warrants a vet visit being that she was just there? I feel like the vet is going to 1) not be able to see anything because she is acting fine now and 2) tell me the same things that you all have already said and what I've already done.  I know I'd rather be safe than sorry but she *freaks* when she has to go on car rides - much more than any other rabbit that I've ever seen and her stress level goes through the roof so much so that when we took her on a car ride this summer to go to the bunny sitter, the sitter was really concerned by how freaked out she was and the temperature of her ears...and this is someone who deals with a Rabbit Rescue and numerous rabbits on a daily basis so I think that's saying something.  So I'm afraid packing her up and putting her in the car will stress her out and start the process all over again...

As always, thanks for your help SO much!

ETA: After she ate, her poops were a normal size and she got a brushing again.  Here's a picture.  That's only 10 minutes of brushing which pretty much gets it all because we've gotten pretty efficient due to how much she HATES brushing time.  Her stomach...is another story.  To me that doesn't seem like that much because I'm used to her long-ish fur but I guess if I think about the fact that she's losing that much everyday it adds up.  

Holy hair.

I don't have much to add but thankfully she hasn't taken any bad turns from the worse and you're obviously doing everything to make her comfortable!

Just wanted to send some get well vibes to this little beauty. She's one of my favs.

OMG...That's a whole other bunny you've got there! O_o
Mine are all short haired but for Pip who's part lionhead, but yeah, if that much is coming off then she's likely swallowing some you don't see.
As long as her poos normalize and she's eating/eliminating well and drinking I'd say she's probably good. But I'd get her moving more and eating more hay than pellets. Perhaps wean her off altogether or only offer them as treats. I find they really bung up my buns bowels. Make changes slowly so you don't upset her digestion.
If you need help when she has to go places I find that Rescue Remedy helps my buns. It's a soothing flower essence found in health food stores. I spray it in their carrier before we leave.

I hope she continues to improve. She is gorgeous! Yeah that tummy fur is hard to get and may be part of the problem. Her overall coat health is good though? No mites/dandruff/bare patches?
Poo pix! Every once in a while we have a threadful to see whose bun makes the best! XD

Ya - this whole event has made us realize just how much she is licking herself right now. We try to advert her attention to something else but it only works for a few seconds before the girl has to primp again. Le sigh. We are just going to keep an eye on it.

Her coat health is really good. We try to get her tummy to groom but the bunny burrito can only do so much before we are just full on wrestling with her and it starts to get semi-dangerous.

And Rescue Remedy! That's the name of the stuff the lady that watched her gave to her. She put a little drop on her ears. I'm so glad you brought that up because I need to get her some of that stuff. I'd say I'd put it in her stocking (since I may have put up Christmas decorations tonight.....) but I think she is going to be getting it as an early Christmas present.

Thanks everyone!

I just checked her age via your profile. She's almost a year old. They usually have their first major shed at this age and its normally the worst one. So take heart, future shedding shouldn't be as heavy.

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