Diet advice for a gassy bun!

[Phwoffy]

Hi,

 I apologise in advance for this getting super long, but I figure best to give as much info as possible before I start begging you all for advice! 

 We own Monty, a 2-year old lop x lionhead, who we adopted from his previous owner last April. So, we’ve had him less than a year and in that time we’ve had him at the vets 3 times with bouts of something that, as far as I can tell, at least closely resembles stasis. He’s my first rabbit since childhood, and my partner’s first, so we’re all learning together! Monty seems to suffer from gassy spells, where he will struggle for comfort, press his stomach to the floor, crunch his teeth and hide himself away from everyone and everything. During those spells, we have started to attempt to administer simethicone, but he finds both the smell and the idea of being touched at that time utterly abhorrent. Forcing anything into his mouth is about as complicated as diffusing a bomb! He is a very affectionate rabbit, but was fully mature when adopted and had been rarely handled, so loves his strokes and fuss, but not anything that might count as useful handling (his claws, for example, need cutting, and I am currently working on a rate of one claw a day = success…)!

 The gassy spells, as yet, remain unexplained, but I am trying very hard to work out a healthy and ‘acceptable!’ diet for him. When we adopted him, he ate mostly dry food from the local supermarket – not pellets, but the cornflakey, colourful stuff that has about as much goodness as a McDonald’s. He was given plenty of hay, but filled his belly up on the food instead. He was given sweets and, when they weren’t available, a few chunks of carrot. It’s taken a while but now he has pellets, two different types of hay (the original, and some Timothy. A limited amount because it’s very hard to come by where we live!), and fresh stuff at bedtime. The freshies are usually kale and kiwi, because they are his favourites, and everything else he will nibble for a few days and then dismiss entirely. He also gets cabbage, apple and celery, when his highness will accept it! Anyway, his pellet supply has been limited to a handful in the evening, to encourage more hay munching. And that’s working! Unfortunately, he ate a few too many pellets t’other day and had an awful gassy episode that afternoon (we came home to find him squashed in his litter tray. It’s heartbreaking to see them like that!) so is now on a hay/fresh veg only diet.

 I guess, what I’m asking for here is a) confirmation that it’s ok to limit his diet to just hay sometimes, to make sure he’s actually eating the stuff! and b) any advice at all on what we can do to alter his diet and make it both more enjoyable for him, and more healthy. As I say, he’s my first bun since childhood, and despite (or, perhaps, because of!) the ten billion things I’ve read since he arrived, I’m at a loss. He was looked after in his previous home, but as he was rehomed due to owner ‘not having enough time’ and when we collected him she welcomed us armed with a pedigree kitten, it’s likely he was a little less spoilt than he is now. He is very fussy with food, doesn’t like to try new fresh stuff too often, and gets very sulky when without a bowl of something dry. So… anything that can help us balance healthy Monty with happy Monty! Thank you!

 

tl;dr – Diet advice required to help with a fussy-toothed bunny who suffers from nasty bouts of gas!

[Megabunny]

I’m only picking up on the one obvious food, cabbage, that could be the gas problem, although it doesn’t sound like he eats it all that much. Once people on this side of the globe start waking up, you’ll get a flood of advice. Sounds like you’re on the right track. I guess I’m wondering if you’ve tried the standard leafy things like dandelions, leaf lettuce and cilantro. I have heard that oat hay is a good laxative…not that I’d give it exclusively, but that or just getting the tops (nom noms on the BB store’s site) might be good.
Does he get time to run around outside his cage to help keep things moving?
I’m not sure you should limit the pellets during a bout of this, as you want to be sure he keeps eating.
I’ll be following this thread, as I know there’s a lot I’m likely leaving out. Just thought I’d ask a few more questions people might like to know to contribute toward your answer

[Cottontail]

I’ve never fed cabbage, but I had to eliminate broccoli from my buns diet because even a couple leaves here and there seemed to be giving him gassy spells. Before I got my hands on simethicone the best luck I had with relieving gas was to give him a little cup of apple-water and get him moving. (1 part apple juice, 3 parts water). He would lap that up and it would usually get him to start nibbling hay and moving a bit, helping the gas move through.

I also have to echo Megabunny; dandelion greens always seem to go over well! My Pete love dandelion, cilantro, and green-leaf lettuce. Another huge winner on veggies is radicchio (but that seems a bit more expensive).

What kind of pellets are you feeding him? I know every bunny is different, but I’m not familiar with gas from pellets (I’m also no expert on bunnies!).

[Sarita]

Did the vet check his teeth? Rabbits don’t get gas from the same things that humans do because they have a different digestive system. The types of things that wreak havoc on rabbits stomachs are starches and sugars.

[Robert]

I would like to know how much apple and carrots you are giving him

[Phwoffy]

Thank you all so much for the info and advice – dandelions always go down a treat so will ensure there are more around. Would dried ones have the same sort of impact, or best if fresh?

To answer questions!
– Monty is, currently, about as free range as bunnies come. He’s a house rabbit, so has a cage indoors, but I am currently unemployed/studying from home so he is free to roam from when we get up at 5.30 (or, in Monty’s case, 6.30, after a few snoozes!) until we go to bed at about 10.30ish. He goes into his house at night and if we’re going to be out for more than an hour or so. Running around is MAYBE pushing it. He will run a bit, mostly snoozes once the clock ticks past 11.30, but, yes, he has plenty of room to wander and gets as much exercise as he desires!

– His pellets are ‘Sensitive’? I’m not all that familiar with bunny food, but these were the ‘best’ ones we could find locally. Now that he’s more inclined towards them, would definitely be willing to order online if there are any that could be recommended. I don’t know if it’s the pellets that do cause the gas at all, just that the last bout fitted in with a big pellet-feasting. He always stuffs himself on them when available so eats a lot less hay.

– Teeth were all checked and seem fine!

– He has very little of apple or carrot; apple, perhaps a couple of times a month he’ll have a some small slices before bed for a few days, and carrots tend to just be if we’re using them and have some left over. He’s not all that keen on them so we don’t go out of our way to offer them up.

Thanks again, guys, I keep learning!

[Author]

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