tummy growling.

Question
Dear Dana,

You have helped me before with my little girl. She is about two years old. Last
wednesday i started hearing her tummy growl, and it did not stop so the next
morning I brought her to the vet. They x rayed her and said she had a whole
lot of food in her gut and lots of gas down lower. They gave me some
medicine. The growling did not stop so i brought her to the vet again
saturday. Same result.
I have been feeding her little bits of fruit (docs orders), hay, water, critical
care, and her medicines they gave me. She is peeing and pooing regularly but
her tummy is still growling. But now its making more of a water sloshing
sound.
She is acting normal.
I am just worried. I do not want to keep bringing her back to the vet for
expensive visits. Does this sound serious? I am extremely worried its serious,
although so far everytime seems fine except for the noises.


sincerely,

Maria  

Answer
Dear Maria,

It sounds as if your bunny is very gassy.  You can help her pass this gas by giving her pediatric simethicone (perhaps 0.5 cc, once every 8 hours or so).  But the question remains:  why is she gassy?

This is usually to a slowdown of the GI tract that has resulted in cecal dysbiosis, often with an overgrowth of yeast or of gas-producing bacteria.  Please read:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/poop.html

since the causes of gas are often the same as those that cause runny stool and cecal dysbiosis.

Most common culprits include incorrect diet:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/diet.html

or a cryptic health problem causing enough stress/pain to trigger GI slowdown and gas.  A very common one in this category is dental problems such as molar spurs:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/dental.html

I hope this helps with some ideas.  If you're not sure your vet is very experienced with rabbits, use the list linked here to find another for a second opinion:

www.rabbit.org/vets

Good luck,

Dana