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swollen stomach

22 10:19:43

Question
my 11 week old rabbit got really fat but her belly felt hard and stiff. she could hardly walk and would not eat or drink. i took her to the vets and the next day they operated on her and there was a lot of gas and water in her intestines and stomach. and after a few days she started eating again and then just died. i don't know what happened. can or could you tell me what happened?
thanks

Answer
Dear Paula,

I am very sorry about your loss.  It sounds as if your bunny suffered a bloat.  In most cases, this is fatal, and it usually kills within hours.  It's believed that this can be triggered by a blockage that may start with something as seemingly inocuous as gas in the stomach.  But if the stomach enlarges too much, it can pinch against a very tight curve of the intestine just at the exit of the stomach, and a fatal bloat will occur.

It is very rare for a rabbit to survive a true bloat, as the distension of the stomach and pinching off of portions of the intestine can cause necrosis (tissue death) of those digestive organs, so death may be delayed for a few days even if the bunny survives the immediate crisis.

I know of only one rabbit who has survived bloat, and he is a vet's rabbit who started bloating and was noticed within 15 minutes of onset.  Immediate treatment is the only thing that saved him, but it took him *months* to fully recover.  If they hadn't noticed the problem for another hour, he would probably not have recovered.

I say all this to let you know that your poor little bunny was doomed, and although there was nothing you or the vets could really do to save him, it was also nothing you did to cause this.  No one really knows why some rabbits bloat, and some suspect there may be a genetically-related anatomic problem that makes certain rabbits susceptible to this problem.

I am very sorry for your loss, and that you and the bunny had to go through this.  It is an uncommon condition, but inexorable.

I hope this helps give you some closure.

Take care,
Dana