Buttons was still very depressed. What a way to be. His tummy was nearly rock hard like a barrel. Every time I picked him up he would let out a horrific stinky fart. He had also eaten EVA tile the previous day and I wasn’t sure how much he actually ingested, I had found little nibbles of it laying around but nothing equivalent to the scraping on the actual tile.

My sister, being a food technologist, said that he should be able to pass it because it is soft, but we needed to get him to pass it. Luckily I had brought the My sister, being a food technologist, said that he should be able to pass it because it is soft, but we needed to get him to pass it. Luckily I had brought the Oxbow Herbivore Critical Care powder with me, that was last used with Cotton on the night she passed.

He wasn’t feeling well at all. He wasn’t eating very much but he was drinking a lot. I didn’t want it to turn into GI stasis.

Luckily, my sister had a larger syringe that we used to feed Buttons the paste. He hated the first few mouth fulls and then ended up liking the aniseed flavour. He ate it without struggling. Afterwards, he must of felt better as he binkied and ran in and out of his tunnel.

I read online that someone’s bunny had just passed due to them feeding the Critical Care to their rabbit under the vet instructions. Their rabbit died due to a ruptured intestine. I think their rabbit had GI status and the pressure of the Critical Care in its tummy made the situation worse. It made me think of me doing that to Cotton, because she had GI stasis and we forced Critical Care down her. Oh boy. The vet told me to give her 6 spoons of the mix that night – I thought that was too much for a tummy that wasn’t working properly.

Anyway, Buttons bounced back a little. He was happier after the food in his belly. He started to eat pellets again. His whole demeanour changed to being happier.

I found out later that you should only give a maximum of 10ml Critical care at a time, you can repeat it every half-hour, but no more than 10ml at a time.

You don’t want to force feed your rabbit. Their digestive system can explode.

Probiotics

My sister and I thought about what could be causing his farty tummy upset and came to the conclusion that he needed probiotics to give him back the bacteria in his gut that makes him want to eat food. I researched it online and found that it’s a good idea to give probiotics after an operation to boost the immune system, or after stress to improve digestion. I ended up purchasing this probiotic which had been developed by vets.

After a couple of days of this new treatment, Buttons was eating a lot more and much happier. He actually spent most of the day eating hay which he had never done before. He was quite happy to try new things and even eat some of the old foods that he used to stick his nose up at. It was a big positive change.

After being on the probiotics for nearly a week, Buttons started to eat more and his pee was nearly clear. It also flushed out any calcium in his system. His pee was a slight yellow colour, but mostly clear.

After chatting with vets, I found out that because the probiotic is formulated for both herbivores and carnivores, it can be bad to feed to rabbits. And, of course, Australia doesn’t have a licensed probiotic for use with rabbits.

Unnecessary Stress

The next thing we have to figure out is his constant state of stress and anxiety. Let me be clear, I’m not big on feeding my pets chemicals, but sometimes it’s beneficial especially with Buttons being stressy all the time. I found this company who has brilliant reviews, they make anxiety liquids that you put in pets drinking water or on their food. They have a great range of other products too. It’s cheaper to get it direct, rather than through a pet shop or vet.

I went into the pet shop and viewed their range of anxiety relief for pets, of course it was mostly for dogs and cats, but this contraption was interesting. I’m not sure if a rabbit hears different pitches to cats, or if the sound would be annoying to a poor bunny, but it definitely is better than using chemicals.

I don’t think I’ll go down this path at all, I have to figure out what is stressing Buttons and help him through it. Maybe I’ll look into meditation for rabbits… hmmm I wonder if it exists…

Strong Flavours

Buttons liked the aniseed flavour of the Critical Care. After the first couple of mouthfuls he settled down into a rhythm. It was then my sister and I realised that he likes strong flavours. The next time we went to the supermarket we bought strong flavoured foods like coriander, mint and, of course his favourite, continental parsley. Because my nieces have guinea pigs, they get bok choy, cos hearts and other yummy nibbles.

Buttons didn’t really like coriander straight away; however, he loved the bok choy and the parsley. Luckily Buttons was able to score some of the bok choy from the piggies.

Even though it was against internet advice, I introduced the Little Ones to lettucey greens on the really hot days, to cool them down. They loved it so much and looked forward to it each evening. They ate everything like they were starved out and on the point of being ravenous. Which is totally opposite to Buttons, who nibbled here and there on it over hours. I often thought about when they are finally together, the Little Ones will eat all of Buttons’ food, so he better learn to eat quickly.

Imagine the Little Ones like a ravenous tornado. They even circle each other in anticipation of the food drop.

Stinky Bum

Poor Buttons passed the EVA tile finally and although it caused him pain, he felt so much better after it. I found that by giving him mint to eat for a few nights prior, it helped him pass it. His poops were slightly strange looking and smelled minty. He also farted a fair bit, which stunk out the living area. Poor bunny, but at least he’s going to start to feel better.

It took a week for him to fully pass the EVA tile. On the morning of the 17th December he was so happy and in love with life that he actually came up to me for a pat. Is that a brand new Buttons?

Emotional Wellbeing

Buttons is an emotional bunny. He wears his feelings on his sleeve. He gets narky when he can’t free roam and is in his indoor pen for longer than an hour. I get it, but sometimes it’s hard to have a bun running around inside – especially when a Christmas tree is freely available in the living room. So he decided that ripping everything up is great, it gets his point across really quickly.

So after him devouring the EVA tiles, he started to eat the purple woollen blanket he was on. And, of course once he started eating the purple blanket, he found there were EVA tiles under it, so he begin chewing on that again.

I was getting frustrated with his frustration. I had no idea what to do.

When I tried to pat him, he would thump and run away. It even got to the point that he would cower as far away as possible from me. This was not like him, this was not my Buttons. What is wrong?

Because Buttons loves his burrito blanket so much I leave it hanging over the pen fence for the day. One day in late November he decided that he loved his blanket so much that he pulled it to the ground and laid curled up in it. I found him asleep curled up like a burrito and loving every second of it.

My sister and I came up with the idea of putting him on a Jute rug so he could rip it until his heart was content. We went into the store and even though the one I wanted was on special, there was another one half price. I got the largest size 160x230cm and put him on it.

Gassy Remedies

Some people recommend to use Gripe Water to eliminate gas from a bunny’s tummy.

According to Westley’s World Gripe water “neutralises acid and this is an undesirable thing for a rabbit because a rabbit’s stomach is very acidic and it needs to stay that way to function properly. It also has no proven effect on gas in the GI tract.”

Than about Infacol, Rabbit Welfare says that giving your rabbit human remedies like simethicone and dimethicone can be dangerous and is unlikely to help because it is made to remove the “‘frothy’ kind of bloat [in human babies] and [rabbits] are unable to burp, so it is difficult to say how helpful these treatments can be”.

Then again, on various rabbity forums people swear by both of these remedies. Like Kermit says on Pledge a Pound “I thoroughly recommend the stuff [gripe water]!” and sdf76 says “I think Gripe water used to have alcohol in it but doesn’t now. whereas Infacol never had alcohol as it’s a newer product. Gripe water has Dill seed oil in it , and Infacol has artificial sweeteners in it I believe so either one could be unsuitable for some bunnies re allergies.”

If you want quick relief, use Infacol. If you want a natural solution, use Gripe Water. Apparently they do the same thing but Gripe water may take longer and you may need to give more doses over a couple of days. Be aware that Gripe Water may upset your bunny’s digestion for a few days afterwards because they are not used to having as many herbs and spices in their system. Ultimately, it is up to you what you decide. I chose Infacol, but in the future I may use Gripe Water, because Infacol is getting expensive.

Also, Infacol has a 28 day lifespan after opening, while Gripe Water has a 14 day lifespan. You won’t be using all that much once your bunny’s tummy has been fixed, so consider the amount you purchase. It is a good idea to have either of these things in your bunny first-aid kit at all times.

Syringes

Make sure you get a 1ml syringe to dose your bunny. Chemists have them.

Dosage

DISCLAIMER: I am not a vet and I am not prescribing anything, if you are wanting further information about this, either talk to your vet or do your own research.

Never give either Gripe Water or Infacol to a bunny under the age of 6 months.

Never mix the use of Gripe Water and Infacol, only stick to one thing at a time. Because they target gas in different ways, it’s not a good idea to use them both together.

Infacol

• Small bunnies (0.5-2kg): 0.5ml every hour for 3 hours
• Medium sized bunnies (2-5kg): 1ml every hour for 3 hours.
• Large bunnies (5+kg): 1ml every hour for 3 hours.

If after the third dose the bunny is not eating, syringe feed it 5ml of Critical Care, and then another 5ml of Critical care 30 mins later.

What to watch out for (normal behaviours):

Dose 1: Rabbit will be uncomfortable, and lay in the feet-tucked under position to rest their tummy on the floor. They will also move around a bit. By the end of the hour it may look a little more comfortable.
Dose 2: The rabbit will start looking more comfortable half-way through this dose. It may even fart. Be aware that the farts stink, so have an open window.
Dose 3: The rabbit will be more comfortable after this dose, especially after the whole hour has ticked by. It should be eating, or nibbling on food, and watch it to make sure it drinks some water.

Tummy Massage

It is a good idea to massage the bunny’s tummy gently after the third hour is over. To massage the tummy, hold the bunny on your lap and gently put your hands around its tummy. Gently and slowly roll the tummy side to side. You will feel movement in there, which can be either food or gas. If it’s gas, the bunny will fart. So don’t have the bunny’s bum facing you when you do this! If it’s food, you will start hearing gut noises.

If you don’t hear gut noises or feel gut movement, wait another 30 mins and give the bunny 5ml of Critical Care, then another 5ml 30 mins later. You want to make sure that the bunny is eating and has gut movements. But don’t over feed it with Critical Care at once, pace it out over time to give the bunny time to start digesting.

Testing the remedy on Buttons

So I fed it to him starting at 1:30pm. He liked the orange flavour. The first dose made him want to lay down and wait it out, his tummy obviously hurt. After about 10 minutes he was bouncy and happy.

After the second dose (2:30pm) he started panting and let out a stinky fart about 15 minutes later.

OMG it stunk like fermenting food. I chose to give him the third dose because he had it so bad. After the third dose (3:30pm) he wasn’t panting as much and after a few hours while his poops started to stop stinking.

But the amazing thing was, about 15 minutes after the third dose, he started eating and he hasn’t stopped. He eats everything – hay, greens, nibbles, everything. He hasn’t touched the mat, or any cables.

That is both good and bad. Good because he is actually eating now, and bad because he obviously has been in pain for a long time, maybe all his life.

Gas is Deadly

Gas is deadly in rabbits. It can kill within hours if it is onset by GI stasis.

For rabbits like Buttons, his digestion systems is stuffed up by his diet when he was a baby. The cauliflower is a brassica (like cabbage, broccoli and kale) and that causes so much gas that the rabbit can’t pass.

Rabbits can pass gas that is from fermenting grass, that is because the gas is formed later in the digestion process in the intestines. Brassica gas is formed in the stomach and causes the rabbit to feel full all the time, hence them not eating but wanting more fibre (eating cables and carpet). Brassica gas hurts because it’s like a great big balloon in their stomach.

If your rabbit is eating cables, skirting boards, rugs etc, take a look at its diet. It’s a serious issue. It’s not bad behaviour, but if it does it for long enough it will become a habit and you’ll never be able to stop it, whether you’ve fixed its diet or not.

Buttons’ Tummy Shape

Buttons’ New Tummy Shape

Update – 17th August, 2023

Buttons still has a big tummy issue. I never feed him salad greens now because it goes straight through him. He has not had any fresh kale ever again. He can’t eat any apple – too much sugar – gives him tummy pains and poopy bum 2-3 days later.

This is all linked to the tummy gas and the diet he had as a baby with the cauliflower leaves.

I have chosen to keep him on a 90% dry food diet with a whole lot of fresh grass instead of salad. He is doing really well on that diet.

As of February, 2023, I started feeding him Selective Science pellets and Selective Naturals pellets. These have helped him tremendously. I have also found that Burgess Mint pellets have helped too. Because they have mint in them, they help his digestion.

I have an article on the different pellets, where I have gone through all the different brands and explained what is in them.

If your rabbit is destroying everything it is either in pain or completely bored.
You can tell the difference by checking if it eats its food. If it doesn’t, it’s in pain. If it does, it’s bored.

Destroying things becomes a habit, and once that chemical in the brain kicks in you will never be able to stop your rabbit from destroying items.

You must stop the chemical from setting in by changing the subject, so if your rabbit is in the process of destroying something pick it up and do something else with it.

Never punish your rabbit, it won’t understand it and you’ll lose a good friend.