Rabbit Bloat is a condition which is only too familiar to the breeder. It is a condition where the animal becomes ‘blown-up’ by the accumulation of a large amount of gas in the abdomen.
There are undoubtedly a number of causes which produce this disorder. It may be produced by feeding an excessive amount of fresh young Lucerne or clover, and it has been suggested that young white clover will always produce the condition, although this is not proven. The condition is certainly not infectious, but there appears to be, in some cases, an inherited predisposition.
The rabbit sits huddled in a corner and is very inactive. The coat appears dull and the eye glazed.
In some cases the rabbit is exceptionally thirsty and will consume quantities of water, although all food is refused. The abdomen becomes swollen with gas and the animal often grinds its teeth in pain. Death usually results after a day or two from excessive pressure on the lungs and heart. In some cases the stomach may rupture.
A second form of the disorder is known as mucoid enteritis, and in this form a quantity of mucous is produced in the intestines and forms a gelatinous mass. Although a considerable amount of research has been carried out, the causes of the disease have not been traced, and no reliable treatment has been discovered. The rabbit will benefit if made to take exercise, and massage with a good liniment which produces a slight irritation on the belly has been found to help. The most reliable treatment, which has been efficacious in more than half the cases in which it has been tried, is the use of an enema of soft soap and water. Pure green soap is dissolved in warm water, and the solution injected carefully into the anus with a rubber bulb ear syringe.
The recent use of antibiotics has been found to reduce the amount of bloat greatly, in some cases by as much as 75 percent.
A rare disease, which has as its main symptom, the production of bloat is enterotoxaemia, which is a bacterial disease in which the kidneys become soft and pulpy. This trouble almost always occurs when animals are being grazed in Morant type hutches and in cold weather. The eating of frozen food appears to cause some damage which enables bacteria to gain entrance into the intestinal wall. No treatment is available for this condition.
Bloat (not to be confused with stasis/ileus – reduced motility of the intestine, or the presence of some gas in the digestive system caused by food) is a dreaded condition in rabbits, with poor prognosis. True bloat is probably the most painful disorders that a rabbit can suffer from, and rabbit savvy vets often opt to humanely put the rabbit to sleep, to spare it more suffering.
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