Bloating?

My one steer has a problem.  I am not entirely sure what the problem is.  Perhaps it is just that he is a glutton.

A few days ago I noticed that he suddenly gained a lot of weight.  In fact he looked like he was pregnant.

He looked like he could be bloated even though he doesn't have access to fresh alfalfa..  He had the signs of bloating: sudden weight gain, the left side more protruded than the right.  And the weight gain up higher on the left side.  Working against the bloated theory was that he seemed fine and was not lethargic.  He was relaxed and chewed his cud.

To be on the safe side I put him in the loading corral in the early evening so he couldn't get any more food.

Here is how he looked the next morning.  Yup.  He slimmed down nicely overnight.

Photo 1 is him with all the weight and photo 2 is the next morning after he lost it.

I checked on him in the early morning Tuesday.  I left him in the loading corral until the other cattle had a chance to eat the new hay bale I put out for them.  That way the steer wouldn't be tempted to pig out on the fresh hay after a night of fasting.

I let him out of the corral around 1 pm.  Throughout the day I noticed he was at the feeder. I gave the cattle another bale around 3:30 pm.  Around 6 pm he was still at the feeder eating and I noticed he gained a lot of the weight back.  What's going on?  Was he at the feeder the whole afternoon eating?

I put him back into the loading corral.  He didn't want to go as he didn't want to leave the feeder.  Even though the hay left in the feeder was the stemy stuff, he wanted it.  I had to chase him around the feeder a few times before I got him into the loading corral.

Today I left him in the loading corral all day to be on the safe side.  He has water and I toss him some hay when I feed the other cattle.  Maybe a few days of rations will get him back on track.  He is alert and active - it just seems as if the switch that tells a body they are full is not turned on.

Dan came by Wednesday night to look at the steer.  To Dan he looks fine - albeit with a full belly.

He is such a nice sweet steer I hope he gets better.

After the weight gain he did more than his normal grooming.  I wonder if his sides were bothering him from all that weight gain.
 

The other cattle visiting him "in jail".