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Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Lucy isn’t eating much hay…

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    • Nijiko
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        Hi all, I know I’m not very active on here so no one really knows me…but I need some advice and moral support…

        I’ve got two dutch bunnies, mother & daughter named Lucy (daughter) and Luna (mama).

        Last night I noticed that Lucy wasn’t really eating any hay, and she looks pretty thin.  I’m not really sure how long this has been going on because Luna is a little piggy and devours everything I give them so I hadn’t noticed Lucy wasn’t getting any. I refill the hay rack any time I see it running low. Usually they both start munching right away. Monday night when I filled it Luna ran to it but Lucy was busy grooming herself and didn’t pay any attention. I didn’t think anything of it. Tuesday morning I go to fill it again and they both rush over to it. Luna starts eating right away but Lucy just kind of sniffs it, sifts through it and then hops away. 

        They also get about a cup of romaine lettuce every other day and a tablespoon each of pellets a few times a week. I admit I’m not very consistent about this so they sometimes do go a couple days with only hay to eat. Also I don’t really watch them eat that often, I just fill the hay rack or set the bowl of lettuce/pellets down and leave. I know I’m a bad bunny mama

        But Tuesday evening I was watching them and I noticed Lucy looked a lot thinner than normal. I grabbed a handful of hay and tried to feed it to her a strand at a time. She’d just sniff it and turn her head. I also noticed quite a few tiny poops in the litter-box, which isn’t exactly abnormal, they both often pass a few of those among their normal round golden healthy poops. There was a lot more though and given that Lucy was ignoring her hay I panicked and thought she must have stasis!

        She’s eating lettuce and pellets just fine though…I offered her a treat and she gobbled it up…so it’s just hay she’s stopped eating. Could it still be stasis? I suspect now that it may be teeth issues instead. She’s also drinking water…actually she’s drinking a LOT of water. Her pee has been mostly clear with only a faint yellow tint. She’s not lethargic, she’s sleeping the same and moving around as much as she usually does. She stands up and begs for treats any time she hears a bag rustling. 

        I called their vet as soon as I woke up this morning crossing my fingers that she would see them right away but I was told she was gone and wouldn’t be back until Friday!  I’ve been sick to my stomach with worry all day!  I went out and bought two different kinds of hays (they usually get just normal timothy) but I got meadow and orchard hay. She started eating the orchard hay!! Well sort of, it was very little but it’s the most hay I’ve seen her eat so far. She nibbled on some of the other hays too thankfully. I’ve separated them for now..hopefully this won’t cause bonding issues…but I need to keep a closer eye on her food and water intake as well as poops to see if they get better. It’s just hard to do with Luna gobbling up every little bit. I also searched for critical care but it seems my local petsmart didn’t have any. If I order it online it won’t arrive until after their vet visit anyways.

        After watching her all night I’ve noticed that she is actually trying to eat the hay but finds it difficult for some reason. I’m almost convinced it is a tooth issue…what are they called? molar spurs or something like that…from what I’ve read that would make it painful to eat the hay so she would avoid it. But the pellets are really hard and she chews those just fine…also she’s not grinding her teeth loudly, drooling or otherwise acting like she’s in pain. But she’ll start chewing a strand of hay, spits it out and looks for a different piece.

        arrrgh! I’m tempted to give her a lot more pellets and lettuce so she gets more food in her system but I worry that will only make her tummy bloat and it’ll be worse. Also I want to encourage her to keep trying to eat hay…I don’t know what to do! 

        I cant stop kicking myself for not noticing this sooner. I’ve been really distracted with other things lately…I’m getting married and moving away from my family for the first time, and two states away none the less! I just want it to hurry up and be Friday morning. I’m worried about what the vet will tell me, and what if she gets worse or stops eating completely??  arrgh!


      • Amberniksee
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          First off, don’t beat yourself up about not noticing-buns hide things very well and that doesn’t make you a bad mama!
          I just recently went through almost this exact thing so I know how you feel!
          I thought my bun also had a dental issue since he’s a dwarf and that’s common for them. Upon going to the vet(ridiculous ordeal) she felt him and said he had a mass of some kind and did an ultrasound. She couldn’t tell me what it was but he had some kind of blockage near the cecum and colon. So they gave me critical care and some medicine and sent me out the door. I did some research and talked to a bunny expert and she advised I get laxatone since it may be a hair ball, and laxatone doesn’t harm them even if that isn’t the case as well as some simethicone (baby gas x). I fed handful of fresh greens twice a day as well as the things above suggested and still didn’t have much luck with his Timothy hay. So trying to give different hay -orchard grass, oat, and botanic and he seems to find more interest. But I was told some buns just don’t like hay much! To keep stasis away you just have to get them to eat and drink, keep the gut moving with something! So if your bun eats greens and pellets then I’d say give that in the meantime before your vet visit!
          Also, Critical Care isn’t a prescription so you may want to call the vet back and ask if they’d sell you some tonight so you can start it immediately.
          Good luck! Let us know how it turns out!


        • JackRabbit
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            First, I would try feeding them on a more regular schedule. For bunnies that aren’t on pellet-free diets, the bunny should be getting both pellets and veggies, along with unlimited hay and fresh water every day. There’s great information and guidelines on this site — via the menu button above, go to Bunny Info and then to Healthy Diet.

            As to hay, some bunnies have preferences for different hays. It sounds like Lucy may have a preference for orchard hay so maybe keep that on hand. You could also try different brands of hay and/or a mix of different types of grass hays to keep things interesting. Hand feeding is always a nice way to further strengthen your bond with your bunny — my bunnies think anything hand fed is “special”. I also have one bunny who prefers her hay in a bowl, so being creative in presentation of the hay is also an option.

            Its definitely a good idea to havevthe vet take a look at her teeth, etc. Bunnies chew pellets differently than hay, and its the hay chewing motion that helps wear down teeth.

            Since she’s eating pellets and hay without any problem, I would give her the recommended amount of pellets and salad (watch her poops to make sure she doesn’t get mushy poops), make sure she has fresh orchard hay at all times. As far as separating them, in order to maintain their bond as best possible, keep their cages next to each other and give them non-mealtime play time together.

            BTW, even if your vet is away, you should be able to get CC from them.

            Keep us posted!


          • Nijiko
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              Thank you both for the advice!

              Man, I didn’t even think to ask the clinic for critical care! They close before I get home from work. Oh well, I don’t think she really needs it urgently or anything. Tomorrow morning when I take them I’ll ask for some.

              She’s still eating pellets and lettuce. I wish I had more of a variety of veggies to give. I had to throw out the rest of the kale and parsley cause it went bad, so Romaine is all I’ve got for now. I can’t drive so it’s difficult getting what I need, I have to tag along with my parents when they go grocery shopping and work around their schedule for pet store and vet visits. :/

              Heck I don’t even have a ride to the vet tomorrow, I have to take a taxi. Wait, do they even let you take animals in taxis? They’ll be in a carrier of course. I’m gonna call and make sure but I don’t have a clue how else I would get to the vet otherwise.

              But at least she’s still eating something, drinking water and moving about. Poops are still small but frequent.

              I wondered if Lucy was just being picky but a bunny wouldn’t starve themselves over just not liking something would they?? She’s never had a problem with timothy hay before, they’ve always eaten it just fine. Do bunnies just decide one day they no longer like something anymore? Well I guess I can see how they’d get sick of the same thing everyday, so I’m gonna keep buying different hays even after she gets better, for variety.

              I know I need to work on a consistent diet for them My vet has always recommended a completely pellet free diet. So I actually wasn’t giving them any pellets at all for a couple months. Vet didn’t tell me however that you have to give them something crazy like 10-16 different kind of veggies every day to make up for the loss of nutrients though!! I didn’t know that until I came across a post on here purely by accident. I can barely come up with 3-4 different veggies for them. So I started adding pellets back into their diet but I got used to not giving them so I forget a lot.

              I’m going to ask my vet about the Laxatone. I’ve heard of simethicone being used for gas, but I’ve never purchased any. I need to fix myself up a bunny first aid kit with all that stuff…

              Well let’s see what the vet tell me tomorrow. Thanks again!


            • JackRabbit
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                Laxatone is no longer recommended for bunnies even though some “old school” vets still prescribe it. The old thinking was that the laxatone would help fur “slide” through. As more is learned about rabbit’s digestive systems, its now believed that laxatone can actually cause problems. Bunnies groom constantly and almost always have some fur in their gut. Hay helps the fur move through the digestive system and water keeps the food, fur, and hay well hydrated so it stays soft and easy to digest/pass. Laxatone can actually coat the fur/food/hay preventing hydration of it and possibly resulting in a hard mass that the bunny cannot digest/pass.

                The best way to keep things moving, including fur, is plenty of hay and fresh water. Leave the laxatone for the cats it was made for.


              • Amberniksee
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                  Well jeeze Louise an here I thought my vet and bun people were up with the latest info! Dang! Thanks jackrabbit! I’ll be discontinuing it


                • JackRabbit
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                    I’m glad there’s a better alternative — laxatone can make a really sticky mess!


                  • Nijiko
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                      Well just got back from the vet…

                      I slept through my alarm and missed my appointment with my usual vet and they were booked for the rest of the day so I had to find another rabbit savvy vet, no way I was going to wait until monday.

                      So it is a tooth issue. Her bottom molars on both sides are too long. They’re going to have to file them down a bit. They gave me some pain medicine and a bit of critical care. I was going to ask about purchasing a whole bag but I can probably get it cheaper online. They gave me enough for a couple weeks, and hopefully with the pain med she’ll start eating her hay again. I have to go to an animal dentistry for the teeth filing, cause they don’t have the tools there. I’m guessing it’s going to be expensive huh? depending on how much they tell me it will be, I may not be able to have it done until after I get paid again next Friday…

                      I’m worried about getting the molars filed though. Anyone’s bun had to have this done before? She’s terribly underweight, she’s about 2lbs and her normal weight is 4lbs, so she’s lost half her weight. I really hope the critical care will get her eating more, I need to put some weight on her. I always hear that pellets can cause rabbits to become overweight, but in this case would it be safe to increase her daily portion since what I want is for her to gain weight??

                      So what causes the molars to overgrow?? The vet said that chewing hay is supposed to keep them down but if that’s so she was eating lots of hay just fine until like 3 days ago. She only stopped eating hay because the molars grew too much….which they shouldn’t have if she was eating hay before?? I’m so confused. I know they’re supposed to chew on wood and toys, to keep the front teeth (incisors?) down and they really don’t chew on much. They have a LOT of toys and things to chew but they couldn’t care less for them.

                      The vet said a VERY thin layer of peanut butter on the toys would make them more interested and entice them to chew and play. Has anyone else ever done this? I’m hesitant about the peanut butter being bad for them or something..does chewing on toys even do anything for the molars? I thought it was just the front teeth that it wears down. Her front teeth were perfectly fine…

                      Anyways on an unrelated note…I had the new vet take a look at Luna’s ears because she previously had a yeast infection that she was on baytril otic for. She hasn’t had a problem for several months but recently I’ve seen her scratching at her ears again. I was going to ask if the infection was back if I could just start giving her the baytril again (I have nearly a whole bottle left). She checked her ears and said they look perfectly healthy, not even any ear-wax build up and she actually shook her head about the baytril saying that she doesn’t recommend ear medication for rabbits because it can cause more problems than they solve….

                      So now I’m curious…which vet is right? I’ve heard of people keeping baytril in their bunny “first-aid” Is it actually bad for them? I really trusted my regular vet, she’s older (50 to 60 maybe?) and has worked with rabbits and small animals much long than this new vet who’s pretty young (probably late 20s). But the new vet may be more up to date with more modern rabbit care…

                      I hate to think my regular vet gave my rabbit something harmful without explaining any risks to me…
                      Their opinions on pellets were different too, regular vet said pellets are bad and should be very limited if any at all. New vet said pellets are a necessary source of protein in a healthy rabbit’s diet and should be given daily….

                      Thoughts on this?


                    • Amberniksee
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                        I’m glad you got to the vet and that they could give you a for sure answer! Can’t answer about costs but you could find out if they can do a payment plan?
                        I haven’t had a bun that’s needed dental work but I hear it’s pretty common, especially among certain breeds and buns and need can have to have them filed every few months.
                        I personally would increase the pellets until her weights up a bit but id be careful because I know my bun won’t eat his hay/grass if he has yummier things to eat.
                        I wouldn’t use the peanut butter trick but that’s just me, it sounds messy and I don’t believe it’d work. And it wouldn’t do anything for the molars, like you said.
                        I’ve never heard that baytril does more harm than good, I would speak with your regular veterinarian about all these questions and hopefully they can clear it all up.
                        I’ve heard about limited pellets/no pellets in the diet being best but it sounds like that bit is up for debate. IMO it’s like parenting-you have to sift through all the advice and do what you feel is best.
                        Good luck! I woke up wondering about your bun!(God that sounds creepy)


                      • Nijiko
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                          Hello, Sorry to not have posted for a while, I’ve had so much to deal with these past few days!

                          Lucy is doing alright so far. She’s eating some hay and she’s still on critical care. I had to go back to the vet to get more of the pain medication because my dumb self didn’t put the lid back on tight and I knocked it over and spilled it all over my desk..

                          She’s got a visit scheduled with the dentistry next Tuesday. I hate waiting so long but I’m dirt broke right now, I don’t get my next paycheck until Friday and then I don’t have another day off work until Tuesday so…yeah…

                          I really wish she would gain some weight. she’s still so skinny it scares me! But at least she’s getting some food in her tummy now.

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                      Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Lucy isn’t eating much hay…