Sick of salad?

[OliverBun]

Oliver isn’t eating any of his salad this morning. He’s eaten hay and some pellets and a treat and is also drinking water. He doesn’t seem uncomfortable at all. However, he has no interest in his greens. Is it possible that he’s just sick of his greens? Is it possible nothing is wrong? Cause that’s how he’s acting.

[Bam]

You could try another green and see if he wants that. If I give the same kind of veg to my buns for any extended period, they lose interest in it. It goes for any veg or green, so I try to rotate greens.

[OliverBun]

That’s not it. I’ve tried everything. He’ll eat treats. He ate hay and pellets this morning but won’t right now. He’s pooped normal looking poops and purrs if you pet him. I can’t tell what’s happening

[Beka27]

Maybe he’s just not interested in the veggies right now? When there are tummy troubles, they usually don’t want anything. When there are teeth issues, usually the pellets go uneaten buy they still eat veggies. As long as he’s eating something (and pooping like normal), I would continue to watch him over the next day couple days. Keep us posted!

[OliverBun]

He’s barely eating pellets now. I don’t know if he’s just not hungry or if having stasis. He’ll nibble on kale or pellets here and there but that’s all I’m getting. I’m really hoping that this will work itself out over night. He’s got a very appointment Monday morning.

[OliverBun]

He still wants his oxbow barley treats

[OliverBun]

I feel pretty strongly that this is not stasis. He does not seem uncomfortable at all and is eating kale and pellets as usual when he wants. He is also still pooping relatively normal looking poops.
That makes me think it’s a molar spur problem. He’s so little that the vet has to sedate him to see his teeth well. Would you sedate your 10.5 yr old rabbit or wait a bit and see if he improves?

[Bam]

I think I’d wait a bit, honestly. As long as he eats kale, pellets and hay and doesn’t seem gassy and the poop is good. How long is it since he had his molar spur done? Some buns require dentals every 3 months.

[OliverBun]

Well, June. So about 5 months. What’s weird is he’s never had tooth problems his whole life.
He doesn’t seem to have much energy today. He’s been laying around since 7am when he got up. Usually he hops around until 11am.
I honestly don’t know what’s happening. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

[redbunbun]

My rule of thumb is that if the rabbit is still eating, pooping and drinking and doesn’t have any visible signs of pain, it’s safe to keep the rabbit at home and keep an eye on it before rushing to the vet’s. Sometimes, if a rabbit is on the verge of stasis (so their intestines have already slowed down a bit), the stress of a visit to the vet might well push them over the edge into stasis, when they would have recovered by themselves at home.

Sometimes, bunnies have sleepy days. It’s good to take note of any strange behavior, and definitely if it persists I’d see about going to the vet’s – but as long as his “vitals” (eating, pooping, drinking, no obvious pain) are okay, I think you’re good to go with keeping an eye on him for a day or two.

Our Sukka definitely gets tired of foods that she gets the same amount and type of every day – pellets, for example. If he’s been getting a lot of salad lately, he could just be bored of it!

[OliverBun]

Well I hope that’s what it is. He definitely pooped less this morning and slept a lot more. We’ll see if he poops again this evening. I’m just inclined to think something is wrong. He’s definitely eating significantly less than usual. Just feels wrong to me.
He’s going to the vet in the morning. I’ve already taken off work to bring him in. I don’t have the luxury of being able to take multiple days off, so I want to take him in when I can.

[OliverBun]

Thank you for your responses. I feel so hopeless with him. My fiance and I are feeling like this behavior is an indication of something very serious which is possibly the end for our old man. It’s nice to have other Bunny lovers sounding so positive about what’s going on and helps me maintain some sanity. I really appreciate it.

[OliverBun]

As per usual I’m full of doubts and questions. Olive ate a bunch of pellets last night and a few greens. So I opted to keep him home and monitor. He’s had this ear issue and I’m noticing him shaking his head/ scratching his ears regularly. How much of this is normal? He’ll do it about once an hour for a few hours in the morning and then stop. Is that a normal amount? I’m thinking possibly residual ear issues

[OliverBun]

OK one more thing I’d like input on. Olive is making these noises like he has a loose tooth. Thoughts?

[redbunbun]

Could you describe the noises more precisely? I’m having a hard time imagining what a loose tooth would sound like!

Does his poop still look normal? Have you checked his teeth, are any of them that you can reach loose? Could it be possible that you’re on hyper-alert for any possible symptoms since he’s been behaving a bit “off” otherwise, and maybe exaggerating symptoms in your head because of it? That totally happens to me whenever Sukka goes through a particularly bad phase with her disease, so it’s perfectly natural.

Both our bunnies scratch their ears quite a bit, but it’s not really worrisome (to me, at least!) until the scratching is really intense and something in there is clearly bothering the bunny. I would imagine he’d do it all day long if he had an ear infection or ear mites or something, though I don’t have very much experience with either so I could be wrong. Is he scratching his ears raw? Is it always on one side? I would imagine both of those would be good indicators of something worse amiss. Tooth problems seem unlikely if, as you say, he’s still eating his pellets. One would think a bunny with tooth problems would lay off the hard food, not the soft, so tooth problems would be more likely if he was off his pellets but eating his greens, I think?

Good job for keeping such a close eye on him when you’re worried! He’s lucky to have such caring and attentive bunny parents! I really hope there’s nothing seriously wrong, but if it would give you peace of mind maybe going to the vet isn’t a terrible thought.

[OliverBun]

You know when you’re chewing and you miss the food and send of scraping your teeth together really hard? That’s what the noises sound like.
It’s very possible im making mountains out of molehills. Oliver seems totally normal and happy. He’s just uninterested in eating his greens. He has been eating some, but not nearly as much as usual. Ive just known him for 10 years and he never stops eating entirely like this.I never know what to do in these situations. I’m terrified of doing nothing and it ending in his death.
I’ve made another vet appointment for Wednesday night. I’ll take him in if he’s not back to normal by then.

[OliverBun]

He’s just finished treatment for a yeast infection. He’s not scratching them raw just still scratching.

[OliverBun]

He stopped eating just like this over the summer and we ended up finding a huge hole on his tongue. Same situation… Eating pellets not greens. The vet said he had tiny spurs but she really doubted they caused the tongue problem. She filed the spur and he eventually went back to normal. It was never understood if the filing of the spur was related to the change in eating. So I could just wait and hope it gets better. Or I could sedate him to check his teeth. He’s too small to check for tooth problems otherwise

[OliverBun]

Went to the vet. Oliver has a yeast infection in his OTHER ear. Otherwise he looks great. I’m baffled. How does he get a yeast infection in both ears? He’s not a lop. What could have caused this???

He’s still not eating greens that much, but his intake has increased. I’m hoping he makes a full recovery from this.

[Mimsy]

yeast infections are pretty common among anyone or pet who’s been on antibiotics. If he’s older and had some rounds of antibiotics in recent months it may of been enough to give the bad yeast some leeway. probiotics are probably helpful in that case, as well as really keeping the diet free of extra sugars (no fruits, root veggies or treats and such) I’m not sure what meds they put him on, but I believe their are herbs which can sometimes help as well, that help increase the benefits of the meds. I can’t remember which one…I want to say cilantro is one of those, but not entirely sure.

Poor guy, glad you know whats wrong and he can get back to normal again.

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