Bunny not eating any hay and poop problems!

[Isobel Rose]

my new rabbit dusty (age 2 years approx) has just come home to live with us, him and my female rabbit freckles have loads of hay in their playhouse, they have it in their litter tray, hay rack and I have stuffed it in loads of toys. However Dusty will not eat it at all, Freckles loves the hay we feed though. His poop is very very small and hard and a very dark brown colour, and his urine is also very milky, which I can pin down to him taking in too much calcium by refusing to eat any veggies but kale! So I will fix that and try him with some new veggies. In his adoption notes from the RSPCA they state that his bottom teeth are slightly tilted to the left, could this be the problem? He did eat hay at the RSPCA however they told me he went through patches of not really eating much, can somebody suggest what I can do to help him get the fibre he needs? (I am feeding good quality meadow hay, as Timothy or orchard grass is hard to come by in the UK) thank you

[Mikey]

It sounds like hes got the beginning of GI Stasis and needs to be seen by a rabbit certified vet. If ignored, GI Stasis can kill your rabbit. I dont want to scare you, but this might become urgent very fast if not taken care of. Until you can get him to the vet for medicine and a check over, can you syringe feed him some mashed pellets mixed with water? He needs something other than greens in his diet to keep everything working correctly

[Isobel Rose]

He is eating his pellets really well, he just doesn’t seem to want his hay he’s still drinking and he’s still very lively and still gets excited at feeding time, I’m not sure it is Stasis, this was my initial concern so I kept an eye on him but he was jumping around and acting perfectly normal so I’m not sure, I think he may just be being a fussy bunny and not wanting his hay, I don’t know what to do

[Bam]

The teeth-irregularity is a likely culprit. Teeth issues often make buns avoid hay. That in turn worsens the teeth-issues because a bun needs to eat hay in order to properly wear it’s teeth. Rabbit teeth can grow 2 cm/month (almost an inch!) so if a bun stops eating hay, the problem can escalate fast.
Meadow hay is equally good as Timothy or orchard, sometimes a bun is very picky about hay and you need to try different types and cuts to find one that the bun eats. I know Vetuk has green oat hay that isn’t very expensive, there is also the Hay Experts, but they are a bit pricier.

You’ll have to keep an eye on his poop, if they diminish in size or amount or come out in “doubles”, it means there’s a gut slowdown.

It’s great that he’s active and fond of his pellets though.

[Isobel Rose]

Yeah I do believe that is the problem as I asked the RSPCA and they said his bottom teeth tilt to the left, I think that’s the culprit! What do you suggest I do to help him?

[skysblue]

Teeth problem can only be solved with a dental surgery/molar trim. If it continues to grow, your rabbit might not even want to eat pellets.
I personally do not feed kale to rabbits.

[Bam]

You do have to see a vet about his teeth. A vet nurse can do a molar burr in case there are molar spurs. The bunny needs to be anesthetized for that.

[Gina.Jenny]

You might consider trying this, given you say Dusty eats his pellets, this is 25% fibre, same as grass and hay, and so will increase his fibre. I’ve 4 buns and 2 guinea pigs all love this stuff

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B003A8OIWK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

this one is more expensive, but is grass based and cereal free

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rosewood-Naturals-Meadow-Menu-Rabbit/dp/B0117S5UQW/ref=sr_1_1?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1465847589&sr=1-1&keywords=meadow+menu

It is possible he wont manage these with the teeth issue, but these are both good for wearing teeth down if he does eat them

the other thing is to go outside with a bowl and pair of scissors and cut him some fresh grass. I have a recent rescue bun with tum issues, I find feeding him grass, clover and dandelion stalks is working a treat. grass wears down teeth just the same as hay, which is just dried grass. long grass, short grass, as long as its free from pesticides etc

[Aki]

You need to see a vet for his teeth.

Afterwards pellets with a higher fiber content might be an idea to help to wear the teeth but pellets can’t replace hay for the gut mobility, though. Long fibers are needed to push the aliments toward the “exit”. Try a very appetent hay – with my rabbits second crop hay is a hit. It’s pricier than regular hay but it’s the one that will make them come running even when they pick at their food. Some rabbits like oxbow’s orchard – I had a rabbit who loved it some years ago, I tried buying some recently but it was a complete fail with Aki and Tybalt ^^’. They also won’t touch the great Summer hay I just bought. Rabbits can be really difficult when it comes to hay. I second the grass recommendation: if you have the chance to pick some, most rabbits eat it a lot more readily than hay – I recently began to add a handful of grass to the vegetables I give for dinner to make sure the fiber quota is met and there is seldom a blade left in the morning. I have to admit I do it mostly for my own peace of mind but it really doesn’t hurt ^^

To help wearing the teeth, you can also give tree branchs from safe trees (apple tree / hazel tree / willow…), I also have read good things about Cunipic dental which also seems to give good results to help with gut mobility (it’s like small hay strands mixed very fragrant herbs and some pellets).

[Isobel Rose]

Hi, I think I may have found the culprit, his teeth aren’t really bad only ever so slightly tilted and not long which is good, today whilst grooming the little boy I sat him into his bum to just check him over as he had been biting at his bum a lot, you will never guess what I found!!!! I found surgical stitches in his belly left from some sort of operation wound!! And a huge scab!!!!! I’ve only had him a week so haven’t been able to take a look at him properly because I didn’t want to stress him out, but there is stitches in his belly that the RSPCA didn’t tell me about 😮 I think they have been forgotten about from when they neutered him wayyyyyy before I got him! They aren’t even dissolvable stitches they are proper plastic ones, I’m really angry that this wasn’t picked up on before I adopted him! How can you not know a little bunny had stitches in his belly I’m so glad I’ve found them, they were really hiding under his fur so its lucky I found them. I was so angry and so shocked, I still am. I will ring the RSPCA straight away in the morning as they are closed now to ask them what the heck is going on. I don’t want to take him to an emergency vet right away because I don’t know the reason why they are there etc so I will get the background and reasons first tomorrow and will take him to the vet straight away after that to have them removed and have him really well checked over and cared for by my vet. I cannot believe that they have sent him home with me and forgotten about his stitches!!!! They didn’t even tell me he had them 😮 im sorry for all the exclamation points but I’m so angry and very shocked, I feel so sorry for the poor boy but he’s lively and he’s hopping around all over the place so he isn’t in pain which makes me feel okay about leaving him until the morning. Whilst I’m at the vet I’ll have them give him a proper health check for any underlying issues and have them solved to, I’ll make sure he looks at his teeth and checks for any signs of stasis and make sure those nasty stitches are removed!! They must have been in there months!:o he was neutered agessss ago whilst in the RSPCAS care (this was before I even decided to get a rabbit so I didn’t even know) I want to get them out so they don’t cause any kind of infection or pain, he does have a scab over his bum which is covering some of the hole, could this be part of the poo problem? I feel so guilty for leaving him like this but I have only had him for a week so I’ve just been monitoring him from sight not checking him but today he came right into my lap by choice so I had a good old look he has afew lumps on his jaw too, he’s just a bit “In the wars” at the moment but he will be all better soon and we will have a happy healthy bunny again thank you for all your help guys, we would never have guessed he had stitches!! Hopefully his problem will be solved very soon, I’ll post on here when he’s okay and let everyone know what happened at the vet can’t get over it!!!!! 😮

[Mikey]

If they are on his tummy and you think it is from a spay/neuter, then your rabbit is a girl. The boys wounds are very much near their crotch and not so much near the belly at all, where as with a female, the spay is done in the belly area

I would consider calling the place that you got him/her and asking for more information about him/her. If it wasnt a spay, youll want to know what the surgery was for and your vet needs to know as well

[Isobel Rose]

I’ve had another look, they are in a funny place, by belly I meant “under side of the rabbit” aha, but they are next to his left leg but near his crotch. But I’m not sure what they were for upon another look as they seem to be really close to his leg

[Bam]

Thank goodness you found the stitches! How uncomfortable he must’ve been =( Weird too because nowadays glue is more common than stitches on the outside.

[Mikey]

Agreed that stitches are weird for a neuter now a days. Poor little guy I hope he can get those stitches out very soon

[Isobel Rose]

It’s okay they are dissolvable and I’ll keep an eye on them until they do dissolve, he’s getting really looked after now he’s with me, he’s just let me cut his nails which had obviously been left because they had gone way to curly!!!!! And he’s had his anal glands cleaned because they were so gunked up with rubbish, he’s in his way back to health now glad I adopted him because atleast I know what I’m doing when it comes to bunnies and at least he didn’t go to somebody who didn’t

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