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The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet.  It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

Forum BEHAVIOR Recent Spay Behavior and Diet Changes

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    • Kiahak
      Participant
      18 posts Send Private Message

        Hello!

        I just got my 5 month bun spayed. Since I am busy at work most of the day, I let her stay at the veterinary clinic overnight and get syringe fed by the staff with critical care. They told me she was eating well and doing good, but still wanted me to give her a days worth of critical care and two days worth of medicine by syringe. Now, she doesn’t trust me. She very much hated those feedings and kept trying to keep her face in the blanket and actually chewed on the blanket quite aggressively. 

        When I brought her in to get her spayed, the vet pointed out that she was developing sore hocks. It wasn’t too much of a problem, as I figured I’ll just put down more bedding in her cage. Now I have a problem with her eating her bedding. She’s also entirely missing the litter box when she urinates and is urinating in her bedding and on the walls near her litter box (so it gets underneath the litter box too). When I try to clean up the litter box or the urinated bedding, she takes a very defensive stance and growls at me while tracking my hand. After syringe feeding, I wouldn’t see her try to eat her hay or anything either for a period of time, but I keep seeing her eat her willow toys and paper bedding. I even saw her eat some of her paper litter! 

        This has been concerning me because I can put a whole bunch of hay in her hay feeder and in her litter box and not really see it change in volume several hours later, but her droppings seem normal (just fewer). I’m also transitioning her off alfalfa hay into a alfalfa/timothy/orchard grass mix that is low in alfalfa. I’m not sure if she’s eating the bedding and toys because she’s being stubborn and wanting alfalfa. I have been transitioning her off it for several weeks, but she just won’t eat anything but alfalfa hay and veggies (or treats), even though i’ve slowly been removing alfafla from her diet. I figured maybe she’s not eating as much because she’s also not getting as much exercise running outside her cage, since she is getting rest from her spay, but i’m not sure. 

        So pretty much my question is, how do I help encourage her to eat other hay without worrying about GI stasis from her being stubborn? What’s with her failing to urinate in her box when she never had this issue before? Should I remove the paper bedding?  I can’t really put anything else in there without worrying about her eating it (like a towel or carpet). 


      • jerseygirl
        Moderator
        22338 posts Send Private Message

          I would remove the paper bedding. It’s really not necessary and a lot of rabbits act like its litter and pee on it. Removing it might help her regain her former litter habits.

          You also don’t want her eating it obviously. She may have been looking for the fibre because she’s snubbing the hay.

          One of my bunnies never ate hay and she would try eat cardboard after being under GA.  The last time was for some dental work. I do wonder if your rabbit has a sore mouth for some reason/ Maybe from intubation or when they syringe fed her?

          If you have any more critical care left, try making up a thick mix and putting in a bowl for her. Even mix in some alfalfa leaf from the hay with it and make little balls or patties she can easily pick up to eat. 
           You could probably give her more alfalfa at this time just to encourage eating. You may have to try some other varieties of hay (oat maybe?) or different cuts to see if she has a preference. 
          Is she drinking well? 

          Let her out of her cage when you need to clean it. It’s not uncommon for them to box and growl when we intrude into their space. Especially when our hands pass in front of them in their blind spot. She might be getting a little bored being in her cage also (could be eating bedding for that reason too). I can’t say I ever restricted my girls after their spays. They modified their own activity levels due to how they were feeling. Of course, I didn’t let them go outside or do acrobatics or anything like that.

          What are her hocks looking like?  If it’s just a bald spot, that’s not unusal. If it’s broken, inflammed skin, then there’s an issue. I’d be surprised such a young bunny would have sore hocks… Are her nails kept short? That helps keeping sores from developing.


        • Kiahak
          Participant
          18 posts Send Private Message

            Her sore hocks are just bald spots for now, nothing broken or bulging. I think she got it from her cage. Her feeding station is up on a platform in her cage (her pellets, hay, and water bowl) and whenever I enter the room she would run, jump, and sideways slide on it every time to get attention and petting. The plastic flooring isn’t a smooth surface and has this cross pattern (I think for grip) and sliding on that may have done it with enough abrasion and repeated occurrences. She just likes to slide. It came on very quickly too, since the week before when I did a pre-spay exam she was totally fine. I think i’ll give it a few days and next time I clean i’ll replace it with a towel and just hope she doesn’t eat that.

            She has always eaten cardboard. It’s unfortunate, because I had to take cardboard out of her cage, I used it for flooring for her “den” which is a little cove underneath her feeding station and found out one day cleaning it that she ate all the cardboard! So now she only gets little cardboard toys unless I’m there to supervise her. I’m not worried about her eating only a little cardboard, but I don’t want her to eat anything bigger than a toilet paper roll.

            My only issue is I live in Alaska… So my choices of hay are pretty restricted what the stores offer. I’ve tried several brands and varieties of hay, but she really only goes for the alfalfa. Lately though, she’s been trying other kinds of hay so I’m happy for that. I do give her a handful of alfalfa everyday in addition to timothy and orchard grass hay just to be sure that she’s getting the GI motility going. For some reason, she’s more inclined to eat hay out of her litter box than the hay in her hay feeder, which wasn’t the case pre-spay. I’m thinking it’s because she gets frustrated eating between the wires in the cage (the feeder is one of those on the outside of the cage) and i’ve seen her try to dig at it to get the hay bits out of tongue reach but in the feeder. Once I finish my oatmeal, i’m going to use the carton as a hay box and place it in her cage near the litter box in addition to the hay in the litter box and she if maybe that is what she prefers over the hay feeder. Then again, she may just eat the cardboard first and push hay all over her cage, but oh well I guess.

            It’s almost time for me to let her play again outside her cage, although she doesn’t seem as driven in letting me know she wants out of her cage as she did before. I would’ve let her out for some time out of her cage, but she likes to sprint around the room in circles and jump on things, so I thought it may be best she didn’t do that right after surgery.

            Thanks for the advice!

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        Forum BEHAVIOR Recent Spay Behavior and Diet Changes