Hi all, Rocky is slowly recovering from head tilt, but the medicines (I assume) have caused him to lose his appetite and thereby he’s lost quite a bit of weight. He will eat hay and fresh veggies & fruits, in small amounts. I have never in his life given him treats with nuts or seeds, I’ve never even given him a raisin but I hear that buns love them… I have always been afraid of those sorts of things causing stasis, so I’m looking for some advice for high fat, high calorie treats that I can give him to help him gain some of the weight back and the assurance that they won’t clog him up.

Do any of you have suggestions? I have been giving him alfalfa hay in small amounts in the hopes that it will help, and I plan to go buy some alfalfa-based pellets tomorrow to offer as well, but he hasn’t been interested in his regular Timothy based pellets. He’ll maybe eat 1 or 2 a day!  I stopped giving critical care about 5 days ago in the hopes that he would be hungry and eat on his own, which he has been – but he’s way too thin and I think I’m going to resume the critical care again. I hate it because it stresses him out, but I don’t know what else to do.

I did read about putting his pellets in some water/juice and microwaving for 15 seconds, fluffing it up and serving it once cooled, but I tried it and he turned his nose up at it.

Ooh – important side note – he doesn’t have his incisors – he’s been without them for at least 6 or 7 years, so he’s very good at picking up food, but he doesn’t have the ability to shred anything – I have to shred his lettuce for him, and offer up herbs like dill or parsley that he can easily pick up and chew like a long blade of straw.

Any suggestions for treats I can buy at a pet store would be welcome, or any other tricks… I’ve tried canned pumpkin, mashed banana, apple, etc., and he’ll take it – but only a little bit before he is no longer interested. I think offering him something new will get him excited and hopefully get him back to a healthy weight. I read something about Ensure – what do you guys think about that?

Thanks! JR & Rocky BunBun