I don’t have VPI, but my bun’s insurance covered blood work when my bun was sick with a respiratory infection. If your bun has lost weight spontaneously, blood work would be a good way to find out what’s afoot. I reckon they’ll check liver and kidney function, possibly infectious markers as well. There would be no better or more cost-efficient diagnostic tool.

With my bun, the blood tests came back positive for infection but good liver- and kidney function. If the blood tests had shown sth off with his kidneys as well, he could not have had metacam (which he got together with other meds that completely cured his infection), so blood tests are also important to determine what meds a bun can tolerate.

You have good reason to suspect sth is up with your bun (the weight loss), your vet agrees your worries have merit and chooses the best way to try and diagnose him. I’d say those arguments are pretty strong, but read the terms of your insurance before you call them so you know what to expect.

I’m glad the insurance covered that much! I love having insurance for my bun.

if he’s old he could have arthritis or some other age-related joint pain that makes him less willing to chase the treat ball. Exercise is still good though, so some treat ball exercise will help him. Maybe you’ll need to put more treat-like stuff in the treat ball, so he randomly gets a small piece of dried fruit among the pellets when he spins it? That could up the stakes, so to speak. There are supplements buns can get for arthritic pain/joint pain, but in moderate to severe cases, a maintenance dose of Metacam is often prescribed. Metacam can be hard on the kidneys though, and on the stomach lining. Massages can sometimes help with tense muscles and be nice for the bunny.

Weighing is very good for keeping an eye on a bun’s general health. I weigh my bun once a week. For young buns it’s good to make a weight curve so you see that they gain like they should. For healthy adult rabbits, excessive weight gain is always a risk (because they’re little pigs), and you want to nip that in the bud. For elderly buns it can be difficult to keep wight on, and with unwell buns, you can sometimes have weight loss before you see any other symptoms – rabbits are expert at hiding illness. Weight gives good clues. It’s always difficult to assess a bun’s weight without weighing them. There’s so much fluff. Amount of fluff varies too with moulting, and that tricks the human eye but not the scales.