Dental problems are a common cause when a bun starts being picky with food. Some buns will avoid hay, others may avoid pellets. Sometimes you see the bun take food only to drop it  immediately, or the bun gets excited for food and comes running for it  but doesn’t eat it.

Due to the rabbit’s anatomy  the molars and premolars can’t be seen without an otoscope. You can check the incisors yourself,  but you need a vet to look at the molars. Dental x-rays are very good for identifying problems with tooth roots.

If it was just the timothy hay, then I would say perhaps something is wrong with the hay. What you’re describing makes me think something is wrong. As Bam pointed out, teeth would be the number one suspect at this point.

Hey!

I hope your rabbit is back to eating hay, if not, I would definitely get a second opinion. My rabbit started to get picky with food and stopped eating hay, I took her to her vet who said her teeth looked perfectly fine.

I ended up taking her to an exotic animal hospital and the vet that looked in her mouth said she had severe dental disease, they did X-rays and found she also had abscesses in her jaw. This didn’t happen overnight (most likely genetic with my girl) and the vet I had been taking her too since she was a baby never noticed it. It is so extremely important to find a vet that specifically knows rabbits, and not just treats them alongside dogs and cats.

My rabbit had one badly infected incisor removed and the abscesses drained as best they could but the infection was too deep in her jaw so she’s on weekly penicillin injections to keep the infection under control.

That was 2 years ago, she still isn’t able to eat hay but she will chew on Sunsets Timothy Hay Cubes or Living World Timothy Chews. This keeps her teeth in check for the most part and she gets her molars floated every 6 weeks. Maybe your rabbit would prefer these?

Fingers crossed that your little guy has a better outcome.

I’m so glad Appa’s feeling better! I know how stressful that can be.

So I moved recently and had to find a new vet and after the previous experience I had, I was not shy with questions lol I was literally interviewing potential vets. I had one vet ask me if my rabbit is given penicillin orally or injected. I crossed him off my list for not knowing you can’t give a rabbit penicillin orally. That seemed like an accident waiting to happen.

I also ask how many rabbits they normally see a day/weekly, their experience level with dental issues etc. anything you can think of to do with your bunny.

I’ve found that Emergency Animal Hospitals usually charge more for rabbits even though they’re knowledge of rabbits is pretty basic, they probably use the same websites we do, but if you do end up find a vet that specializes in rabbits, it will probably cost you more but their expertise is well worth the price.

Best of luck!

I sadly have had the same experience as Alexmack2016: My bun dtopped eating one day, I took him to the vet right away, the vet that was their “best” rabbit vet took a look at my bun’s teeth with an oroscope and said the teeth were fine. We were prescribed Critical Care by syringe, nothing else.

The next day my bun was in worse shape, and luckily the only rabbit savvy vet clinic in my region could fit him in. It was a long drive, but so worth it. They pretty much immediately found that my bun’s teeth were a total mess. Dental x-rays then confirmed this.

My bun survived, but he wouldnt have without the rabbit savvy vet.

omg @ Bam. It’s sad that we had the exact same experience but that’s what makes me ask all the questions now. I’m glad your rabbit survived.

Vets are always willing to see rabbits and take your money even though they might not know much about them. I had an emergency hospital under prescribe pain meds before but thankfully I knew her correct dosage and I always keep Meloxicam and a few other meds at home.

My girl is 5 years old now and has had end stage dental disease and a few other medical conditions for the last 2 years, but she wouldn’t be alive if I hadn’t found an exotic animal hospital.

If you’re having trouble finding a vet, look for vets listed as “exotics” vets. My vet office is actually locally known as a bird vet, but one of the doctors specializes in small critters, including rabbits.