Thank you for rescuing her!

For now I would focus on making sure she’s eating, even if it’s too many pellets. Adding critical care seems like a good idea to make sure she’s getting the nutrition she needs. For a rabbit that was eating unlimited pellets, being that thin is concerning. She could have a dental issue which is preventing her from eating hay, so it would be best to wait till she’s been assessed by the vet before worrying too much about her hay consumption. Nethies are prone to dental issues, so be sure the vet does a very thorough dental exam (I would request x-rays).

Good luck!  It is tempting to try to fix everything at once, but steady and gradual changes are the way to go. Many buns with dental issues will still eat veggies and pellets (and may be picky about veggies), but not hay, since hay requires the most chewing. Hopefully she likes the critical care. If she doesn’t I would try another brand of recovery food, there are a few available now. All four buns love Emeraid (the sustain herbivore variety) even though only one of them likes critical care. Two of my four also like the Sherwood brand recovery food.   🙂

Good luck and thank you for rescuing this bun!

I totally agree with everything Dana has said. Supplementing her with CC or other recovery food will be great until you get her to the vet. It has good fiber and she needs the energy. Since she’s only 2 chances are good she doesnt have really awful dental problems, if it’s about molar spurs, they can be burred.

The difference between guinea pig and rabbit care seem mainly to be a) rabbits don’t need extra vitamin C, they synthesise it themselves b) piggies can tolerate a lot more fresh vegetables per day c) piggies don’t do at all well without other piggies, whereas rabbits can live happily if they get lots of human company, even if most rabbits do like a rabbit friend.

It’s important to spay a girl rabbit for health reasons, but I think that holds true for girl piggies too.

I have never had guinea pigs, but I have a dear BB friend who has two adorable rescue piggies that we often talk about😊

Aww I love piggies!

You might try making critical care “cookies” to see if she will eat it that way. Some buns don’t like “mush” but will eat the cookies. You basically just make the CC into a very thick paste, and then dry in the oven at very low temp (or a food dehydrator) for an hour or so. Here’s a recipe: http://chinchilla-resources.com/chinchilla-resources/critical-care-cookies.asp

Since she is eating I don’t think it’s necessary to force the issue. You can offer extra pellets in the meantime. Oats can also be good for putting on weight, but I would wait to see what the vet says since you have an appointment for her soon.

Is it possible she is older than 2? One way to tell whether a bun is young or old is to look at their back feet. In a young bunny the back feet will sort of point out (so the heels are more narrow than the toes). In a senior they often start to become more parallel due to arthritis.

When I needed to put a little weight on Walter, I gave him oats, some “homemade” CC (his regular pellets put thru the blender) and a daub of banana baby food.  He loved it!

Hope to pics…what’s her name?

My first bun, when I was 6, was a PEW, Tiny Tim.  My first piggy was also a PEW, Gina (I couldn’t pronounce Guinea).

If she doesnt like banana, pear might do the trick 😃 Most baby foods however have banana or mango because naturally sweet, but some have pear too. It varies what fruit a bun really goes for, I have one now who is completely obsessed with apples.

Wonderful that she seems to want pets so soon!

Jumping in without context, but if banana won’t do the trick, some rabbits enjoy CC with canned pumpkin mixed in (make sure it’s the 100% pumpkin version; not one with other things added intended for pie or something).

Ah, that makes much more sense! Every bun I’ve seen who was fed only pellets was very overweight, so I was confused before. Poor baby, she’s lucky to have you!