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Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Unexplained weight loss

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    • crazylittlebunny
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        My two year old bunny, bubbles, has been losing weight in the last week or two and she is currently 5.5 lbs (she should be a 10+lbs bunny). The problem originally started back in late July early August. I brought her to two different vets, where bloodwork and scans were done, but nobody could figure out what was wrong and all the test came back normal. Around late August, my Bunny was able to gain weight again and whatever was going on, seemed to have passed (or so I thought).
        Fast-forward to now, she is losing weight again but her Overall behavior (eating/drinking/pooping) is normal. However, I have been noticing a swishing (?) sound coming from her abdomen that wasn’t there before (she does drink a lot of water, so maybe it could just be that?).

        I am thinking about taking her to the vet on Monday. The reason I’ve been hesitating is because last time when the vets couldn’t find the cause of the weight loss and my parents got annoyed with me as they thought I was just wasting money it made me feel like I was paranoid.
        When I brought up Bubbles, the fact she was losing weight again, and that I wanted to take her back to the vet, they got annoyed and started listing off their own reasons and theories as to what is going on and gave me a glare as they think bringing her back to the vet for a third time is a waste of money.

        Any suggestions as to what I can do to get my rabbit to gain weight and keep it? The last thing I want is to lose her over the holidays.


      • LBJ10
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          What is your bunny currently eating and how much? What were you doing before to keep weight on her? And you haven’t noticed any behavior changes? Does she eat normally? Or does she eat more slowly? Did the vet do x-rays? Thorough tooth exam? Something seems to be missing here.


          • crazylittlebunny
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              The majority of my rabbits diet is hay, I Rotate different vegetables/leafy greens so that she gets to variety in her diet, And any sugary fruits and vegetables are given In moderation/sparingly.

              I haven’t noticed any behavioral changes. She is still eating, drinking pooping and behaving perfectly normal And she isn’t eating slower than she normally does.

              I do have a vet visit for this Friday as that is the soonest I could get her in. The last time I took her to the vet for this issue back in late July/early August. Her teeth were checked and they were perfectly normal. Bloodwork and x-rays came back perfectly normal as well. But could not figure out what was going on.


          • LBJ10
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              Does she get any pellets? Some bunnies just need them, some don’t necessarily.


              • crazylittlebunny
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                  Both my buns get pellets in moderation


              • Bam
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                  If everything else was good, I’d still suspect the teeth. Some buns have very sensitive mouths and will become picky if they have even very small spurs. The bun might still eat but not as much as she ideealy should, and she might not chew the food as properly as she should – that can in turn affect weight and how the stomach/intestines process the food.

                  How does her poop look? Any changes in size, shape and/or amount?

                  It’s often difficult to determine how much hay a bunny actually eats, since we always give a surplus.

                   

                   

                   


                  • crazylittlebunny
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                      Her poop (size, amount, and shape) looks good to me. I did manage to get her to gain a pound but whether or not she will be able to keep that weight I’ll have to wait and see.


                  • Em
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                      Definitely would proceed with further scans/imaging (x-rays or skull CT) to rule out a dental issue.

                      my previous rabbit had sudden unexplained weight loss and excessive thirst. His blood results never yielding anything alarming. He was a frenchie, and went from almost 7kg to 4kg. It was undiagnosed E. cuniculi impacting his kidneys (I have no idea how or why it never showed on his bloods). Otherwise his behaviour was normal, it was only when he later developed a limp followed by full blown hind limb paralysis that the EC was diagnosed.

                      I’m not saying it’s the likely cause, but just throwing an avenue to investigate if imaging came back with no explanation.


                    • LBJ10
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                        Em – EC tests are notorious for having false results, so what you experienced isn’t unusual.

                        I agree with the others. Something is definitely missing here. If she is getting appropriate food, then something else is going on. I would suggest a more thorough look at her teeth to rule that out. This needs to be done under anesthesia. They can’t just glance at her front teeth and say she’s good. Once that is ruled out, then I would look into other causes like EC or some underlying issue.

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                    Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Unexplained weight loss