Bunny Can’t Chew Hay

[LaraR4444]

Hi all, I’m new here. Our bunny has been diagnosed with an ear infection and her symptoms seem to confirm that; head shaking, bad balance, etc.. She was not eating anything normally for a couple of days. Now, she is eating everything pretty well except for her hay(and barley biscuits but they’re not important, just a further clue that it’s hard things bothering her). We know she needs hay badly. Last night I tried separating the hay out so she had only really soft pieces to chew, but that isn’t helping either. Does anybody have any experience with something like this or any tips on how to get her to eat hay in some form? She wants it. She tries to chew it, but she just can’t. I thought about getting her some pellets, because at least they have hay in them, but they’re hard too and if I break them up, they’ll be hard to eat in another way.

[jerseygirl]

This might be tedious, but could you chop the hay into very small pieces to see if she’ll try that? It must be that the action of chewing at the moment is painful for her. If you can get grass that hasn’t been sprayed or had feral or wild animal going through it, that would be worth giving. It will have the same benefits of hay. You can also order pellets that are 100% hay but I couldnt say how long before you got them..

I hope her ear infection heals up quickly. Was she prescribed some pain meds along with an antibiotic?

[tobyluv]

Are you sure that she doesn’t also have some teeth or mouth issues? Did the vet check for that?

I’ve heard some people say that they wet the hay with a little apple juice (no sugar added), when they are trying to encourage eating. That would make it softer and maybe easier to eat. You could cut the hay up a little bit first.

If she is unable to eat pellets and you think that she needs more nutrition, you could mix up some Critical Care and see if she will eat that out of a dish. You can add a little canned pumpkin (plain) or baby food to the mixture to make it more enticing.

[LittlePuffyTail]

I immediately suspect dental problem when a bun stops eating hay.

[LaraR4444]

Thank you all for your suggestions. I didn’t know the post had even gone on the board yet. Thankfully she has magically started eating hay again. She’s doing really well right now, but I will definitely make use of your help if she backtracks on the hay again. Her eating habits have changed a lot day to day since she got sick so there’s no guarantee how long this hay eating will last.

As for the teeth, the vet did a very cursory examination of her teeth, but she doesn’t seem to have any other symptoms of tooth problems like drooling or pawing at the mouth. Only the chewing issue, and it comes and goes, often accompanying more head shaking and balance issues.

The vet did not give her pain meds, only the antibiotic. If pain is what is causing her not to eat so well, I really wish he had prescribed some.

[Serenity]

That’s great! Glad she’s feeling better. Do not limit her hay at all while she’s in the mood for it. If she’s only eating it sometimes, make sure she had copious amounts so she can have her pick of the bunch. The more hay you can get in her the better if she only eats some days.

[Author]

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