Bunny still not eating a lot of hay, but eating everything else, cleared by vet

[Raelinn & Gus]

Maintenance and Housing
Is your bunny housed indoors or outdoors?: Indoors.
Does your bunny live with other bunnies?: No.
If yes, are they bonded?
If you rabbit spends time outside, are wild rabbits around?: Never goes outside.
How much exercise does your bunny get per day?: Freeroam.
How often do you clean the litter box?: Twice a week.
How often do you groom your bunny?: Near daily.

Spay/Neuter
Is your bunny spayed/neutered?: Neutered.
If so, for how long?: 4ish years.
If not, why not?
Are you aware of reproductive cancer risk in females? If not, please read about it here.

Pooping and Diet – Very Important
What does your bunny eat normally: Pellets, spring mix, and orchard grass hay.
How much hay and what type?: Unlimited orchard grass.
How much pellets and what type?: 1/4 cup, Science Selective Adult Rabbit.
How much veggies and what types?: Organic spring mix, about 1-2 cups.
How many treats and what types?: Rarely give treats.
Anything else not listed?
When was the last time your bunny ate? (If > 12 hours ago this is an emergency, contact a vet ASAP): Around an hour ago.
What was the last thing your bunny ate?: Pellets then hay.
When was the last time your bunny pooped? (If > 12 hours ago this is an emergency, contact a vet ASAP): Unsure, but definitely recently/pooping regularly.
How did your bunny’s most recent poops look (round and firm, misshapen, small and hard, soft/mushy, runny, etc.) ?: Firm round cocoa puffs.

Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this bunny?: 5 years.
In a few words, can you explain the symptoms?: He is eating significantly less hay than about three months ago, but is still eating his breakfast, and is still eating hay just less.
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms?: About three months ago.
Have you consulted a vet?: Yes, sort of. I forgot to bring the hay situation up, but he was given a thorough exam and given a clean bill of health.
Have you started any treatment for the symptoms?: I have tried different hay types, and he seems to enjoy meadow more as he started eating more.
Was your bunny physically ill or injured when you got them?: No.
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all?: No.

Explain your situation in detail. (Please explain what is going on, include details from the beginning of the illness leading up to now)

About three-ish months ago, I noticed Gus was eating less hay. I didn’t think much of it, as he has always gone through phases like that, but this one is lasting way longer.

First I consulted this forum, as I was feeding extra pellets to make up for the loss of hay, and was advised to not as he may be preferring it and not eating due to it being available. So I went back down to his recommended portion, which did seem to help a bit.

Then, I took him to a vet, who said he was in perfect condition and a very beautiful boy!

Lastly, I switched his hay. I tried 3 different types, and he liked the organic meadow from Oxbow (the most expensive, of course). He seemed to be eating hay almost as frequently as he did prior.

Recently I had to move his litterbox, because I noticed he was hanging out in the cat litter boxes and eating his hay sideways. Ever since moving it, he reverted. I am going to move it back as I feel that is clearly the answer here, but – is it safe for him to be on cat litter like that? He is now almost refusing to go in his box, exclusively the cat box. Should I put the boxes up where he cannot reach, or just let him do his thing and put cat litter in his box?

- Raelinn the Human 🫡 - Gustavo the Bunny 🐰

[BrunosMama]

I have no idea why some buns are obsessed with cat litter boxes🙄. Our bunny Georgia is the same way.

The biggest concern would be the possibility of diseases from the kitty waste in the box. And the chance of him getting something icky stuck to his feet and ingesting it while grooming. I know traditional cat litter is also somewhat dusty, so I’m not sure if he could inhale some dust and cause a respiratory problem or not.

I wish I could give you a 100% surefire solution to keeping him out, but I’m also battling this lol. Some suggestions from my own trial and error:

Block off the cat boxes with an xpen/barrier so the cats can use it, but Gus can’t reach them. (This failed for me because of where the boxes are. Georgia jumped up on the side of the bathtub and around the barrier.)

When you see him in, get him out as soon as possible. You can try firmly telling him “no, Gus” once you have him out. (I know this sounds silly, but Georgia knows her name and knows the tone when she is in trouble lol. But, she likes being in trouble, I think, and when we would shoo her from the boxes, she would skip and binky out of the bathroom lol.)

Try to make use of bunnies short term memory. If you can keep him out and area blocked off for a couple of weeks, and maybe rearrange some things in the area, he may forget he liked them and lose interest. This has been the most successful method I’ve found. We’re bonding Georgia and Arthas right now, so things have been different in the house, different setup, etc. Now she barely even goes in the bathroom and when she does, its just a couple poops beside the cat box. We may be winning! Until she remembers again lol. Sigh.

I’m sorry I can’t be more help! Buns are so stubborn sometimes!

[Raelinn & Gus]

I’m wondering, do you think switching to a pellet-based litter, the closest I can get to cat litter while still being rabbit-friendly, would be a good idea? I think he may prefer the litter itself, but of course that is just a guess.

I have a secondary room for the cats, attached to mine (living with family due to being disabled), perhaps blocking off that room to Gus but somehow making it cat-accessible would work? Only issue is one of my cats is very overweight so he doesn’t jump super high, though he is doing well on his diet for the record! Any ideas on that front are greatly appreciated!

- Raelinn the Human 🫡 - Gustavo the Bunny 🐰

[BrunosMama]

Ah, yeah, if it could be the texture of the cat litter that he likes, then that would definitely be an idea! I’ve had good luck in the past with wood stove pellets from farm supply store. But, I believe there are some pellet ttpe bedding available online, too. 🙂 You could also try hamster bedding, the paper sort. Its helpful for bunny pee smells and would be soft-ish and diggable. We use this in our bunny boxes under the hay. For some reason, the “natural” brown color works better than the white, but either is fine. 🙂

Yes, I think that would be a great idea, to block off the cat’s room for a bit. It may help reset Gus’s memory about the litter boxes. After a couple weeks, you could try removing the barrier and see how it goes. 🙂

Yay for your kitty’s diet helping! 🙂 For a barrier, you could even just suspend a blanket in the door way (maybe over a tension rod or something). That way, you can adjust the height for the kitties, but it would look like a solid wall to Gus. Sometimes blocking visibility seems to help, too. 🙂

 

[LBJ10]

I know this is frustrating. Honestly, when we think of less hay consumption, we think of one of two scenarios. One is the hay is a bad batch and bunny simply doesn’t like it. Believe me, I have been there! There is just something off about the hay and it is unappetizing. The other scenario, of course, is a dental issue. Sometimes bunnies will get the tiniest of points that don’t cause too much issue when eating pellets or greens, but cause discomfort when more grinding is required (like when eating hay). These points can be hard to see and a vet wouldn’t be able to see them by glancing at the front teeth like they often do during exams.

It does sound like he liked the new hay you got him, so that is encouraging. Why moving things around caused upset is anyone’s guess. Bunnies are weird sometimes.

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