Elderbun Hotot Diet Help!

[BunBunsForever]

Hey guys! I have a 9yr old Blanc De Hotot Mix, he is 5lbs (getting underweight for his breed & ribs are showing a little bit) I have lost my mind trying to figure out what to do in terms of a diet with him, for some reason he wont eat hay, he will rarely nibble on it even if i decrease & take away pellets, im hoping by mixing alfalfa into his timothy hay that he will eat, is that a good idea? He needs to get some weight on him badly. Hes been on the same pellets for his entire life but as he ages its hard to keep weight on him even with unlimited pellets, i moved him to oxbow adult rabbit food & he LOVES it but I think its giving him gas or bloat even though i mix a little in with his normal pellets to transition, what do i do? Anybody have any problems with oxbow? I hear loud loud gurgling noises from his stomach but he eats/drinks/poops/pees just fine! I cant tell if its gas or his stomach just processes food that loud, hes in the middle of a big molt, do you think this could cause gas problems? He had his teeth done a few weeks back, got ivermectin for ear mites & went to the vet for possible hair blockage and got better in a day but what would everyone reccomend i do? During the day hes in a covered running pen for a few hours to graze on grass, is he still getting some fiber from the grass? He is brushed every day and im going to tell all this to my vet in the morning but i would like as many opinions as possible! Im new here, sorry if im doing this wrong but i have nobody else to ask! (He also acts as if nothing is wrong except those few moments where he looks very sad and keeps his whole body flat to the ground)

[LittlePuffyTail]

Hi BunBuns, sorry this went unanswered till now.

I think your first action should be to rule out a medical problem. Your vet might want to do bloodwork to make sure everything is okay there. There may be a reason you can’t see which is causing the weight loss.

I have a 10 year old boy who is quite thin despite being a little piggy. I keep close eye on his weight by weighing him once a month in a kitchen scale. And, at my vet’s suggestion, he gets several TBSP of Critical Care per day added to his diet to help keep the weight on. He has frequent dental issues (spurs that need trimming every 4 months or so) and I think that, coupled with his age is the problem in his case.

[vanessa]

Some elderbuns have difficulty keeping their weight up. I woulddefinitely add critical care. Lancelot eats it like a soup. He eats 6tbsp a day. Dont take your bunnys pellets away. Try compressed hay cubes. Sounds like he has gas. Try 1cc unflavored baby simethicone. Lancelot gets regular gas. Simethicone wirks really. Btw my elderbun has mot eaten hay in 11 months. Between the critical care and the compressed hay cubes, (at the miment he wint eat the hay cubes), his poops and cecotropes r great. He has his teeth filed 3-4 times a year. Look up calirie count in veggies and give him the higher caloric veggies. But as long as he has gas, he wont feel like eating. For lancelot, if he doesnt respond to his favorite foods, 1cc simethicone and he is eating within the hour.

[vanessa]

Yeesh excuse the fat finger typis… mobile phone…

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