help – my old bunny is off his feed!

[bunbun641]

Hi everyone – I am brand new here, but I’ve read some of your previous posts, and I’m hoping to get some good advice.  Our bun bun Luke is 9, and we have always free fed him Timothy Hay, with some veggies on the side, ever since he had a GI stasis problem when he was about 2.  The problem – this late cut Timothy we got last time is SOOOO stemmy, so few leaves, and he isn’t eating it.  I tried giving him some alfalfa, but similar problem – it’s got more leaves, but it’s falling off the stems so much he doesn’t seem interested.  He’s losing weight, and generally doesn’t feel real good.  I’m afraid if we don’t get this taken care of, we’re gonna be in tummy shutdown again!  Anyway, I’m plying him with all sorts of veggies, but I’m looking for advice about how to get him his hay quota.  Do you think giving him pellets until the hay gets better, and supplementing with more fresh veggies and something like live wheat grass would work? How about oat groats? or ???  I’m worried, and looking for any suggestions!

[RachelB]

I purchased some oat hay to mix in with my bunnies normal timothy hay. They LOVE the stuff and it doubled their hay intake. You might check out the binkybunny store thats where I got the oat hay from.

[Sarita]

My best advice to you is to take him to a vet…it’s possible that it has nothing to do with his feed at all.

You certainly could try pellets in the meantime…but at his age, really it’s best to get the advice of your vet.

[Monkeybun]

I recently bought some orchard hay to try with Monkey, and she LOVES it. was a nice big bag full of the soft grassy bits she loves, and has the same protein, fat, etc that timothy has

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

I ditto Sarita-I’d see a vet asap. It’s possible it’s not the hay at all -could be other issues. Welcome btw

[RabbitPam]

I definitely think he needs to see the vet.

You can change to the very soft hays, and as Monkey suggested, get some orchard grass that may please him temporarily. I think you can find smaller bags locally just for an immediate switch, but it sounds like it’s not just a hay problem.

[jerseygirl]

Ditto. He might have teeth issues or something. Hope Lukes appetite returns soon!

[bunbun641]

Thanks to all of you for getting back to me on this – I’m so worried about our little guy. I’m trying oat hay even as we speak, and while he ate a little, he definitely didn’t dive right in. I think you have convinced me that we may to visit the vet. I had been trying to avoid it – I’m worried about the stress being too much for him, but…this episode is just so different from other times, when a little TLC and special food have been enough to jumpstart his system.

Here’s hoping that the vet will have a solution, that Luke quickly gets back to his joyful, hay-eating self, and I have many more chances to chat with all of you. Thanks again.

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