Helping my elderbun find his food

[Meg]

Hey lovely bunny folks!  🙂

Our wonderful Teddy will turn 12 in a few weeks and I am so grateful for all your help during his entire life so far!!  🙂

So, lately he seems to have a new normal every few weeks, and we’re trying to find the right balance of rolling with it gently and also making sure his needs are met.  (He has spondylosis and gets twice-daily meloxicam with famotidine as well as cisapride with simethicone, which he licks off a plate.) On the one hand, he seems pretty happy and not in pain: he takes nice deep naps where I can see him dreaming 🙂 and he even hops up the mini pet stairs to the second floor of his Cottontail Cottage a couple times each evening to get special treats.  At your suggestion, I started him on 1 tbsp of plain rolled oats a day, plus 4-6 sunflower seeds, to try to get his weight up, and he is a BIG FAN of this development, which is delightful. 🙂

On the other hand, he’s more hit-and-miss with his greens the past couple of weeks.  He’s been drinking water, and he still eats hay and pellets and maybe between 0.5 cups and 2 cups of greens, but he used to eat more like 4-6 cups every night until the past couple of weeks.  I’m not sure what to do about this or how big a concern it should be.  (He’s 3.5 pounds, 1.5 kg.)  He’s sleeping more than before.  He also seems to have more trouble finding his food.  Like, we’ve put his pellets down in the same couple of spots every day for a long time, and he’s usually pretty quick to eat them (within the first few hours of them being given, most would be gone).  But now he seems not to be aware of all of them unless I somehow lead him straight to them, or more often I’ll just move them to where he is.  (Even if I sprinkle some yummy oats on the top!  He could hang out like 6 inches away and not notice the food, unless he sees me putting down the oats.)  He will eat them all (or almost all) by bedtime if I do this, but I get the feeling that if I didn’t, he might not find them.  I do think his eyesight might be not so good lately.

Do you have any ideas about what more I could do (or do differently) to help him out?  He’s our fuzzy little love, and we just want his days to be as comfortable and happy as possible.  Thank you so much!

[jerseybunnies]

If he is still eating, there shouldn’t be some kind of health issue wrong. Oats and sunflower seeds are good. I would just suggest giving his pellets right up to him if that is what’s working. He’s getting older and maybe it doesn’t feel as convenient for him to go over to his pellets, especially if he is in a large area. I’m sorry I can’t offer more advice, as I’ve never had an elder bun before — but I do so hope others will chime in. Good luck with your sweet bunny! 😁🐰🐇

These are just my suggestions. Please seek an experienced veterinarian if you have medical needs / questions. Thank you! 

[DanaNM]

<3 Teddy ! <3

I think Bun Jovi’s eyesight has really deteriorated recently too. His was not great to begin with since he’s an REW, but lately I am not sure he can see much at all. I sometimes have to wave the salad bowl right under his face to get him to come over to it.

Do you think he may be eating less greens if he’s feeling satisfied from the extra oats and seeds?  Also 4-6 cups of greens is way more than I feed mine. I give mine about 1 cup of greens each twice a day, but I know there is quite a lot of variation in how much greens people feed.

Does he respond to the sounds of food coming? Like the rattle of the pellets in the bowl?  I’m wondering if you could use a sound cue to let him know it’s dinner time. I tend to use a kissy noise for mine when I have food for them and they aren’t paying attention, they usually come running. Bun Jovi does still take some coaxing sometimes though.

I think always having his food in the same spots will actually help, because he will prob start searching that area when he gets hungry. If he’s not noticing, could you lead him over with some food in your hand? That’s usually what I do for Bun Jovi when he seems confused.

Do you know how his weight is?

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Meg]

Thank you both so much!!

Yeah, it could be that he’s full.  And yes that was a lot of greens, as I only realized this year, haha — ironically we’d tried reducing them like a month ago or more, and that didn’t go well because he didn’t drink more water to compensate.  Now he is drinking more water, so that’s good.  But maybe he is outsmarting me in my attempts to help him gain weight!! 😉

Teddy has always been a funny one about food — he’s his own man and he doesn’t like being told what/when to eat.  So sometimes he won’t eat something right away if we bring it, or will even turn around and leave if he feels he’s been “smothered” with food.  (Are we sure he’s a bunny?? ;D) Rolled oats are the only thing he is never too cool for!! 😉  So other than that, he doesn’t necessarily come at the sound of food (kissy noises are good trick though!).  And yes, leading him over (with the oats, which will get his attention).

But we’ve been through stasis many times before, and this doesn’t feel like that to me, especially with the stretched-out napping and the continuing to go to the upstairs of his cardboard castle — he never does that if he’s feeling poorly.   It feels like he’s picky (now that he realizes that oats exist? 😉 and that he gets sleepy more often these days.  But still, I’d love to know if there’s more I could be doing for our Tedster.  🙂

I haven’t weighed him myself lately (he HATES being picked up and I haven’t wanted to stress him) but last time he was at the vet, he was 3.5 pounds/1.5kg.  He used to be over 4 pounds in his younger days, and he may be even lighter now than 3.5.  I’d posted earlier about how to help him gain weight (where I learned about the oats) because when he had a brief few days of stasis and I had to handle him, give him fluids, etc., he felt especially skinny to me.  (Like, the area between the shoulder blades where you give sub-Q fluids felt especially skinny.)  So if his new situation can help him gain weight without harming him, that’s good with me.

Thank you again!  🙂

[Meg]

Update: Teddy is doing about the same, but I notice that he has extra trouble noticing/smelling/finding his food — to an extent that seems new (at least as of the past week or so). Like, he goes crazy for oats, but I don’t know if he can detect them very well.  There were some on the left side of his pellet pile just now and I tried pointing him to them.  He sniffed the right side of his pellet pile (less than 1 inch away) and didn’t find them.  He did after I pointed directly at them and got him to sniff them directly.  What do you think could be going on — and what can I do for him?

The degree to which he finishes his greens and pellets varies from day to day — he usually eats almost all his pellets, and anywhere from all to 1/4 of his greens.  He still goes upstairs in his cardboard castle for treats, does happy tooth-grinding when petted sometimes, and takes deep naps, so I don’t suspect stasis (he never does those things with stasis).  It seems like how much he eats at night depends more on how lucky I am at predicting where he will be after I go to bed and making sure most of his remaining food is there.

Thank you so much for any advice!  Now that his appetite is less strong, he doesn’t eat his food nearly as quickly — he nibbles here and there throughout the day/night.  I just don’t want him to go hungry from not being able to find his food.

[LBJ10]

Will he take stuff if you hand feed him?

[Meg]

It depends on what mood he’s in. 😉  I do keep moving his food to where he is during the day, but part of the challenge is that his appetite isn’t as strong now (or maybe he just isn’t as into anything that’s not oats?) so whereas he used to finish both pellets and greens within a few hours, now it could take him 24 hours.  So in order for him to eat enough, it seems like we’ll need to make sure he can find his food around the clock.

[DanaNM]

Hmmm, I think you might want to weigh the pros and cons of the oats. If it seems like it’s really the oats that are making him not want his other food, then maybe the oats aren’t the best thing to give? I think I’d be more concerned with fiber and other nutrition over oats for the sake of weight gain.

Or if his appetite is just low in general, then maybe the oats are a good thing because it gets him to eat something?

Have you tried offering oat hay? My bunnies tend to get really excited for it and their poops look amazing after they eat it.

Have you chatted with your vet about it all?

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[LBJ10]

Reminds me of my dog. When she was very old, she didn’t want to eat anything except for cooked chicken. Things don’t taste good when you’re old.

[Meg]

LBJ, that resonates, thanks.

DanaNM, I see your point.  It does seem like an appetite issue — today I woke up a few hours later than usual so he hadn’t gotten oats for a while, and he still hadn’t eaten much of his normal food.  He can get to most of it over the course of 24 hours, but he doesn’t seem as into it and that did predate the oats.  I find that if I notice he hasn’t eaten anything in an hour or two, if I put some oats on his pellets and point him to them it will tempt him to start eating, and then he’ll eat a little more pellets.

Teddy has been a hay snob since he was a baby, so he’s been getting oat hay all this time.  (And I’ve had those oat hay burrs in my socks and sweaters all this time too. 😉  I haven’t asked the vet, but that’s a good suggestion, thanks.

It’s not clear that his appetite changed after the introduction of oats, but why he has more trouble finding his food lately and how I can help him is more of a concern.

Also, I’ve noticed recently that he has more trouble with balance than before.  He’s still pretty strong, does “construction projects” in his houses and hops up to the second floor of his castle (sometimes using the inner ramp onto which I’d fastened a rug for traction, sometimes using some carpeted doggy stairs that we put on the outside).  But he sometimes falls over when cleaning his ears, or wobbles and falls to the side a bit when moving around.  Poor little bun.  Is there anything I can do to help him?

[DanaNM]

Bun Jovi has been having slight balance issues too when cleaning his ears with his back foot, but thankfully he usually has Myra to lean up against. I know some people will add some bolsters around for the bun to lean on for extra balance, like either rolled up towels or beds with higher sides.

I agree about things just not tasting as good to older pets (and people). My first cat only wanted the gravy from pouch foods when he got older, and I remember my great grandma at one point would only eat Marie Calendar’s chicken pot pie soup.

Does he like critical care or critical care cookies? Sorry if we’ve already covered that.

 

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[LBJ10]

Dana – Yes, it does seem that way, doesn’t it?

I agree about trying some critical care, if you haven’t already. Some bunnies like the taste and will eat it off of a spoon or plate.

[Meg]

I wish!!  🙂  He hates CC with a fiery passion, unfortunately.  Last night he finished almost all his greens as well as all pellets (with encouragement), plus hay — so he does have some good days.  I’m mostly just concerned about how he seems to need help finding/noticing it and if there’s anything I can do on that front, so that he can find it whenever he’s hungry and not have to wait for me to put it under his nose.  Does that make sense?

That’s a good idea about bolsters, thanks!

 

[LBJ10]

Hmm… yeah, I don’t know. During my dog’s last year, I mostly just stood there and encouraged her to finish her food. If I didn’t, sometimes she wouldn’t feel like eating it. From what you’re describing, it seems like you are going through something similar with Teddy. Short of making his space smaller, I’m not sure how you would keep the food bowl nearby. They usually recommend keeping everything in the same spot if a bunny’s eyesight is failing, so they don’t get confused. But I can understand you wanting to put the food under his nose to encourage him to eat it.

[Meg]

Thanks so much, I appreciate it!  Yes, we might be there, and/or he might just be getting forgetful.  I don’t want to restrict his space, so I’ll keep working on it.  Traditionally we always split his daily 2 Tbsp of pellets into 4 tiny piles in specific spots in his room.  These days, I kind of just keep moving more pellets into the piles closest to him, and sprinkling them with oats or the “Old Bones Herb Mix” to tempt him, and then I try to draw his attention to them.  (This way he knows where to look for it, at least when he remembers.)  I’ve also had some success lately with splitting his greens into two plates, in his two favorite hangout spots, so if he forgets about/ can’t find one he’s more likely to eat from the other.

Anyway, thank you so much.  He’s such a sweet little bunlet, and takes the cutest naps fully on his side, nose and ears moving while he dreams.  He also grinds his teeth with contentment sometimes and does headshakes every so often (which seem to us to be like mini-binkies).  He seems like a happy bun and that’s the most we can ask for. We love him so much. 🙂

[Author]

Messages