how to encourage hay consumption?

[nori]

My lil bun, Nori has teeth issues, she had an abscess drained that was under her jaw. She had been eating fine and had been on critical care ever since. 2 weeks later and she will still eat pellets, treats, veggies but not her hay. I have been trying for a while by attempting to hand feed her and mixing her hay with fresh hay,etc. She’ll sniff it and when I put it in her face, she’ll pick it up with her mouth and throw it back down. I figured that her mouth was still painful since she’s on metacam but it’s concerning me that she’s not eating her hay and it has been about two weeks since she saw the vet. She has never like eating hay and would eat the bare minimum before her teeth problems went downhill, but now she has completely stopped. I noticed that she’ll constantly chew on paper(blank computer paper with no ink) though.

I don’t know if this is an issue that needs the vet’s attention, but I’d really like to avoid another vet visit if possible because she was just there and the rabbit savy vet is expensive in my area.

Is it possible that she not eating her hay because she’s starving herself for other food(s)?

Or is it really because she can’t eat hay even though she been eating everything else?

[Sirius&Luna]

It’s hard to know – often not eating hay is a sign of teeth problems, and it could still be that her teeth and abscess are still hurting her. Eating hay is good for the teeth because it uses them in different ways to eating veg or pellets, so it might be that she is unable to eat hay. Picking up then spitting it out sounds like shes struggling to physically eat it. To be honest, I would probably take her back to the vet.

Below are some general tips for getting reluctant hay eaters to eat more hay, but I do think you should see a vet too.

– add hay toppers like dried herbs, leaves and petals – I use blackcurrant and dandelion leaves, sunflower petals, rose petals, plantain, chamomile flowers, birch leaves and fresh dried grass
– mix in different varieties of hay
– top it up multiple times a day
– try and only give two other feedings a day – so pellets in the morning and veg in the evening, and in between those two feedings, nothing but hay. if they know they’re always going to get veg or pellets, they won’t bother eating hay
– try hay cubes
– stuff hay into boxes, toilet paper tubes, paper bags, with a couple of pellets to make a game of it
– try hand feeding tasty pieces

[Wick & Fable]

Wick has chronic teeth problems because of his crooked jaw and underbite, so at a minimum he gets a molar grinding and bottom incisor grinding every five weeks. When Wick was on loose Timothy hay, he would frequently spit out a lot of pieces because he couldn’t chew them and/or they didn’t taste good (very possible to start chewing on a piece and literally spit it out because of dislike, rather than teeth problems).

I changed Wick to eating broken up, compressed hay stacks, and his hay consumption skyrocketed. He likes the hay much better, and in my opinion, the kinks and crooks and small hay strands resulting from compressing are much easier for him to chew and manage.

Wick does occasionally still spit out pieces. Whether it’s mouth discomfort or dislike, I’m unsure, but he definitely eats a lot more hay now.

I suggest changing your type of hay and experimenting. It may take a little bit for your rabbit to adjust and commit to a new type (Wick wasn’t enamoured by hay stacks at first), so give it time.

If non-hay items are distributed frequently in a day, it’s possible she’s abstaining from eating hay, waiting for non-hay food items. Limiting presentation and quantity of those foods is typically a good approach as well, and it does not need to be permanent necessarily.

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.

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