Lost weight

[Sofia]

So i noticed that Boo appeared a little thinner than usual today . When I picked her up she felt a bit lighter too. Her normal weight is around 1.3kg (for you Americans, around 3lbs), but I weighed her today and she was 1.1kg (approx. 2 and a half lbs). I immediately started freaking out as this is how Bobby’s whole ordeal started, although in her case she did lose a lot more weight. So I stayed in a room with her for a couple of hours just to see how she was behaving. She’s eating normally, she did have a little period where she wasn’t pooping for about 15 minutes, but then she started back up again normally. Nothing has changed in her behaviour pretty much. I was searching the Internet at the same time to get any ideas of possible causes, and I did find a post from 2008, where someone said that their vet had told them that rabbits will lose a bit of weight right before they turn 1 years old. I’m not sure how accurate that is, but it’s possible, as Boo is 11 months old. .So i’m waking up every couple hours in the night to check up on her, and will continue to monitor her weight for the next couple days. Hopefully it gets better and it’s not something too serious. I’m going to give her a little bit more pellets and maybe a treat or two more so she can gain the weight back. If you think I’m doing anything wrong please tell me, I really don’t want a repeat of Bobby.

[kurottabun]

I think 0.2kg isn’t a major cause of concern. 15 minutes of not pooping is also pretty normal.

There are many reasons for weight loss, and unless it continues or there are other symptoms, I think there shouldn’t be a need to worry With such a minimal amount and no other symptoms, I’d imagine it to be difficult to find an answer even if you googled.

[Bam]

I don’t think you are doing anything wrong. You should monitor her weight of course. You can weigh her every other day or even every day for a couple of weeks. Be sure to write down the weight every time you weigh her.

You can increase the daily pellet portion size, start with a little bit so the tummy doesn’t get a shock. If the weight loss continues, something isn’t right.

[Sofia]

Thanks guys, this really reassured me? her weight has stayed the same since yesterday but then againit would take a while for her to gain it again. Before this happened I was scheduling her spay to happen in two weeks, do you think it would still be okay to go through with the surgery even if she’s underweight? I’ll of course call my vet and get a professional opinion but just wanted to know whether it’s like fine or dangerous

[kurottabun]

Some vets will refuse a spay if the rabbit is underweight, so weight is definitely a factor in determining whether she can be spayed. If it continues to drop then it’s probably better to postpone the spay anyway and find out what’s the underlying cause first.

Until then, like bam said just continue to monitor her

[joea64]

I’ll personally be delighted to see Panda and Fernando lose weight. I was too enthusiastic with the oat treats this spring, and they’d both put on about an extra pound each at their last checkup. Having stopped the oats appears to have done them a power of good already, they already seem to be a bit trimmer and a good deal livelier; I’ve even seen Panda binkying a couple of times over the past month, for the first time since I adopted them last summer!

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