More hay and poop issues – GI signs? :(

[Heaven]

Hello everybun,

Apologies I seem to be asking a lot of questions lately!

Since Sam was allergic to the Timothy Hay I’d been buying (local and very fresh), it’s been a constant battle trying to get him eating any new kind of hay. I’ve tried oat, orchard, readigrass, meadow from several brands, & timothy from two other brands. He’s usually curious and has a bit of a nibble, but never eats consistently.

I’ve tried feeding each new type of hay for a few days, spraying with fruit juice, sprinkling with forage…he’s very picky!

The only thing he will eat is Rosewood naturals meadow hay “cookies” which are small pucks of compacted hay. However they are very soft and dusty – and messy!

His poops used to be large, pale and dry, now they are small, dark and tapered. I know this is not good! He seems happy and not in any GI stress, but I’m getting more worried. I’ve also been giving him an Oxbow digestive support supplement every day for the last couple of weeks, but that doesn’t seem to have made a difference.

Do we think it’s enough to keep feeding the meadow hay cookies? At my wit’s end

Edit: I know it’s not tooth related, because he chows down on willow twigs and dandelion root like nothing else!

[Wick & Fable]

I always like to mention that though it’s very common for lack-of-eating to be a sign of dental problems, it is not exclusive— Wick only lessens hay-eating specifically when his spurs pop-up. All other food, he eats as normal. Have you noticed any changes in water consumption (i.e. more or less)?

When do you give him veggies/pellets, and how much? A modification of feeding routine may help.

It’s a tricky balance to increase hay consumption. You don’t want to starve the rabbit to force it to eat a hay that it genuinely doesn’t like, but at the same time, owners need to remember hay isn’t usually the number one food choice for rabbits, so switching types so often and/or expecting them to gobble it up immediately is not realistic, especially if the rabbit is picky as this perpetuates it being picky (i.e. If I refuse this, something better will be offered).

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.

[professorzap]

I have heard that a bunny with tooth issues will sometimes eat some things and not others, so it is possible (though I’m not saying it is) that it still could be dental issues. I would put a lot of many types of hay down to see if he would eventually start nibbling. I don’t know if it’s a viable option for you and whether you have a rabbit savvy vet for Sam, but I’m usually VERY nervous about anytime my bunny is off–since rabbits can go downhill quickly in certain circumstances–so I would at least call and speak to my vet. There have been a few times where my vet was able to recommend something helpful without my coming in, though usually they want to get “hands on” to make sure nothing serious is going on.

[professorzap]

Oh, I might have missed where you discussed it…How do you know he’s allergic to timothy hay? I just ask because I thought my first bunny was allergic to hay, but it turned out it was just the hay dust causing her to sneeze occasionally. I just tried to make sure that I shook out most of the dust before putting it in her cage from then on. She still occasionally sneezed, but turned out it wasn’t really an allergy.

[Heaven]

Thanks Wick, great points. You’re definitely right that this constant switching won’t be helping the pickiness.

At the moment, this is his routine:

6:30-7am throw out old hay & put new hay down, maybe sprinkle with forage (dandelion, plantain, chamomile), new water
8:30-9:30am leave for work, small handful of pellets scattered on the floor.
1-2pm pop home from work, give Sam a plate of veggies (sometimes I don’t give veggies if I don’t have them in the fridge, he usually leaves some on the plate anyway) – I could be more consistent with this though.
5pm home from work, give a treat (dandelion root, fibafirst stick, small sprinkle of pellets)
7-9pm maybe give another treat/training him to do tricks/hand feed some veggies.
11pm bed, top up hay, new water.

I’m sure I could do to switch up the routine though, what would you suggest?

[Deleted User]

Do non-hay feedings every 12 hours. It almost forces them to eat the hay because they have to go so long without anything else. My boys get pellets at 5:30am and greens at 6:30pm, with a teaspoon of pellets any time while they’re out after dinner as a little treat. So you could do 8:30am pellets and 8:30pm greens or something similar to that. I’d keep sprinkling the hay with forage too to encourage him to eat it.

[Deleted User]

I agree with A&B. I used to always want to give Ophelia something EVERY time she would come up to me. She basically trained me that any time I went in the kitchen she got a snack too XD I thought it was harmless, cause I’d give her like a piece of bell pepper or some dried flowers, so it’s not like I was giving her “treats”. But I did notice that she wasn’t eating as much hay as she used to. She still ate well, but not as much. So I cut back on those little random feedings and she went back to chowing down on the good stuff!

[Wick & Fable]

I’d revise and make your lunch-time pop-in purely social, instead of giving veggies. I recommend giving veggies only during that 7-9PM slot, and do the pellets then as well, instead of the 2nd helping at 5PM. Spreading out could be beneficial, though Sam may not like it.

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.

[Heaven]

Thank you for the advice! He does tend to pick all the forage out first though and yes BunNoob I’m the same, Sam knows where the food drawer is and he’ll sit and wait there. Anytime I go near it he starts periscoping & clawing up my leg until I give him something… definitely a greedy little fluffer! I feel like such a weak willed mom haha

He won’t like, get GI stasis or starve during the day time will he, if he’s used to having other food around & he’s left with only hay all day?

[Wick & Fable]

If you see he’s being selective with the topping… I’d say lessen it and don’t add it as a topper until the next day, or only do it a couple times a week as a small treat. Wick loved oat hay, but only the seeds. He’d pick it out and not really eat any hay until I refreshed it and it had new seeds. Then I eliminated oat hay and left him with Timothy, where he also would just selectively eat the seed heads. That’s when we switched him to the hay stacks and for some reason he likes all of the pieces now.

If you perceive he still eats hay, I think it’s safe to try this for a day and see how it goes. It’d be more worrisome if you know he literally doesn’t touch hay. And it’ll technically only be a 12hr experiment, since you give him non-hay food and the beginning and end of that time span surrounding the hay-exclusive time.

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.

[Heaven]

Posted By professorzap on 4/11/2018 10:03 AM

I have heard that a bunny with tooth issues will sometimes eat some things and not others, so it is possible (though I’m not saying it is) that it still could be dental issues. I would put a lot of many types of hay down to see if he would eventually start nibbling. I don’t know if it’s a viable option for you and whether you have a rabbit savvy vet for Sam, but I’m usually VERY nervous about anytime my bunny is off–since rabbits can go downhill quickly in certain circumstances–so I would at least call and speak to my vet. There have been a few times where my vet was able to recommend something helpful without my coming in, though usually they want to get “hands on” to make sure nothing serious is going on.

Oh, I might have missed where you discussed it…How do you know he’s allergic to timothy hay? I just ask because I thought my first bunny was allergic to hay, but it turned out it was just the hay dust causing her to sneeze occasionally. I just tried to make sure that I shook out most of the dust before putting it in her cage from then on. She still occasionally sneezed, but turned out it wasn’t really an allergy.

I’m so sorry @profezzorzap, I didn’t mean to ignore you, I think we must have posted at the same time! Yes, he does nibble the hay, I’m pretty sure it’s a picky bunny attitude thing rather than something being off. Hopefully I’d notice – when he started sneezing he wasn’t as lively as he used to be, and he’d sneeze constantly throughout the day. The vet told me to remove the timothy hay for a week and see how he went, the sneezing stopped. I briefly ran out of hay after that, gave him the old timothy again in an emergency, started sneezing again. So I am pretty sure! And he’s never sneezed much since.

So I have been changing up Sam’s routine – gave pellets last thing at night, hay and veggies this morning. When I came home at lunch the veggies were only partly eaten, but I didn’t give anything else to eat and I saw him start nibbling the veggies again. Tonight all I will do is refresh the hay if it needs, and give pellets last thing at night. I caught him in the litter tray nibbling on the hay a few times, so I know he can’t dislike it that much. Will let you all know how it’s going! 

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