Sensitive stomach

[Zeldaman_]

I’m pretty new to owning a bunny, but I’m definitely one to do her research when diving into something new. Now from what I’ve read on different sites is that some bunnies ,specially in lops, can be very food sensitive. I have a 3 almost 4 month old dwarf holland lop (Zelda’s her name) and since the moment I brought her home she’s been over producing that C word I can never remember how to spell, at first I thought it was nerves since my Rex did the same thing for the first couple of days he moved in but it’s been over a month and nothings really changed. I took her to the vet and she gave me a clean bill of health, so I blew it off thinking okay maybe it’s her diet. I talked to the breeder that I got her from and she mentioned maybe too much protein? I give her the oxbows baby food pellets, no treats, and of course unlimited Timothy hay. So like any pet parent I started messing with the quantity of what she gets and it’s to the point where she has all the hay she can get and maybe less than half 1/4 of a cup a couple times a day but I feel bad cause now she’s always hungry like literally dives for the pellets. So when that really didn’t clear it up I took a sample and sent it to the vet to get tested, again it came back completely clean for any bacteria in her poop ect. Now she’s become kinda of moody and idk if it’s because of her age but she seems depressed and out of it and thumps sometimes when I go to pet her. I’m just at a loss of what to do…

[Sirius&Luna]

You’re right, overproducing cecals is normally because their diet is too rich. It’s quite common in young bunnies.

It’s great that she has unlimited timothy! That’s the most important thing! 1/2 a cup of pellets is still quite a lot though- some bunnies just can’t handle that amount. I think you can keep cutting that back and see if it makes a difference. My adult bunnies only get a tablespoon each a day. Younger bunnies do need more to grow, so watch that she doesn’t lose weight if you cut back, but it’s definitely worth a try.

Lastly, rabbits always act starving! It’s actually a great way of telling if they’re ill – if they’re not excited about food then they probably need a vet. So don’t worry about her starving act – she won’t actually be starving if she has and eats unlimited hay.

She’s probably moody because she’s becoming a teenager. Have you thought about spaying her in a couple of months?

[Zeldaman_]

Oh boy what an act then,, so I really shouldn’t be too worried? Because I forgot to mention I guess that whenever she overproduced it ended up all over her and her cage, I was constantly cleaning the first few weeks. And I was talking to someone earlier and they said maybe the oxbow western hay may be to hard on her stomach so should I try finding something a little softer as well? And that maybe asking the vet if giving her digestive vitamins might help as well.

I have thought about it but I’m not able to for quiet awhile. I’m still in the process of getting my boy bun completely healed he’s been having a hard time since I had him fixed. So are there anyways I can kinda of steer her away from being a little bratty? I don’t remember if I’ve mentioned before, but at night I feed her a little extra pellets just so she can eat them out of my hand while I pet her, and I’ve also tried sitting in my room just letting her come and go. She’s always been on the shy side so I’ve never really forced pet her. Anything else?

[Sirius&Luna]

You shouldn’t be worried about her acting starving, but you do need to work out what is causing the extra cecals and how to stop it So as I said before, I think cutting down on her pellets would be a good place to start.

There’s no harm in trying different hays, but it’s unlikely that hay would be a cause of extra cecals, unless its alfalfa hay. Lots of bunnies have very strong preferences about hays though, so it might be nice to let her try a variety

Unfortunately, unspayed females in particular can be very bratty! They can be very territorial, so try not to invade her space when she’s in it. And try to wait for her to come to you for pets, rather than going over to her

It is important that you get her spayed at some point, as uterine cancer rates are very high in unspayed bunnies, but there’s no urgent rush

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