Should I feed a lot of what he likes?

[toki]

Toki is quite off his food at the moment but seems to be improving gradually. He is eating hay and nuggets intermittently but I’m not sure it will be enough to keep his gut moving, and his poops are still about half the size they should be. There are 2 foods he loves at the moment and seems to want more when I give him his daily serving: basil and cilantro. Should I feed him as much as he wants of these herbs? I haven’t been, because I didn’t want it to interfere with the small amount of hay that he is managing to eat. But I’m wondering if I should capitalize on the food that he enjoys and maybe a large portion of herbs could help kick-start his gut back to normal? Any thoughts?

(He is acting normally, flopping and doing zoomies today, but just doesn’t have a huge appetite like normal. We have been to the vet about this on Saturday and he is much improved since then.)

[Bam]

It would be difficult to overdose cilantro and basil, I think. How much is he getting now? Maybe you could mix some in with his hay in the hope of some of the aroma rubbing off on the hay?

I’m rather a fan of giving a poorly bun favourite foods. Food perks a bun up, that in turn can in turn be exactly what’s needed to get the bun start eating more. This is why a little bit of sugary treats like fruit or some fruit juice (unsweetened) in the water bowl sometimes help – the sugar goes directly out into the bloodstream and might give the bun enough energy to take an interest in his proper food.

This is of course a short time solution, just to get the bun eating again.

[toki]

Hi, Bam! Mixing it with his hay is a good idea, I’ll definitely give it a try. He’s normally a huuuuge fruit fan but it seems at the moment that the slightest smell of any fruit puts him right off. Currently I have just been giving him a handful of greens once a day as usual, but when that handful is gobbled up he searches around for more. I will whip up a bowl of basil and cilantro and see how much he eats today.

[Kiki]

My vet told me to feed Indie as much as she wants of stuff she likes until she gets the urge to eat normally again

[toki]

Thanks Kiki! I just fed Toki about 20 cilantro stalks and about 10 big basil stalks. Eventually he stopped wanting the basil but he had all the cilantro. Afterwards I sliced myself an apple and he wanted a piece of that too! Thanks for the advice, I really hope this helps him start to eat better. I’m going to have to stock up on greens.

[Bam]

Good boy! If he likes dill or mint, you could perhaps get him some of that too? Dill is traditionally used for tummy/gas issues and mint for “dyspepsia” in humans. My bunny Bam always liked a little bit of mint when he had tummy trouble.

[toki]

I will definitely pick up some dill for him, he’s never been a mint lover though, for some unknown reason. I normally feed him dill but he was refusing it until about an hour ago; I had no idea it was good for tummies. Good news though, he seems to already be back to his old self! It’s absolutely amazing. Feeding him that boatload of greens seems to have done the trick. He is eating muchhh more hay now, digging in it and really gobbling it up. He runs up to me when I bring food in. I am so relieved! Thanks both, Bam and Kiki. Toki is very grateful too.  Yesterday I was unsure if he’d make it and was already ugly-crying saying my goodbyes. So this is amazing to me and I truly am so so grateful. 

[Bam]

Yay! Great news! Thanks for the update!

[Kiki]

I am glad your bun is improving!

[Author]

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