Skinny Bunny

[JatCat]

Checkers, my bunny, has been losing a lot of weight. He’s a mini lop, but I doubt he even weighs 3 lbs. I can feel his spine and hips very easily. His coat is pretty dull, too. I would think it would be teeth issues, but he’s eating everything fine. He loves his hay and veggies, but he’s a bit peckish on his pellets. I give him Supreme Selected Fortified Rabbit Food that I get at Petco. Do you recommend I switch him to Oxbow? 

He also isn’t very good at cleaning himself. It’s kind of like he has to work up the strength to get his paws up to his face to rub it. His bottom gets dirty easily from pee and poop. It seems like he dribbles his water and food out of his mouth, making his chin and chest dirty. I have to pick poop off of his butt sometimes because it gets stuck there.

I’m at a loss.  Any ideas? Would pet insurance be good to get? I probably need to take him to the vet, right?

[Luna]

I agree with you and feel like it could be teeth or mouth issues. With the dribbling plus the weight loss I would make an appointment with the vet. Is he playing and running around? If it looks like he needs to work up the strength to lift his paws to his face, he could be feeling weak from lack of nutrition that he would normally get if he were eating regularly.

[jerseygirl]

Oh yeah, it certainly sounds like dental issues. It can be mysterious how they can cope with some foods and not others.
I don’t think switching the pellet brand would make much difference, tbh. You could go to a junior feed rather then adult, to help with weight gain, but do run that past the vet. Have you tried making a pellet mush and seeing if he’ll eat that instead? You can also give Critical Care, mixed up like pudding consistency and given in a bowl.

With pet insurance, there are not a lot of companies that cover rabbits or cover pre-existing conditions. Pet Assure does, however, so definitely check them out. There is also Care Credit. http://www.carecredit.com/vetmed/

Edit to add:

I would probably get him checked out for parasites also. Sometimes rabbits have a low grade or sub-clinical infection that will rear it’s head when they are run-down for other reasons. Their immune system is just too taxed to keep it under control. 

Sending some {{{vibes}}} over for your Checkers!

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