Why is my bunny loosing weight?

[Karrakov]

I have a holland lop named Benny. He’s about a year and a half now and he’s false dwarf so his weight has been around 5 lbs since he was about 8 months old. He got stasis about a month ago and i decided to eliminate pellets from his diet. He only gets them as a treat now, maybe once a week. When he was recovering from stasis I noticed he lost some weight and my vet said it was probably from the stasis. He’s had stasis a few times before and I didn’t notice much of a weight loss before but I trust my vet. So not long after he was better i dropped the pellets from his diet and then I noticed a more significant weight loss which I expected. I know pellets often cause weight gain so I assumed his loosing weight was his diet change. I had been given him a 1/4 cup of pellets each morning before I cut it back to once a week. It’s been about a month now and he’s dropped from 5 lbs to 4 lbs, so I’m wondering if that’s normal. Is that a reasonable amount of weight to loose in a month with dropping the pellets or could their be another reason for him loosing weight? He doesn’t appear thin, he still has muscle mass. I can feel his bones more than I could before but he doesn’t appear unhealthy. I know weight loss can be scary in bunnies so I’m wondering if other people have noticed this much weight loss when they’ve changed diet. My other rabbit he is bonded too has the same diet and she’s a chunky little thing, but about half his size. Should I be concerned??

[Wick & Fable]

Pellets are a bulk part of a rabbit’s weight gain usually. What is the line of reasoning for cutting out pellets due to gi stasis?

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.

[Karrakov]

My vet always suggested removing pellets from his diet and after some research and thinking I decided they just weren’t necessary for him. It wasn’t really in reaction to the stasis. I read somewhere that too many pellets could potentially contribute to stasis and since Benny is so sensitive I just eliminated them.  

[sarahthegemini]

Hmm, I feel like a 5 pound bunny losing a pound of weight is quite significant and I wouldn’t have thought that cutting out pellets would have that big an impact unless he was on tons of pellets beforehand (which it doesn’t sound like he was)

My rabbits lost a teensy bit of weight when they were off pellets for 2 months but nothing major.

I would absolutely keep an eye. It would be good to see if his weight stabilises or if it continues to drop. Is he underweight now or is he okay?

[LittlePuffyTail]

When you weigh 5 lbs, 1 lb is quite a big weight loss. You need to make sure there’s nothing else causing the weight loss.

Unless anything has been ruled out, I would have your vet give his teeth a thorough exam. Dental/molar problems can cause both stasis and weight loss. I’ve experienced both of these in a bunny who needed his molar spurs trimmed.

[kurottabun]

I’d think pellets do make a pretty big difference to their weight. Have you noticed any other changes apart from the weight loss? Is he eating less hay, more lethargic etc? If there’s nothing else then I think you could probably wait a bit more to monitor if anything else changes. There are tons of reasons for weight loss so it’s quite difficult to find out what’s wrong purely based on that.

Perhaps you could weigh him every week and see if his weight continues to drop or is actually stabilising.

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