Critical Care Instead of Hay

[Chrisdoc]

Haha, it is amazing how excited we get about well formed bunny poop. Glad to see he's eating better and producing perfect poops

 

[missyscove]

I think they also sell hay cubes for horses, and probably in larger quantities so that might be something for you to look into if you're having luck with that. Since he's lost so much weight I'd definitely up his pellet ration to help him gain that back (assuming he was at a healthy weight before and is underweight now vs. overweight before).

 

[majorv]

If he's been 'skin and bones' since you got him and he's since lost weight, then, personally, I don't think you should withdraw his pellets for a few days to try and make him eat more hay...unless you're continuing the critical care during that time. As you mentioned in an earlier post, you should probably up his pellets to 1/4 cup and just find the right type of hay he'll eat. Hay is roughage but doesn't provide the nutrition that pellets do.

 

[Watermelons]

I think every things been covered in here all ready.

Up his pellets.
Find some hay cubes. If he's that underweight alfalfa cubes would be just fine. However trying to find timothy cubes would be nice as well as once hes of adequate weight he doesn't need the extra calcium and protein the alfalfa will provide. What pellets was he on? (Alfalfa based or timothy based? protein %?) Again these can almost always be purchased from any farm/tractor supply store.
Fresh greens are beneficial. No not all people provide them. But their not bad. Lots of things you can do to limit the amount and ensure hes getting some roughage from them. Nix the fruit and try and find more hearty leafy greens rather then the more common "lighter" ones IMO like romaine I find to be a bit watery compared to red/green leaf, etc. Try Cilantro as well.

 

[rhianna]

Thank you all for the advice. I'll continue his regular pellets at 1/4 cup now. He was healthy weight before and is now underweight. He's been gaining slowly since I was giving him the Critical Care but I've stopped giving it to him since people on this thread said that I should. He's eating great amounts of hay pellets so hopefully he will continue eating them along with his regular pellets.

I could only find alfalfa cubes in a large amount, but if when I run out of the 3 pounds of timothy ones I just ordered he's still underweight, then I'll probably go to Tractor Supply and get the alfalfa ones. I'm also planning on going to Petsmart probably on Wednesday where I'll pick up some alfalfa hay.

He gets Oxbow Bunny Basics Timothy pellets. This is the variety that was recommended by my vet.

 

[DartANrun]

I forgot to mention that I did give him some fresh grass the other day. He gobbled it down, but then his poop was sticky. I think that it has too high of a water content for him. That's basically what happened when I was giving him fresh veggies every day; I think he's just got a sensitive tummy.

Maybe cut the grass, tie it at it's base and hang it to let it dry out some. You might have to experiment to see how dry it can get and still be attractive for him. You could probably keep increasing the drying time before feeding until it is hay and then mix in regular hay.

 

[Ebunn]

Is your bunn eating his hay yet? If not, I would suggest your vet anesthetize him and take a very, very good, thorough look at his back teeth. He might have a misalignment or some other problem that makes it difficult for him to chew hay properly. Especially if he already has trouble with his incisors which could throw off the way the molars grind against each other. Watch him carefully when he eats things that are similar in shape to hay to see if he looks like he takes extra time trying to maneuver things in his mouth.

And as far as his incisors, if they are truly misaligned, a good rabbit vet should be able to shape the teeth in a manner that would help work the alignment back in place, rather than just trim/clip them. If they angle the bevel properly, it will eventually get things back to normal after a few shaping sessions.

And yes, generally misaligned incisors is a genetic thing, but I've seen adults develop this after an accident or even from a severe case of chronic, consistent yanking/pulling too hard on the cage bars.

Good luck!

 

[Courtney88]

My little one (now almost 3 so I guess not so little anymore) didn't eat hay at all for the first 2 years we had him. He's finally starting to eat little bits of hay lately, and the brand that I've found he likes is Sweet Meadow Hay. Our vet recommended Oxbow (which I buy as well) but Snowball only eats the Sweet Meadow one for some reason. Try different brands of hay because there has to be one that your rabbit will like at some point! Good luck!