kirbyultra
Well-Known Member
I said I wouldn't get myself into bunny overload since I learned my lesson with my lop trio. But I just couldn't say no to a bunny who was presented to me as needing a home for 2 weeks to fatten up because she was too thin for spay surgery.
I go and get her and realize the whole story is, she was either neglected or anorexic or combo of both. She is the thinnest rabbit I've ever laid hands on. She was sent to the vet where I picked her up to see if they could find out why she was so thin and not eating. She came to the shelter and volunteers found her not eating for a couple of days, thin as a rail. Normally neglected buns come to us and they eat like they've never eaten before or they'll pick out the junkiest thing in their dinner and eat that and turn their noses up at everything else because they were always fed sugary junk. Not this girl...
Dahlia, as I learned her name to be, has a protruding spine, jutting hips and a visible rib cage because she has no muscle or fat on her body. Her coat of fur is thin and rough to the touch. She has the classic look of malnutrition. I almost came to tears when I first started to pet her. She was so sad looking, so frail. I said she doesn't look like she'll be ready for spay surgery in 2 weeks. The vet looked at me as if I were crazy. She didn't know that that they asked me to foster only 2 weeks. She's severely underweight and with her eating habits, it may take a month or even longer to rehab her to a decent weight. I wholeheartedly agreed with the vet. I took the bun home armed with a bag of fresh veggies and things for her to try. The vet said they observed her for days and the only thing she'll eat is Kaytee Exact Rainbow pellets. Not exactly super great food but it bridges the gap between REALLY nasty junk pellets on the market (with seeds and sugary loops and corn bits) and actual food with the right amount of nutrition.
Most of the afternoon she sat in her litter box. It scared me because she looked like she would keel over any minute. She was staring into space, not responding to petting. Too scared to leave her litter box, she would just occasionally peer over at her Rainbow pellets. When I moved the dish to be inside of her litter box with her, she started to nibble on them. Lightly at first, then she started to dig through the bowl to find the bits she liked. She's a picky eater.
Later in the night she started to nibble at some timothy. Like 5 pieces of timothy. I counted. She probably didn't know what it was, had never been fed it, and did not know what to do with it.
She finally did give me a thumbs up on the salad that I gave her. She cautiously poked around at it but then took a liking to romaine lettuce and kale. She left the parsley uneaten. Odd, I'd never met a bun who didn't like parsley.
Much later in the night I got up just to check on her. She ignored the Oxbow pellets all day so earlier in the evening I took them out of the cage. But I decided to give the bowl of Oxbow back to her for the heck of it. Maybe she'd sniff it and give it a lick. To my great surprise she started to nibble on the oxbow young rabbit pellets! Not a lot. She ate maybe 6 pellets. But it was better than nothing.
I feel like I'm on anorexia watch. Every calorie counts for her. Today, she ate a lot more greens than she did yesterday. She's picking at the softest part of the timothy hay (still ignoring alfalfa). But she did eat something like 1/4 cup of Oxbow pellets and a bunch of her colorful ones. She doesn't seem as shaken up and I no longer fear that she'll just keel over anymore. I think she'll pull out of it. She just needs some time and some TLC.
I go and get her and realize the whole story is, she was either neglected or anorexic or combo of both. She is the thinnest rabbit I've ever laid hands on. She was sent to the vet where I picked her up to see if they could find out why she was so thin and not eating. She came to the shelter and volunteers found her not eating for a couple of days, thin as a rail. Normally neglected buns come to us and they eat like they've never eaten before or they'll pick out the junkiest thing in their dinner and eat that and turn their noses up at everything else because they were always fed sugary junk. Not this girl...
Dahlia, as I learned her name to be, has a protruding spine, jutting hips and a visible rib cage because she has no muscle or fat on her body. Her coat of fur is thin and rough to the touch. She has the classic look of malnutrition. I almost came to tears when I first started to pet her. She was so sad looking, so frail. I said she doesn't look like she'll be ready for spay surgery in 2 weeks. The vet looked at me as if I were crazy. She didn't know that that they asked me to foster only 2 weeks. She's severely underweight and with her eating habits, it may take a month or even longer to rehab her to a decent weight. I wholeheartedly agreed with the vet. I took the bun home armed with a bag of fresh veggies and things for her to try. The vet said they observed her for days and the only thing she'll eat is Kaytee Exact Rainbow pellets. Not exactly super great food but it bridges the gap between REALLY nasty junk pellets on the market (with seeds and sugary loops and corn bits) and actual food with the right amount of nutrition.
Most of the afternoon she sat in her litter box. It scared me because she looked like she would keel over any minute. She was staring into space, not responding to petting. Too scared to leave her litter box, she would just occasionally peer over at her Rainbow pellets. When I moved the dish to be inside of her litter box with her, she started to nibble on them. Lightly at first, then she started to dig through the bowl to find the bits she liked. She's a picky eater.
Later in the night she started to nibble at some timothy. Like 5 pieces of timothy. I counted. She probably didn't know what it was, had never been fed it, and did not know what to do with it.
She finally did give me a thumbs up on the salad that I gave her. She cautiously poked around at it but then took a liking to romaine lettuce and kale. She left the parsley uneaten. Odd, I'd never met a bun who didn't like parsley.
Much later in the night I got up just to check on her. She ignored the Oxbow pellets all day so earlier in the evening I took them out of the cage. But I decided to give the bowl of Oxbow back to her for the heck of it. Maybe she'd sniff it and give it a lick. To my great surprise she started to nibble on the oxbow young rabbit pellets! Not a lot. She ate maybe 6 pellets. But it was better than nothing.
I feel like I'm on anorexia watch. Every calorie counts for her. Today, she ate a lot more greens than she did yesterday. She's picking at the softest part of the timothy hay (still ignoring alfalfa). But she did eat something like 1/4 cup of Oxbow pellets and a bunch of her colorful ones. She doesn't seem as shaken up and I no longer fear that she'll just keel over anymore. I think she'll pull out of it. She just needs some time and some TLC.
I can't keep her, I already have my hands full with my own bunnies. She's a very temporary foster bunny. My second foster at the moment. Already have a long term foster bunny, Miss Annie Bun (the black and white dutch bun). 
