Morgan, what the heck?

[undergunfire]

** This post is going to be a jumbled mess of questions **




Morgan Bunny has decided he hates his pellets. He ate they from December 2nd until just the other day. He is eating some hay, it seems. He is also eating a papaya tablet and oats.

I made him a huge salad on Christmas morning: parsley, cilantro, baby carrots, cucumber, broccoli, and red bell peppers. He didn't touch any of it, where as...the other bunnies ate all of it.

If I give him a baby carrot, he will take one bite...then walk away...then go back to it and eat it in a little while. He used to always eat it right away.

If I give him a craisin or two, he will sniff it...then walk away...then go back to it in a bit and eat it. Again, he used to snatch them up and eat them right away.


He is pooping normally, to me....drinking water, looks normal, no sounds coming from his belly.


It's really not like him to not want his pellets...and it was eating them before, then just stopped. The pellets aren't bad or anything...the other buns wolf them down.

I've been talking to Alicia and she said to pick up some infant gas meds, and try that.




What to do? Should I switch pellets back to Oxbow? The pellets I am feeding now are Star brand...what all the breeders around here feed. It is an alfalfa based, but I have not seen any issues here with this pellet. My only options for a Timothy based pellet are Kaytee (which I refuse to feed) and Oxbow (which is $50 for 50lbs and my bank account hates that right now).

Alicia and I discussed vets, but what will the vet do? I have never had to take a bunny to the vet for an issue, only for spays/neuters. I do not know how experienced the vets are here, exactly, with rabbit health issues. I don't want to take him into a vet and spend the money for them to tell me to switch food or something.

Could he be sad because he wants to be with another bunny, like Marlin, in which they groom each other through the NIC panels?



Help :dunno?

 

[Flashy]

Could it be a tooth issue? Like he wants to eat, which is why he takes a bite, but it hurts so he goes away (This is what Sunshine used to). Maybe try a pellet slurry, and maybe if you suspect it could be this, a trip to the vets might be the best thing?

 

[Evey]

yeah, this is what Mr. Evey used to do before his teeth got regular trimmings.

I used to mash up his veggies, and he'd be able to eat them...try that, and if he is able to eat them, I'd say he is having some teeth probs.

 

[Haley]

Yeah my first thought was a tooth issue. Often times they will eat some foods (like something soft) but maybe eating something more firm hurts. Could just be a little spur or something thats jabbing his cheek.

 

[undergunfire]

Yep, Alicia said the first thing she thought of was a teeth issue. I checked his teeth, and they look just fine to me :?. I can recheck them, but they look like Marlin's...just fine.


My main worry is a vet not knowing what they are doing. Should I email breeders in the area to see if they have ever had to bring a bunny to a certain vet for teeth trimming?

How much has the cost been for you guys to have teeth trimmed? Do they need to put him under anesthetic for it? I can use my credit card, but then if the total is hefty, then they will delay Mallory and Madilyn getting to Alexah.

 

[Flashy]

You won't be able to see his molars just by looking. Vets use a special scope and even then they can't always see everything. You wouldn't know from looking at his front teeth whether or not he has spurs, just whether he might be more prone to them (my vet said that if the front teeth has horizontal lines going across them the bun can be more susceptable to spurs, but again, they don't always come together, so you might see no signs other than change in eating habits, dribbling, etc).

fIF it is spurs he will need to be anaesthetised to have them sorted out. You could try e-mailing breeders (although telephone will be quicker if you can bear to do that), or just look on the rabbit savvy vet list here, or call local vets in yoru area and ask them the typical questions you would ask to find out of a vet knew about bunnies.

 

[Evey]

undergunfire wrote:

Yep, Alicia said the first thing she thought of was a teeth issue. I checked his teeth, and they look just fine to me :?. I can recheck them, but they look like Marlin's...just fine.


My main worry is a vet not knowing what they are doing. Should I email breeders in the area to see if they have ever had to bring a bunny to a certain vet for teeth trimming?

How much has the cost been for you guys to have teeth trimmed? Do they need to put him under anesthetic for it? I can use my credit card, but then if the total is hefty, then they will delay Mallory and Madilyn getting to Alexah.

it's only $10 for Mr. Evey to get his teeth trimmed, and he does not need to go under.

However, it's only his front teeth so I wouldn't know about the other teeth. I would call around to different vets, like Flashy said. It couldn't hurt to contact local breeders either to see what vets they use.

 

[PixieStixxxx]

I instantly thought about molar spurs. We had a bunny do the exact same thing - Take a couple nibbles, not eat pellets, but had fine droppings. When the Vet finally got a look, we saw that his molar spurs were cutting into his tongue. Owww =[

Good luck with Brody!

-April

 

[Haley]

Yeah sometimes they can see molar spurs with an otoscope but often they have to put a bunny under to get a really good look.

I doubt breeders would be of much help. Do you have any rabbit rescues near you? It would be worth driving farther to get someone who really knows what he/she is doing. It might save you money in the long run if you go to someone who knows their stuff first.

Molar trims can vary in price. I know someone whose vet is very experienced and doesnt put the buns under, and the price is cheap- maybe like 50.00 per visit. But if they have to put the bun under you could be looking at a few hundred for molar spurs. I would definitely call around on Monday.

 

[polly]

Hate to say it but it does sound like spurs.

If you take him to the vets they can use a thing like the one they use to look in their ears and have a look at his back teeth at least you would know then if it is and they won't anaethatise (sorry) him for that only if he does need them doing but it shouldnt be to expensive

 

[JadeIcing]

My first thought was teeth. The nearest rescue is 2 hours one way I believe. I told her call in case they know someone near. The drive could be stressful, he has only been home a month.

The gas meds is more because I worry if he isn't eatting right possible slow down.

 

[undergunfire]

I will have to call vets on Monday. Tuesday is New Years Day, so vets are closed....except our Emergency vet (the vet I use for spays/neuters).

Hopefully a vet can see me on a Saturday, so I don't have to lose hours at work, because if I do...then Mallory and Madilyn are reeeally going to have to wait to get to Alexah.

Alicia is correct, the nearest rescue is 2 - 2 1/2 hours away. Vets that far, is not an option, really. I would only be able to make the trip on a Saturday or a Sunday...and I highly doubt Ryan would drive all the way there for a vet, but who knows.


I'll email Brody's breeder right now, to see if she can recommend me. There is also a HL breeder right here in Prescott, that I can email.

I hope Morgan doesn't have to go under, poor baby has been stressed enough. I did make him a pellet slurry, with carrots and mixed fruit baby food mixed in throughout it.....he didn't touch that either.

 

[TinysMom]

He did eat fine while he was here - a day or two sometimes he might not eat all his pellets but then a day or two after that he'd be back to eating them all.

However, he never seemed to like carrots very much. He loved parsley and cilantro and cereal mix and spinach...but usually he just got a tiny piece of carrot and even then I'd wind up throwing a good part of it away.

Peg

 

[undergunfire]

I buy bags of orgainc baby carrots and he really does love them.


I emailed Brody's breeder a bit ago, hopefully she gets back to me soon .

 

[TinysMom]

undergunfire wrote:

I buy bags of orgainc baby carrots and he really does love them.


I emailed Brody's breeder a bit ago, hopefully she gets back to me soon .

Ah...that's the difference....I can't afford the organic and get the other baby carrots....

Oh well. I'm glad he loves them. (I did try to tell him the treats were from you when I spent money to buy him (and the others) some). I wish I could've had more things he liked too.

Peg

 

[undergunfire]

As we speak, Morgan has been binking around the bedroom like a crazy man for about 10 minutes. I think he is nuts, but is this a good sign? Does molar spurs cause a change in behavior or just eating behavior?

Morgan picked out all the carrots from the pellet slurry that I made for him and ate them, he wanted nothing to do with the acutal slurry, though. I gave him his usual 1/4 cup of pellets in another dish and I saw him eat almost half of it. Is that a good sign? He is eating his hay too, I put a fresh pile in with him.

I also spotted him eating a tiny peice of fabric off his new carpet, too :grumpy:.

Maybe Morgan goes through eating phases? Is 1/4 cup of pellets just too much for him (he is about 5 pounds)?

I'm still waiting for an email from Brody's breeder. I'll probably take him to a vet anyway, for an exam and to be sure he is okay.




Just to add....he is flopped out by my feet on the bed right now. He is such a little doll .

 

[gentle giants]

Could he mabye be holding out for something he likes better? I would have to agree with the majority here, if he's not jsut acting like a spoiled bunny then it probably is his teeth.

 

[undergunfire]

He has been eating his pellets for the past few days, but he seems to be "picky". He eats banana, oats, hay, and some baby carrot...though.

Regardless, we have a vet appointment with a bunny vet on Saturday January 12th, the only day I could get him an appointment on a Saturday, so I wouldn't lose hours at work.

 

[Bo B Bunny]

He should be fine until then if he's eating. I'd hold off on some of the "goodies" to see if you can get him to eat his pellets tho.

 

[undergunfire]

At our vet appointment today, my vet did all the exam type stuff, then checked Morgan's teeth.

She said his teeth look absolutely fine and that he is at a great weight and everything looks and feels just right!

She did have to trim his nails, holy cow....they were so long, I didn't even realize how long they were. Poor Morgy.


Dr. Luna did say she would love to see Morgan put back onto Oxbow Bunny Basics T, since it is Timothy based and the food I am feeding now is Alfalfa based. She suggested mixing the Oxbow and my current food, but I know Morgan...he's a stinker and will end up picking out all the Oxbow and leaving the other feed.

So, in a couple weeks I'll order some Oxbow just for Morgan, the other two bunnies are doing just fine on our current feed.