Not eating-- on and off

[Spring]

I'm not sure.. Two days ago, Pepsi was normal inthe morning, ate her pellets when I gave it to her, ect. When I camehome from school, I knew something wasn't totally right because she waslaying down weird, but she got up when I opened her door. I went downthere before supper and she was still laying weird- stretched out..just not normal looking for her and didn't get up. I thought she wasjust wanting to rest so I left her alone. I went back down after superand she didn't even look at me when I opened the cage. I started to getworried so I gave her some romain and she didn't eat any so I thought-oh no statis. I tried some celery leaves and she ate it. She was stillnot moving much when I gave her her veggies and I was scared sick whenI went to bed incase she might have statis.

I woke up and gave a sigh as I saw lots of pee and poo and lots ofvegetables eaten, still no pellets gone though. I offered her somecelery leaves (before I left for school) and she took them. She didn'tgo crazy munching at her evening vegetables though.

Well this morning, there was some poop and a bit off pee. The poopvaried-some big some small, all of her vegetables left untouched. Igave her a piece of romaina and some celery/leaves and she ate themwillingly. I left for school and when I came home she had eaten somepellets and pooped a bit more. Just to be sure, I gave her a tsp ofoats to keep her fiber intake up and a wedge of apple. She ate these.

I always get these feelings when I know she's not well and I have itthis time.. What do you think? She's been through this not eating thingmany times and has always recovered. I'm starting to think I shouldlower her vegetable intake (she gets about 1cup a night--2.4lb rabbit)incase she's not getting enough fiber.

 

[Pet_Bunny]

Pebbles is a NetherlandDwarf. At 1.25 Kg. (23/4 lbs.) I feed her1/4 cup of pellets every night,and she has tons of poop in the morning.

Rainbows!

 

[Spring]

Thanks . She's never really been a pelleteating bunny. Sometimes she'll eat the whole thing (I feed her about1/4 a bup too in the morning and at night) and sometimes she'll maybeeat half. Just when she doesnt' touch any I start to worry. Her diet ismanly vegetables (this is the thing she pigs out ofn) then hay, thenpellets, then treats ect. I think I'm going to cut back on hervegetables so she'll eat some more hay for fiber. Just she's so picky Idon't want her to go hungry.

 

[Pipp]

Sounds like it might be gas attacks.

It's probably going to take some experimenting to findoutwhatthe problem is, but it's possible one of thevegetables or maybe even the pellets arenot agreeing withher. (Are you sure your hay and pellets are fresh?What kindof pellets are they?)

I know something upsets Dill, but I'm still not sure what itis. It might even be the apple. I just have to keepexperimenting.

Rather than let her rest when she's lying funny, best to get her moving around to help break up the gas bubbles.

All of my buns are on different diets -- one's on almost all veggieswith a small handful of pellets (a mix of three different brands),one's on almost all pellets withhardly anyveggies,twoothers (the healthiest ones) eat mostly hay (but still geta half cup of pellets and a big plateof mixed veggiestoshare daily).

Good luck..

sas and the gang :bunnydance::bunnydance::bunnydance::bunnydance::bunnydance:

PS: Simethicone can be a bunny's best friend, that stuff works wonders.

 

[naturestee]

It sounds like gas to me too. Like SASsaid, simethicone can really help a lot. Gentle tummymassages and exercise can help her too.

I also agree with playing around with her diet a little. Whatveggies does she eat? Do her problems correspond with eatingparticular veggies? Did you start a new bag of hay orpellets? If so, she might need to be switched to new bagsslowly, same as if you were switching brands of pellets.

Does she eat much hay? If not, what brand and type are youfeeding? Maybe we can help you find something more tasty.

 

[Spring]

Hello! I haven't had any weird bunny layingsince the first day I knew something was right, so I think the gas haspassed, and she's still getting over it. She's a very nervous bunny, soI didn't want to take the chance of syringe feeding her it incase itdid more worse then good, so I was just waiting to see whathappend.Yes, simthecone works wonders!

Haven't really changed anything in her diet for awhile. Although, I didstart giving her cilantro afew daysbefore I noticedthis, but she gets cilantro often, I just didn't give it to her for acouple of weeks. I did introduce it slowly, but now I think this mighthave upset her stomach so I didn't feed her any.

Her normal night time vegetables are a few small pieces of celery,celery leaves, romain lettuce, parsley, and maybe a piece ofapple or carrot once a week or so. I'm feeding Pepsi the same pelletsas Pebbles and Pebbles doesn't seem affected by it. I've been feedingPepsi these pellets for around 5 months and they are just in a plasticbag from the petstore, but I'm looking for a different kind of pellets.I got this bag two weeks ago(I mix the old stuff with some of the newstuff to change over, so I don't think the change in pellets isaffecting her), and they smell fresh.

The hay smells fresh and Pebbles goes nuts over it, so I'm pretty sureit's fresh, I get them in these cheap bags. Pepsi is pretty good abouteating her, and I usually give her a handful in the bottem of her cagewhere she goes to the bathroom (that's usually trampled and most ofit's eaten) and a handful on her blanket upstairs and sometimes sheeats that after her vegetables. I gave her a bit of alfalfa mixed withher hay and she ate some of the alfalfa flake stuff and ome of theweeds from the timothy.

Update for tonight. I spent most of the night tidying around the rabbitroom (My mom threatened to take them to the spca if she saw hay allover the floor, but I know she's just kidding). She ate some morepellets, and I gave her another piece of apple and she ate that. I alsogave her another sprinkle of oats over her pellets and she ate them andgot a few pellets while trying to find the oats. She ate most of hervegetables from last night, and ate almosteverything Ioffered her for tonight (romaine, celery, celery leaves, but didn't eatthe parsley I offered her). But as soon as I put it down she took abite, then wanted me to pet her.

I'm thinking I might have a little spoiled girl on my hands.. I thinkshe's becoming a little more clingy too. There's more poop also, andshe pooped as soon as I cleaned the cage. She's moving around fine, andcoming up to see me and everything like usual, just not normal amountof pellets been eaten, and different attitude towards the veggies..Fffw.. Sorry about the length!

Thanks again for your suggestions!

 

[Fusilligirl]

You might be right about the finickyeating... I'm not the biggest bunny expert but ihave noticed over time Fusilli has become VERY picky (she's6). She won't eat carrots or celery anymore - she ends upkicking them toward her poop bin (God forbid her cage bemessy). You may have a Diva...

If you do decide to change her pellets, try Timothy-basedpellets. Fusilli used to get the no-name brand pellets andshe would only eat 1/4 cup (half a dish). Now that I'veswitched to timothy-based pellets by Kay-Tee, she eats the wholething! I've never seen a rabbit act SO MUCH like apig! Poops like one too...

:eats

 

[Spring]

Thanks! I'm starting to think she's getting a little spoiled and wanting what she wants so she's being stubborn.

I sat there by the door where her food is and just crouchedenough so she could see me then she started eating her pellets.She's mostly only eating romain lettuce when I offerher it and if I dip her hay in water or find her the "good pieces"she'll eat it.. gosh I can't have another stubborn bunincula on myhands! I'll have to see how it goes.. if she's hungry she'll eat right?If I start with the babying and hand feed her she'll want that all thetime so I'm just going to have to stand my ground and be as stubborn asshe is.. She did eat some romaim today my mom said without me there sohopefully she'll start eating normal soon.

Atleast she's still eating, even if she's being a little fussy bussy!

:whatever

I was thinking of trying the little friends Martin timothy hay basedpellets, thats mostly the only timothy based pellets I've senn.. I'mnot sure if I've had her on it before or not. I'll have to look at whatfeed stores have because if I get another bun, then the pellets mightget expensive. But do you think they'd have good priced pellets thatare healthy? I've only seen alfalfa based in the mega bags. I pay about70 cents a pound for the food I have right now, and I'm looking forsomething maybe cheaper and maybe 20 lbs?

 

[Pipp]

Hi Spring,

I've probably said this before (a few times),but I'll chimein again and bore everybody to tears. I've gotthe big bag of bulk pellets seeing as three of my rescues came to mewith them,but I'm mixing them up with the Martin Less Activeand the Oxbow Bunny Basics, and that's making the wholeworksboth healthy and affordable.

The bullk pellets aren't bad - the 14% protein ones, anyway.(I think they also come in 12% and 16%, if you're talking about theCo-op ones).They're a littlehigh--1% -- in calcium, so Pipp, who was was havingbladder issues,wasweaned off of them.

Pellets are only part of the diet around here, anyway, so it's not as essential. I expect it's the same for you.

Just keep an eye onactivity levels andweight. Dill is hyper-active, much like a growingbunny, and he's skinny, so he's fine with the bulk.Unfortunately his girlfriend is a little 'thick' and doesn't run aroundlike he does, so she should be restricted -- tough when they share afood bowl.

And Pipp also 'suffers' terribly from SBS... spoiled bunnysyndrome. I have to turn a blind eye to that pleading littleface to try and get her to eat hay and not treats. I'm such ameanie. I want to spoil her when her little mouth hurts(molar spurs), but thatactually adds to theproblem. Vicious circle.

Hope this helps.

sas and the gang :bunnydance::bunnydance::bunnydance::bunnydance::bunnydance:

 

[Spring]

Thanks!

Yes, I was talking about the Martin Less active.. is this a good brandof pellets? Pepsi doesn't eat a whole lot of pellets andshe's already pretty pleasantly plump (to say the very least). Does theMartin less active come in bulk??

I wanted to take out her pellets all together, but if I find a good lowfat brand, I don't want her not getting the nutrients she needs.

She's started eating her pellets again and hopefully will continue butit's so hard turning a blind eye at her big sulky eyes! I swear she'shad me hypnotized!

Thanks again!

 

[Pipp]

Spring wrote:

Yes, I was talking about the Martin Less active.. is this agood brand of pellets? Pepsi doesn't eat a whole lot ofpellets and she's already pretty pleasantly plump (to say the veryleast). Does the Martin less active come in bulk??

I wanted to take out her pellets all together, but if I find a good lowfat brand, I don't want her not getting the nutrients she needs.

Ithink the only bulk pellets around here are thealfalfa. The Martin are okay, better than the bulk, not asgood as the Oxbow. I think they're around $7 or $8a bag Bosley's, the most expensive pet store on the planet, and ofcourse the one closest to my house.

Tisol and other places I'm sure has them for much cheaper.

If she's plump, best to go with a mix heavy on theLess Activeand the Oxbow, and just try and get her to eat more hay.(Easier said than done, I know!)

Here's the Martin Less Active breakdown:

Crude Protein - 15.0% min
CrudeFat - 2.5% min
Crude Fibre - 18.0% min
Crude Fibre - 22.0% max
Moisture - 10.0% max
Calcium - 0.8% actual
Phosphorus - 0.5% actual
Sodium - 0.2% actual
Vitamin A - 17600 IU/kg min
Vitamin D3 - 2200 IU/kg min
Vitamin E - 55 IU/kg min


And here's the Oxbow:

Crude Protein (min) 14.00 %
Crude Fat (min) 1.50 %
Crude Fiber (min) 25.00 %
Crude Fiber (max) 29.00 %
Moisture (max) 10.00 %
Calcium(min) 0.35 %
Calcium (max) 0.85 %
Phosphorus (min) 0.25 %
Salt (min) 0.50 %
Salt (max) 1.00 %
Vitamin A, IU/kg 20,000
Vitamin D, IU/kg 880
Vitamin E, IU/kg 140
Copper, mg/kg 20

 

[Spring]

Thanks! I'll try to see if I can go to thisstore called Waldo and Tubbs because they have name brand pellets inbulk. I don't have a Bosleys hear, but I've seen the Less active atK&K petfoods and I have a few stores close to me. The closestplace that supplies oxbow stuff is the vancouver rabbit resuce andadvocacy, and I don't want to order on line and have it shipped (Idon't really feel comfortable with doing this, because what if I runout of food and the shipping comes late?)

I'm going to get her on a diet as soon as I change the pellets. No morealfalfa hay, no more fruits, no more treats, no more carrots. Isbluegrass hay high in fat? I feed her bluegrass and timothy mostly.What vegetables are low in fat? Currently I'm feeding her a bit ofparsley from my plant, celery, celery leaves andromainlettuce. How much should I feed a rabbit around 2.4lb that's trying toloose weight? Also Pebbles is around 5 and a half months old.. should Ikeep her on the alfalfa pellets and mixa bit with thetimothy? Im going tostop giving her the alfalfa hay once thisbag is done, and she still seems a bit bony to me around her hips andher shoulders.... is this normal?

Hmm I need a diet for poor little Pepsi.. I know she's not going to like it already!