I could use some help. I took in a 3yr old French Lop living in poor conditions at the beginning of December. She's probably more like 4 now. Anyway, I have been having problems keeping weight on her for a while now. She weighs around 12lb and is thin. I have always kept her hay rack filled. She gets 1/4 of a cup of pellets with about 1/16 of oats mixed in. I also feed her at least a cup of veggies daily it's the occasional fruit and carrot. She gets parsley, cilantro, bell pepper, carrot, banana, strawberry, cucumber, squash, snap peas, broccoli, spinach, etc. I like to mix it up for her. When I first got her, she had some eye goop. I thought I had cleared it up after cleaning around both eyes good. It is no longer working. She has also never been very active despite having a 56" by 28" by 28" cage with a second level that spans 14" by 28" if she wants up there. She is also allowed free roam of the room while I'm home. Recently, she has also been very, very picky about food. She will still eat her pellets, oats, parsley, cilantro (not too much and only sometimes), bell peppers (same as cilantro), and broccoli. She rarely touches her hay for the most part now. She's just constantly lying around. It's killing me to see her like this. She appears to be deteriorating right before my eyes. Is there anything I can do to help her? I'm working on finding a vet that deals with exotics.
Please Help! Rabbit Very Ill
- Thread starter Katie13
- Start date
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Jello.
Hello. It sounds like a dental issue. This can cause swelling in the face and block the tear ducts. Get her to a vet right away. If it is a dental issue there is very little you can do at home alone.
I've checked her teeth and they all look alright. I did notice a potent smell coming her when I picked her up. I believe it was coming from her vaginal area, but I can't say for sure. I'm really worried. Also, I messed up in my original post and apparently put the amount my dwarf gets. She actually gets 1/2-3/4 cup of pellets.
Unusual changes in eating habits, selective eating, weight loss, eye discharge, are all signs of a likely dental problem. You can't do a proper check of all of your rabbits teeth on your own. The incisors are visible but the molars are not. To get a look at a rabbits molars at the back of the mouth requires a special dental tool or an otoscope, and even then the rabbit may need sedating by the vet to get a really good look. So you need an experienced rabbit vet to do a thorough dental exam and possibly xrays as well. It could be sharp points have developed on the molars causing sores in the mouth that are causing pain while chewing, or there could be an infection. She needs to be seen right away before this develops into a much more serious problem such as an infection spreading to the bone, hepatic lipidosis from the reduced calorie intake and weight loss, or complete loss of appetite and GI stasis setting in. Don't put it off, she needs to be seen right away.
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Dental_diseases/Differential/D_problems1.htm
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Dental_diseases/Differential/Rabbit_dentistry.pdf
https://rabbit.org/vet-listings/
Though a dental problem is the most likely cause, it's also possible it's not dental but something else. If she is unspayed, at that age she would be at a high risk of possibly developing uterine cancer.
In the meantime I would be increasing her pellet amount. A rabbit her size should be eating approximately 1 oz of dry food(hay, pellets) per lb of body weight based on what the ideal weight would be for a rabbit her size. So if she is thin at 12 lbs, she should be eating more than 12 oz of dry food(hay and/or pellets). Since she isn't eating hay that means at a 1/2-3/4 cups of food per day she is only getting approximately 4-6 oz of dry food per day. She should be eating more than double that per day. If she has difficulty eating the pellets I would try soaking them in warm water to soften them up and see if she's more inclined to eat those. There is also oxbow critical care mix that can be made into a mush and fed to rabbits with dental issues and difficulty chewing(until the dental problem is resolved).
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Dental_diseases/Differential/D_problems1.htm
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Dental_diseases/Differential/Rabbit_dentistry.pdf
https://rabbit.org/vet-listings/
Though a dental problem is the most likely cause, it's also possible it's not dental but something else. If she is unspayed, at that age she would be at a high risk of possibly developing uterine cancer.
In the meantime I would be increasing her pellet amount. A rabbit her size should be eating approximately 1 oz of dry food(hay, pellets) per lb of body weight based on what the ideal weight would be for a rabbit her size. So if she is thin at 12 lbs, she should be eating more than 12 oz of dry food(hay and/or pellets). Since she isn't eating hay that means at a 1/2-3/4 cups of food per day she is only getting approximately 4-6 oz of dry food per day. She should be eating more than double that per day. If she has difficulty eating the pellets I would try soaking them in warm water to soften them up and see if she's more inclined to eat those. There is also oxbow critical care mix that can be made into a mush and fed to rabbits with dental issues and difficulty chewing(until the dental problem is resolved).
She still eats the hay, it just takes her a while to finish it all. She's constantly lying around. I found a good vet. I'm going to call as soon as they open in the morning and make an appointment.
