Posting for a friend

[LassieBunBun]

A friend I know is having it hard and asked me to post on here in her behalf. Her rabbit is losing weight rapidly, he was 10 pounds (roughly 4.53-5 kilograms) and less than a week later was down to 7 pounds (3.17 roughly in kilograms) and again, only a few days later down to 6.8 pounds (3.08 roughly again in kilograms). She took him to her rabbit savvy vet and to a rabbit savvy emergency vet but they told her that they couldn’t find anything wrong. He’s eating normally, drinking normally and doing all his normal things. She got him around 4 years ago when he was around 6 weeks old so it can’t be due to age can it? How can she get him to gain some weight? And do you have any idea what could be going on? Thanks for any help that you can give her.

 

[JBun]

Were any tests done - blood test, xrays, or a fecal float? Has anything in his diet changed like a different type and cut of hay, such as one that's more coarse? Is he eating the exact same amounts of food as he used to, including monitoring the amount of hay consumption to make sure that hasn't reduced? What is his exact diet, the types and amounts of food? Any other changes like mushy poop, fur chewing, etc?

 

[Moonshadow]

Was he checked for parasites?

 

[LassieBunBun]

Was he checked for parasites?

I don't know, she didn't say anything about that

 

[LassieBunBun]

Were any tests done - blood test, xrays, or a fecal float? Has anything in his diet changed like a different type and cut of hay, such as one that's more coarse? Is he eating the exact same amounts of food as he used to, including monitoring the amount of hay consumption to make sure that hasn't reduced? What is his exact diet, the types and amounts of food? Any other changes like mushy poop, fur chewing, etc?

She said that the vets did a examination then took him to the back and came back a little bit later and told her that they couldn't find anything. She said that his diet is the same, Oxbow Timothy hay, 1/8 cups of Oxbow essentials pellets, 2 cups of veggies and he's eating the same amount as usual. No other changes she said, poop is normal, not fur chewing but she did say he's been chewing on the x-pen more often but that's mostly during morning routine and stops when he gets his pellets.

 

[JBun]

I think what your friend needs to do is find out precisely what tests were done, as the answers will help in determining what might be wrong and what might need to be done next. The friend may be able to find this info on the paperwork she got from the vet office. Otherwise she would need to call them up or go in and ask what diagnostics were done.
I would want to know if a thorough dental exam was done, a blood test, head or belly xrays, urinalysis, and/or a fecal float test, and if there were any abnormal findings with any of the tests done.

Ask her to double check on the hay amount he's eating too. Sometimes it can be hard to know when a rabbits hay consumption goes down, because they just get a big pile to always have to eat every day. It can just get spread out on the floor and it's difficult to know the amount that's actually been eaten. If she for sure sees him at his hay munching on it all of the time, and she definitely has to refill each day, that's a pretty good indication he would be eating it well.

Also ask about the hay quality. If it seems to be mostly hard stems, or if there is a lot of soft leafy strands as well.

If her rabbit isn't sensitive to extra pellets causing mushy cecotropes or digestive upset, has she tried increasing pellet amounts, just as a temporary measure until this gets figured out?

I know all of these questions might seem a bit odd, but the answers are pretty important in determining what could possibly be going on.

 

[LassieBunBun]

I think what your friend needs to do is find out precisely what tests were done, as the answers will help in determining what might be wrong and what might need to be done next. The friend may be able to find this info on the paperwork she got from the vet office. Otherwise she would need to call them up or go in and ask what diagnostics were done.
I would want to know if a thorough dental exam was done, a blood test, head or belly xrays, urinalysis, and/or a fecal float test, and if there were any abnormal findings with any of the tests done.

Ask her to double check on the hay amount he's eating too. Sometimes it can be hard to know when a rabbits hay consumption goes down, because they just get a big pile to always have to eat every day. It can just get spread out on the floor and it's difficult to know the amount that's actually been eaten. If she for sure sees him at his hay munching on it all of the time, and she definitely has to refill each day, that's a pretty good indication he would be eating it well.

Also ask about the hay quality. If it seems to be mostly hard stems, or if there is a lot of soft leafy strands as well.

If her rabbit isn't sensitive to extra pellets causing mushy cecotropes or digestive upset, has she tried increasing pellet amounts, just as a temporary measure until this gets figured out?

I know all of these questions might seem a bit odd, but the answers are pretty important in determining what could possibly be going on.

Sorry for the late reply, had to wait until she replied back. She told me that they did everything except x-rays and that everything came back normal. As for the hay quality she said it's green and feels a little rougher than your usual first cut Timothy grass hay and she said she cleaned his area and he's been eating his usual amount and has to fill the hay rack twice a day (which is normal for her).

 

[Futurebunmom]

Has she tried increasing the amount of food she gives him?

 

[LassieBunBun]

Has she tried increasing the amount of food she gives him?

She did and now he's gaining weight again, more in the post below this one.

 

[LassieBunBun]

I got a message from her today and she wants to apologize, she figured out what made her male lose weight. Her female was being a bully to him, she chased him away from the hay rack so she's going to seperate them and hope for the best.

 

[JBun]

Well that certainly explains it Poor little dude. Girls can be pretty bossy at times (ps. this is coming from a fellow female ).

Instead of going to the extreme of having to separate a bonded pair, would it maybe work to have a second(or more) hay source/litter box with hay in it? Though if she can't stop her girl bun from keeping him away from the hay, then they definitely need to be separated to get his weight back up, at least temporarily until your friend can figure out a solution.

It might be a good idea to temporarily increase his pellet ration a little(if she hasn't already), Just to get him some added calories to help get his weight back up. Provided the extra pellets don't cause any poop or digestive issues.