stopped eating hay

[elentari]

so the saga continues.
my rabbit has had a slew of issues recently and for the last month she hasn't wanted to eat any hay. the vet suggested a pellets only diet since then. we are currently doing that.

this is obviously concerning since hay is 80% of her diet and she's never not eaten it. she just stopped out of nowhere. I've tried different hays and she won't eat those either. I've mixed the pellets and even a rabbit forage grass mix in the hay and she picks those out to eat. she still eats her greens and veggies.

has this happened with anyone else? did your rabbit go back to eating hay?

I'm concerned her system is shutting down and she's just eating "favourites" for now, until she just stops eating.

 

[JBun]

Did the vet ever find the cause of the previous issues and weight loss? I feel like there is some underlying issue at the root of all these recent health issues occurring with your rabbit. Was a scan also done of your rabbits head and teeth? I know you said the teeth checked out being ok, but I'm just wondering if there isn't something the vet is missing.

What pellet do you feed your rabbit, and is she currently eating her pellets well at least?

 

[elentari]

Did the vet ever find the cause of the previous issues and weight loss? I feel like there is some underlying issue at the root of all these recent health issues occurring with your rabbit. Was a scan also done of your rabbits head and teeth? I know you said the teeth checked out being ok, but I'm just wondering if there isn't something the vet is missing.

What pellet do you feed your rabbit, and is she currently eating her pellets well at least?

No they didn't. There's definitely an underlying issue, we just can't find it. Nothing showed up on the xrays or ct scan other than the tooth issue but that wasn't severe enough to cause issues. No gastric problems, or any issues in her blood cultures either.

She gets the adult rabbit garden select oxbow pellets and eats those without a problem; same with her greens/veggies. Her GI is moving properly, she has no It's just like she decided to ignore hay completely out of nowhere after 6 years. She's also been doing little zoomies every now and then so I'm like, at a loss for what is going on. There's something new every few weeks.

 

[JBun]

What about a soft tissue mouth ulcer? Did the vet do a very thorough exam of the mouth to make sure that isn't the cause? Sometimes these get missed at the back of the mouth, even by good rabbit vets. That or another hidden dental issue, will often be the most likely cause when a rabbit suddenly has selective eating and there isn't anything wrong with the food itself or a change of the quality.

Garden select is a good pellet, but if you don't feel her current pellet is providing enough fiber for good gut motility, you could try adding in a plain timothy/orchard grass hay pellet. I've used standlee brand before and liked the quality, though the pellets are a larger size, but my rabbits didn't have any problems eating them, except for a really hard condensed batch once.

Another option is the sherwood free choice pellet. It has a higher fiber content to help make up for the lack of hay eating in rabbits that are unable to eat hay or just won't(for whatever reason). Loose hay of course is always better, but sometimes you just have to make the best choice you can in certain circumstances.

 

[elentari]

What about a soft tissue mouth ulcer? Did the vet do a very thorough exam of the mouth to make sure that isn't the cause? Sometimes these get missed at the back of the mouth, even by good rabbit vets. That or another hidden dental issue, will often be the most likely cause when a rabbit suddenly has selective eating and there isn't anything wrong with the food itself or a change of the quality.

Garden select is a good pellet, but if you don't feel her current pellet is providing enough fiber for good gut motility, you could try adding in a plain timothy/orchard grass hay pellet. I've used standlee brand before and liked the quality, though the pellets are a larger size, but my rabbits didn't have any problems eating them, except for a really hard condensed batch once.

Another option is the sherwood free choice pellet. It has a higher fiber content to help make up for the lack of hay eating in rabbits that are unable to eat hay or just won't(for whatever reason). Loose hay of course is always better, but sometimes you just have to make the best choice you can in certain circumstances.

They did. She was put under anesthesia, so they got a good look into her mouth, but I will probably bring her back if something has come up since then.
Her gut is working, and her poops are a regular sized, but a bit darker than the normal light brown colour.

I will definitely check out your recommendations and see how those work for her, thank you!

 

[elentari]

She's still not eating hay. I hand her some, and she just takes it and tosses it. Same for the hay in her litter box. I also got her a new thing for her to eat hay in thinking a change would interest her and it didn't. I've tried multiple hays, mashing up banana and spreading it on the hay.
Nothing.
Still eats her greens and veggies and what not.

Any adivce?

 

[JBun]

If her teeth are fine and you've tried all different varieties possible, you may need to do pellets for now. You could try a plain timothy or orchard hay pellet. It's a larger pellet, but I've used it with my rabbits in the past without issue.

https://www.standleeforage.com/products/premium-orchard-grass-pellets/https://www.standleeforage.com/products/certified-timothy-grass-pellets/
Or you could switch to a rabbit food pellet with the hay added in, for rabbits that have issues with eating loose hay. Sherwood makes one. I'm not sure if anyone else does.

https://store.sherwoodpethealth.com/adult-rabbit-food-free-choice-timothy-pellet/
And just keep trying different types and cuts of grass hays(sample packs). You may eventually find one your bun likes.