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BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately!  Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES 

The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet.  It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

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Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Elderly bunny hardly eating

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    • suzysmom
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         Suzy (and I) lost her sister in mid-July. Suzy was fine for about a month, but then, 5 weeks after the loss, she stopped having a normal appetite. She hardly eats her pellet food (Oxbow T) and is no longer a fan of her hay (I use a few different varieties: timothy, orchard grass, and oat hay) of which she has access to plenty. She is not munching on her alfalfa cubes as much as she used to (I added them when the elderly gals were having trouble keeping on weight, it helped a good bit). I am heaping on the dark, leafy greens and have added a small bowl of applesauce with Slippery Elm Bark to her pen (the Slippery Elm is to calm the stomach). She is moderately interested in her salads (she used to gobble them) eating a few pieces and then leaving and coming back later for a few more pieces. She is still drinking plenty of water and going to the bathroom (peeing and pooping) but her poop balls are significantly reduced in size. I have also added a homemade formula I found for nursing abandoned kits, which is evaporated milk, water, egg yolk, and honey with some pediatric vitamin supplement. She will take about 1.5 teaspoons of that from a dropper a few times a day. She has nothing medically wrong with her, other than the resulting weight loss; no fever, her teeth are fine, and her GI tract is still moving (the frequency of her poop and urine is the same, the poop is just smaller). 

        How long should I wait before another vet visit? Is this grief? Will she snap out of it?

         


      • Beka27
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          Welcome here. I am really sorry to hear about the loss of your bunny… :o(

          I am not familiar with that home-made formula, but I would recommend that you discontinue that. Those are foods that a rabbit is not able to digest properly, and could be causing more harm than good. If you want to be able to hand-feed something, you may want to try Critical Care. This is a special mix by Oxbow that is used for force feeding. You should be able to get it from your vet.

          Have you tried giving her alfalfa hay in addition to the grass hays you mentioned? You said she’s nibbling on the hay cubes, so maybe she’d like some alfalfa hay rather than the timothy, etc… Alfalfa hay isn’t recommended for adults, but seniors can have it with very little ill effect and it may help to keep weight on them.

          Is there anything she particularly loves in her salads? Can you try giving fewer pieces, but more often throughout the day? Sometimes rabbits are more interested in the act of “being fed” than actually eating. Giving greens more often may peak her interest/excitement.

          When was she at the vet last? What did the vet do/say when you had her there? If it’s been longer than a couple months, you might want to go back and have another (very thorough) dental exam. Molar spurs can creep up pretty quickly, especially in older rabbits as the consistency of the jaw changes.

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      Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Elderly bunny hardly eating