Possible Weight Loss?

[Lashu]

Hey everyone! So my half-dwarf bunny, Pandora, is 7 months old now! We got her when she was only two months, and she’s adjusted to living with us now ☺️. She’s such an energetic rabbit who also enjoys lounging around and crawling all over me when we spend time on the floor together. While I’ve dealt with her shedding for the past few weeks, it seems to have gotten worse when the weather got colder. Normally some hair tufts from her after a good petting session is normal, but she’s been giving off globs of hair. (I think that’s normal for her, but I’m wondering if this might have to do with my impression of her weight loss?) I believe she’s starting to lose some weight- it seems like her hip bones and front legs have more defined crevices. Her appetite is as good as ever but I’m gradually increasing her pellet diet to see if that helps. Recently we did get her a new “house”, which is a doggy play pen with tarp underneath it to help make mess cleaning easier than on our carpet. She hasn’t been eating anything but her hay, pellets, and some small amounts of greens (sometimes escarole, green leaf lettuce, or rarely some kale), and she definitely isn’t acting differently! I was trying to feed her more hay for some time, and limiting her to a cup of pellets a day, but I’m concerned that her weight loss is too fast for the slow food shift to be the reason why. We also did buy a new bag of hay recently and it does seem to have a few more brown strands than usual. She’s going to the vet this Tuesday but I was wondering if these subtle symptoms have happened to other people’s bunnies after diet changes? If it’s relevant, she’s also unspayed, but we’re looking into her having the surgery soon! If anyone would like me to upload pictures (to get a better idea of her state) I can definitely do that!

[redbunbun]

Has she been going through a heavy shed recently? Some rabbits feel much more bony after they’ve just shed, and I’ve been told some rabbits even lose weight during the stress of shedding. If she’s eating, drinking, pooping and playing, I wouldn’t be too worried about a little weight loss just yet, especially when your hay’s been different and you’ve been limiting her pellets a bit. They could very well be contributing factors, even if the changes are minimal.

If you’re worried and going to the vet anyway, I’d bring it up at the appointment – other than that, I’d just keep a close eye on her and maybe giving her a bit more in the way of pellets. Unless she starts losing weight drastically or starts experiencing other symptoms, it’s likely she’s just got some very natural weight fluctuation going on due to some minor changes in her life. It happens!

[Author]

Messages