Need feeding advise

[Tepa]

Hi,

My 4 year old holland lop recently developed some dental issues as a result he had a big apses in his mouth that we had to remove.

I did a some research and realized it was common issue with rabbits. I understand in order to prevent this from happening again he has to get his teeth naturally filed, It happens only if rabbit eats hay and greens. (correct me if I am wrong)   My rabbit from the begging never was a big fan of hay or greens. He could eat a very small amount of hay or a piece of green. While he was recovering after surgery I just had to force feed him to make sure he eats something, now when he is a little better I want to make sure he eats what he needs. Unfortunate my little boy has his own agenda. He completely refused any green veggies, I tried to bring him every green leave available in a store, he is not even smelling hay, I tried turning it I tried replacing it Giving him a whole bag as long as he takes something but no help. He sometimes eats carrots I slice it on smaller pieces, as it is a little hard for him to eat. I tried taking his dry food from him leaving only greens but no success.

 He eats his pellets no problem.

I honestly do not know what to do if any one has any advise PLEASE help

Thank you

[Bam]

Greens are of little use when it comes to wearing down the teeth, so what you need to focus on is the hay. It can be very difficult to get a bun to eat hay though. I’m experiencing that problem myself now when my normal hay-supplier has gone out of business. My buns are not over-joyed with the types I’ve tried so far, but one of them eats a little oat hay and the other one eats a little bit of an organic locally produced hay I was lucky enough to find the other day. If you can get fresh grass, that works like hay, and bunnies are often more interested in it than in dry grass (=hay). I can’t get a lot of it this time of year, but soon spring will come and grass starts to grow again. Make sure you only pick pesticide-free grass.

[Azerane]

I agree, hay is the really important one to be encouraging here. What type of hay are you trying with him, it would be worth trying some different types of hay as many bunnies prefer one type over others. There’s meadow, timothy, orchard grass, oaten, wheaten and bermuda.

How long ago was the abscess removed? Has it healed up properly? If he’s still healing he may still be a bit tender eating hay, but you need to do whatever you can to encourage him to eat it. I find that even holding a strand of hay up to the mouth can encourage them to eat something that they wouldn’t go and eat themselves. If your rabbit is just used to eating pellets he’ll probably take a bit of encouraging but you’ll get there. If you’re really stuck you can also try spraying a very small amount of apple juice onto the hay, this makes it sweet and appealing. You don’t want the hay wet, just misted on there. Where are you putting the hay? Is your rabbit litter trained? If so put hay at one end of the litter tray (the opposite end to where he poops etc) rabbits love to poop and munch on hay so that might encourage him also

[Asutt]

Some good suggestions here already. My rabbit also used to not eat his hay much but has always been great with his greens. To get him to eat more hay I tried three things: firstly I cut down on his pellet intake so he is forced to graze on his hay rather than the pellets during the day (veggies in morning and evening), though I would be careful with that as your bunny sounds much fussier than mine was so may respond by simply not eating anything. Secondly, I changed different brands of hay, making sure to buy dust extracted hay only and checking for quality. The greener the better for timothy hay, should come apart easily, minimal/no dust. I also started mixing readi grass with his timothy and meadow hay as it is a really sweet and tasty hay which is known to be temping to even fussy rabbits. It can be bought at most pet shops in my country (UK). Thirdly, I started adding hay to his litter box and anywhere in his pen where he likes to lie to encourage grazing.

I did not have to resort to it as these methods worked but, as already mentioned, spraying something fruity and tasty like apple juice or pineapple juice over the hay can help apparently. As for greens, I would try parsley and kale as these seem to be very popular with rabbits. I find rabbits go nuts over apples too.

I hope that helps! 

[Tepa]

Thank you so much, It has been about 4-5 weeks since the surgery. I think it is healed by now or almost. At the beginning he was more interested in greens but now would not even eat an apple or banana that he likes so much. he is very active and social, so it is very hard to believe something is wrong….

He is litter box trained, but he marks his tunnel or any other objects we put in his very large playpen. I also see he poops around a lot, but honestly It does not bother me a bit. it can be washed and cleaned. I am just worried about his teeth. After the surgery I saw vet did not remove additional teeth that grew on the site of his front teeth. when I saw them it was a little late and I did not want him to go through another surgery. Vet told me he  saw them and they do not bother Tepa so he did not feel he had to remove them. I am just afraid they actually bother him. I might be wrong. I do not have experience with Bunnies he is our first. Always had dogs

With hay I understand he needs it I tried Timothy hay mainly  different brands with different tastes. I will try to buy some other hay you recommended.

I placed it next to his litter box. I also tried taking a whole bag and placing it in to his play pen, he goes inside the bag and just smells it, but does not eat it.

 

[Tepa]

Thank you

You are right that is exactly what Tepa did I would leave him greens during the day and Hay no dry food and he would not eat anything.

After the surgery he would eat a little piece of apple a little Kale, now he would not even smell it. He comes to look what he is given and turns around and leaves. I never give him any dust in food or hay I am a crazy owner with all my animals, sorry

 

Do you happen to know if i am unsuccessful with forcing him to eat hay can I manually file his teeth is it even possible?

[Azerane]

Posted By Tepa on 2/10/2016 8:17 PM

After the surgery I saw vet did not remove additional teeth that grew on the site of his front teeth. when I saw them it was a little late and I did not want him to go through another surgery. Vet told me he  saw them and they do not bother Tepa so he did not feel he had to remove them. I am just afraid they actually bother him. I might be wrong. I do not have experience with Bunnies he is our first. Always had dogs

I’m a little unsure what you mean by this, did he remove some teeth from say the bottom in one spot, but he didn’t take the ones from the top in that spot?

I don’t really think teeth can be manually filed, not like they can with horses. I know that the front incisors can be clipped by someone experienced but I don’t think that tooth filing without sedation is recommended for rabbits.

[Author]

Messages