Dwarf rabbit diet

[Stephen]

Hi, we recently adopted a dwarf bunny. His owner couldn’t keep him and he’s a cute lil thing. Only problem is that we noticed he gave us 2 types of bedding hay, we brought little marlo to the vet and his teeth haven’t formed properly, so he’s in a little bit of pain. We have 1 lop rabbit already and she’s healthy and happy. But we can’t seem to get him to eat any of the good stuff. He will only nibble a few pellets and we/ and the vet are worried. Any tips to encourage him to get back on track. We have all the good chew toys and make a nice mix of fresh hay/grass but the wee man won’t touch it. We worry cause he eats and drinks very little and know it’s very dangerous for him. Any help please?

[tobyluv]

Does the vet plan to do anything about Marlo’s teeth? Does he have some sharp points on his molars which need to be filed down, or do his incisors need trimming? If Marlo is in pain, he should be getting some pain relief, such as Metacam. The vet needs to determine exactly what is wrong with his teeth and correct the problem if that’s possible. Otherwise, it’s understandable that Marlo does not want to eat much. If Marlo is eating very little, that is dangerous and he is going to need to be syringe fed some Critical Care or pellet mash.

[Stephen]

Hi Toby, thanks. Yes he’s on pain killers at the minute. The vet wanted to try him for a few days to see if it helps him eat more. His molars are slightly curved instead of flat. The plan is that if we can get him eating hay and some healthy roughage it may help wear them.back naturally. Plan b though will be to do a procedure on his teeth. He’s only a year old, but we think for the last 6 months he was just fed pellets, now hay or grass and definitely no things to chew on.

[Stephen]

Going to keep an eye on him tonight and straight to the vets in the am. Poor little fella hasn’t had hay or anything else but pellets for the last 6 or more months. We just adopted him less than 48 hours ago. Fingers crossed his gut is OK.

[tobyluv]

Will he eat any greens? If he has never had greens or veggies before, you have to go very slowly, and only try one kind, especially since he isn’t eating hay, because you don’t want to cause any stomach upset. But you said that he was drinking very little in addition to eating very little. If you give him something like romaine lettuce, you could dampen it first and that would get some extra fluids in him. Or you could give him some water in a syringe.

Have you tried any alfalfa hay? Even though adult rabbits should only have it once in a while as a little treat, he does need to get some nutrition and keep his gut moving. I hope that he will feel better and start eating soon.

[Stephen]

We tried him with some kale as we use it as a treat for our other rabbit but he turned away. Even tried sitting him with bali our other rabbit( which they bonded immediatly) while she was eating to see if it would teach him but to no avail. He’s barely touched his water too.
He fights the syringe and won’t take it. If there is no poos or pee in the hutch tomorrow morning, we’ll get him booked in. I’ll try get a pic of the little scruff up too.

[Stephen]

We tried him with some kale as we use it as a treat for our other rabbit but he turned away. Even tried sitting him with bali our other rabbit( which they bonded immediatly) while she was eating to see if it would teach him but to no avail. He’s barely touched his water too.
He fights the syringe and won’t take it. If there is no poos or pee in the hutch tomorrow morning, we’ll get him booked in. I’ll try get a pic of the little scruff up too.

[Vienna Blue in France]

(( Eat up lilttle Marlo )))

[Stephen]

Just an update. He’s been checked in and currently on fluids. He’s going to be getting a dental later today after the give him some syringe food to get his gut going. Should have him home by tomorrow evening. The vet basically said if we didn’t adopt him when we did that he wouldn’t have lasted more than a month or 2. Thanks for the help

[Stephen]

Just an update. He’s been checked in and currently on fluids. He’s going to be getting a dental later today after the give him some syringe food to get his gut going. Should have him home by tomorrow evening. The vet basically said if we didn’t adopt him when we did that he wouldn’t have lasted more than a month or 2. Thanks for the help

[Author]

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