Hay consumption…

[BertieBun]

Hello all! I am new to Binky Bunny. 

I have a gorgeous mini lop, Bertie. He is just over one year old. Up until the start of 2017 he was perfectly content. At the start of the year he got GI stasis, and one week after recovery he became partially paralysed, lost the use of his back legs and was very poorly for around 3 weeks. We still don’t know why he developed the paralysis as he tested negative for E.Cuniculli and had no injuries. But thankfully he seems to have made a full recovery and is his cheeky little self again!  

However, since then we have struggled to get him to eat hay, and we have noticed that his poops aren’t as they should be; sometimes small, sometimes loose and sometimes fine. This is our fault-  when he was ill we were so desperate for him to get better we spoilt him and fed him whatever he would eat just so he would get strong again. Since then we have tried everything; a variety of hay, fresh and bagged, different ways of presenting it to him, reducing pellets, using toppers, but he is completely uninterested. His favourite topper is dandelion forage, which is just dried dandelions, which he absolutely loves but even when we sprinkle that on top he just picks those bits off. I am scared to remove pellets completely from his diet as we are worried he could go into stasis and after our experiences earlier in this year we are quite nervous about it all. I wondered if the forage would suffice, but I think it may be high calorie and should be fed as an addition to the hay rather than the main source. 

I just wondered what advice people may have around this and whether others have experienced this sort of thing before? I read some of the other posts about hay consumption and some buns started losing weight and still refused to eat hay. I’d really like to avoid this, I just want a healthy, happy bun but I don’t know what more to do! 

Thanks in advance, and sorry if I am repeating another post! 

[sarahthegemini]

Firstly, I’m so sorry that little Bertie became so sick but thank goodness he has now made a full recovery. My Buttercup had stasis a couple of weeks ago and it is very scary isn’t it. Thankfully she recovered in just a few days but I can totally see why you fed him whatever he wanted just to make sure he ate something. That must have made a huge contribution to his recovery!

Have you tried hay cookies? I know they won’t be great for his teeth but it might spark an interest in hay and provide some much needed fibre? Have you tried alfalfa? I know that’s usually not recommended for buns after they’ve stopped growing but apparently it’s a very irresistible hay!

Another thing, I can’t remember the name of it but on my thread about Buttercup’s stasis, a member recommended some very high fibre pellets (‘fibre firsts’?) I’ll go and have a look back at it and will update.

Edit: Yep, they’re called fibafirsts. I’ve not tried them on Buttercup yet so hopefully others with experience will chime in!

[BertieBun]

Sorry for my delayed response I haven’t been able to access my account.
It is awful, you feel so helpless ? I’m glad your Buttercup is doing well!! We have tried hay cookies but he wasn’t interested in those unfortunately. I haven’t tried alfalfa so I might give that a go and I’ll definitely look into the fibafirst!
Thank you for your help!

[sarahthegemini]

Posted By BertieBun on 5/29/2017 3:47 AM

Sorry for my delayed response I haven’t been able to access my account.
It is awful, you feel so helpless ? I’m glad your Buttercup is doing well!! We have tried hay cookies but he wasn’t interested in those unfortunately. I haven’t tried alfalfa so I might give that a go and I’ll definitely look into the fibafirst!
Thank you for your help!

The helpless feeling is awful but getting him to eat is a major obstacle so it’s great that you were able to do that Have you tried different types of hay cookies? Mine loved the Woodlands cookies but turned their noses up at a different brand/type.

Alfalfa I think would be great, you can always transition him onto a more suitable hay once he’s consistently eating that. Good luck 

[Boston's Mama]

I agree with Sarahthegemini that alfalfa hay may encourage him

Another trick ( which I do for my boy who has a sensitive stomach and also , like your boy , goes from small poop to runny etc ) is to keep 1/4 of his morming pellets (and same again of his night pellets ) and hide them in his hay
I use a plastic hay rack holder that clips onto the side of my cage – will attach pic below – works for mine as they still eat well from it where as Oakley wouldn’t from the 20 odd I tried prior to this , it also makes it easier to hide pellets without him being able to fish out the pellets and leave the hay as he would if it was a pile on the floor.

How do you present his hay? If it’s on the ground try a rack to take it off the ground , if it’s in a rack try a pile on the ground instead- sometimes they prefer it in one place and it can be trial and error

[Boston's Mama]

[BertieBun]

I have tried him with a a hay and dandelion wheel which is similar to a cookie and he loved it and some dandelion and oat hay mix – I don’t know if either are particularly healthy for him but he seems to enjoy them and it’s better than him not having any! 

Thank you for all your help! 

[BertieBun]

That’s a great idea, I’ll give that a go too! 

He has multiple “hay stations” to try and encourage him; hay rack, hay box and the floor. I think we just need to be persistent with him and slowly reduce his pellets so he starts to eat more hay again. 

Thank you for your help! 

[Author]

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