Bunny eating only selective food and not pooping

Hi,

My bunny has not been eating regularly since yesterday. I generally feed it Cauliflower leaves and hay. He is 2.5 years old, and this has been his diet since a year with occasional treats and other veggies. Since yesterday, it is not eating both hay and the Cauliflower leaves. However, it eats coriander leaves. I thought it might have a dental problem, but it eats pellets and radish leaves in small quantities. But does not eat any other leaves. I also tried giving it Celery and dill, but it does not eat those as well. So it seems to be eating only specific variety of food, and in small quantity.

Now the problem is, I would have gone with this diet, but radish is high in calcium. Also, it has not pooped since 24 hours (there was about 5 poop pellets 8 hours ago) and just eating a lot of cecotropes. It is partially active. It sits in hunched position at times, but within a few hours, it is again active and runs around a bit but not as how it generally used to. Then it sits again looking very tired. This has been happening for the last 1 and half days now.
I took the temperature reading, and it seems fine.

There seems to be no symptoms of bloating or of it being in pain (teeth grinding). I however have been giving semithicone as per dosage.

Please help. What should I do? There is no rabbit savvy vet near where I stay. I really love my bunny and I've lost one bunny to GI stasis and I want to do everything possible to help!

:bigtears:

A rabbit that has gone 24 hours without pooping needs to be taken to a vet, it's an emergency situation. Cauliflower is really not much good for rabbits, I know a lot of people feed it but it is inclined to cause stomach upsets. A vet will likely give sub-cutaneous fluids if your bunny is dehydrated and should also give a gut stimulant such as metamide. At home you can try massaging the tummy and encouraging exercise. The fact that he's feeling good enough to still eat, is good, but at the same time, if there's a blockage you don't want it getting worse.

But a vet is essential at this stage, even if it's a dog and cat vet and if they need advice you have the phone number of a good rabbit clinic.

Thanks for your reply. I will take it to a vet as soon as possible. Also, seems like it is producing cecotropes and eating them. Does this happen with blockage? It again sitting hunched now

Thank you so much! Really hoping he gets well.

The bunny finally pooped today :woohoo I followed your advice and took it to the vet, and was prescribed simethicone and metoclopramide, along with instructions to keep it hydrated with pedialyte and water. After nearly 5 days it pooped. I guess the medicines and critical care really worked!

I have a follow up question. This issue mainly came about because the bunny refuses to eat hay. How do I get it to start eating hay? I have tried tricks like smearing hay with a little bit of pineapple juice, etc, but it just licks the juice off! Would be glad for some advice

Thanks!

naanan said:

The bunny finally pooped today :woohoo I followed your advice and took it to the vet, and was prescribed simethicone and metoclopramide, along with instructions to keep it hydrated with pedialyte and water. After nearly 5 days it pooped. I guess the medicines and critical care really worked!

I have a follow up question. This issue mainly came about because the bunny refuses to eat hay. How do I get it to start eating hay? I have tried tricks like smearing hay with a little bit of pineapple juice, etc, but it just licks the juice off! Would be glad for some advice

Thanks!

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It was an acute case of GI with a lot of gas in the stomach.

I have tried all types of hay, and also placing the hay near where it generally sits, near the litter box, tried giving hay at feeding times, and so on but nothing works.

Thanks!

What else are you feeding? If a rabbit is getting too many other foods (like too many pellets) then it is less likely to eat the hay. Can you fully describe your normal daily feeding routine?

The main diet is cauliflower leaves. I feed the bunny 5-6 times a day. The first feeding in a day is dill, and its cauliflower leaves all the other times. There is always hay kept in the room, but it refuses to touch the hay. Occasionally, like once a week, I give it a treat like a small piece of carrot, other leaves and veggies. I have not fed the bunny any pellets for the last 1.5 years.

Thanks!

A rabbit that is on a pellet-free diet needs a w i d e variety of greens in order to get proper nutrition. Cauliflower leaves are not a sufficient diet for a rabbit.

Rabbits also tend to ignore hay if it has been laying around for several hours. Don't wait until it is gone to put fresh in. Try putting new hay in several times per day.

On your rabbit's current diet, you'll either need to start providing limited amounts of healthy pellets daily, OR you'll need to start introducing more greens to work up to a nice variety. Pellets provide a variety of nutrients, so if you go pellet-free, those nutrients need to be provided in the diet of greens.

Once you work up to a variety of greens, then just provide them twice (or once) per day --- not 6 times per day. If bunny eats her greens twice per day, then she'll be more likely to eat the hay in between those times.

It is no wonder that she isn't eating hay if 1) she's being fed greens 5-6 times per day instead of just once or twice, and 2) the hay isn't being refreshed 2-3 times per day.