What tests might we consider?

In mid-Nov., I started feeding our sensitive-gut girl, Zoe, a single Oxbow BB/T pellet per day. Within 1.5 weeks, I moved her up to 1/4 tsp. of pellets/day. I also slowly introduced 1-2 parsley leaves at night. (Yes, her gut is ultra-sensitive; so I move very slowly with dietary changes.)

When she started getting the pellets, I did notice calcium deposits in her urine. (They've since stopped but likely because I dropped her down to 1-2 pellets/day again.)

For several weeks now, she's seemed "off" in behavior and water consumption. She used to drink 3/4 of her crock dish overnight (within seven hours). But for some time now, she doesn't drink quite that much in 24 hours. And her hay consumption time seems to have decreased, as well.

Even more strange is that she's still enthusiastic to leave her pen in the morning, but she's been downright fearful/reluctant to leave it at night. We can't explain why this is, since there are no odd smells/sounds that occur consistently enough to explain her fear.

The vet did find three points on her teeth that could be causing (or cause) her an issue. But we don't want to start filing her teeth if that's not the problem. (She did decrease in weight from 4.44 lbs. to 4.31 lbs., which could be due to decreased hay consumption.)

My husband gave her fresh hay around 12 am today (we don't normally change it that late); by 12:17 am, Zoe was already hunkered down in bed. Typically, she eats for at least an hour once she has fresh hay. And she wasn't eating by 6 am when our other two buns were. (She used to be the first one up to eat by 5-5:30 am.) This change has me concerned, too. I can't gauge exactly how much hay she's eating, since we must fill her entire litter pan with hay. (She can't be exposed to litter, and we can't find a grate with spacing smaller than her foot size.)

Any suggestions? I'm at a loss, and we can't continue spending money on vet bills like we have to date.

Thank you,

Jenk

How long have you had Zoe, how old is she and is she spayed?
Do you weigh her at home, or just at the vet?

Is it possible the changes might just be seasonal, perhaps a reaction to changes in day length and temperature?

Have you looked at hardware cloth? It's like chicken wire but comes in much smaller holes. I have some that has holes about a centimeter. The holes are also square.

missyscove wrote:

How long have you had Zoe, how old is she and is she spayed?
Do you weigh her at home, or just at the vet?

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She's 2.5 years old; we've had her since she was a month old, and she was spayed at six months of age.

We don't weigh her at home because we don't have a truly sensitive (baby) scale, though I have weighed her before by holding her in my arms and subtracting my weight from our combined weight. (This method has been fairly accurate in the past, though she hates being held.)

Is it possible the changes might just be seasonal, perhaps a reaction to changes in day length and temperature?

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Well, anything is possible....But I'm more worried due to her cranky factor. She's normally protective about her sleeping area, but she's been more so over the last few weeks. And now it seems like she may be eating less hay, though it's hard to tell for certain.

There was a time when Zoe would be the first bun awake, chowing on her hay by 5:30 am. Now she's still in bed by 7 am. It just seems so unlike her. And, yet...

...I fear spending hundreds of dollars on tests that are likely to show nothing definitive. (Again, that's been our past experience with tests run on rabbits. And we've already spent about $10K on their vet bills in the last two years'. So it's reached the insult-to-injury point.)

tonyshuman wrote:

Have you looked at hardware cloth? It's like chicken wire but comes in much smaller holes.

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I believe that I've looked at it during previous home-improvement store visits. What concerns me is that Zoe, being a Mini Rex, already has sensitive hocks. Sitting on this material seems like a cause for hock irritation (maybe).

Also, we'd need to keep her raised a few inches from the bottom because we'd be putting down some form of litter; and she can't be allowed any access to it. Maybe hardware cloth can be secured to the top of a flourescent light grid....I dunno.

Okay
I was just thinking the weight loss doesn't sound too huge, and without some more weights in between or something, it could just be she was weighed with a full bladder one day and an empty one the next kind of a thing. Some weight fluctuation is certainly to be expected.

I wonder if she might be going through a false pregnancy?

Just throwing some ideas out there, honestly you know the rabbit best.

missyscove wrote:

...I was just thinking the weight loss doesn't sound too huge, and without some more weights in between or something, it could just be she was weighed with a full bladder one day and an empty one the next kind of a thing. Some weight fluctuation is certainly to be expected.

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No, you have a point about her weight fluctuation: It isn't huge. Still, she's hovered around 4.44 lbs. for most of her adult life.

I wonder if she might be going through a false pregnancy?

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Is that possible for a rabbits who's been spayed since six months of age?

I don't think false pregnancies are common in spayed rabbits, but I don't see any reason why it'd be completely impossible.

Is they hay from the same box, bag, bale, etc.? Sometimes they notice changes that we don't.

missyscove wrote:

Is they hay from the same box, bag, bale, etc.? Sometimes they notice changes that we don't.

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Yes, all three of our buns are eating the same 1st-cut timothy hay. And, ironically, Zoe's usually the least picky eater.

What I meant was, have you opened up a new bag recently?

missyscove wrote:

What I meant was, have you opened up a new bag recently?

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I'll need to double-check with my husband on when he opened it. (He has to handle the fresh hay due to my skin's allergic reaction to it.)