Symptoms of GI Stasis? Rabbit Eating Pellets More Than Hay

[Blue eyes]

When I put my rabbit outside, the indoor house cage that he stays in when he's inside the house, I take that and place it outside as well, so he can run around and play and hop in his cage whenever he wants to eat or drink. That's how I refresh his hay 2-3 times daily, because I place his cage outside when he's outside, and bring it back inside when I catch him.

I don't offer Corn everyday. I offer it in VERY SMALL quantities (uncooked) every 4 days or so. I won't provide him with the starchy foods for now until I go in tomorrow for the specialist to examine him.

I understand now with the cage and the hay. Thanks for clarifying.

It's good that you will avoid all starchy foods until things are sorted out. But even when things go back to normal, there is no reason to ever feed the corn again. It has no benefit and only risks tummy issues. Just completely take it out of his diet from here on out.

 

[amandaaaa_xxo]

You're welcome

My rabbit is a very fussy eater in the past, I have introduced SAFE herbs and vegetables for rabbits and he just doesn't show any interest in them. What do you feed your rabbit? Any common foods that all rabbits enjoy?

 

[Azerane]

All rabbits are different, Bandit was a picky eater if I let him be one. Any time I introduced a new food to him he would refuse it, leafy greens/fruits etc. I would offer it fresh repeatedly for 3 or 4 days before he would try it. Then often he would try it and refuse to eat the rest. Then a few days later I'd offer it again and he would scoff it down. He was just fussy when it came to trying new things, it was a struggle to get him to try apple, and even after trying banana one time he refused to ever try it again. Sometimes you just have to be persistent though.

 

[Blue eyes]

Some rabbits do need to be offered the same green numerous times before it seems familiar enough to venture a taste.

Easy greens most of my rabbits have liked include basil, romaine lettuce, red or green leaf lettuce, cilantro, mint, celery (sliced), green tops of carrots. Also favored (but shouldn't be every day because of high calcium or oxalates) are kale, spinach, parsley, mustard greens.

Think mostly in terms of "greens" for daily feeding. Fruits should be treated as treats (carrots too since high in sugar). So fruit should be severely limited to just 1 tbsp. per day max. But avoid all treats/fruits when anything is going on with bunny tummy-wise or health-wise.

 

[amandaaaa_xxo]

Hey everyone

Thanks for your post of safe vegetables and herbs, and the recommended action taken when introducing new foods.

Just an update. I took my rabbit today to a rabbit doctor. She has 20 years experience with rabbits and owned them for 40 years! Without conducting a dental x-Ray, she immediately found the problem to the teeth grinding, drooling, hunched posture, squinted eyes, and limited eating. My rabbit has a pointy little teeth at the back of his jaw! And was causing tiny cuts on his tongue she found the problem through a small scope. She gave him two injections and gave me some pain killers (meloxicam) to give to him in small doses until Monday. Monday is when my bunny goes into surgery to have his tooth filed !

Also, is it safe to feed rabbits grass from the garden? Straight out natural grass that you can cut by scissors to give to them? Sorry if this is a silly question! I'm just really worried from now till Monday on what to feed him. He won't touch his hay because it's painful to eat and so I want to give him foods that will be fine for him and his digestive system for now until Monday.

 

[JBun]

I'm really glad you got in to see the specialist. Is this the vet that trained in England? This is why seeing an experienced rabbit vet is important. They know what to look for. I'm glad the vet was able to get to the bottom of your buns problem and that it will be fixed soon. The meloxicam should help until the teeth get filed down.

Fresh grass is usually fine. After all hay is just dried grass. You do want to make sure to cut from an area that other animals don't frequent(or pee), and you want to try and cut a more mature growth of grass that is longer and thicker. The slender early growth can tend to be a bit rich and can sometimes cause digestive upset for some rabbits. So a nice long thick leaf blade is best if possible. And probably don't feed too much the first day. Just a bit and see how your bun does on it. Though if you already let him out and he is used to eating the fresh grass, then you are probably fine feeding him as much as he wants, since he's already used to it. You can also just increase any leafy greens that he is already used to eating and is still able eat despite his dental problems. If you can find hay pellets, you could try those too, though you may need to soften them in warm water first if he can't eat them dry.

I'm really glad this has worked out. Best of luck on Monday and let us know how he is doing after his dental.

 

[amandaaaa_xxo]

Thank you I am relieved. Yes. Her name is Dr. Gerry Skinner. She studied in the UK and then came to Australia. I'm very fortunate to have had her who examined my rabbit.

I cut some fresh grass from my neighbours backyard with their consent of course because we still are implanting the roller grass in our backyard (renovating). Their grass is very fresh, green and very much alive basically. I gave a very small amount to my rabbit and he ate some, so, I put a little more and mixed it with the oaten hay. To answer your question, he's never eaten natural grass hay ever. Only the oaten hay. So perhaps later I can introduce the grass to him as another sort of hay together with his oaten hay.

He's just not producing as much poop and that really worries me. Until Monday, I'll give him some grass, some hay, and some herbs and/or vegetables.
I wet the pellets to make it easier for him to eat. Can I also wet the oaten hay? I've read that people spray a little apple fruit juice on the hay to encourage them to eat it if they have dental problems. Can I do this too?

Also, because he's not eating his hay now due to pain, after his surgery, will he go back to eating his hay? Slowly at first though. Or, will he never eat it?

Thank you for your kind words! I'll definitely post here on how he goes after the surgery on Monday

 

[JBun]

Yeah, I've read about her. She sounds quite good.

One thing you can try, if you have a coffee grinder, or a food processor might work, you can try grinding up some hay in it then soak in some water and see if he will eat that. You want don't want it too fine so that it's powdery, but is in small enough pieces that your bun might be able to eat it easily. You could also increase his pellet ration slightly. You can also get a powdered feeding mix from the vet that you can syringe feed to your bun if needed, until he gets his teeth done. Oxbow critical care is what we have, not sure if you have it there too. I wouldn't do the apple juice, just because it's adding sugar to the diet that I don't like to do, and I don't know that it would be that helpful.

If the vet gets the problem teeth taken care of, I've known rabbits that go back to eating hay the same day. Or it sometimes takes several days if they have sores in their mouth that need to heal. Just make sure you have pain meds to give after the dental work is done.

 

[Azerane]

That's great that you got in to see such an experienced rabbit vet. Melbourne is very lucky to have that clinic

In regards to eating hay, oaten hay is very course so I imagine painful to eat at this time, if you have some available near you I would recommend try to get a bag of meadow hay, it's often a little finer and softer than oaten so he may try eating that instead. He may not, but it's probably worth a shot just to get him eating hay since you've still got a few days before the surgery

 

[amandaaaa_xxo]

Hey everyone

I feel more calm now knowing an experienced vet surgeon consulted my rabbit and will perform his operation. I can't wait to be honest because the poor little guy hasn't been eating well and is probably so hungry but cannot eat as much as he wants because of the pain

I bought the Oxbow Oaten hay and it doesn't seem too bad. I mixed in some fresh grass as well. I also contacted the vet surgeon and she told me spraying a little apple juice will help soften the rough texture and make it easier for them to eat as well because rabbits (like humans) love sweet food (but I'm not doing this constantly, just for now to make it easier) and so we'll see how we go with that. I will definitely go with your option if I find that he isn't eating it so thank you for your suggestion

 

[Azerane]

No problem at all. Worst case scenario if you have to mix his pellets into a mash and syringe feed in the side of the mouth you can do that, but at least he will still be getting food

 

[amandaaaa_xxo]

The surgeon told me it's not necessary to syringe feed him because it's not as though he COMPLETELY stopped eating. He's been eating a lot actually since Thursday. The pain killer med is really helping him. He's just not eating his hay still. I'm trying to offer him foods that will cause him to gain weight because he lost 170-200grams in 2 and a half weeks, and that is not ideal for a rabbit. I don't want him to be border weight or underweight when he goes in for surgery so I'm just placing small amounts of bananas and apples to help him gain.

Also! I placed some spinach leaves and kale yesterday. He ate the spinach leaves but hardly the kale. It's his first time eating those greens considering I've never fed those to him before. But I know the spinach and parsley are high in calcium? Something like that. There are loads of websites which lists a lot of vegetables that are safe to feed everyday but then again, a lot of those websites are very opinionated so I'm not quite sure what to feed him everyday and what kinds of vegetables I should feed him every few days to avoid health problems.

Definitely after his surgery, I'm going to try my hardest to avoid giving him foods that will cause this problem from happening in the future.
Any suggestions would be helpful, thank you

 

[majorv]

I'd be careful not to throw too much new food at him right now. You could add a small amount of rolled oats to his pellets. Rabbits typically like them and they will help with weight gain.

 

[amandaaaa_xxo]

Oh really? Is it dangerous at this stage? When can I give him food he's never eaten then? The surgeon said to give him pellets and to not add anything to it, so I may skip your suggestion of the rolled oats. I'll just give him small slices of apples and small cut banana for now. Is it safe to feed him new food after the surgery?

 

[Azerane]

Rabbits can take a day or two to recover back to a normal eating pattern after surgery. I would probably wait until he is eating hay again after surgery before introducing new foods. The hay really helps keep things stable and moving through with all the fiber.

 

[amandaaaa_xxo]

Oh okay that seems really helpful and does make sense. Thank you Should I wait a few days or one week after the surgery to introduce new food? I'm just concerned that he won't even eat his hay even after the surgery I hope he does

 

[Azerane]

It really depends how he recovers. I would give it about 3 days of good hay eating post-surgery before introducing new foods. If you feel he's not quite right still then wait longer. It's hard to give an exact time without actually knowing the bunny and how well they'll recover. Let us know how the surgery goes

 

[amandaaaa_xxo]

Okay thank you for your insight! I'll definitely give him a week at most. He's having his surgery tomorrow in the morning, probably around 9:30am. Ahhhh!! So nervous, I've never been in this situation before and I can't wait till it's over!

I will post here following his surgery to let you all know how it went I really appreciate all your support !

 

[amandaaaa_xxo]

Hey everyone!

Just an update on my rabbit. Everything was a success with his dental surgery. The surgeon told me that he had 3 teeth that were pointy and created spikes and ulcers one of the teeth was really bad though that it created quite a large ulcer to the side of his cheek. But nonetheless, she told me he is well and everything else was fine (health wise). We just got home and I cleaned his cage and provided fresh food and water for him. He seems so sleepy but is eating (not crazily though).

I'm so happy it's over! However, she did tell me that these types of things need ongoing management and unfortunately will never be the same (i.e., this problem is likely to happen again in the future)

Thanks for all your support

 

[amandaaaa_xxo]

I forgot to mention, because this is the first time I've experienced my rabbit having surgery, does anyone have tips for post surgery recovery?