Why doesn't my bunny want to eat?

[mary]

Today I noticed one of my rabbits justsitting and starring into space. He stopped eating his rabbit pellets,but does eat a little hay. He is still drinking water. I am not surewhat I should be doing for him. I don't know if something iswrong or if he is just bored. Please help! Thank you for yourtime.

 

[Carolyn]

Warmest Welcome to the forum, Mary,

Is he going to the bathroom okay? Are his stools any smaller, or do younotice any difference in them at all? Do you ration his food or do yougive him an unlimited supply?

Rabbits tend to go off their feed if they're in pain, or have a hairblockage that they can't pass, have a problem with their teeth, etc.

Just today you said? Perhaps he was a bit under the weather? See whattonight and tomorrow morning brings before you panic too much.

You might offer him some parsley because that can help promote anappetite. If you're in the USA, there's a product primarily made forcats and dogs, but it's good for rabbits too. It's called NutriCal andwill help keep their nutrients up and stimulate an appetite whenthey're not eating, besides, it helps to boost the immune system. (Onlyabout an inch is needed each day or so until they start to get theirroutine back.) It's a good thing to have in the house.

You could try making a rabbit slurpie by putting water in with thepellets until they're soaked up and become mush. He may need to have itsyringe-fed it to him if he goes a day with no feed.

Drinking water is the most important. Dehydration can kill a rabbit, sobe sure that he keeps drinking. Syringe water to him if you notice he'snot drinking.

-Carolyn

 

[AnnaS]

Just for precausions you may try giving him somefresh pineapple or dried papaya(bunnies like it since its sweet) orcanned pumpkin. Those should help with hair blockage.

 

[mary]

Carolyn -- Thank you. He didn't eat last nightbut he did drink some water. I gave him a peace of carrot this morningand he started moving around in his cage to investigate it. But I don'tsee where he ate any of it. I'll keep an eye on him today to see if heeats. I can give him some boc choy out of the garden. I know he likesthat, maybe he will eat it. Thank you for your help. mary

 

[mary]

AnnaS -- Thank you for your advice. I'll keep aneye on him today and hopefully he will eat. I can ask the woman at thefeed store also. Thank you. mary

 

[Carolyn]

Get some canned pumpkin, Mary, and tryfeeding him that. If you can't you may have to put it in asyringe and make him eat it. That and freshpineapple juice will help break up a hairball if that's theproblem. The pineapple has to be fresh as opposed to cannedbecause the processing it goes through won't help the hair breakdown. You can get the pineapple from a grocery store's saladbar if you don't want to buy a whole one. Oddly enough, thepumpkin has to be canned, and the pineapple has to be fresh.You might also try giving him some Simethicone (purchased ata drug store in the baby section for as treatment for infantgas). Only about 1/4 of the eye dropper it comes with will beneeded, and while your at the grocery store with the pineapple, youmight pick up some papaya pills and give him one.

What are his poops looking like? Have you checked histeeth? Keep his litterbox clean so you can monitor how muchhe's pooping.

Keep us posted. I'll say a prayer for you and the little mon.

-Carolyn

 

[mary]

Thank youCarolyn. I have a can ofpumpkin. I'll go look at his poop right now. I'll let you know in a fewminutes. Thanks.mary

 

[mary]

Hi Caroline -- I just checked and I think he atemaybe about a teaspoon of his bunny pellets. I'll still give him somepumpkin later and see if he will eat it. I filled his water bottle fulland smoothed out his food so I can tell if he gets into it. I alsocleaned his poop away so I can look at new dropping. What was therelooked normal to me. This is my first time having rabbits. So there isa lot for me to learn. I thought maybe he is lonely without hissibblings. I am going to get him a girl friend to keep him company.I'll keep watching him and trying the different things you told me.Thank you so much. mary

ps thank you for the prayer.

 

[Carolyn]

Hi Mary,

Give him a bit of pumpkin in his food dish and see if he'll just eatit. I'd do that now so you'll know. Some bunnieslove it.

As to a girlfriend, some rabbits prefer to not have siblings.In hindsight, my rabbit Tucker couldn't done without them. Itchanged our relationship when I did bring other rabbits into themix. You might want to hold off on that, but if you do decidethe little one wants a girlfriend, I'd suggest you go to a shelter withyour baby boy and in a separate room, bring in the different girls andsee if he gets along with one rather than another. Do itindividually. Bonding bunnies takes time and often times acertain technique as not all bunnies get along. It'scertainly not a given that you can just drop a girlfriend in the cageand it'll work, unfortunately.

Keep us posted on how the little guy is doing. He may havejust been under the weather, but the size of the poops and the color ofthem (if they're darker and very small), will tell us a lot.

Glad you found us. Ask anything you wish to. Youmight check out the post above entitled "Cheat Sheet for Rabbit Care"to get a general picture of what you should know. It's alsogot some excellent websites and books referenced.



-Carolyn

 

[mary]

Hi Caroline -- Thank you so much. I'll go givehim some pumpkin in a few minutes. He likes to be held and petted. Thatis why I thought maybe he is lonely. He is only about 15 weeks old.I'll check out the"Cheat Sheet for Rabbit Care" . I thinkthat is a real good idea. I've been looking for things about bunny'sand read everything I find. But some of them are confusing to mebecause they say don't do things that others say to do. I'm so glad Ifound you. Thank you so much for your help. I have to go for now andfeed some pumpkin. I'll try to upload a picture of him. I call him"Blue". Thanks again.mary

 

[Carolyn]

Little Boy Blue! How sweet.

Give him a teaspoon of the canned pumpkin, put some in a container, andthe rest you can freeze. It will help clean himout.

The one thing I'm really looking for is the amount and size of his stools, so keep an eye on that because that can tell us alot.

-Carolyn

 

[mary]

Hi Caroline ---Ok Thanks. I'll let you know.mary

 

[mary]

Hi Carolyn --- He is eating! I'msorry I typed your name wrong before. Thanks for your help. I'll keepwatching him to make sure he is ok. And I'll keep reading so I canlearn about my new pet. Thanks.mary

 

[AnnaS]

Maybe it was just stress.
I would still give him some pumpkin. It can't hurt and may be used as a treat as well as pineapple and papaya. They love it.
Just a little piece every 2 days of sweets is ok.

I am not sure if she is too young to get it or not.

 

[Carolyn]

mary wrote:

HiCarolyn --- He is eating! I'm sorry I typed your name wrongbefore. Thanks for your help. I'll keep watching him to make sure he isok. And I'll keep reading so I can learn about my new pet.Thanks.mary

Yay! LittleMon probably just was under the weather.

Now, that picture's a bit small. Can you enhance it abit...or send me a Private Message, I'll send you my email address andI'll post it.

-Carolyn

 

[mary]

I'll send it to you. Thank you. I feel so much better now. Thanks.mary

 

[mary]

Hi AnnaS -- I'll get some fresh pineapple thenext time I go to the store. Thanks. I'm so happy he is eatingsomething. Thanks for all of your help.mary

 

[Carolyn]

If his poops are the same size and he's eating, I don't think you need the pineapple at this point, Mary.

It's great for hair blockage because it breaks down the hair, as Annasuggested,but it also has a lot of sugar in it which isn'tgood for rabbit's digestive system. If, however, you noticeyour little guy's poops are smaller, you might give him 3 ccs. just tohelp move things along in case hairis blocking the way.



-Carolyn

 

[RaspberrySwirl]

Hi Mary, I juststumbled across your thread and am glad to see that our Carolyn foundyou right away and helped you through a tough time with Blue. She's thebest and most certainly one to have in your corner when it comes topulling a sick bunny around! I'm glad you found us here atthe forum and hope you will soon be jumping into some "fun"conversations as Blue gets to feeling better. We will be lookingforward to getting to know the both of you!

RaspberrySwirl

 

[Carolyn]

Here's Little Boy Blue...

What a gorgeous little mon.



How's he doing today, Mary?

-Carolyn