Bunnies won't eat pellets suddenly, only veggies

[jend77]

Hi, I'm new here. I searched around and could not find an answer anywhere. This situation is just so weird and frustrating, I was hoping to get some answers .

About two and half weeks ago we changed pellet brands because our local store didn't have our usual brand in stock. This was a Saturday. On Tuesday we noticed Nismo, our 2 1/2 yr old Netherland dwarf, wouldn't eat and just laid on his side. We went and got their normal pellets and put those out, thinking that was the problem. He still hadn't eaten so we took him to the vet on Wednesday and he stayed over night until Friday as they ran tests/x-rays/sonagrams, gave him liquids and force fed him. He had blood in his urine but all the tests for kidney or urinary tract infection were negative.

It's was up to us then Friday through Monday to give him SQ fluids, anitbiotics and force feed him. Saturday, Oreo our 5lb mini-lop (same age as Nismo, they are a pair since babies) started acting funny. She wouldn't eat, which is huge for her since that's her favorite past time, and she laid on her side and would let anyone get near her and touch her (Unusal for her).

We took them both to the vet that Monday and the vet kept Nismo for another 2 days and said Oreo was fine and just depressed about Nismo.

We take Nismo home on Wednesday and continue force feeding and liquids until this Saturday. He started eating veggies and hay but that is it. He's running around again and acting normal but if you put a bowl of pellets near him he will turn into a 5 yr old with a temper tantrum. He will throw and kick the pellets everywhere and grunt. Meanwhile he is gurgling loudly, gas I guess?

Now with all this craziness with Nismo we were not monitoring Oreo as closely. She was running around and begging for treats as normal but we have still not seen her eat pellets. The only one eating pellets is the other lop, Ella. She is deaf and blissfully ignorant of everything going on. She could care less. Thank God for that!

Can anyone offer any input? We are at our wits end with these two and their sudden (and potentially life threatening) pickiness.

Another note, we went out and bought two more completely different brands of pellets just to see if maybe ours had slight moisture or something they didn't like but they will not touch them. Once again, Ella will eat anything and happily munched on the bowl with new food. (We left a bowl of the old normal stuff for her)

Sorry for the book but I wanted to include every detail I could. Help?

 

[Maureen Las]

Are the rabbits pooping normally?

 

[Maureen Las]

Are you sure that your rabbit is experienced with rabbits?
Blood in the urine is a significant finding ? Are you sure that it is blood and not just normal orangeish red pigmented urine ?

What was the orginal pellet brand name that you feel triggered this off. ?

What are you force feeding?

 

[jend77]

Hard to tell if they are pooping normally because there are three of them. Nismo always had smaller poops than the girls. He was pooping when we were force feeding him. Oreo's has turned a light tan color.

Yes, our rabbit vet is recommended by the house rabbit society. I thought she knew what she was doing...

I didn't actually witness the blood in the urine. The vet said it appeared in the tests and then went away during the first vet visit. There was very little. They thought maybe he had a small kidney stone that passed.

We had been feeding them Nutriphase but then ran out and the pet store didn't get a shipment of it until Tuesday. The brand we bought as a replacement was Kaytee Timothy complete.

We were force feeding the critical care food that you add water to.

Nismo goes from laying on his side now to running around like he used to. I'm puzzled and hope Oreo's refusal to eat is just some strange bunny love thing.

 

[Maureen Las]

I am trying to find out if Nutriphase is an alfalfa or timothy pellet. I can find ads all over the internet for it but I cannot find the ingredients.

I feed kaytee timothy to a few of my rabbits. if a rabbit is used to getting an alfalfa pellet and you change them over to a timothy pellet they often won't eat it because it doesn't taste as good.

That doesn't mean they are sick it means they don't like the pellet.

Sometimes when you switch pellets quickly and not slowly over time your rabbits can get a GI upset

Do you give your rabbits timothy hay and veggies as a daily part of their diet?

 

[Maureen Las]

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2753488

it's an alfalfa pellet and it isn't even a pellet that we would recommend as it is low in fiber compared to the kaytee timothy. We would not recommend an alfalfa pellet for an adult rabbit

What mostl likely happened is that the timothy pellet upset their Gi tracts from too much fiber too soon in addition to them not liking it
What i would do is get more Nutriphase and then after you get their systems back to normal start thinking about and investigating a good pellet to begin to switch them over to.

if you stay on this forum you can learn a lot about this.

in the meantime I would guess that the vet did not tell you that you can give them simethicone in a liquid form. I am talking about something like Mylicon infant drops or gas x infant gas drops. A human product with only simethicone as the active ingredient.
You can give up to 1 cc per rabbit ..maybe wait a few hours give another dose and then repeat a 3rd dose if the rabbit has not responded.

Rabbits get gas and it is very painful for them ; they often stop eating .

You can also give rabbits pedialyte per syringe
Critical care is very good but if it is not really mixed with a lot of water it is dehydrating. it needs more water than the package says.

You can also try to feed them pure canned pumkin with no seasoning (make sure it is not seasoned for pie) .It is high in fiber and also has alot of moisture.

getting a lot of fluids in them is just as important or more than getting food in them.

If you have not been giving them timothy hay it is time to start; if you normally give veggies then give them wet veggies, if they are not used to veggies then don't start now until their systems are normal .

if you can give them hay ; i would get more Nutriphase tomorrow; stay on the forum and we will help you help them get a better diet.
also treats at this time are not a good idea

 

[jend77]

Actually I have already tried most of your advice. They originally started out on the kaytee pellets two years ago and changed their tastes. They get unlimited timothy hay and a handful of various veggies (carrots, cilantro, romaine lettuce, broccoli)each day.They stopped likingthe kaytee pelletsand the nutriphase pellets werewhat they ate. They have been eating those pellets forover a year now. After the store ran out of the nutriphase we got the kaytee.Ella was the only one who ate anything.The other two did not eat any of the kaytee (new pellets). When we noticed they were not eating, we found their old stuff and mixed it with the kaytee pellets to try to gradually get them back on pellets we thought they liked.

The problem is their systems are not just getting back to normal. Nismo has stopped eating his veggies now and is only eating hay. I will try the gas-x as the vet definitely left that out. I have been massaging his tummy to try to help with the gas.

We have tried the pure pumpkin, that was denied and even Ella didn't want to eat it. We used alot of water to mix our critical care and it's very soupy, easier to syringe feed. We have been giving them wet veggies to try to give them some liquids.

Just a few months ago they all had their yearly check-up and the vetsaid they were the model of bunny health

 

[tonyshuman]

Angieluv is right. If you offer a bunny a timothy pellet that is used to eating alfalfa pellets, they often don't want to eat it because alfalfa pellets are tastier. Not eating can lead to lots of problems, but the one I think happened here is gas due to GI slowdown. If the food in the intestines stops moving, the gut bacteria can do strange things and cause a buildup of gas, leading to the gurgling sound you mentioned. Simethicone is a good option. You can also soak the veggies for a little while in water--they seem to absorb more water that way. You can also add a drop of vanilla to their water, or cranberry juice to encourage them to drink more. Another thing you may want to do is syringe feed unsweetened pedialyte.

Something like this can crop up at literally any moment, no matter how healthy a bunny is. Their GI tracts are very sensitive so they need to have stuff moving in them constantly. You could also give them a sock stuffed with uncooked rice and microwaved as a heating pad that may make their gassy tummies feel better. If you have some pain meds and they are well hydrated, you can also give that. Good luck!