Molting problems

[Snowballbun]

Hello,
My dwarf hotot bunny Snowball (3 lb bunny) 8 months old is going through her molt right now. She is shedding a ton! A lot of her poops have been strung together and weird shaped and if you pull them apart you can see a lot of hair in them.

I was reading posts that you should feed them more water during their molt, and also something like pedialyte? What kind of flavored water is best for them? Would it be beneficial to give Benebac as well?

I have been trying to get her to eat hay but lately she is very picky about it. She doesn't really eat Timothy as much anymore because since she's had botanical hay she prefers that....And I used to have to fill her hay rack twice a day, and now she hardly ever eats out of it and so we've been feeding her some on the cage bottom. Any reasons for the weird pickiness?

Also, I called the vet to ask about giving her hairball treatment for cats because I had read it on here somewhere before, and the vet told me I should give her a pencil tip eraser amount (a very small amount) one time a day. She said there are all different kinds of brands/ names. Do you think it is a good idea to give her hairball treatment and if so what kind/brand and is this okay for the bunny? I'm assuming I would feed it syringe wise. I am worried about stasis because she got that after her spay...she stopped eating and drinking...And another time about a month ago she sounded like another bunny someone posted about who seemed very uncomfortable shifting positions and I had thought it was possibly gas as well.

Thank you, hope to hear from you soon!
Amy

 

[tonyshuman]

Pedialyte is awesome for bunnies in a molt, and so is BeneBac. I like to buy the unflavored Pedialyte and add a drop of grenadine to flavor it--they go nuts for it. They also like apple or fruit punch flavors as well.

I do not like the hairball treatment because it is greasy. When a rabbit gets GI slowdown, the poop moving along is full of hair and that hair makes the poop really dry in there. Dryness leads to it sticking to the intestinal walls more and slowing down. Grease can lubricate it to move through there some, but the best thing to get stuff moving again is water, which will get in there, break up big fur clumps, and rehydrate the stuff so it can slide on through. :yuck

That said, my shelter uses PetroMalt, which they will eat out of the tube because it is tasty.

For the hay, when a shed comes on, I like to refill the hay and look for their favorite--Oat hay. Fresher hay is better.

I wonder if her teeth are hurting her and that's leading to the hay place preference? She's a bit young, but as a dwarf, and with that strange behavior, it could be happening. Can you get a look at her front teeth? Is there anything else about the hay rack? Is it up high, far from the litterbox, hard to reach?

 

[tonyshuman]

GI slowdown can lead to gas as well.

 

[Snowballbun]

Hello,
Thank you very much for your reply. I am just really worried about a blockage because once they get a blockage isn't it really hard to cure it?

So today I will go bunny shopping and buy those things. How long is Pedialyte good for if I put it in a bowl? Or do you put it in a bottle? She has a bottle in her cage and a bowl in her pen.

Hmmm as for her teeth, I will try and get a look at them. I know last time she was at the vet's, the vet checked out her teeth and said her molar had like a bump on it or something like that, but that it wasn't enough (yet) where it should be causing discomfort. Would this be from uneven wearing of the molars?

My bunny chews on her cage a lot, which I always try and discourage and tell her no....but it's many times I think when she wants attention or wants out. I don't think it's good for her to be chewing on the bars?

Her hay rack is far from her litter box, so maybe I should move it closer. It's on the outside of her cage, so when she's picking through her hay, it seems like she tries hard to stick her head through the bars to get the pieces she wants. Maybe she's getting sick of doing that. Other pieces she pulls out of the hay rack and throws almost half of them on the cage floor. But like I said, recently she hasn't really even been touching her rack.

 

[tonyshuman]

I wouldn't worry too much yet, since she's still pooping. Being proactive can help. The pedialyte is good for at least a day in a bowl, I think. I use bowls because my guys prefer them, and you want to make sure she still has access to water, so it's probably best to just add another bowl to her area, one that has pedialyte in it.

The molar bump could cause pain and thus picky eating. How long ago was the vet appt? If it was a few months ago, it could have grown to be painful in that period of time.

I don't know about the cage chewing--to be honest I think that will only mess up the front teeth, not the molars.

Maybe she's eating hay like that because she's picking out the good pieces, and when it's on the floor she can find the good stuff better? I know bunnies have some weird system by which they choose which hay is worth eating and which is only worth stomping on.