Rabbit not eating or drinking for several days

[rcohen1982]

Hello,

I have a black buck mini rex that I have had for almost a month now. He is perfect, except the last like 5 days he hasn't been eating very much and has not been drinking very much or even eating hay. He is almost 6 months old. I give 32 oz. of water a day and unlimited timothy hay and 1/2 cup of pellets every morning. The last few days he has been drinking about 1/4 of his water a day and about 1/4 cup of his pellets if that, and a little bit of hay, but not much at all. I have noticed him getting a little thiner and have put alfalfa hay in his cage instead of timothy hoping that his calorie intake will be more and he would gain weight. What should I do?

Thanks,

Rachel

 

[AquaticRex]

i think its vet time. he might be in pain from something. rabbits are good at hiding when they're hurting, and when they are hurting they tend not to eat or anything. is he moving like normal? doing regular binkies when out of his cage? is he acting normal?

 

[rcohen1982]

Update: I got him to eat about 2 apple wedges and some parsley. He also ate about 1/4 cup of pellets in the evening, but has now decided not to drink much. Maybe 2-3 oz in almost 24 hours.. (My husband says he must not be thirsty :headsmack) His poop look normal and no hair in it. Not as much as I would like to see, obviously though. He isn't eating Hay that I know of either. I live in the city and I am unsure where to get dandelions and herbs. I also weighed him last night and he weighs 2lbs. 8oz and will be a SR on 11/11/10. I gave him a 1/4 cup of pellets this morning and I am going to give him another 1/4 cup when he finishes though...but, he is eating a couple of pellets every onece in awhile. Should I be worried about the water intake?

Rachel

 

[Pipp]

AquaticRex wrote:

i think its vet time. he might be in pain from something. rabbits are good at hiding when they're hurting, and when they are hurting they tend not to eat or anything. is he moving like normal? doing regular binkies when out of his cage? is he acting normal?

:yeahthat:

 

[Pipp]

PS: Moved this to the Infirmary.

 

[tristaw.]

I'm new here and new to being a bunny mama BUT I just went through the most terrible experience with my bunny. His eating and drinking slowed waay down too and he would only eat an apple wedge now and again and some greens but he was quiet and became lethargic.
we took him to the vet who found a scratch on the underside of his right ear that had become infected. I had looked him over and didn't see the infected scratch at all. he is a lop and I looked on the outside of his ears.
I missed it and because of that, he became very very gravely ill. we were lucky. he is now on antibiotics.
please take him to the vet. I wouldn't want anyone to go through what we went through and to know that my bun had been in that much pain was unbearable.
I hope your bun feels better soon and starts drinking and eating.

 

[Maureen Las]

When a bun's appetite goes down there can be multiple causes.

If the bun has gas he often will hunker down , look very uncomfortable andlose his appetite.Since thisis a very common problem usually a dose of simethicone (or 2 ) will help. Your bun is behaving normally (?) and is pooping normally so at this point it probably is not a gas attack.

I just took my 6 month old chinchilla buck to the vet for his first molar grind. I knew that he had teeth issues when I rescued him at 8 weeks so I anticipated the problems and was able to feel his teeth myself ( usually one cannot do this)

I am saying that it is possible that your bun has teeth issues that may not be visible; it is usually almost impossible to get a good look at the molars without an x-ray.
Your bun could also have a parasite that is resulting in a change in eating habits and weight loss.
And as tristaw related it could be something that you just don't see yet.


If he ate parsley and apple he probably has less need for water because there is water content in fruits and veggies

The best course of action is to take him to a rabbit knowledgeable vet.

 

[ribbits]

I had a rabbit that didn't eat nor drink because her stomach was full of fur that she chewed from her inner legs. She had nothing in her intestines.