Rabbit suddenly not eating hay - only hay

[Feira426]

Hello. I’m new here. I have a rabbit that has suddenly stopped eating hay. Just hay. She still eats other things. We have a thornless rose that she likes, she eats soft grass and other things that grow in the yard. She will eat dry crunchy oak leaves. She will eat alfalfa. But not grass hay.

Grass hay has been the majority of her diet since we got her this summer. She ate a lot of it. I usually have to refill her hay holders twice a day. Now suddenly she just looks at it.

I have looked at her front teeth and they don’t look bad to me. I’ve felt her cheeks and I don’t feel anything poking out on either side. She has lost weight and I am worried. We’re leaving for two days tomorrow - I’m planning on taking her to a vet as soon as we get back. But we don’t have a lot of money so if anyone has anything I could try that might save me a vet bill I’d be grateful!

 

[Catlyn]

Well, if she eats leafy stuff and alfalfa, if her teeth and cheeks look and feel normal then i'm a little confused. Have you checked her eyes and ears? How is she doing on poops and stuff? Have you tried just poking her with the hay, present it in different ways, maybe hid some treats in it? If that hasn't helped, then you should probably take her to the vet BEFORE you leave for the trip, even if you're broke. Not to sound mean, but for unexpected circumstances, you should have savings of some sort.

 

[Feira426]

Her eyes look normal to me. What should I look for in her ears? We do have money set aside for emergencies, and I will use it if I need to. I just thought I might ask here first, to see if anyone had any recommendations. I have spent hundreds of dollars on vet visits in the past that were completely unnecessary. Turmeric and a grazing muzzle fixed my lame horse after a $400 vet visit did nothing. I once took our other rabbit to a vet who recommended a thousand dollar surgery for a digestive problem - I took their Critter Care instead and took her home and she completely recovered.

In short, I’m a bit wary of vets after some not so good experiences, and I don’t want to blow all our emergency money on a trip to a vet and then have nothing left for, say, a broken arm or a car accident.

I love our bunnies and if I need to take her I’ll take her. I was just wondering if there might be an easier solution or an obvious answer I wasn’t aware of.

 

[Blue eyes]

Am I understanding correctly? She is eating alfalfa hay. She is not eating grass hay?
(What is her age?)

 

[Feira426]

Am I understanding correctly? She is eating alfalfa hay. She is not eating grass hay?
(What is her age?)

Yes, that’s right. I don’t usually feed them alfalfa as I read adult rabbits shouldn’t eat much alfalfa, but since she stopped eating grass hay I was sort of frantically looking for roughage that she WOULD eat.

I made an appointment with a vet for this afternoon. This is super stressful as we’re trying to get ready to leave for a trip, and it’s gonna be expensive too, but the other person who replied seemed to think it was an emergency and I don’t want to not take her and have something bad happen.

 

[Feira426]

Am I understanding correctly? She is eating alfalfa hay. She is not eating grass hay?
(What is her age?)

Oh, and I don’t know her exact age, but according to the family we got her from she should be about three now.

 

[Blue eyes]

Suddenly not eating a particular kind of food, (like not eating pellets, or not eating hay) would usually be caused by a particular dental issue. They chew different foods in different ways, so a particular food may be causing pain from a particular dental issue. However, this would not be the case if she's eating alfalfa hay but not grass hay. Both hays are chewed the same way.

Is the grass hay that she's refusing a new batch? Perhaps dusty or moldy? Is it a different type of grass?

 

[Blue eyes]

Alfalfa hay is a legume and, you are correct, it is usually not fed to adults because it is so rich. Feeding alfalfa can cause weight gain and possibly other issues if it is fed long term (depending on the individual rabbit). I would not consider this a 4-alarm emergency since she is eating hay.

I'd message Jenny (@JBun ) - our health moderator - as she is well-versed. (If she doesn't see this)

 

[Feira426]

Alfalfa hay is a legume and, you are correct, it is usually not fed to adults because it is so rich. Feeding alfalfa can cause weight gain and possibly other issues if it is fed long term (depending on the individual rabbit). I would not consider this a 4-alarm emergency since she is eating hay.

I'd message Jenny (@JBun ) - our health moderator - as she is well-versed. (If she doesn't see this)

She seems to be picking the leaves out of the alfalfa and leaving the stalks, so perhaps it is a dental problem. The weird thing is the other rabbit is also eating much less grass hay than usual. It did seem to happen when I got a new bale of hay, and that was also my first suspicion. The goats and horses were eating it, but I thought maybe the rabbits were a bit pickier. So I tried a different bale. They still didn’t want it. I bought some Timothy, and they have barely touched that, either. The one rabbit still seems generally healthy, but Frankie has very obviously lost weight, so I’m gonna go ahead and take her to a vet. Hoping this vet knows more about rabbits than the last one I tried.

 

[JBun]

How much forage are they eating in the yard? Could they be filling up on that? That would be the most likely cause as it wouldn't be unusual to prefer forage over regular hay.

 

[Feira426]

Almost none. I put them in the outdoor enclosure for just a while yesterday to test whether Frankie would eat the forage. Other than that, they haven’t been out lately.

 

[JBun]

Was the other hay you tried from a completely different batch/crop of hay? How about their pellets. I know they are eating them but have you checked the pellets to make sure they aren't bad(sour or musty smelling, white or black mold spots/dust)?

 

[Feira426]

Was the other hay you tried from a completely different batch/crop of hay? How about their pellets. I know they are eating them but have you checked the pellets to make sure they aren't bad(sour or musty smelling, white or black mold spots/dust)?

So I ended up taking them both to see a vet, just in case. The vet seemed to really know rabbits - I was both impressed and relieved there. He said Frankie’s teeth look just fine. Also apparently Frankie is not a female like his previous owners thought, but rather a neutered male. So that was interesting to find out!

Vet didn’t really find anything wrong. He and the tech both looked at the hay sample I brought in and said it seemed like good hay. He gave me a special pellet that he uses for rabbits and said it’s a complete food, and if they eat these pellets, even if they don’t eat any hay, they should do just fine. I asked whether they needed the roughage to keep their guts digesting properly, and he said he kept a lot of rabbits very successfully on the pellets alone. Sounded like maybe it was a rabbit farm he was talking about, so I’m thinking this only proves a hayless diet works short term. I’m still offering my bunnies hay.

Frankie is gaining weight and seems to be feeling better, so I think it all worked out okay. What a lot of stress the day before a vacation! But now I’ve found what seems to be a good and knowledgeable vet, so that’s nice.

Thanks to everyone here for helping me. I still don’t know why my guys aren’t liking hay right now. The tech theorized that maybe they had ingested some bad bacteria that messed with the microbiome in their guts (they gave me a probiotic to give both bunnies). And that’s the only reasonable explanation I have at the moment.