she only eat her veggies if they are cut into small pieces

[PamsWarren]

I have a 5yo spayed jersey wooly rabbit who will only eat her greens if they are cut into small pieces. She is eating pellets and hay, but we have yet to be able to restore her veggie consumption to normal. Her problems started about a month ago. She has been to the vet numerous times - Long story short, the vet found a mild UTI (which was treated with baytril, metacam and sub-qs). Blood work showed VERY mild anemia (I can't locate her blood work at the moment, but the RBC count was about .02 of the bottom end of normal); BUN and creatinine were slightly low; glucose was slightly high. Vet also found and removed a few very small, seemingly insignificant points on her molars under anesthetic (he also checked for loose and abscessed teeth, but found nothing).

Although she is now eating pellets, hay and treats normally, she continues to only eat veggies that have been cut into smallish bite-sized pieces. Pain meds do not seem to make a difference. Any thoughts as to why she will only veggies that have been cut into small pieces? I would think that chewing a small piece of kale would be the same as taking a bite off of a larger piece and chewing it.

Of course, things are not always what they seem with rabbits. So many things could be wrong and I wonder if I am too focused on her mouth. For example, a week or so before this all started, she took a bit of a header off of someone’s lap. I really didn’t think much of it as she ate/behaved normally after the fall. Plus, she has no trouble running and getting around and pain meds do not seem to make a difference. Maybe the fall was significant, though.

Also, when she was on the baytril, there was one or two times when she snorted a bit of it out of her nose (she HATED the baytril and fought hard to not take it, even though it was flavoured with something supposedly good). Again, it didn't seem to bother her, but now I am wondering.

Other than a skull xray (my next step, I think),does anyone have any other suggestions? Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

Chia says thanks.

 

[hartleybun]

onder: If there was a problem with eating then I would have thought that bunny wouldnt eat anything. Pellets and hay are harder to chew then veggies! Could it be the smell and taste of the veg? A couple of years ago my doe, Roxy, was on a weeks course of antibiotics (she faced down a honey bee who was in her lavendar bush:rollseyes) She wouldn't touch ner favourite treat, carrots, for ages after the meds were finished. At the time I didnt think too much of it, but after reading this I wonder if it was the flavour/smell of the meds.

Have you mentioned this to your vet?

 

[SOOOSKA]

Maybe she is just being a "DIVA" and wants her veggies cut up.

I always cut up my bunnies veggies, mind you not into really small pieces.

Hopefully she will be ok and like I said she is just being a female & Fussy. LOL:biggrin2:

Susan

 

[Nancy McClelland]

ray: Have you had her molars checked?

 

[PamsWarren]

<<She wouldn't touch ner favourite treat, carrots, for ages after the meds were finished. At the time I didnt think too much of it, but after reading this I wonder if it was the flavour/smell of the meds.>>

Interesting thought, hartleybun. I did notice that when she was on the meds, her veggie preferences were different than usual. For example, she would eat things (rapini, arugula, basil, etc) that she would normally not consider to be edible.

<<Have you had her molars checked?>>

Yes, she had a thorough oral exam under anesthetic. The vet only found a few, very tiny points which he removed.

Susan, Chia definitely thinks she is a princess, so I have not yet ruled out the Diva effect. We recently got a new puppy, and although the puppy has no contact with her at all, I am spending less time snuggling with her.

Also, veggies that are cut up are more aromatic than whole pieces - maybe they smell better to her when they have been cut up. Who knows what goes on inside of her furry little head.

In any event, she is not acting sick at all. She is up-periscoping for her treats and eating hay and pellets well. I have been experimenting by giving her veggies in various sizes to see how big she considers to be too big to be eaten. Maybe she will get to the point where she is eating full sized pieces again. Until then, I think I will keep an eye on her, and opt for further diagnostics later if required.