Thumper Seems Off His Pellets

[irishbunny]

Wow...I've never had to post in the infirmary before I also hope this isn't serious.

Anyway Thumper is almost two years old, it's a guesstimation though. He is a mixed breed bunny and he's intact.

Anyway, the last couple of nights I have noticed he hasn't been eating his pellets. I seem to be adding more pellets on top of the uneaten ones. I put them all back in the bag today and started a fresh but still doesn't look like he eat any and if he did, very few. Now, he is munching away on his hay and I gave them all a carrot and when I left he was munching away well on it.

He seems in perfect health, running around, still enjoying nose rubs and being cheeky as usual. No signs of pain.

I was thinking it might be his teeth, but he wouldn't be able to munch on hay and take huge chunks from carrots would he?

I'm going to have a good look over him tomorrow, how do I go about looking at his teeth?

Do you think maybe he just doesn't feel like pellets lately?

Thanks!

 

[tonyshuman]

It does sound like a tooth issue, since he's still eating and hungry. Usually if their teeth are causing pain, some foods bother them more than others. They'll usually stop eating only one type of food and keep eating the others.

Do the other bunnies like their pellets? Maybe they're stale?

You can't look at his back teeth very well yourself. A vet can use a scope or a mouth speculum to look at them, but that's hard too. Sometimes I try to feel the back molars for sharp points, but that usually doesn't work well because bunnies try to chomp your fingers!

If you can rule out pellet freshness as an issue, I'd guess he needs to be seen by a vet for a look and/or x-ray of those teeth.

 

[irishbunny]

Thanks :hug:

I hope he has all his pellets eaten tomorrow since we are already running up a big bill with our dog who has been in and out of the vets being tested for cushings disease.

The bag is new and the other bunnies are eating them, though I did notice Misty was a little iffy on them one night, but her bowl was empty today. The other bunnies are chomping them down.

I'll bring him to the vet for sure if he won't eat them tomorrow for me

 

[irishbunny]

Oh and what can cause tooth problems? He has been having the same diet basically since I got him

 

[tonyshuman]

Tooth issues are genetic, usually. They can show up at any stage of a bunny's life, depending on how serious they are. Diet can be a factor, but usually genetics are the root cause. If he eats hay, it's probably not dietary and is genetic.

I'm thinking it could be this bag of food doesn't appeal to him for some reason. Do you have any of the other bag?

 

[Pipp]

Showing no signs of pain is not a great indicator of bunny health. Unless it's something like a bout of gas that should be gone in a few hours, by the time they do stop being alert and active and start showing pain, it's pretty serious.

Watch his eating, peeing and pooping habits very carefully.

Feel for lumps, cuts, watch for sniffles, wheezing, etc.

Sometimes they'll make more of an effort to eat the things they particularly like, goes down easier or their body needs, but won't feel well enough to eat everything.

He has a problem, its unikely to go away and stay away on its own. Even a molar spur can break off and he'll be fine, but they will come back without making some adjustments.

Eating hay isn't a surefire cure for spurs, if that's what it is. Its being chewed the same way and may only be wearing down one area. Try some variety. Different cuts and varieties of hay, grass, various veggies, etc.


sas :clover:

 

[asianangel]

I have a little info that might help...the vet that I just saw, David Vella (bunny specialist) said that grass and hay are much better for rabbits than pellets. He told me to stop feeding my bunny pellets too much and only feed pellets occasionally. They love dandelion leaves as well which is also really good for them. However if your bunny is acting differently then it's probably best to take it to a vet.

 

[irishbunny]

tonyshuman wrote:

Tooth issues are genetic, usually. They can show up at any stage of a bunny's life, depending on how serious they are. Diet can be a factor, but usually genetics are the root cause. If he eats hay, it's probably not dietary and is genetic.

I'm thinking it could be this bag of food doesn't appeal to him for some reason. Do you have any of the other bag?

I have none of the other bag. I'm thinking of putting a few guinea pig pellets in his bowl and see if he will eat them. They seems even harder then the rabbit pellets, so if he can eat them, he is just being picky.

I gave him another carrot tonight and some other veggies and he has had hay and pellets all day, he ate the hay and not the pellets.

When I gave him the carrot and veggies, he munched into them really fast, taking big bites and chewing them up quickly, he seemed hungry from no pellets. If his teeth were at him, wouldn't he be taking it way slower? I mean, the carrots aren't even chopped up and he is biting off big chunks.

Vet after the weekend if no improvement, I'm not too concerned right now since he is eating and acting very normal.

 

[Pipp]

I'd be suspicious of the pellets. See if he'll eat a different bag or another brand. They could be stale or moldy.


sas

 

[tonyshuman]

It's hard to tell--sometimes they have to grind the pellets between the teeth, which can cause pain. I agree that you should check the pellets, but don't rule out tooth issues.

 

[Little Bay Poo]

The same exact thing happened to Ronnie a few weeks ago. He slowly came off his pellets but was eating lettuce, celery, oats, and hay quite hungrily. Billy was eating the pellets no problem, so we were very confused. I ended up monitoring Ronnie and like you, was planning to take him to the vet if he didn't improve. We also started adding a new brand of alfalfa pellet to his daily mix, hoping it would tempt him to eat. About a day later, he started to molt and began eating his pellets again. I think he was off pellets for about 3-4 days total. I'm still not sure what happened :?

I think you are doing the right thing by monitoring his activity level and food intake. Hopefully it isn't anything too serious :hug:

 

[irishbunny]

Thanks guys, I'm not going to be able to feed him today because I'm going to my sisters a few hours away. I'll get my parents to keep giving him veggies and when I get back i'm going to have a good look at the pellets and try him on some others and see if it works

 

[irishbunny]

I posted this is my blog, I'm too tired to write it out again lol!

I was worried about Thumper because he won't eat his pellets. I still haven't solved the problem, but I just hand fed him some guinea pig pellets, which are even harder then the rabbit pellets and he was happy to eat them. So I have kind of ruled out tooth problems...hmmm I wonder what it is?

 

[Maureen Las]

I would throw out your present pellets and get a new fresh bag and see if that works.

 

[irishbunny]

My parents won't let me, as it's a just opened 44lb bag and they pay for it

Maybe I should buy him a new bag of different pellets? They got in a new brand of pellets, but it only comes in tiny bag, so I could just get one and feed it to him by himself.

 

[paul2641]

irishbunny wrote:

My parents won't let me, as it's a just opened 44lb bag and they pay for it

Maybe I should buy him a new bag of different pellets? They got in a new brand of pellets, but it only comes in tiny bag, so I could just get one and feed it to him by himself.

Do you mean the Mr. Johnsons? My guys loved it the one time I fed them it.



It is a really hard pellet so it should ware down any teeth lol!

 

[irishbunny]

paul2641 wrote:

irishbunny wrote:

My parents won't let me, as it's a just opened 44lb bag and they pay for it

Maybe I should buy him a new bag of different pellets? They got in a new brand of pellets, but it only comes in tiny bag, so I could just get one and feed it to him by himself.

Do you mean the Mr. Johnsons? My guys loved it the one time I fed them it.



It is a really hard pellet so it should ware down any teeth lol!

Yeah the GP one is really hard, and he ate some of those from my hand

 

[Maureen Las]

if you got anotherbrand of pellets you would need to start out with just a very smallamount so as not upset his GI tract. You could buy a smaller bag of a quality pellet just to see

There is probably more possibilities of a large bag being old when you bought it as sometimes they sit in the back of a feed store for months. Is there any expiration date on the bag.

Once again I am just trying to bring up even a remote possibility asI am not sure either. :?

 

[irishbunny]

They don't go off until 8th April, also when ever I go into to buy them they have to order them in for me because I am one of the only people who buy them, everyone else feeds bulk mixed feed. So they would only be in the shop a couple of days at the most.

They smell and feel fine :?

 

[tonyshuman]

Is it the same bowl for the pellets that he's always had? Does Thumper have a flat face? I know my flat faced bunnies need really shallow bowls to be able to get at the pellets... and I remember an owner whose bunny stopped eating because she gave it the bowl that the other bunny used by accident!

Sorry if it sounds like I'm grasping at straws here, I am! It's hard to find an explanation for this...

Are his front teeth normal? Maybe they've changed and he's not used to picking up pellets with the teeth now?
:dunno:dunno:dunno