Wondering if this is normal?

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dugan1

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My rabbit lately has not been eating. I went from having to refill the bowl every day to about 3 days now it barely gets touched.

I added some timothy hay to her cage and she just kinda spread it out.

Also she was very good at using the litter box but lately has been peeing and pooping through the cage, and the pee is a little darker in color, like a vanilla color. Shes been just sitting in her literbox most of the times i go in to check on her.

Shes pretty spiteful usually and we just moved into a new house and she has been in a room away from human interaction unlike where she was before.

Should I be alarmed?
 
yes. You should be concerned.

your rabbit has just undergone stress (moving and away from her people) and she isn't eating. Both are conducive to her developing GI stasis.

You need to take care of her as soon as possible or she will not be in good form fairly quickly.
 
Your rabbit most likely has GI stasis. It's a slowdown of the digestive system and if not corrected can result in a blockage(if it hasn't already occurred). It can be caused by stress, a diet insufficient in fiber/too high in carbs and sugars, another health problem causing pain and lack of appetite, etc. It's possible that the change of pee color is due to not drinking enough and dehydration.

If your rabbit has stopped eating and pooping completely you need to take her to a rabbit vet immediately. I would suggest completely cleaning her litter box and area, so that you will be able to know for sure if she is still pooping. If she is sitting hunched up grinding her teeth, take her to the vet. If she is still pooping a little and will still eat, you may be ok to hold off on the vet, but I would suggest taking away pellets and any sugary starchy treats, and feed only her hay and any non cruciferous leafy green veggies that she is used to. Parsley, cilantro, and dark leafy lettuce are all good. Keep an eye on her to ensure she is eating, drinking, and pooping. If she is cold, warm her up with a heat pack or warm towels. You may also need to give her some electrolytes, like plain children's Pedialyte, since she hasn't been eating and drinking very well.

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html
http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=484#.UZ8FPbx7LTo.twitter
http://rabbit.org/disorders-of-the-cecum/
 
Thanks for the replies, she eats some hay but not nearly as much as before. i was able to get her to eat some by putting it near her face. I also think she is dehydrated, she use to sit at the water dispenser for minutes to get a drink now its only for a few moments.

I know she eats spinach, as we gave her some the other day and she ate it all quickly. So today Im going to pick up some pediolyte and kale and see if i can get her to eat some. Should i put the pedio in a small dish or mix it with her water?

She is still pooping, I let her run around the house for a few hours last night and she was def marking her territory.
 
have you tried putting her water in a bowl? or even wetting her veggies? if she's dehydrated you need to make it as easy for her as possible.
 
have you tried putting her water in a bowl? or even wetting her veggies? if she's dehydrated you need to make it as easy for her as possible.

Ill be doing this tonight. What would be the best veg to start her off with? Ive given her spinach in the past, but as im reading it can cause the issues shes having now.

Also Id like to change her food, before we were just getting local store bags of pellets. When we first got her we use to get the mixed bag of pellets and various othe things and she would dig to eat all the extras and eat the pellets later. I might get a small bag of these again and see if it helps. Ive heard mixed reviews about Purina® Rabbit Chow™ Complete, was wondering which brands yall prefer.
 
She has also been kicking out her back legs when hoping around, this might be because shes now on hardwood and not carpet. Also she is like punching/shaking one arm at a time then starts licking it. This is new.
 
What is your rabbits diet normally like before this happened, type and amount of pellets, hay, treats, veggies, supplements? Does she normally get hay every day and is she a good hay eater? What are you feeding her now, what is she choosing to eat? Is her poop normal size and consistency? Any smaller than usual fecal poop or mushy poop?

It sounds to me like she could possibly be having problems with her teeth. Rabbits can develop sharp points on their molars, which will cut into their tongue and cheek. This will cause them to stop eating or to selectively eat certain foods that are less painful for them to chew. When a rabbit stops eating certain foods that it normally eats well, but still eats some of it's other food, and it's behavior is normal in every other way, this is often a sign of a dental problem.

I would suggest not changing pellets while she isn't feeling well(unless they are the cause). You may also want to choose a different green veggie besides kale, as it is a cruciferous veggie and can sometimes cause digestive upset for some rabbits. Try cilantro, parsley, or dark leafy lettuce(not iceberg).
 
Got her to start eating a bit more, just worried about her lack of drinking. She drank all the pedialyte i gave her, and I havent noticed her stretching out to get her water up from the water dispenser. I believe she was also very cold, we put down a blanket and made a spot for her to cuddle into. She definately likes this. I believe the issues are steming from her nails. Been meaning to get a set of clippers. She like punches each arm then bites at her paws. And she pulls away if i touch her nails. Im getting a set of trimmers today. her pee is still milky so I hope giving her water in a bowl can help clear this up
 
She is eating again, Pooping everywhere. So thats the good news. We found some sores above the back of her ankles, not on the pads. Shes been licking them. Ive put some neosporin on them.

Also tried to clip her nails and she didnt have it. Put her in a blanket and held her while someone cut the nails. She didnt flinch on the cuts, but after the one paw was done. Havent tried to get the others, but the back ones will be a real pain.

Her water intake appears to be very little. I have both a bowl and bottle out.

But she has her energy back that she didnt before.
 
Without your location, I can't tell, but...do you live near a House Rabbit Society chapter? The one near me offers nail-cutting services for $10. You can help hold the rabbit, or two HRS volunteers will hold and trim the rabbit's nails.

Parsley weighs 12 lb (AmChin, normal weight) and struggles mightily, to the extent that I'm afraid he might break his own back, so I took him to HRS last month. (I adopted him the last weekend of September, and the HRS chapter that took care of him before that thought that his nails had *never* been cut before they fostered him starting in June.)
 
Im newly in Delaware. Id have brought her to a vet, but I have no idea where a vet that does rabbits around here is. Ill try and call around this weekend.


Also, what is the normal vet bill run? As well as a neuter?

Ive heard a neuter is like a 3 appointment thing thats over 400$.
 
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Everything costs more in the S.F. Bay Area than almost anywhere else in the United States (real estate prices being what they are), so a price estimate from the Bay Area would def. be astronomical.

This is a listing of rabbit-savvy vets by state and country. If there's not one in Delaware, please consider nearby states (Delmarva area, etc.).

Hope it works out soon!
 
Someone said to check the teeth and I second that, teeth problems are fairly common. For appetite Try buying some rolled oats (not instant) at the grocery store and see if a teaspoon of the oats will increase appetite. Raw flax seeds, small amounts like a 1/4 teaspoon, also increase appetite have essential vitamins and are good for rabbits coats- (angora breeders feed flax seed to keep their rabbits from getting hair balls) and my rabbits go absolutely crazy for flaxseeds- I feed them as a treat sometimes. If he stops drinking water you could syringe feed water.
 
Shes been eating again, and last night she started out of no where going crazy on the water bottle. Talk about happiness. I played with the tip of the water bottle and not much water was coming out. I had just cleaned it too.

I might go get another water bottle and see whats up. She will bite and pull on it while drinking, and also bite and pick it up and drop it. Maybe shes trying to get the water to flow faster?

Ill have to get some flax for her. Ran out since the move and havent had any treats.

How can i Check the teeth? Shell take my finger off(joke) if i try and open her mouth slightly.
 
I have had my rabbits pull at their water bottles as well. I think that in their minds they're making it come out faster. To open her mouth you can gently press at the corner of her jaw which will force her to open it
 
I think I would put a water bowl in the cage just incase she isn't getting enough water out of the bottle - if you haven't already. Check the rabbits front teeth to make sure they look even and not broken- easy way is to just put bunny on counter or table and put thumb and forefinger on side of mouth, whisker pads and pull up so you can see them - heres a video - [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iL_cQuBHu5g[/ame] and here's someone who gently rolls the bunny on its back and checks teeth- I like the way she gently gets her bunny on its back- she uses an ottoscope and you don't need to do that but its a good video and tells you a lot about teeth. [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOL00dNi85Y[/ame]
 
I might go get another water bottle and see whats up. She will bite and pull on it while drinking, and also bite and pick it up and drop it. Maybe shes trying to get the water to flow faster?

Back in the day when I used a water bottle, Nala would chomp on it and generally be very aggressive with the water bottle - I could tell from the other room which bunny was taking a drink! If I stood there and squeezed the bottle to increase the flow, the behavior stopped instantly.

When I was doing pre-spay prep for my girls, I tried them out with bowls to make sure they'd drink from one (as it's often recommended to provide water in a shallow bowl right after a spay because it's easier for them to drink). I quickly discovered that despite drinking from a water bottle their entire lives, my girls *vastly* preferred the bowl.

I went out and got them this cat waterer from Walmart:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Van-Ness-1.5-Liter-Auto-Waterer-1-ct/10315207
(a 3L one is also available - http://www.walmart.com/ip/Van-Ness-Auto-Waterer-Cats/10315205 )

I wash it by hand once a day (since they kick hay and poop and such into it and shed into it, etc.) and then fill it with fresh water. A couple times a week, I run it through the dishwasher to deep clean/sanitize it just to ensure that bacteria doesn't start to grow in there and that I didn't miss anything while hand-washing.

In general, rabbits tend to drink more from bowls than they do from bottles (though occasionally, there are rabbits who shun the bowl and only want a water bottle).
 

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