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confused about ralph again, any advice appreciated

Candiflare

Mama Doe
You might know Ralph goes through bouts of stasis every month, well he's become very weird over the past few days. He's no longer eating pellets or veg or anything other than hay and grass (which is obviously a good thing, but his strong appetite for everything was always one of his big characteristics!) He has lost quite a lot of weight about half a kilo in the past few weeks too.

He seems to no longer be the dominant one -- he was very very dominant before with Ruby, and now it looks like they've evened out. She is now the brave one who comes up to the bars for cuddles and to be lifted out and puts her head out for him to groom it, whereas he just huddles under her with his back to me. I can also tell that she knows there is something wrong. She does a certain type of grooming when he is not happy/not well and she's been doing it all day today. It's the same type of grooming she did when he was in stasis in May and in April. Very different to how he used to be.

There's nothing I can put my finger on apart from the not eating pellets or veg, but he just isn't himself and seems to frequently look uncomfortable. I just get a sense that he is fragile and handle him more carefully than the other two who are like mini rollercoasters scampering around. Ralph would always prefer just to hunker down and be stroked.

I think it might be time fora trip to Great Western, but does anyone have any idea what it could possibly be?
 
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Do you feed him his pellets separately from her?

Have you seen him chomping hay and grass?

Perhaps his teeth are causing him problems.
 
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I suspect that his gut could be slowing down & he's trying to keep it going, by eating lots of fiber.
It's quite common for dominance to shift to the other partner if a bun is out of condition. A different type of grooming is also often done to a poorly partner bun. (I stroke mine much more when he's ill)

Yes I think it is time for a trip to GWR.
Everything crossed for you all. Please let us know how you get on.
 
Do you feed him his pellets separately from her?

Have you seen him chomping hay and grass?

Perhaps his teeth are causing him problems.

Hi Lorraine, he's had his teeth checked every time he's been to the vet and she says they're fine...

He's eating LOADS of hay and grass and that's why it's not a stasis situation yet. As you know I was out of hay for a couple of days, but he was eating loads of grass at that time too.

My vet in charlbury is a big "grass advocate" and doesn't think I should be feeding him pellets at all in an ideal world, so if I go to her and say he's ust eating grass and hay she'll think it's great!

I feed them together and I always watch who eats what and the past two days Ruby has been eating all the pellets.
 
I suspect that his gut could be slowing down & he's trying to keep it going, by eating lots of fiber.
It's quite common for dominance to shift to the other partner if a bun is out of condition. A different type of grooming is also often done to a poorly partner bun. (I stroke mine much more when he's ill)

Yes I think it is time for a trip to GWR.
Everything crossed for you all. Please let us know how you get on.

Hi Thumps, thanks so much for your support. Since his bouts of stasis he seems to have lost all enjoyment of food. He used to be very greedy but now he is very sensitive to it.

Like I said to Lorraine, it's not yet a stasis situation because he is still eating so much hay and grass, but I hate watching it go downhill like this and seeing him shrink to half the bun he was. :(
 
Sending loads of vibes for Ralph. When Frankie had bouts of statis he was on science selective pellets. I changed his food over and that, touchwood, has seemed to cure it. Don't know what else to suggest other than another trip to the vets.
 
Well I took him back to the vets and she has told me to bring him inside and keep him on an all-hay diet and monitor his poos vigilantly. She has also referred me on to great western like I asked.

She said she could feel something in his tummy but she didn't know what it was :cry::cry:

So Ralph is off to Swindon ASAP. Do you know how long referrals take?

Thanks so much for asking.
 
GWR can move quickly. If your vet phones, he could be seen Mon. /Tues. or should he become an emergency, he'll be seen that day. They are all 1st. class bunny vets there. Marie is just very special ;)

Can you make sure he has plenty to drink as well? A high fluid intake is so important here.

Everything crossed for you both. Hang on in there.
 
Hope you get the referral appointment through soon... hope Ralph perks up indoors. I have fingers crossed for you x
 
Hope it goes well. Referrals are very quick. I was offered one in Bristol and they got me an appt straightaway. I was also offered for one for Great Western for Frankie and that would have in a couple of days to.
 
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