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Help with poorly bunny

LeilaL

New Kit
We got 2 dwarf rabbits 3 weeks ago and the one has gone from strength to strength. Honey (the male) is not growing (even losing a little which he can't afford to).

We went to vets last Wednesday and he is stumped. He had suggested maybe Honey was a 'dwarf' (midget) dwarf rabbitt. Honey is eating & drinking. Poos are a little dry but not ridiculously so.

To give you and idea Dynamo is 764g and Honey is 216g.

We are worried sick and honestly don't know what to do. If he doesn't gain weight then they will not be able to give him his injections. He seems a little subdued, but still shows interest in fussing and eating.

Any ideas would be welcome x
 
From what we were told they are now 11 weeks. We got them from a chap my husband works with x

Sorry they are brother and sister x
 
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What is their daily diet ?

Have either Rabbits had any episodes of diarrhoea ?

Are his incisors occluding correctly ?
 
They have a constant supply of Timothy feeding hay, dwarf & junior pellets, kale & broccoli. They have water in both a bottle and a dish (we were worried for a while he has struggling with the bottle, but have realised he wasn't and they both like it in dish so they have the option of both).

Vet says teeth look fine.

No diahhorea from either of them. His poo's are slightly drier than her's but vet said it was nothingto stress about.
 
If he is eating and drinking well but is still losing/not gaining weight it could be a failure to thrive bun I am afraid. :(:(
 
Is there anything we can give him to try and bring him along? He also still has his baby fluffy fur where as his sister has a sleek coat x

Will he be in pain?
 
are you sure that they are the same litter and same age?

if he was younger or less well developed it may be he was too young to leave mum and that has meant his digestive system did not cope so well.
 
Did the vet test for coccidiosis? This can also cause the lack of weight gain but also can have other symptoms like diarrhoea.
 
In that case I can only think of two things:

1. the little chap very sadly has something congenitally wrong - so that he is failing to thrive (an internal heart of digestion or other malformation or physiological problem)

or

2. He has some other problem which the vet is not picking up such as dental or gut infection/disease issues.

You may have picked up from reading threads on here that the majority of vets are actually not very extensively trained on rabbit issues (it forms only a minute part of general vet training due to historical reasons and rabbit guts and physiology are very different to cats dogs etc), and you may want to try and get a second opinion from a specialist rabbit vet.

If you post a thread on here with your location and the heading 'specialist or very good rabbit vet needed near XXXXX' you may get suggestions.

I do hope your little one does thrive and that you can get to the root of the issues.
 
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