Should I be thinking like this ?

My rabbit shakira is 3 years old day one she has had problems with her stomach and teeth. Twice a year she may need a spur operation. And a few molars fall out. Two weeks a go they did this op again and she was fine. On sat she was not eating and drinking etc so I gave her metacam and got her over worse myself but then again today she is doing the same the vets don't know what is wrong. They say could be her teeth again. Well when they don't know they can't just keep putting her under. I know maybe I would need find a rabbit savvy vet could be next step but I jst sometimes think would she b better of in heaven. I can't live without her but don't want her to suffer

I would definitely find a rabbit savvy vet, then you can be sure that she is getting the best veterinary attention, you could post with a title Rabbit savvy vet required in ..... Whatever town you live in and I'm sure someone would be able to post recommendations.

My bridge bunny needed a few dentals for spurs, every 6 months, but once my rabbit savvy vet advised me to cut down pellets to an eggcupful per day she ate more hay and never needed any more dental work for the rest of her life.

shakiraminilop said:

My rabbit shakira is 3 years old day one she has had problems with her stomach and teeth. Twice a year she may need a spur operation. And a few molars fall out. Two weeks a go they did this op again and she was fine. On sat she was not eating and drinking etc so I gave her metacam and got her over worse myself but then again today she is doing the same the vets don't know what is wrong. They say could be her teeth again. Well when they don't know they can't just keep putting her under. I know maybe I would need find a rabbit savvy vet could be next step but I jst sometimes think would she b better of in heaven. I can't live without her but don't want her to suffer

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Three is very young for a rabbit. Is she spayed?

Does she eat huge amounts of hay, which is the best thing for stomach and teeth. What amount of pellets do you feed her? Good quality hay should be 80-90% of a rabbit's diet, the rest being made up of green veg and about an eggcupful of pellets a day.

I would definitely recommend finding a rabbit-savvy vet. Where about in Staffs are you?

I'd say get a second opinion too - I have a bunny (rupert) who's had a few issues over the last year with bloat / stasis episodes (he's had 9 episodes since Janary!)... he had his first dental last month. When they're poorly and not themselves you do have moments where you think the way you are now - but if they get better, and back to normal, you know that they're not ready. I always believe they let you know when they've had enough.

We had this conversation when the vet said we may have to put Rupert on a hay only diet.... we talk about quality of life etc, and Rupert would be so unhappy on hay only diet, he loves his pellets, and I know it sounds weird, but he's so excited and lively usually.

Get a second opinion thinking of you, if you ever wanna chat my pm box is always open, I know how hard it is with a bunny who seems to have unknown issues. It's awful and scary and you just wanna know its gonna be ok xx

Thank u guys yes she has jus pellets she is not a hay eater. Offered at all times but she only plays with it. I no mash her food up with water which she seems to love when she wants to eat so it's easier for her. I may feed my buns to much but they get cross a stamp feet rattle cage chew stuff. She has been spayed aswel. And I love her so much! She is like my world so I would be lost without her but hate seeing her like this. I know when the day comes I will be cremating her and keep her ashes as she is my baby. I have jus asked a few people on my fb and they have mentioned a rabbit savvy one near me so wil defo be getting that second opinion . I wish I had insurance. But to late now as she has every problem under the sun. Xx

I have a theory that if too many pellets are provided, some buns fill up on these and fail to graze enough on hay. Ideally, pellets are not to be grazed on. In my case I provide enough pellets (a small handful for each bun only per day) to be scoffed and gone all in one go!

I do wonder if you could cut down on the pellets and provide hay (as you are doing) - the best hay possible. Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind and most of our bunnies would devour as many pellets as they could but its not really ideal.

See what your vet suggests - in fact, put the suggest to the vet and see if he thinks its worth a try Good luck.

cara said:

I have a theory that if too many pellets are provided, some buns fill up on these and fail to graze enough on hay. Ideally, pellets are not to be grazed on. In my case I provide enough pellets (a small handful for each bun only per day) to be scoffed and gone all in one go!

I do wonder if you could cut down on the pellets and provide hay (as you are doing) - the best hay possible. Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind and most of our bunnies would devour as many pellets as they could but its not really ideal.

See what your vet suggests - in fact, put the suggest to the vet and see if he thinks its worth a try Good luck.

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I do this also

Yes defo going to try this from now on I have another rabbit who is a little over weight which will do him good but I get so scared of them not eating I rather they eat

I agree with the others that a second opinion is needed from a bunny savvy vet. I had a bun who had dentals every 5-6 weeks (some conscious and some under GA). He started to have them at 4.5 and he lived until 9. There is no way he would eat hay and I tried everything under the sun!!! I tried cutting back (don't do this too quick either or you will upset tums), spraying with pineapple juice (his favourite), different types of hay, ready grass.

He would eat grass though and did have a lot of free range time so this helped. We also feed ours on Oxbow bunny basics which is a hay based pellet so is high in fibre and not as high in calcium as some of the other brands.

With a good vet and regular dentals (you will learn to see the signs early) she will hopefully be OK.

shakiraminilop said:

Thank u guys yes she has jus pellets she is not a hay eater. Offered at all times but she only plays with it. I no mash her food up with water which she seems to love when she wants to eat so it's easier for her. I may feed my buns to much but they get cross a stamp feet rattle cage chew stuff. She has been spayed aswel. And I love her so much! She is like my world so I would be lost without her but hate seeing her like this. I know when the day comes I will be cremating her and keep her ashes as she is my baby. I have jus asked a few people on my fb and they have mentioned a rabbit savvy one near me so wil defo be getting that second opinion . I wish I had insurance. But to late now as she has every problem under the sun. Xx

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Therein lies your problem.
You almost have to be cruel to be kind - rabbits love pellets (like children love sweets) but in order to remain healthy they need to eat loads of hay, which they won't if they are filling up on pellets.
I would recommend very gradually reducing the pellets and upping the amount of good quality hay. You have to stick with it, though, and ignore the soulful eyes.
HayforPets do a sample pack of their different hays - it is free, you just pay postage.

And just to add (as has been mentioned before by other peeps on other threads), mine are practically frantic over the pellets. You really would think they were starved rabbits!

Oh, and mine do get a serving of veg/herbs at dusk - whenever dusk is dependant on the time of the year and are free ranging grass eaters too

Poppy has very few teeth left and can have maybe 2-3 dentals a year. She hasn't eaten hay since she was a year old and her diet is just pellets which are measured daily, but she is 6 years old. So don't write your bun off just yet

With my other dental bun (who can eat hay) I also offer things like hawthorn, raspberry leaves etc. Just some roughage for his tum, it seems to help his teeth too and he's having 1 or 2 dentals a year now. I also keep on top of topping the litter trays up with fresh hay which gets munched straight away and he gets less than a handful of food a day.

Fibre first sticks are good and also timothy hay from timothyhay.co.uk

Thanks yes I just have given in all the time but pleased to let you know she just started eating again. But she really has never eaten hay even as a baby. She hates grass aswel if I put her outside she sits there wash her self like she is a princess thinking i don't like this stuff carpet is so much better

shakiraminilop said:

Thanks yes I just have given in all the time but pleased to let you know she just started eating again. But she really has never eaten hay even as a baby. She hates grass aswel if I put her outside she sits there wash her self like she is a princess thinking i don't like this stuff carpet is so much better

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Stick with the good quality hay.
Don't give in!

Hi there
I posted a while ago about Princess Katie not eating hay, and I was getting so worried about her. I then got really tough with her and reduced her pellets to an egg cup full a day. We did have two really hard weeks where I was worried she would starve or go into GI stasis (I mean she was fine, but I just worried that there was a possibility of it) but I did provide her with two different types of hay plus grass and herbs all the time. After two weeks she gave in and started eating hay.