Jigsaw off his pellets & Hay - Update X-rays taken

Jigsaw isn't feeling well again

Bit of history he goes off his food about once a quarter, he then has a dental which the vet always say's that the teeth shouldn't be causing an issue and that he has no damage to his soft tissues in his mouth, he then starts eating properly again a day or 2 later.

Anyway back to the present, it can't surely be his teeth as they were only done on the 4th January, I'm still not convinced it's ever been his teeth even though he recovers after a dental.

Last night he had his tea and a treat later, when I went to bed he was in his litter tray relaxing, if he's doing that it means he's not well. He ate a bit of something overnight and pooped, this morning he came charging at me for food but then lost any interest in pellets but kept looking at me for food on his back legs, I syringe fed him and went to work. After work I too him his tea, again he was excited but did the same as this morning, I've syringe fed him again.

Can rabbits really have a few off days every now and again? I really don't think it's a dental issue at all and maybe never has been?

He's not really eating the hay either, he's all lively not sluggish or anything. He's not doing the usual things a stasis bun would do either such as hunched up then moving again because he can't get comfy.

Weird how he was fine at tea time then 3 hours later he's not touching pellets or hay

He is trying to hide away in corners when he sees me or lowers him self to the floor.

I've given him some baby sweetcorn, spinach & rocket mix, carrot tops the green bits, chicory, pak choi, broccoli and a couple of other bits I can't remember now, he was tucking into them when I went back downstairs, he's due another syringe feed in about 40 mins so will see what bits of veg he has eaten.

Any other thoughts on what the issue could be?

Is he moulting? My two girls do this, at least twice a year where they will barely touch food and seem to be grumpy and uninterested, but as soon as I'm away from them, they eat! Mood swings galore. Must say though, they sometimes do it even if they're not moulting :wave:

Is he weeing and pooing - what comes out is as important as what goes in.

Personally, I would be very cautious of syringe feeding if he may have a blockage.

I've never known my rabbits go off their pellets and hay unless they are ill.

TD86 said:

Is he moulting? My two girls do this, at least twice a year where they will barely touch food and seem to be grumpy and uninterested, but as soon as I'm away from them, they eat! Mood swings galore. Must say though, they sometimes do it even if they're not moulting :wave:

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Yeah he started about 2 weeks ago its not a heavy molt though, he wasn't moulting the other times though

Babsie said:

Is he weeing and pooing - what comes out is as important as what goes in.

Personally, I would be very cautious of syringe feeding if he may have a blockage.

I've never known my rabbits go off their pellets and hay unless they are ill.

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No blockages he's going to the loo as normal, I wouldn't be taking this action with him if he wasn't passing anything, just need to get to the bottom of what the problem is with him as I'm still not convinced its his teeth based on his history

Dave81 said:

No blockages he's going to the loo as normal, I wouldn't be taking this action with him if he wasn't passing anything, just need to get to the bottom of what the problem is with him as I'm still not convinced its his teeth based on his history

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Ok - just thought worth mentioning. Have no idea what it could be, sorry. Is your vet rabbit-savvy? If so, surprised he hasn't suggested any further tests.

Babsie said:

Ok - just thought worth mentioning. Have no idea what it could be, sorry. Is your vet rabbit-savvy? If so, surprised he hasn't suggested any further tests.

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No problem, yeah they are good with my rabbits, I think the only reason I haven't gone down the route of other tests is because a dental always solves the problem but now I'm wondering if its pure coincidence that then dental works and maybe its just the fact that whatever was affecting him has gone away over the space its taken from dental to recovery after dental

Think we need J-J on this one!

He's eaten the pellets that I had left from breakfast, or he has hidden them :lol::lol:

I've also seen him eating a few strands of hay when I popped up to syringe feed him just now, I'm not making up the recovery paste for him now seen as though he has started to eat something, I may do one a small syringe before I go to bed to keep his guts going just in case he decides to stop eating again.

I really want to get to the bottom of this with him as I would sooner not keep putting him through dentals if they aren't actually the cause of the problem as its a lot of strain on a rabbits body to go under.

The one thing that keeps on leading me back to not been a dental issue is if his teeth were bad with spurs then they would be cutting the soft parts of his mouth which I suspect is why rabbits stop eating as its the pain element. The vet never finds any damage whatsoever and also says yes he has some spurs but they are that tiny it shouldn't be affecting him

Do you think it would be worth a referral to an exotics specialist? Don't know where you are located?

Babsie said:

Do you think it would be worth a referral to an exotics specialist? Don't know where you are located?

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If it carries on then yes possibly, he more or less has the perfect diet, it has been lacking in veg / herbs etc lately so will experiment with making sure he gets some a few times a week, at least for now he has eaten the pellets :thumb:

may be worth carrying out a full blood count, as it seems to keep happening, I know my mini lop sox we always thought dental with him , until one day he had other symptoms , it was only the blood tests that's came back and told us the answers for his diagnosis

mini lop1 said:

may be worth carrying out a full blood count, as it seems to keep happening, I know my mini lop sox we always thought dental with him , until one day he had other symptoms , it was only the blood tests that's came back and told us the answers for his diagnosis

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Thanks for that I guess its easy to get side tracked to go with one treatment which appears to work then just keep doing the same one over and over because it worked the last time

Have x rays ever been done, to check for tooth problems below the surface?

Jbun said:

Have x rays ever been done, to check for tooth problems below the surface?

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No that's another option at least

I don't have anything extra to add, but sending vibes that you manage to get to the bottom of this problem.

My Spenser has recurrent off periods, not usually lasting longer than a day, but long enough to warrant a vet appointment. He's never had a dental - we think he has a tenderness in his caecum that causes the bother to flare up.

Have you felt his tummy when he's having these 'off' days? My Daisy does this quite often, the vets can never find anything wrong, I think she gets a gassy tummy and is very uncomfortable until it goes. It never lasts more than half a day though really :?

ripminnie said:

Have you felt his tummy when he's having these 'off' days? My Daisy does this quite often, the vets can never find anything wrong, I think she gets a gassy tummy and is very uncomfortable until it goes. It never lasts more than half a day though really :?

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I wondered this. Because presumably when he's having a dental he's having pain relief which might ease the pain enough to get him back eating again. OP have you noticed any link to what he's been fed the day or two before? Just wondered if something he's eating might be causing gas.

Sorry for the late responses I didn't get an e-mail to say anyone had replied.

I usually always feel his stomach when he's feeling off although I'll admit i don't really know what I'm feeling for, I'm certain he's felt a bit bloated.

He's just had pellets and hay before this episode.

I didn't syringe feed him at all last night as he was back to eating again, he's had breakfast today too, there was plenty of poo in the litter tray. Jigsaw looked a bit off earlier so I syringe fed him a couple of hours ago but at the same time did his nails and brushed him.

Lots of fur that's stuck from his moult came off the brush got stuck slightly, so i wonder if he's been feeling off from that?

Hopefully he's on the mend but if it carries on he will be going to the vets.

Glad he's eating again. Hope you can find the cause of these episodes. Sending lots of vibes for Jigsaw xx