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Advice needed, can anybody help Steve?? he's wasting away!

smallbrownfrog

smallbrownfrog

Warren Scout
hi there, i wonder if anyone has any advice, my rabbit, steve, has been loosing weight slowly for a while now, i have taken him to the vets a few times but each time they have found nothing wrong.... the thing is he's really skinny now, and i'm worried. he's not 'out of sorts' still seems quite happy and is eating and pooing, tho it's hard to monitor exactly how much coz he lies with 2 others (who are both happy and nicely rounded).

he does go off his food sometimes, for no reason...

i don't know what to do. i have fed him biolapsis, and all his favorite grub in large quantities... he has a full ish belly, but is not putting weight on!!

help!!
 
Have you thought of going to another vets? if it was me i would think there was definitely something wrong if hes losing lots of weight

whats his diet?
 
Afalfa is good for weight gain, Oxbow do a hay and you can get treats too. They recommend it as it can increase appetite as buns like it so much. Can you feed him and watch him a bit so he eats it, away from the others as maybe he doesn't get a look in.

I also have read on here about feeding porridge made up with water.

I do think you need to spend time with just him feeding him and assessing how much he does eat.

I would ask the vet about what to do too in terms of feeding him up a kind of Complan for buns! I think he is going to have to go on a cream cake diet, all the treats our buns are longing for but can't have! Don't just overload on sugary stuff as it'll rot his teeth but you do need to get some weight on him, I would try the afalfa hay and stuff, available on the internet is not local and watch him feed.

I hope all goes well, it is worrying when they're not 100% isn't it.
 
thank you for your replies:

i feed them all on Super rabbit exell, with alfalfa hay, and free access to fresh hay plus lots of carrots, celery, cucumber, broccoli occasional apples some lettuce and a variety of safe herbs and greens that i grow especially for them including spinach, beetroot leaves, basil and Steve's fav, parsley. they never have sugary treats except fresh apple.

i have brought steve in and he is eating carrots as i type. the thing is he won't eat or drink in any decent quantity when under observation, and he pines for the others if i isolate him. at the moment he and my cat are having a great time running around the flat...he seems in great spirits!!

except he's skinny

i have checked his eyes/teeth/ears i have syringe fed him biolapsis mixed with banana.

and i have seen 2 different rabbit friendly vets with him.

i don't know what else to do!!
 
he's pooing all over the place, so there's no problem there!! there's stuff going through... but i can feel far too much of his spine to be healthy, and his little hips are jutting out :?
 
Has he had blood tests to see if his kidneys are functioning properly? Weight loss like that can be an indication of kidney failure :(
Also, Ec is another possibilty.
Have you tried him with porridge oats? These would help maintain his weight as would a couple of peanuts a day - also weetabix.
Hope you get to the bottom of this but it is not right that he is losing weight like this - I would insist on blood tests.
Sending lots of healing and positive vibes to him - xxxx
 
thankyou verymuch Jaypot i will get him looked at with that in mind.. he loves weetabix, but i didn't think they were good, but i'll nip out and get some, anything's worth a try. i'll try the oats and peanuts too.

now i need to find a vet that's open in the morning... i wonder if i have any oats in the cupboard, i'll check now.

he's certainly enjoying his carrot.

i'll look up the conditions you mentioned too, and try to find out more. thank you :)
 
I agree it needs more looking into its not right for him to be so under weight, just a thought probebly wont be , but its worth worming him. its rare for worms to be a problem in rabbits but its worth eliminating .Its so easy to treat just a small dose of panacur. val
 
ok, he's tucking into a bowl of oats, apple, celery leaves wheat cracker and a few cornflakes. he's lovin it!! I'm always wary of giving my animals human food because of added salt, sugar and fat, but maybe in little bits.. and added fat isn't a problem for him!!

any other suggestions of tempting treats are very much appreciated, don't worry, I'm not going to shock his system by suddenly changing his whole diet, but i think feeding him on his own in addition to his usual diet may be beneficial.

could this be a personality thing? maybe he needs more one-on-one time... the female of the three can be a bully, tho he is the largest of them he is the lowest in the pecking order, and he is very susceptible to upsets- we move house:he stops eating. one of the others is in isolation due to illness:he stops eating, different housing..guess what... you guessed it.

does this sound plausible? could he just be a bit depressed??
 
well I'm not sure what it is, the biolapsis and banana, the oats based grub, or the extra attention and exercise, but he has put on a little weight. he's gained a little bulk around his spine, he's got a way to go, but whatever it is it seems to have started things in the right direction. phew.

they haven't done any tests yet. he has had a shot of something to stimulate his gut a few times, and he's improved as a result. but it's a reoccurring thing, surly if it was a kidney complaint he wouldn't get better, stay good, then months later decline slowly again?

thank you everyone for your responses. it always helps to know you're not on your own when things like this happen. :)
 
One of my bridge bunnies had kidney and liver problems and started off this way. I took him to the vets several times and he did get injections which improved him for a while (at this point we didn't know it was kidney/liver problems). But then he would deteriorate, go back to the vets and get injected again, until finally they found out what it was.

I hope this is not the case with your bunny, but it sounds like it may be best to get it checked out, so that you know for sure.
 
There have been some good suggestions so far with regards to tests etc. One other thing I would like to add is perhaps the possibility of bladder problems (stones/infections)? I only suggest this as some of the things you have mentioned you feed regularly especially alfalfa hay, parsley and spinach are extremly high in calcium and should only be fed occasionally. If for instance he is uncomfortable because of bladder stones (usually caused by a build up of too much calcium) he would not be eating as much hense the weight loss. I would also agree with insisiting on a blood test to check kidney function.
 
There's been some good suggestions so far. Has your vet checked the teeth? If he has a molar spur, it could be triggering his GI stasis problems because it becomes painful for him to eat. A friend of mine had a bun with recurring stasis that stopped when she insisted on having a full scope done of the buns mouth. Anesthesia was required to see the back molars, which had been missed before. Spurs were found and filed down, and the bun is now back to normal.

I'm wondering why he didn't bother to investigate Steve's weight loss. Is there a better rabbit vet you could go to?
 
i dont know if i can compare a rabbit with a dog , but is chronic unexplained weight loss a sign of diabetes and/or thyroid problems. i dont know if rabbits can suffer with either but may be worth a blood test if it hasnt already been done?
 
i only feed spinach and parcley in very small irragular quantities, and alfalfa small portions with their food...

his teeth have been checked, and are all good, tho i have to be careful coz he has some small spirs which may need treatment later if they start to get worse.

the vet did not investigate his weight loss because he responded to treatment for gut stasis, and the loss is not sudden, but very gradual.

i will be getting him checked out fully. the vet's i'm using are members of the rabbit welfare society and, i believe are very enthusiastic about the treatment of rabbits.

steve has continued to put a little weight on... and is still very bouncy and happy in his self. and pooing and weeing totally normally.
 
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