n.baddeley
New Kit
I'm looking for a bit of advice if anyone is able to help,
I have an approximately 14 week old rabbit called Else who is living with an older rabbit, around 4 months old, called Ana, sadly her partner passed away and she was very depressed to we bought her a new friend in hope they'd bond as well as the other 2 did, They've been living in an indoor cage together in my living room and come out in the evenings and hop around the living room ... On Sunday morning the younger rabbit, Else, looked rather ill and didn't want to move, I honestly thought she was dead the way she was led in the cage - I took her out of the cage and separated from Ana and tried to give her separate food and water except she wouldn't eat it, being a Sunday I was unable to get to to a vet so I had to do the best I could for her myself ... She felt very thin, you could feel every bone! But she was refusing to eat...My husband bought some different food to try her on and she wouldn't eat that either. I ended up trying her on a carrot ... She started to take tiny nibbles!!! YES!! Was SO happy ... she'd have tiny nibbles, chew for ages, then wouldn't eat again ... I stayed with her all day and every 15 mins or so I'd put the carrot to her face and she'd nibble, but she wouldn't go to take the carrot herself ... a little later I gave her a dandelion leaf and she was doing the same with that - She wouldn't eat unless it was presented to her mouth, same with water as well ... She wouldn't drink from a bottle or a bowl so I ended up dipping my finger in water and she'd lick it off ...
After about 6-7 hours of this she started to go to the carrot, dandelion leaves and water on her own ... I let her out of the pet carrier to have a bit of exercise and freedom ... She seemed a lot better and was cleaning herself and hopping around - Completely different to how she was earlier in the day!
The problem we had was the older one was eating all the food and little one obviously wasn't getting any as she's so tiny, and Ana is now HUGE!! I still have them separate at the moment and letting them out together to socialise even though Else seems better I want to monitor her eating ... But the problem I have is little one still isn't eating normal rabbit food ... She will happily eat veggies dandelion leaves and is eating very small amounts of hay, but not pellets or other rabbit food ... Can she live of vegetables alone? I can't imagine that it's going to do her any good, but having said that she is now putting on weight, slowly ... I have done research into what you can and cant give vegetables wise ... but they say the best thing for weight gain is pellets, but she wont touch them!
Is any one able to give advice? Can she live happily and healthily on fresh veg alone? I just figured food is food at the moment, as long as she's eating something that's what counts ... My only concern is she can't carry on like this ... can she?
Many Thanks,
Nicki
I have an approximately 14 week old rabbit called Else who is living with an older rabbit, around 4 months old, called Ana, sadly her partner passed away and she was very depressed to we bought her a new friend in hope they'd bond as well as the other 2 did, They've been living in an indoor cage together in my living room and come out in the evenings and hop around the living room ... On Sunday morning the younger rabbit, Else, looked rather ill and didn't want to move, I honestly thought she was dead the way she was led in the cage - I took her out of the cage and separated from Ana and tried to give her separate food and water except she wouldn't eat it, being a Sunday I was unable to get to to a vet so I had to do the best I could for her myself ... She felt very thin, you could feel every bone! But she was refusing to eat...My husband bought some different food to try her on and she wouldn't eat that either. I ended up trying her on a carrot ... She started to take tiny nibbles!!! YES!! Was SO happy ... she'd have tiny nibbles, chew for ages, then wouldn't eat again ... I stayed with her all day and every 15 mins or so I'd put the carrot to her face and she'd nibble, but she wouldn't go to take the carrot herself ... a little later I gave her a dandelion leaf and she was doing the same with that - She wouldn't eat unless it was presented to her mouth, same with water as well ... She wouldn't drink from a bottle or a bowl so I ended up dipping my finger in water and she'd lick it off ...
After about 6-7 hours of this she started to go to the carrot, dandelion leaves and water on her own ... I let her out of the pet carrier to have a bit of exercise and freedom ... She seemed a lot better and was cleaning herself and hopping around - Completely different to how she was earlier in the day!
The problem we had was the older one was eating all the food and little one obviously wasn't getting any as she's so tiny, and Ana is now HUGE!! I still have them separate at the moment and letting them out together to socialise even though Else seems better I want to monitor her eating ... But the problem I have is little one still isn't eating normal rabbit food ... She will happily eat veggies dandelion leaves and is eating very small amounts of hay, but not pellets or other rabbit food ... Can she live of vegetables alone? I can't imagine that it's going to do her any good, but having said that she is now putting on weight, slowly ... I have done research into what you can and cant give vegetables wise ... but they say the best thing for weight gain is pellets, but she wont touch them!
Is any one able to give advice? Can she live happily and healthily on fresh veg alone? I just figured food is food at the moment, as long as she's eating something that's what counts ... My only concern is she can't carry on like this ... can she?
Many Thanks,
Nicki
Last edited:
