Rabbit suddenly stopped eating pellets but eats hay + greens - vets don't know why

[flospylop]

Hi all

I have a 3 year old adorable mini lop!

He is usually crazy for his pellets (more than his veg and hay), but last week he suddenly refused to eat them! However he was still enjoying his hay and greens, and treats and chew toys! He is pooping and peeing and drinking as usual. He seems his usual self apart from not eating the pellets. I tried different brands, and different batches etc but no luck.

I took him to the vets and they checked his teeth and said they couldn't see any obvious issues with the teeth. However they said it is difficult to see right at the back.

They gave some pain meds and asked me to give it for 3 days which i did. He started eating again. I stopped the pain meds after 3 days, and for the following 3 days without the meds he continued to happily and excitedly eat the pellets. Then he randomly stopped again! I took him back to the vets (this time it was a different vet) who also said she cannot see right at the back, but from what she can see his teeth seem fine. However as she couldn't think of anything else she said we could do a dental...but this would have to be under anaesthetic which comes with a risk of him not waking up from it.

I'm at a total loss. Two different vets don't *think* there is anything wrong with his teeth (although they said they can't see the back clearly but there are no signs on his tongue of any lesions). I don't want to take such a big risk if it isn't his teeth!! From what I have read online, buns normally stop eating hay and continue to eat pellets with teeth issues. Are there any experienced rabbit savvy people here who can give some advice? I love my bun and I am SO worried and just want to do what is right by him.

Update: He had pain meds this morning, but i didn't give him the evening dose and he seemed very excited to eat his pellets and now he has eaten some. Could the pain med still be in his system?! I'm so confused

Thank you!

 

[Zoobec]

Are the vets rabbit savvy ? If they are rabbit savvy and your bunny is otherwise well then a dental should be fine but obviously there is a risk. Sometimes it’s impossible to see spurs and ulcers on the tongue etc right at the back when the bunny is awake. I had a bunny who was presenting as dental but no visible spurs or anything and it turned out he had spurs on both sides and ulcers on both side of his tongue. Usually they go off hay but the chewing action is different for hay and pellets so maybe that’s why he’s gone off pellets.

If he’s eating plenty of hay, forage etc then he doesn’t actually need pellets, you could try him on fibafirst sticks for example. Is he eating a pile of hay at least as big as himself each day?

 

[bunny momma]

The type and location of dental issues can present in eating/not eating different things.
If you choose to wait you need to monitor your bunny closely because bunnies who stop eating can quickly go into gut stasis where output stops and that is a life threatening emergency.
Yes,pain med could still be in his system.
He sounds lovely.

 

[InspectorMorse]

What are his poops like ?

Is he drinking ? A Rabbit who is not drinking will go off pellets

Is his wee output normal ?

Did the Vet check his ears ? All my Rabbits who were found to have ear infections stopped eating pellets but continued to eat veg and hay. The crunching on pellets might be more painful if the ears hurt.