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Rabbit won't eat hay, pellets, or drink water but will eat greens

B

BunBunz

New Kit
Hi all,

I am new to the community so I am hoping someone might be able to offer some advice. I have a 3 year old 4lb Jersey Wooly. For the last several weeks I have been slowly helping her recover from a bout of gut stasis. After about 15 days she is now eating her greens again and the occasional few pellets and she is producing droppings proportional to what she is eating. Prior to 3 weeks ago I noticed she was eating less (diet made up of greens, pellets, and Timothy hay), but she was still producing plenty of dropping and urinating. However, as she is recovering now I still find myself having to feed her crit care several times a day to make up for the fact that she refuses to drink any water or eat any hay. She is also not eating as many pellets as usual.

I have had 3 separate vets look at her teeth as part of the regular exam visit. This exam is the usual one they do where they look in their mouth with a light scope. All Drs have stated her teeth look fine. They also didn't notice any redness or swelling around the mouth. Ultimately they have all said the same thing - feed her the crit care until she starts eating her hay and drinking water. I was also given a motility drug (laxative) and metacam for pain. I've also been hydrating her via sub-q several times a week since she is not drinking.

My question is, based on the fact that she appear only interested in softer foods (even refusing to eat what used to be her favorite - carrots) does this mean there is likely a tooth issue that would be better detected if I opted to have her put under anesthesia? Has anyone else had a similar experience with a rabbit following stasis?

Couple other things to mention - I don't hear her grinding her teeth (except when she is being petted - sort of a purr). Would a rabbit be likely to eat veggies but not drink water?

Any suggestions appreciated.

Thank you!
 
The not drinking water is strange but all the other signs point to it being her teeth!
Is she drinking and you're not seeing it? Or is she dehydrated?
Will she be eat grass?
 
I have just 'rescued' a rabbit with the exact same issue, at first I thought it was the stress of moving home, but its continued and she seems quite bright and friendly even doing binkys

She has the vet tomorrow so will get a full health check then, including her teeth.

One thing I notice though is her poos sometimes have fur in them and are attached to each other... she is a very fluffy rabbit so perhaps she is a bit blocked up with fur? do know why that would make her not want to drink/ eat pellets though but seems to be the only thing 'wrong' that I can see.

She will eat lots of fresh grass, carrot tops, spinach, rocket etc
 
Hi, welcome to the forum :wave: Are you in the US? I ask, because I'd never heard of a Jersey Wooly (what a lovely name!) and have just googled it.

It certainly could be her teeth, as a vet cannot examine a rabbit's back teeth successfully with a scope. Has she suffered with dental issues before?

I would think that the reason why your rabbit is not drinking is that you are giving her sub Q fluid therapy, she will be having water in the critical care and she will also receive some hydration from the greens. She's possibly just not very thirsty.
 
Thanks for your reply. She is definitely not drinking. Once I hydrate her, I monitor her litter box and you can see that after about 24 hours her urine output heads back toward 0 again. She will eat a little grass here and there but vastly prefers her kale, plantain leaves, and etc...
 
Hey Omi - no she has not had dental issues previously. And I have always liked that name myself! She is very cute. I agree with what you say regarding the scope. That's why I'm thinking that the anesthesia might be the way to go. I don't think the sub-q is what is causing her lack of drinking though since she went 4 days without hydration about a week ago and still refused any water.
 
It's scary but I think I'd have them anaesthesitise her and check her teeth and file them down if they need it while she's still under
 
Hey Ponymad21 - I agree. I took her in this morning to have the full dental exam. I think it's a long shot but since she seems to only be eating soft things since the stasis (3 weeks ago) but refusing hay, most of her pellets, and any hard veggies like her previously beloved carrot I thought it worth a look. I'll let you know how she makes out.
 
Sending lots of vibes for her. I would also have elected to have her teeth examined in the circumstances. At least you will know for sure whether it's the teeth or not.
 
BunBunz said:
Hi all,

I am new to the community so I am hoping someone might be able to offer some advice. I have a 3 year old 4lb Jersey Wooly. For the last several weeks I have been slowly helping her recover from a bout of gut stasis. After about 15 days she is now eating her greens again and the occasional few pellets and she is producing droppings proportional to what she is eating. Prior to 3 weeks ago I noticed she was eating less (diet made up of greens, pellets, and Timothy hay), but she was still producing plenty of dropping and urinating. However, as she is recovering now I still find myself having to feed her crit care several times a day to make up for the fact that she refuses to drink any water or eat any hay. She is also not eating as many pellets as usual.

I have had 3 separate vets look at her teeth as part of the regular exam visit. This exam is the usual one they do where they look in their mouth with a light scope. All Drs have stated her teeth look fine. They also didn't notice any redness or swelling around the mouth. Ultimately they have all said the same thing - feed her the crit care until she starts eating her hay and drinking water. I was also given a motility drug (laxative) and metacam for pain. I've also been hydrating her via sub-q several times a week since she is not drinking.

My question is, based on the fact that she appear only interested in softer foods (even refusing to eat what used to be her favorite - carrots) does this mean there is likely a tooth issue that would be better detected if I opted to have her put under anesthesia? Has anyone else had a similar experience with a rabbit following stasis?

Couple other things to mention - I don't hear her grinding her teeth (except when she is being petted - sort of a purr). Would a rabbit be likely to eat veggies but not drink water?

Any suggestions appreciated.

Thank you!
Click to expand...


Hi there and welcome to the Forum :wave:

Sorry to hear about your rabbit. It's worrying, but bear in mind that a vet with an otoscope can only see 50% of what's going on with the back teeth. If your vet cannot do dental procedures with anaesthesia, then the only way to go would be a GA to have a good look at the back teeth. Whilst she is under you could also ask the vet about skull X-rays to determine the state of the teeth below the gum line. This might be useful info for the future, if not for now :)

A rabbit eating veggies wouldn't need to drink so much water, as there's a lot of water content in the veg. The fact she won't eat hay (was she a good hay eater previously?) would also lead me to want the teeth looked at.

What's her name? :)


ETA- just seen that whilst I was typing you say she is in for a dental exam. Good luck with that, hope she's OK x
 
Hi MightMax - I really appreciate your recommendation on the dental exam. She's always been a good hay eater and never much of a drinker. But now I NEVER see her drinking from her bowls. I've changed the bowl, the water (tried bottled), and even where I place them - no good. I can tell the veggies are not enough water because if I don't re-hydrate her every 48 hours (sub-q - 100ml) the urine output in the box drops to nil and her dropping begin to get harder.

Thanks again!
 
BunBunz said:
Hi MightMax - I really appreciate your recommendation on the dental exam. She's always been a good hay eater and never much of a drinker. But now I NEVER see her drinking from her bowls. I've changed the bowl, the water (tried bottled), and even where I place them - no good. I can tell the veggies are not enough water because if I don't re-hydrate her every 48 hours (sub-q - 100ml) the urine output in the box drops to nil and her dropping begin to get harder.

Thanks again!
Click to expand...


You're welcome. I'm rooting for you both!

Did you say her name? Did I miss it? :)
 
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