Scooby was admitted yesterday for investigations into why he still isn’t eating properly, almost 3 weeks after his incisor removal. I am still having to syringe feed him to keep enough food going through his system and maintain his weight.
He won’t eat hay, he won’t even try. He has long strands, short cut strands, meadow hay, Timothy hay, hay with nettle, hay with mint, Readigrass, Alfalfa.
He can pick up pellets perfectly fine, he can eat them, but he will only do this now and again. He will randomly eat a few SSS pellets and then refuse them for several days, then randomly eat a few more. There doesn’t seem to be a pattern.
On the whole, he will eat fresh herbs, fresh grass, forage (although he can be picky), kale, rocket, watercress. Occasionally he has refused them, but generally he does clear his portions.
He grooms himself a lot, when he eats he looks to be eating/chewing perfectly normally, so I’m struggling to think that it is pain which is causing him to refuse certain foods. He chews grass and fibrous forage normally, he doesn’t wince, dribble, paw at his mouth or move his mouth oddly. He’s eating all his caecotrophs and he keeps his bum is spotlessly clean. He is still on Metacam twice a day, just as a precaution .
I’ve become increasingly worried that something isn’t right, so I took him back again yesterday and we decided that he would have another GA so that my vet could properly re-examine the inside of his mouth and take another set of xrays, just to see if anything had changed since his op. The result of the examination and xrays was that his mouth looks absolutely fine, the extraction sites and sockets have healed very well, there is absolutely no infection, there’s nothing wrong with his molars or roots, his jaw and bones are all fine, everything lines up properly. So although it’s not given me a reason why he’s not resumed proper eating, it has reassured me that there’s nothing sinister happening.
I know most rabbits bounce back from incisor removal quickly, but maybe Scooby is one of the few who don’t and it’s taking him time to adjust. I’m at a loss as to why he won’t pick up pellets to eat, when I have seen that he can do it and he does it quickly and easily. I can’t see any reason why he won’t pick up readigrass and hay as he picks up fresh grass and herbs at speed. I do wonder if it is the rough/dry texture on his gums or lips that bothers him and is something that he just needs to get used to.
So at the moment we think it is just a matter of time and patience and eventually Scooby will adjust and resume eating all his normal foods. I just have to keep going as I am doing and try and balance the syringe feeds with what he is eating for himself.
Meanwhile I’ve got Minnie, still lonely and waiting to meet her gummy friend. I’m tempted just to go ahead and start the bonding as in himself Scooby is just fine. I suppose the only issue would be feeding, Minnie is very greedy and Scooby currently isn’t, but there’s a chance that this might always be an issue so I think this is something I need to work around, rather than it be a reason for me to put off bonding them. You never know, with a bit of luck Minnie’s greediness might rub off on him.