Thinking about stopping pellets altogether...

[Saucepot]

Sophie is still producing sticky smelly poos, caecotrophs but all squished together. She was on wagg bunny brunch when I adopted her and I tried changing her over to SS but no way so tried excel and she like these BUT they are not working for her. She still isn't eating anywhere near enough hay. It isn't helping that the farm hasn't got it's second cut in yet and the hay is awful at the moment. I have got American timothy, Brome and meadow hay in her litter tray, rack, stuffed in a brown bag and in tubes and she barely looks at it. The last two days, I have cut down her pellets from one egg cup to half an eggcup and am only giving her a tiny amount of greens and and 2 slices of carrot :roll: she is very well in herself otherwise, she just needs to eat more hay...worried about her future health, teeth etc...what the heck can I do? can I cut out dry food altogether and if so, what should I increase/replace it with? :?

 

[lilbun]

You can cut them out, or down to a teaspoonful if you prefer, but do it gradually so that she learns to eat other things. It is not a good idea to suddenly stop them.
Pellets should be replaced with grass and hay primarily, with some herbs and veg for variety and nutrients.
If there are not any underlying problems such as dental problems she should start to eat the hay eventually

 

[prettylupin]

can I cut out dry food altogether and if so, what should I increase/replace it with? :?

In just my opinion, yes you can cut it out altogether. We did for this problem and it cleared right up and it's never come back. It took about 3 months for it to clear up completely with our girl and just 6 wks with our boy. When we adopted them from the RSPCA their tums were such a mess on pellets and we tried several brands. After reading it was possible in this article: http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=670 and in a book by a rabbit vet and another by a rabbit behaviourist we just went for it and have never looked back. They never ever have an excess caecotroph unless i've overdone the cabbage or swiss chard one day!
Virginia Richardson's little book on rabbit nutrition covers the basics of what you need to replace it with - a source of Vit A daily - e.g. carrot tops, brassicas etc. and slightly more calcium and Vit C rich veggies. Phosphorous is important too. It is more expensive than feeding a pellet but to prevent sticky bums, malnutrition from not eating their caecotrophs, and risks of fly strike we felt it was worth it.
You need to find a good quality high fibre hay with a lot of different grasses in it and feed as many different hays as you can for nutritional variety. We also give a big handful of dried mixed herbs daily, dried edible flowers, and grow loads of stuff in the garden. If you're careful I personally believe it can be done without any nutritional loss.

 

[prettylupin]

I also agree with lilbun...phase it out slowly so they can get used to eating lots of hay - and you really need to find a hay they like. I do use the Oxbow ones but the Burns green oat hay and organic mountain hay go down best of all! For the bulk of their diet however I use the organic timothy rich stuff from West Wales Willows as my buns love it and I think it's worth every penny

 

[Saucepot]

Thank you so much for that! I have previously fed her parsley, basil, corriander, chicory, chard etc with no problems having introduced them gradually at first.
I have dried hedgerow herbs from galens gardens which I give to the guineas, so can try her with a little of those? she has dried marigold at the moment and fresh dandelions but I have stopped those temporarily until her bottom problem clears up. I am more worried about her hay intake...I will try any hay, if someone can advise? I have just ordered some 2nd cut from dustfree....I want her 100% healthy as she goes in for her spay on Monday!!

 

[Saucepot]

I also agree with lilbun...phase it out slowly so they can get used to eating lots of hay - and you really need to find a hay they like. I do use the Oxbow ones but the Burns green oat hay and organic mountain hay go down best of all! For the bulk of their diet however I use the organic timothy rich stuff from West Wales Willows as my buns love it and I think it's worth every penny

I looked at the west wales willow online last night actually....I shall try a box. If she eats it, it is worth it :wave:

 

[prettylupin]

This is where I get my hay from http://www.willowwarren.co.uk/ I think they do a sample box for free? If you call them I'm sure they will be happy to advise - they're very nice. I get all my willow toys here too....when I've saved up enough money!!:lol:
I also use the hayexperts http://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/ for all other hays and dried herbs and toys etc. Hope that helps

 

[prettylupin]

I looked at the west wales willow online last night actually....I shall try a box. If she eats it, it is worth it :wave:

If you order tomorrow morning you'll get it monday, they ship about midday usually! If not before her spay, atleast for when she comes home
I really recommend the Burns hays too - especially the Green Oat one. Although a bun we fostered who didn't like any hay would only eat the organic mountain hay (Burns as well)! Buns can be fussy. I'm lucky, if it's hay mine will eat it...provided it has cost me an arm and a leg first! They won't touch petshop hay:lol:

 

[lilbun]

My monsters gobbled down the Burns green oat hay like it was sweets so i definately second giving that a try

 

[FudgeMallow]

Excel can cause sticky poo problems so why not try Allen and Page since your bun wont eat SS or even the wagg pellets?

As lilbun says decrease gradually but if your bunny isnt eating enough hay then i wouldnt cut out pellets altogether!

My girl Fudge had sticky poo problems on Excel so changed to A&P and it worked wonders. she is notw on a mix of A&P, excel adult oregano, excel mature and SS mature, she doesnt get sticky poo at all and she only gets a teaspoon a day! She doesnt eat great quantities of hay even though she gets minimum food :roll:

Try a different pellet (i reccomend A&P) and then if all else fails cut out the pellets :wave:

 

[prettylupin]

My monsters gobbled down the Burns green oat hay like it was sweets so i definately second giving that a try

:lol: Mine too! My last hayexperts order had 5 bags of the stuff in it!!! I like to keep it in stock cos when my bloat/stasis bunny has a phase this is always the first hay he will eat - so if i'm ever paranoid about his tum I get out the Oat hay so he can stuff himself and I can relax again!

 

[Saucepot]

Thanks for that....looks like I have a couple more hays to try :lol: I tried the Burns oat hay with my guineas a couple of years ago and they turned their noses up at it but they love the Oxbow oat hay.....tried Sophie with that too and nope, didn't like it :roll:

Here is the fussy monkey...

 

[prettylupin]

She's beautiful
Yeah give the Burns green Oat hay a try again...if she doesn't like it I'll be very surprised and then she really will be a fussy monkey:lol:
With our foster bun we had to keep offering it to him to start with he really didn't know what to do with it....I doubt she's that bad is she? But as the pellets got cut down he got hungrier and ate it, it was hard though balancing the cut down with the hay eating so they don't go hungry. My own buns were fortunately hay scoffers so I know i've been very lucky.

Edited to say that with our foster bun we literally had to teach him to eat it, blade by blade, feeding him one blade at a time, he started with the Oxbow brome hay which was wierd! It took about 2 days of teaching until he would eat it alone. Anyway i'm sure it's just a question of finding the right stuff here
Have you had her teeth checked? molars? I can't remember back to the begining of the thread...sorry!

 

[FudgeMallow]

Thanks for that....looks like I have a couple more hays to try :lol: I tried the Burns oat hay with my guineas a couple of years ago and they turned their noses up at it but they love the Oxbow oat hay.....tried Sophie with that too and nope, didn't like it :roll:

Here is the fussy monkey...

Looks abit like my Fudge Who is my non hay eater :roll: She is BEAUTIFUL I do hope you get something that she will enjoy. Fudge has never liked hay, then ate some of the oat hay for a while and now she hates all hay again

 

[LurcherGirl]

I used to have a bunny on a pellet free diet for years as he needed a low calcium diet! It worked great and he was very healthy. He did however get a fair amount of veg to make sure that he had all the vitamins and minerals he needed. So yes, it is possible. He did however eat a fair amount of hay too.

Vera

 

[Saucepot]

Thanks for all your replies. I have ordered some Burns green oat to see if she likes that and I have some 2nd cut being delivered today as well I still have the option of trying west wales willow if the others aren't a hit!
Thank you for all your advice....I will ask the vet to check her teeth when she is in having her spay on Monday :wave: