intermittent inappetence and depression

Griffski said:

Just an update - for those who contributed to the thread - that Spartacus has been 100% well since his last stasis episode in December - the trick was severely restricting readigrass. I kept him inside through the winter as it made it easier to control exactly what he ate (no grass/other plants) and to monitor him. His main diet remains hay and small serving of burgess mint pellets with restricted amounts of dried and fresh herbs (as treats) or sprinkling of readigrass for variety. They will go back outside in April so will bear in mind what Thumps said re access to spring grass and limit access at first.

Thanks to you all for the support in getting a good diet sorted for them.. their excitement each time i provide fresh hay has eased my guilt re the dietary restrictions - they have adapted really well

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Griffski said:

Well, after a month outside without incidence, Spartacus ended up at the vet today with another stasis episode

The meds have done the trick and he has just started eating again but he gave me more of a fright this time.. he looked very unwell after the vet visit and took longer than usual to bounce back

The only change i've made to their diet in past week was reintroduction of spring greens so unless it's that (clearly I will stop those now) then it must be the shifting balance of grass vs hay intake (they continue to have unlimited access to fresh hay).

There were no warning signs... no dropped caecotrophs, no behavioural changes, no difference in appetite until it hit and it seemed a little different from previous episode - he didn't hunch up but rather splayed himself out .. though clearly the outcome was the same.

Not really sure how to proceed as if grass is part of the issue that would mean restricting their freedom [they access the grass when they're released from their hutch-run complex into a larger (safe) space in the early morning and evening] .. and their quality of life..

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Griffski said:

Hi JJ - that's really useful to know - thanks - the irony is i reintroduced greens in the hope he would eat less grass in case that was an issue for him (with his readigrass intolerance) but i'll definitely go back to just herbs (fresh and dried) as no issues with those. That would be the easiest solution as wouldn;t impact on their freedom. They had restricted access to grass the first couple of weeks (after Thumps' post about spring grass) but maybe I removed restrictions too soon .. it's all a learning curve... sigh

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Griffski said:

Well, after a month outside without incidence, Spartacus ended up at the vet today with another stasis episode

The meds have done the trick and he has just started eating again but he gave me more of a fright this time.. he looked very unwell after the vet visit and took longer than usual to bounce back

The only change i've made to their diet in past week was reintroduction of spring greens so unless it's that (clearly I will stop those now) then it must be the shifting balance of grass vs hay intake (they continue to have unlimited access to fresh hay).

There were no warning signs... no dropped caecotrophs, no behavioural changes, no difference in appetite until it hit and it seemed a little different from previous episode - he didn't hunch up but rather splayed himself out .. though clearly the outcome was the same.

Not really sure how to proceed as if grass is part of the issue that would mean restricting their freedom [they access the grass when they're released from their hutch-run complex into a larger (safe) space in the early morning and evening] .. and their quality of life..

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MightyMax said:

I'm glad you've got over this episode, and from what you say it could well be the greens.

Can you buy a treat hay to redress the balance between more grass being eaten than hay? Ie make the hay more appealing?

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Griffski said:

hi MM - which treat hay would you recommend as most palatable based on your own bunnies ?

I have ordered some forage from galens garden to mix through the hay and offer when they have grass access but am open to trying other types of hay too.

thanks

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MightyMax said:

It really is the bunnies' personal taste, but that doesn't help you much!

I have found the hay from timothyhay.co.uk to be excellent - both the timothy and green oat. They are stalky. Also the Alfalfa King Timothy Hay is wonderful but expensive.

I mix in various meadow hays which have lots of plants in them (Zooplus have a good selection) - they are much softer. It depends on the state of your rabbits' teeth and also their preference

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Griffski said:

thanks so much MM .. there's a lot of choice out there... i'll try them with what you suggest first and see how well it goes down .. and if it can outcompete the grass
thanks again.

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