Very fussy bun won't eat pellets after long illness

Hi everyone

I originally had a thread about Fred not eating properly in the health board but I'm convinced he's 100% better at this point and is now just extremely fussy and I need help getting him back to his normal eating!

Just a little background: Fred was diagnosed with an ear infection in October (vet originally thought EC), he had a bad head tilt and stopped eating completely. I syringe fed him for around a month getting up every few hours in the night, he was on antibiotics, metacam, gut meds & panacur. After around a month the head tilt disappeared, he started eating (everything but pellets) and has been more himself. Last week he had a dental as he had a few very small spurs to make sure it wasn't this stopping him from eating. He's now 100% back to his usual self, playing, being a little destructive nuisance He's still on antibiotics, metacam & gut meds until next vet check up on Wednesday.

I've been giving him way more treats than I should do because I've been so anxious to get him eating, he doesn't like herbs (apart from a tiny amount of dill and basil but won't consistently eat them. The only thing he'll eat all the time is kale, readigrass, dandelion, plantain, fenugreek crunchies and hay (but not as much as he should) so i'm afraid he's been having way more than I should have given him I don't think he can be in pain as he'll rush to eat hard treats & won't ever touch pellets. I've tried putting bits of crunchies into his pellet bowl and he'll eat around the pellets, i've tried mashing them up, i've tried mashing them with banana, soaking them etc. I've given him new pellets (Was on science selective but tried him on burgess and that initially got him to eat about 2 portions before he stopped again). What should I do next!? I know rabbits don't necessarily need pellets but I'm finding it hard to keep him healthy without them and his weight is fluctuating at every vet appointment, especially as he's not a huge hay eater either.

I'm considering cutting out the treats and just offering him hay & pellets everyday and synringe feeding him critical care a few times a day until he gives up this fussiness and starts eating! Would that be an ok idea? This little guy is driving me crazy.

You could syringe feed the pellets he normally has - soaked and mixed with a little puree and mash up to a consistency that is syringeable. That way he is not losing the taste for the pellets. On the other hand, Critical Care has all the nutrients and fibre, so is suitable for longer term use on its own (although is much more expensive). He may have some sore spots in his mouth after the dental, both from the procedure and from the spurs. These should resolve in a few days, hopefully.

Personally, I would just carry on with whatever he will eat that is sensible until his next check up. It is more important that he has the input, maintains his weight and is pooing normally at the moment. His eating should gradually return to normal with time as he recovers - and it could be another couple of weeks.

Shimmer said:

You could syringe feed the pellets he normally has - soaked and mixed with a little puree and mash up to a consistency that is syringeable. That way he is not losing the taste for the pellets. On the other hand, Critical Care has all the nutrients and fibre, so is suitable for longer term use on its own (although is much more expensive). He may have some sore spots in his mouth after the dental, both from the procedure and from the spurs. These should resolve in a few days, hopefully.

Personally, I would just carry on with whatever he will eat that is sensible until his next check up. It is more important that he has the input, maintains his weight and is pooing normally at the moment. His eating should gradually return to normal with time as he recovers - and it could be another couple of weeks.

Click to expand...

Hi

Thanks, mashing up the pellets to syringe is a good idea. I did that yesterday morning and he ate some mashed up pellets on his own over night so I may continue to do that once a day to convince him pellets are yummy. I'm only in a rush to get him better as I'm leaving on Sunday to travel home for Christmas, I have a vet nurse coming in twice a day to look after him, he'll be fine on his own during the day/overnight but I'll worry so much if he's still not eating consistently as it's hard for even me to know if he's had enough food. Fingers crossed he'll pick up this week.