Why won't my rabbit eat her hay?

[Selmabun]

I have had Selma for over 9 years now and she has always had a really good appetite and loved her hay. 3 weeks ago she stopped eating her hay and I can't seem to get her back onto it - her bowl is untouched :-( she will eat pellets, veg and a small amount of grass okay (but not enough - her poos now look small, with no fibre in them).
She had her booster 6 weeks ago and the vet said her teeth were great so I'm not thinking it's this. I've bought more hay to try her on but to no avail, equally I've restricted her already small amount of pellets. Any ideas on how to get her back on hay?

 

[MightyMax]

I have had Selma for over 9 years now and she has always had a really good appetite and loved her hay. 3 weeks ago she stopped eating her hay and I can't seem to get her back onto it - her bowl is untouched :-( she will eat pellets, veg and a small amount of grass okay (but not enough - her poos now look small, with no fibre in them).
She had her booster 6 weeks ago and the vet said her teeth were great so I'm not thinking it's this. I've bought more hay to try her on but to no avail, equally I've restricted her already small amount of pellets. Any ideas on how to get her back on hay?

Unless your vet is able to do 'conscious dentals' (i.e. look into the mouth fully and perform rasping of back teeth without anaesthetic) then there is no way he can possibly know whether the back - cheek - teeth are OK.

A vet using an otoscope to look into the mouth would admit he can only see about 60% of what's going on, and even less when a rabbit has a very active tongue!

Dental seems the most obvious reason to me, and I would exclude that first.

 

[VikkiLou]

What type of hay do you feed? Our 3 house bunnies will only eat 2 kinds of hay. Farm fresh hay that my friend provides every few months so it's like a treat and something called 5 a day hay which has all sorts of drief plants and veggies mixed in. Not sure where you could get it from we buy it from 'The Range' but these stores seem to be few and far between
Could you vary the hay you give and the way you give it? Have you tried hay balls and or racks?

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[Babsie]

I agree with M-M

 

[Shimmer]

I also think you need another vet trip for a full MOT, with emphasis on checking the back teeth. She is eating the softer food and not hay / grass - which rings alarm bells for a possible dental.

 

[Clare-uk]

Ditto for the signs of dental work being possible. Have you tried something like the timothy hays you can get? It seems to be very tempting

 

[Tamsin]

The vet probably only checked her front teeth and she might have issues right at the back. She needs a recheck asap.

I would try and maximise her fibre intake until it's sorted. So grass if she'll eat more as that can replace hay. You could also try chopping up the hay very finely with scissors and see if she'll eat it then. If still not, you could soak her pellets, and once they are mushy stir in the chopped hay and try that. You want it a few mm long (like the bits you'd see in poop) so it's quite fine chopping.

Otherwise any plants that she will eat - leafy is best so dandelions, blackberry/apple leaves anything bunny safe and as much greens veg wise too - they all have more fibre than pellets and will help bulk up the amount she eats.