Doe won't eat oats

[Winterwolf]

Picked up a new doe on Monday and at first she seemed to be settling in very nicely. But when I was cleaning her dropping pan yesterday (Wednesday) I noticed that there were a few large, very loose droppings. The rest of the droppings were fine and she seemed perfectly healthy, but I decided to play it safe. So I immediately removed her pellets and instead gave her oats and timothy hay for dinner. When I went to bed last night, she still seemed very active and lively and was drinking her water just fine. This morning, she is still the same and none of her droppings seem to be loose or abnormally shaped. She had eaten all of the hay but had barely touched her oats. Less than half of the oats were eaten, but she was obviously hungry -- she practically climbed out of the cage trying to get to the plantain leaves I'd brought in for her. I gave her more hay, which she dug into right away, and left a pile of plantain for her, but I'm worried about her getting enough to eat.

Should I just switch her back to pellets and see what happens? Is there a way to encourage her to eat the oats? Did she even have diarrhea in the first place?

>>>In case it's relevant, she's a 3 yr old doe. Currently living in an all-wire cage in the quarantine barn. She's very friendly and calm, almost nothing bothers her. She's a French Angora and is NOT currently molting. Also, until I removed the pellets, she was eating constantly and seems to have a very LARGE appetite.

 

[MaggieJ]

If she's eating lots of hay, she is in no danger of starving to death anytime soon. Are you feeding her whole oats or old-fashioned kitchen oatmeal? Some rabbits aren't fond of whole oats but I've never met one that would turn down kitchen oatmeal. Plantain is excellent to regulate the droppings and you can feed it regularly. It's one of the safest of greens.

It doesn't sound to me as though she had diarrhea at all. You could probably phase the pellets back into her diet a little at a time and just keep an eye on her droppings.

A three-year-old doe with a big appetite will often accumulate large amounts of fat in the body cavity. It's pretty hard to detect from the outside, but you might consider feeding more hay and somewhat less in the way of pellets. Run your hand down her back and notice how prominent her spine feels. In a very fat rabbit, you will hardly be able to feel the bumps of the vertibrae. Take into consideration that the Angora fur pads her somewhat.

Some people feel Angora rabbits need a little more protein than regular rabbits to maintain their coats. This makes sense to me, but as I have never raised Angoras I am not really qualified to speak to this question. I hope some Angora breeders will jump in to help you determine the best long-term diet for your rabbit.

 

[Winterwolf]

Thank you for your help, MaggieJ!

Tried adding a few pellets to her bowl and she immediately ate every one of them, but left the oats in the bowl untouched! :roll: Guess I'll just have to give up on the oats and slowly reintroduce the pellets.

Are you feeding her whole oats or old-fashioned kitchen oatmeal?

It was some old-fashioned oatmeal from the grocery store. The ingredients list only said: "Whole-grain Rolled Oats". I have no idea why she refuses to eat it.. maybe just a picky eater? :shrug:

A three-year-old doe with a big appetite will often accumulate large amounts of fat in the body cavity. It's pretty hard to detect from the outside, but you might consider feeding more hay and somewhat less in the way of pellets. Run your hand down her back and notice how prominent her spine feels. In a very fat rabbit, you will hardly be able to feel the bumps of the vertibrae.

I tried feeling her the best I could through her really thick fur, and I think you're right. She does feel a bit overweight. I believe her previous owner was free-feeding pellets to the rabbits. Guess she's going on a diet...