Help getting to eat pellets again?!

[Curiouslagomorph]

Hi,

Juno is on an appetite stimulant from the vets but is still ignoring pellets.up
she's normally an unstoppable glutton for pellets.l

Food is fresh, unchanged and her teeth are fine (vet even checked back teeth).

She's not got snuffles, cunniculi, rhd or myxi as she was checked and is jabbed against rhd, rhd 2 and myxomatosis.
Mentioning as someone asked.


I've tried putting greens with it she just ears the greens and ignores the pellets.
unfortunately she's picky and only like green I can give a little bit of.
nibbling bare minimum of hay aswell.


To you have any tips to get her to eat her pellets again, it's you be had similar experiences?

 

[judymac]

Yes, this isn't uncommon. It's important to keep them eating, keep that digestive system moving. My mentor would gather dandelion greens and plantain leaves (the Plantago sp. weeds that grow in your lawn, like English Plantain or lance-leaf plantain, not the banana tree relative plantain) to tempt rabbits that went off-feed. In the winter, I use tree branches like mulberry, slippery elm, or apple. I often will add Nutri-drops (Nutri-Drench is sold for goats/sheep) to the water, and squirt a little in their mouth to provide some extra nutrition while they are not eating. I don't try to feed pellets while they are off feed, just the dandelion & plantain greens and good quality hay.

My mentor also put six of the chewable papaya tablets in their feeder each day they were off feed. Back then, it was to cure 'wool block', which is what they called the off-feed condition in the old days. Now, it's called 'GI stasis', a slow-down or stoppage of the digestive system flow, but I still give the papaya tablets. It may not be breaking down a protein hair blockage with the papain digestive enzyme, but it still entices them to eat something, which I consider a win.

 

[Curiouslagomorph]

Yes, this isn't uncommon. It's important to keep them eating, keep that digestive system moving. My mentor would gather dandelion greens and plantain leaves (the Plantago sp. weeds that grow in your lawn, like English Plantain or lance-leaf plantain, not the banana tree relative plantain) to tempt rabbits that went off-feed. In the winter, I use tree branches like mulberry, slippery elm, or apple. I often will add Nutri-drops (Nutri-Drench is sold for goats/sheep) to the water, and squirt a little in their mouth to provide some extra nutrition while they are not eating. I don't try to feed pellets while they are off feed, just the dandelion & plantain greens and good quality hay.

My mentor also put six of the chewable papaya tablets in their feeder each day they were off feed. Back then, it was to cure 'wool block', which is what they called the off-feed condition in the old days. Now, it's called 'GI stasis', a slow-down or stoppage of the digestive system flow, but I still give the papaya tablets. It may not be breaking down a protein hair blockage with the papain digestive enzyme, but it still entices them to eat something, which I consider a win.

I've went out and got different flavour food (burgess excel hedgerow nuggets, old was the same brands regular nuggets), mixed dried fruit for pets, a pinch of dried mango and a bag of dandelion and lemon balm (our grass is wet and recently mown, so unsafe).

Mixed it together in her food bowl and bought a shallow hedgehog bowl for her bed.

It's just to peak her interest and get her to try to eat it.

 

[MsTemeraire]

I would get some Fibreplex [similar to BeneBac Plus which is used in the USA], and give her some of that. It will keep her digestive system ticking over while she's not eating, it really saves lives. Your vet might have it, or you can order from Amazon for about £10, free next day delivery with Prime I've saved several rabbits' lives with Fibreplex over the years, it's very good stuff!
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Protexin-Fibreplex-Rabbits-Small-Rodents/dp/B0039ZBWDC/

 

[Curiouslagomorph]

I would get some Fibreplex [similar to BeneBac Plus which is used in the USA], and give her some of that. It will keep her digestive system ticking over while she's not eating, it really saves lives. Your vet might have it, or you can order from Amazon for about £10, free next day delivery with Prime I've saved several rabbits' lives with Fibreplex over the years, it's very good stuff!
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Protexin-Fibreplex-Rabbits-Small-Rodents/dp/B0039ZBWDC/

I've been given an appetite stimulant, it's Orange flavoured.
But thank you

 

[MsTemeraire]

I've been given an appetite stimulant, it's Orange flavoured.
But thank you

You can give both - it won't hurt. It should prevent her from going into gut stasis from not eating.

 

[MsTemeraire]

Yes, this isn't uncommon. It's important to keep them eating, keep that digestive system moving. My mentor would gather dandelion greens and plantain leaves (the Plantago sp. weeds that grow in your lawn, like English Plantain or lance-leaf plantain, not the banana tree relative plantain) to tempt rabbits that went off-feed. In the winter, I use tree branches like mulberry, slippery elm, or apple. I often will add Nutri-drops (Nutri-Drench is sold for goats/sheep) to the water, and squirt a little in their mouth to provide some extra nutrition while they are not eating. I don't try to feed pellets while they are off feed, just the dandelion & plantain greens and good quality hay.

My mentor also put six of the chewable papaya tablets in their feeder each day they were off feed. Back then, it was to cure 'wool block', which is what they called the off-feed condition in the old days. Now, it's called 'GI stasis', a slow-down or stoppage of the digestive system flow, but I still give the papaya tablets. It may not be breaking down a protein hair blockage with the papain digestive enzyme, but it still entices them to eat something, which I consider a win.

As already mentioned, my go-to is Fibreplex - which I initially thought was similar to Benebac Plus. Now I see they are different products in that Fibreplex is more of a fibre burst, enough to keep the gut moving, and also provides Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a probiotic that's known to work very well for rabbits. It's also specifically made for rabbits.

Benebac looks to be not so much of a fibre boost, but contains a range of different probiotic organisms. I feel the fibre in Fibreplex is probably what makes it so effective. I've not tried Benebac as it's not so easily available in the UK and seems somewhat prohibitively expensive in comparison.

I also soak some pellets in warm water and syringe feed if a rabbit's not eating, just to get something into the system, and offer plantain if I can get any, and/or bramble leaves, and strongly scented herbs like oregano, lemon balm, mint etc. . But mainly the probiotic and syringe feeding while waiting for the rabbit to decide to eat.

 

[foxbunny]

I would guess the equivalent of fibreplex would be critical care for herbivores. It is a very high fiber, high calorie supplement that keeps their gut moving. Mixing it with probiotics and feeding it to them has saved many of my bunnies, or given me enough time to take them to the vet or get better treatments.

https://www.amazon.com/Oxbow-Critic...hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4583589114805173&psc=1

 

[MsTemeraire]

I would guess the equivalent of fibreplex would be critical care for herbivores. It is a very high fiber, high calorie supplement that keeps their gut moving. Mixing it with probiotics and feeding it to them has saved many of my bunnies, or given me enough time to take them to the vet or get better treatments.

Yes and no, we can get Critical Care here [very expensive], although I usually fall back on soaked pellets since I have those at hand. Fibreplex is given in very small amounts (like Bene-Bac) which is easier to get into a reluctant rabbit and provides a surprising amount of fibre just from that. As it also contains a good probiotic I've also used it when hand-rearing, mixed in with the milk.

 

[Curiouslagomorph]

Good news,
Juno is eating again, for the past few days been eating handful of pellets and more hay!
finally the appetite stimulant has worked!!!!!!

 

[MsTemeraire]

Good news,
Juno is eating again, for the past few days been eating handful of pellets and more hay!
finally the appetite stimulant has worked!!!!!!

That's good news! You must be so relieved!

 

[Curiouslagomorph]

That's good news! You must be so relieved!

you have no idea how over the moon I am!