Holland Lop not eating. What can I do?

[jimmywalt]

We have an "approximately" 1-1/2 year old Holland Lop female who is losing weight and not eating.

We have had her for the past 3 months. During that time she had one healthy litter of 3 kits. She was pregnant when we got her and the family didn't want her anymore.

On Sept 21st she weighed 5.0 lbs. Today she only weighs 3.5 lbs.

We have had her on rabbit pellets (16% protein), hay and water since we got her.

Recently my wife noticed that for the past couple days she hasn't eaten and hardly drinks water. Her hair seems to be falling out too (could she be moulting ?)

She will eat Quaker instant oatmeal (the plain stuff), but that's about all.

What can we do to help her gain weight and eat again?

Thank you.

 

[Zass]

A rapid or startling drop in weight usually indicates dehydration. The fastest and easiest treatment I can recommend is unflavored pedialyte(or a homemade electrolyte solution), dropper fed if necessary.

What are her stools like?

 

[jimmywalt]

Her stool looks normal.

I gave her a lot of bagged timothy hay a couple hours ago and she ate it all. I just gave her another handful and will watch to see what she does.

She ate fine up to about 2 days ago.

Not sure about how fast she has lost weight. She's fluffy so it's hard to "see", but today we trimmed her nails and noticed she wasn't "as big", so I decided to weigh her and found out she lost 1-1/2 pounds in the past 12 weeks (since I last weighed her).

I don't think we need to do the pedialyte at this point... I sure hope not, because I don't think she would take to being fed by a dropper too well.

 

[Easy Ears]

My kits loved the pedialyte. (The one time they had to take it.) But if she doesn't seem to want to eat it, try mixing it with a treat she likes. Like banana or something. (My bunnies LOVE banana. The get it when I mix their dewormer with it. )

 

[Miss M]

She may just drink the pedialyte from a dish or bottle.

At least she is eating something. Something, anything, to keep her from going into stasis. She needs to drink, or she might go into stasis anyway, or dehydrate.

Pedialyte, diluted tea, water with a little molasses mixed in, whatever it takes to get her to drink.

You may want to give her some pineapple (fresh, if possible) in case she has wool block.

Is it possible she has parasites? Worms or something?

 

[Zass]

Black oil sunflower seeds are a good weight gainer that fussy eaters seem to love.

Raw shelled pumpkin seeds are another often favored food that will put weight on. (Or the salted and toasted ones like Mucky prefers )
Those are supposed to help with some kinds of worms.

 

[jimmywalt]

We don't think she has worms or parasites. Not sure how she could have got them.

I found this on Google about statis. What do you think about what it says? Agree?? Still not sure that this is the problem or not, just read that Miss M thought it could be.

http://www.mybunny.org/info/gi-stasis/

Thank you everyone!

 

[Dood]

Have you checked her teeth including the back ones?

 

[Miss M]

I found this on Google about statis. What do you think about what it says? Agree?? Still not sure that this is the problem or not, just read that Miss M thought it could be.

It doesn't sound like she's in stasis at this point, as she is eating and her poops are normal. I just meant that if she won't drink, she'll probably stop eating, and then she would be rapidly in danger of stasis.

What was it you found about stasis? I don't see a link or quote?

 

[jimmywalt]

I found this on Google about statis. What do you think about what it says? Agree?? Still not sure that this is the problem or not, just read that Miss M thought it could be.

It doesn't sound like she's in stasis at this point, as she is eating and her poops are normal. I just meant that if she won't drink, she'll probably stop eating, and then she would be rapidly in danger of stasis.

What was it you found about stasis? I don't see a link or quote?

Sorry I forgot to include the link - http://www.mybunny.org/info/gi-stasis/

Since I last posted a few hours ago she seems to be doing much better. She is eating the old fashioned oatmeal like it's candy, I also gave her some store purchased timothy hay (that she's eating) and some farm hay from a bale.

Not sure if I said above but her poo looks pretty normal and I can tell she has been peeing too.

We thought she was a bit overweight a couple months ago so we would feed her 1/2 cup of pellet food (16% protein) and hay and water each day. Each morning the food bowl would be empty.

Do you think she has lost too much weight (she's a female Holland Lop about 1-1/2 years old)?

For the time being we have started (as of today) to let her "free-feed" as much as she wants. Hopefully this will help her not feel so boney.

Any other suggestions? Thank you!

 

[Zass]

Do you think she has lost too much weight (she's a female Holland Lop about 1-1/2 years old)?

There can be a bit of variation in size for that breed, depending on if she has the dwarfing gene or not.

One thing I can say (having looked inside a LOT of rabbits) is that I've rarely seen a one with over a pound of body fat to lose, and that was only once on an extremely overweight large breed doe.

What does her spine feel like?

 

[jimmywalt]

Do you think she has lost too much weight (she's a female Holland Lop about 1-1/2 years old)?

There can be a bit of variation in size for that breed, depending on if she has the dwarfing gene or not.

One thing I can say (having looked inside a LOT of rabbits) is that I've rarely seen a one with over a pound of body fat to lose, and that was only once on an extremely overweight large breed doe.

What does her spine feel like?

She use to be a nice "hearty" rabbit. Her spine now feels boney.

She has lost 30% of her weight in the past 7 weeks, so this is why we are worried. And also the last 2 days she really hasn't ate.

Thank you.

 

[Zass]

Can you feel just the top layer of points on the spine, or can you feel more of it? If you can easily feel three rows of points(very close together), that would be extreme dehydration.

 

[jimmywalt]

Can you feel just the top layer of points on the spine, or can you feel more of it? If you can easily feel three rows of points(very close together), that would be extreme dehydration.

I can feel every point of the spine and the area between. I can also feel the hip bones near the back.

I put a bowl of water in the cage thinking she might drink from it and she took a couple little licks of it (maybe 2).

She likes the oatmeal. Should we give her more?

I can't really check her teeth, she just wants to hide her face. Also I didn't know rabbits have back teeth. I just thought it was the 4 in the front????

-- Sun Dec 14, 2014 9:14 pm --

A rapid or startling drop in weight usually indicates dehydration. The fastest and easiest treatment I can recommend is unflavored pedialyte(or a homemade electrolyte solution), dropper fed if necessary.

How do you make a homemade electrolyte solution? <br /><br /> -- Sun Dec 14, 2014 9:16 pm -- <br /><br />

Pedialyte, diluted tea, water with a little molasses mixed in, whatever it takes to get her to drink.

How about corn syrup? We don't have any of the other items.

 

[Zass]

This is what I grab from walmart.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Parent-s-Choi ... r/19863396
(It costs abut a dollar less than the name brand, and has the same ingredient list)

MSD has a thread somewhere with homemade electrolyte solutions.

 

[Miss M]

Sorry I forgot to include the link - http://www.mybunny.org/info/gi-stasis/

I agree with most of what I read on there.

Your bun is not in stasis currently, and it sounds like she's heading away from it now, rather than toward it.

You can keep giving her free choice oats and hay for now.

Since she is eating, the main thing right now is getting her to drink. Corn syrup is fine, if it gets her to drink. Fruit juices mixed in water (even from canned fruit). Technically, you're not supposed to do stone fruits with rabbits, but I mixed food with peach juice (from canned peaches) for a rabbit for a while, when he wouldn't eat. He loved it, and he's still here with us today. Just look through your fridge and pantry. Pick things up and consider them. Is this something that a bunny might be tempted with? Now... is it likely to be safe, at least short-term? Drinking is essential. If the rabbit will not drink, the rabbit will not make it, unless you force fluids with a syringe or inject fluids subcutaneously. Kinda like me with the peach juice. I figured... hey, if he won't eat this medicated food, I'm going to lose him anyway. How likely is it that peach juice is going to kill him? I thought it was worth the risk. So do what you can to tempt her to drink.

Homemade electrolyte solution: homemade-electrolytic-solution-t14844.html Includes a few variations, too, including mixing with fruit juice to make it more palatable.

It does sound like she's lost way too much weight. You should be able to feel only one row of gentle bumps down her back. You'll want to add pellets back into her diet in a few days, slowly mixing it in more and more with some oats. Eventually, you'll want to give her the pellet ration before she has oats, and then she can have oats. This will help ensure she is getting enough protein and other essential nutrients that oats just don't have.

I can't really check her teeth, she just wants to hide her face. Also I didn't know rabbits have back teeth. I just thought it was the 4 in the front????

Yep, they have teeth in the back for grinding... similar to our molars in purpose, if not in looks. If she's taking oats as fast as you can serve them, I'm guessing her teeth are okay. But it wouldn't hurt to check them anyway. You may need help, though.

 

[Zass]

hey, if he won't eat this medicated food, I'm going to lose him anyway. How likely is it that peach juice is going to kill him?

:yeahthat:

Eating and drinking just about anything is better than nothing at all.

All rules about introducing foods slowly are temporarily suspended when it comes to stasis or feed refusal, where any food or drink they will take willingly is better than no food or drink.

(That's how I discovered that some rabbits love apple cider)

 

[Miss M]

All rules about introducing foods slowly are temporarily suspended when it comes to stasis or feed refusal, where any food or drink they will take willingly is better than no food or drink.

Very well put. :hooray:

(That's how I discovered that some rabbits love apple cider)

Of course, if the apple cider's been around a little bit, you might have a slightly more relaxed, laid-back, and less coordinated bunny... :lol:

 

[jimmywalt]

Thank you so much for all your help on this everyone!

When I said that I could feel her spine, I might not have wrote it right. I can feel each bump - in a straight line - from a bit behind her neck to toward her tail. All the "bumps" are in a straight line.

Like this..... The plus signs are the bumps.

Head--Neck------------+----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----------------tail

Does that explain it better?

 

[Miss M]

Ooooooooooh, that does explain it better. I thought you meant you could feel all of those bumps, plus all of the secondary bumps to either side of those bumps. I was thinking this was one incredibly emaciated rabbit.

Okay, so you feel those bumps, and they don't feel like gentle rolling hills, they feel somewhat bony and spiky. She is underweight until they feel like gentle rolling hills.