# Molting buck



## jil101ca (Mar 6, 2008)

Wannabe, my main man is going through a terrible molt. He is miserable, more so than normal for him while molting. I've notice that he is not eating. Not enough for me to notice food going down. It takes him a few days to eat a small handful of hay, even then there is still a fair bit left and I have not given him any pellets for 3 days now. His feeder appears to not be going down at all. If he is eating pellets it is a very few of them. He doesn't look or feel like he is loosing any weight. How little can a rabbit eat and still keep their gut moving? I emptied his drop tray today so I can monitor how much if any poops he is doing. He is drinking a metal dish of water a day which is normal for him. He has a lot of stored fat but do they not need to eat to keep from getting GI stasis???? Any help is appreciated. Other than being grumpy he appears to be fine.


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## Pipp (Mar 7, 2008)

Yes, bunnies need to keep eating to keep their guts moving ESPECIALLY during a molt. 

Is he eating greens? Anything? It will be crucial to monitor his poop, you already have a problem, if he's not pooping (what goes in, comes out, so ... ) then you have a bigger problem. (Add the molt to that, and you could really have big trouble). 

It's good that he's drinking. 

Will he eat canned pumpkin? I think you really have to do what it takes to tempt him -- canned pumpkin is good wet fiber -- and you might want to try a little Nutri-Cal to perk him up and give him some engery. 

But if he's not eating and pooping, you're probably going to have to start giving him Critical Carevia a feeding syringe, and a littlePedialyte won'thurt either. 

You also have to consider the root of the problem -- is this his usual molt time? Could there be another health issue? Something is making him lose his appetite and it may not just be the molt. (I'm not sure about this but maybe the molt can be an effect?) 

What's the latest? :?



sas ray:


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## Pipp (Mar 7, 2008)

PS: Moving this to the Infirmary...


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## jil101ca (Mar 7, 2008)

I cleaned his drop tray yesterday so I could monitor his pops better. No poops over night. So I just gave him some Crictical Care and greens. He doesn't eat in front of me ever so I will check back on how he did withthe greens in a bit.He already has Electrolites in his water. He usually molts this time of year and it is normal for him to loose his appeitite during a molt but not to the point where he stops eating. I have to run to the store to get some pumpkin. I'll post in a bit how he is. I've had him since birth and he is extra special to us. Being the main man and all.


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## Pipp (Mar 7, 2008)

Do you have a good vet up there? I think you may need an xray ASAP to know what you're dealing with. 

Hydration is essential. A vet can give him a Sub Q infusion, might help move things along. 

Is he drinking more than usual with the electrolytes in the water? I'm always afraid they'll drink less, I always give mine a separate crock of water.

I've never had a rabbit eat Critical Care from a bowl unless it's a tooth issue and they're really hungry and unable to eat,when it's appetite loss, I always have to force feed, or at least offer it in a syringe.

Exercise and tummy massages canalso help. 



sas ray:


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## jil101ca (Mar 7, 2008)

He is drinking normal for him, I put electrolites in the water during the winter just for my peice of mind as the water freezes here so he is used to it. The crictical care was from a sryinge, he ate the sryinge full (10 cc's) he has turned his nose up at everything except a piece of apple and he is still drinking.


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## Ivory (Mar 7, 2008)

This sounds a lot like Erik was back in November. He was having a very bad molt, and because of natural problems with his GI tract, he developed a very large gastrolith (essentially a rabbit version of a hairball) and we almost had to remove it.

Firstly, I'd say encourage as much wet fiber as you can. Greens, pumpkin, whatever else is wet and fibrous. Encourage hay, but encourage wet fiber first. Make sure that he is drinking. I completely cut pellets out of Erik's diet at the time.

If he isn't eating at at all, bring him to the vet and get Sub Q fluids. Erik (four pound rabbit) had a little over 100 CCs a day. Possibly get him to take an X-ray to see if there's something blocking his stomach up. (Erik's was a bit bigger than a golf ball.)

We also gave Erik a corisone (or cortisone of some type, I don't remember exactly what, I think it was Medrol) shot to stop any inflammation/to stop it from turning into ileus/worse problems.

This sort of thing really needs to be addressed. If it's an accumulation/impaction, the rabbit's stomach can start fermenting it, and that leads to a bloat that is quite often deadly/requiring extrememly expensive surgery.

I'd say it's vet time.


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## Pipp (Mar 7, 2008)

How's Wannabe? Any poops yet? 

It's good that he's eating something, even if it isn't much.

Did he like the pumpkin? 



sas :?


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## jil101ca (Mar 7, 2008)

He seems to be holding his own. He didn't like pumpkin but he has ate about 1 tablespoon of pellets, a piece of apple and celery stalks and leaves. Won't touch anything else. Still drinking normalwhich is good and seems alert, nosey and hoping around alot. Which he wasn't doing earlier. No poops yet but he just ate so I'll check again in a bit.

He lives outside in a heated, insulated shed. This is his first winter having heat and I have never seen him molt this much at once before. I'm wondering if the heat has thrown the normal molt into some kind of overdrive or something. There is hair flying everywhere and I am brushing handfulls off him. Poor guy.


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## jil101ca (Mar 11, 2008)

UPDATE..... He is past the worst and on a very good raod to recovery. After work today he was doing binkies when he saw me, ate very well during the night and had a nice pile of little poops in his tray. He even dug his hay like he used to when he was a baby!!!!


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## BlueGiants (Mar 12, 2008)

WOW! That's great news! :bunnydance: Go Wannabe!


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