Hello friends, hope you all doing great with your beloved bunny. Today I will discuss a frequently ask question on internet “why is my rabbit losing weight?” I will try to tell why, symptoms, causes and lastly the treatments you can give your beloved bunny.
Is Your Rabbit Losing Weight? Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment Options
Sometimes, it will sneak up on you. When you spend time with your bunny every day, it’s hard to notice the small changes in weight over time. One day you’ll look at your rabbit and notice they seem different—skinnier than they used to be. Is your rabbit underweight, and should you be worried? Keep reading you will find out.
Why Your Rabbit Might Be Losing Weight?
Significant weight loss in rabbits is most often caused by dental problems or another underlying health condition. Other possibilities include
- anxiety,
- old age,
- or an improper diet.
The only way to know the cause is to bring your rabbit to a veterinarian for diagnostic testing. From there, you will be able to treat the condition that is causing your rabbit to lose weight. It may require hand-feeding your rabbit and administering medication, or it may require a lifestyle change for your rabbit. Whatever the cause, it’s important to take steps to help your rabbit as soon as possible because a lack of eating can cause other serious conditions, such as GI stasis.
How to Know if a Rabbit Is Underweight
Healthy adult rabbits are not all the same weight. Breed, age, and activity levels play a large role in determining the ideal weight of a rabbit. A four-pound Holland Lop rabbit can be just as healthy as a 15-pound Flemish Giant, so the overall weight is not a very good indication of whether a rabbit is underweight or overweight.
Instead, you’ll need to look for other signs in your rabbit’s appearance and body structure. If your rabbit is severely underweight, you can probably tell just by looking. They may have a sunken abdomen and very prominent ribs and backbone. However, this is not always the most accurate way to determine if a rabbit’s body fat is at a healthy ratio.
For example, the fur of long-haired rabbits, like Angora rabbits, will hide any visible signs of malnourishment. That’s why the best way to determine if your rabbit is underweight is by feeling for their ribs, spine, and hip bones.
When you feel for your rabbit’s ribs, spine, and hips, you should be able to feel the bones under a thin layer of fat. If your rabbit is underweight, the bones will start to feel sharp when you touch them. There is no longer a layer of fat protecting these bones, so you’ll start to feel how pointed they are, along with all the bumps and ridges.
Symptoms of Dangerous Weight Loss in Rabbits
If a rabbit loses too much weight, they will exhibit other symptoms as well. If a rabbit is too far underweight, you may need to help them by adjusting their diet, lifestyle, or screening for any other underlying conditions.
Signs that your rabbit has lost too much weight include:
- Sharp or prominent spine, ribs, and hip bones
- Concave abdomen
- Sunken areas around their butt
- A rough or scruffy coat
- Small and few poops
- Lack of energy
- Dropping food from their mouth
- A hunched posture
Common Causes of Weight Loss in Rabbits
Most pet rabbits are at more risk for obesity than they are for being underweight. However, that does not mean it’s a less dangerous condition. In general, rabbits lose weight as a result of improper living conditions, an improper diet, or other undiagnosed conditions.
This list includes some of the most common causes of weight loss in rabbits. Since the root cause can be difficult to determine, and there may even be multiple factors, I recommend getting the help of a trained professional and not trying to make significant changes to your rabbit’s diet without guidance.
1. Dental Disease
Dental problems are some of the most common health conditions seen among pet rabbits. Since rabbit teeth don’t stop growing, dental problems can result in overgrown teeth that make it difficult or painful for rabbits to eat. When this happens, rabbits will understandably eat less, leading to a significant loss of weight.
There are genetic causes of dental problems, but for most rabbits, a diet that is high in hay, especially timothy hay, will prevent overgrown teeth.
2. Old Age
As they age, many rabbits will end up losing weight. Most of this is inevitable due to the loss of muscle mass that rabbits experience in old age. As a result, elderly rabbits will be less active, which will further atrophy the muscles and cause weight loss.
To counteract this, it will probably be necessary to adjust your rabbit’s diet when they are older to include more calories and protein. Talk to your vet about healthy ways to increase food intake for senior rabbits and ways you can encourage more exercise and activity.
3. An Improper Diet
Most of the time, when pet rabbits are given an improper diet, it’s because they receive too many pellets, which causes weight gain. A diet that results in weight loss is much less common, but it is possible, even for well-meaning rabbit caretakers.
An unexpected cause of weight loss in rabbits is a diet that is too high in fresh greens and vegetables while being too low in high-fiber dried hay. This can cause problems because fresh leafy greens are not as calorically dense as dried hay due to the extra water content. The rabbit might end up getting full off of the greens before they’ve eaten enough calories to maintain their weight.
Of course, there is also the possibility the rabbit is simply not being fed enough. Making sure the rabbit has constant access to hay and one-quarter to half a cup of dry pellets every day is necessary for helping rabbits maintain their weight and energy levels.
4. A Partner Rabbit Is Hogging the Food
If you have multiple rabbits living together, they might have a problem sharing their food. Sometimes one rabbit will actively bully the other rabbit. They might be aggressive about guarding their food and not letting the other rabbit near the bowl until after they are finished.
This will cause the second rabbit to get fewer calories than they need to sustain a healthy weight.
Even if it’s not a case of bullying, one rabbit may eat significantly faster than the other. In the end, this can cause one rabbit to eat more than they should and gain weight while the other doesn’t get enough to eat and loses weight.
If you find yourself in this predicament, you should observe your rabbits to see what the problem is. Once you’ve confirmed that one rabbit is hogging the food, you might need to consider separating your rabbits during mealtimes by luring them into separate areas with a fence between them.
5. Underlying Conditions
A common cause of unexplained weight loss is some kind of hidden underlying health issue. When rabbits feel pain or get sick, it will often affect their digestion. They will lose their appetite and eat a lot less food than they normally would. If the illness goes undiagnosed for some time, this will inevitably result in an unhealthy loss of weight.
A rabbit veterinarian will have to help you determine what could be causing your rabbit to feel sick, as there are several possibilities. These include infection, kidney conditions, gastrointestinal discomfort, cardiovascular conditions, cancer, metabolic conditions, and parasites.
6. Parasites
While it is less common, rabbits can also contract parasites that can result in weight loss. One such organism is called coccidia. This parasite actually lives within the intestines of many rabbits but is not a problem for healthy rabbits. It can, however, infect the liver and cause illness and weight loss in young or otherwise unhealthy rabbits.
7. Anxiety
Rabbits can get stressed out pretty easily. The problem is, when rabbits are chronically stressed, they’ll become anxious, and it will affect their appetite. Rabbits who are anxious will be too stressed to eat, which will result in an unhealthy loss of weight.
If this is the case, the best thing to do is help your rabbit feel safe in their home environment. Make sure they are separated from other house pets, like dogs and cats, and they are placed in a quiet area of the home rather than a room surrounded by activity and noise.
8. Not Enough Water
If rabbits don’t have enough water to drink, they will also reduce the amount that they eat. Most of the time, this will be because there is not enough water available, not because the rabbit is choosing to drink less. For example, if they consistently empty their water bowl before the end of the day or flip it while you are away at work, they might also eat less since they are feeling parched.
Alternatively, your rabbit might have a water bottle with a sippy spout but never learned how to use it properly, causing them to drink less than they should.
The best thing to do is ensure your rabbit has a large enough water trough to last the entire day and night. Usually, you would want to get a large dog-sized bowl rather than a smaller one that is marketed toward rabbits.
Conclusion
That’s all for today. Now you know the answer of this question “why is my rabbit losing weight?” If this happen to your beloved one, please take step as early as possible. If you found this article helpful please share it with your bunny lover friends.