rabbit quit eating her normal pellets

Question
I hate to ask this, but I can't afford to see a vet and want to know if there are any at home remedies for my rabbit. She has eaten the same pellets, hay, vegetables and drank from the same water bottle since i got her Last year. Last week she quit eating the pellets and drinking. I've offered water in a bowl and tried to get her to drink from a syringe, but refuses. She will still eat some vegetables and her fecal matter looks the same only much smaller, she still has lots of energy but sheds terribly this past week, has lost obvious weight and has quit grooming herself. I've been giving the vegetables, mostly lettuce, to her rinsed to try and get more water into her system

Answer
Dear Mariah,

I wish I could tell you there was a home remedy for this, but there isn't.  The description you give me is a *classic* scenario for dental/mouth pain, and this is usually caused by molar spurs or other dental problem.  Please read:

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/dental.html

Left untreated, this can lead to much worse problems.  A rabbit in pain will gradually lose GI tract motility, and the poops will become smaller, harder, and gas will start to build up as the intestines slow down and the bacterial ecosystem inside changes.  This can result in ileus, a complete cessation of normal intestinal peristalsis (the muscular movement that pushes food through the intestine):

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html

I would strongly urge you to find a rabbit-savvy veterinarian who is familiar with rabbit dental disease, so that person can check deep in your rabbit's mouth to check for spurs, ulcerations, or other source of pain.  It might require sedation to get a really good look if nothing is obvious with an otoscope.

You can find a list of rabbit-savvy vets linked here:

http://www.rabbit.org/vet

I hope this helps you get your bunny on the road to recovery.

Dana