QSOME of my pet bunnies don’t eat hay. They like vegetables and pellets. Their teeth are ok. I just want to make them eat lots of hay. Only one of them is crazy about hay. I feed them Timothy hay, a bit of oat hay, and today, I purchased Bermuda Grass. What can I do?

Imogen Wheatley, Oxfordshire A The pellets are tastier than hay and given the choice many rabbits will ignore hay for pellets.

In time, they should start eating the hay.

The best way to do this is to gradually reduce the pellets a little every day and leave plenty of hay in for them to eat.

Give them all three types of hay so they will eat the one they like the best.

If you take the pellets away too fast and they don’t eat enough hay, they may actually become malnourished and get sick from that. So watch to be sure they aren’t getting thin.

You may need to pick them up or feel their ribs to be sure they aren't getting too thin.

You are right to encourage them to eat hay, their guts are designed to digest this type of fibrous food and it is essential for the health of your rabbit.

QMy cat has a lot of mucous and sneezes frequently. She suffers from feline leukaemia. Is this just the leukaemia and is it likely to get better?

Abigail Mann, Oxfordshire A Feline leukaemia is caused by a virus and is incurable. It causes damage to the immune system and so makes the cat more prone to other infections.

I suspect your cat has a flu type virus or a bacterial infection or both, affecting her nose and possibly throat.

You should have her examined by your vet as this is unlikely to get better without treatment and may even spread to her lungs.

Because of her damaged immune system the rate of recovery is likely to be slow and recurrence of the infection is very likely.

Please remember that both the leukaemia virus and her flu virus are contagious to other cats.

Q My friend says my budgie may be egg bound but she lives on her own, no male, so she can’t lay eggs. She does not seem well what could it be?

D Davis, Cowley A A female budgie does not need a male for her to produce an egg.

Females still produce eggs but because they are not fertilised by a male they cannot hatch. Egg binding could be her problem and this occurs when the bird is unable to pass the egg and so it sticks in the bird equivalent of a womb. This can be a serious, life threatening condition which can result in kidney failure and leg paralysis.

If there is any risk she is egg bound you should take her to your vet. The egg can usually be removed with the help of drugs but sometimes has to be removed surgically.