Treat falling hay intake as a symptom, not a preference
Hay should make up the great bulk of a rabbit's diet, and the side-to-side chewing it demands keeps continuously growing teeth worn and the gut moving. When a senior rabbit who once ate steadily starts leaving hay, picking out a few strands, or switching to softer foods only, something has usually changed: spurs on the back teeth that cut the tongue or cheek, a sore mouth, jaw stiffness, or pain elsewhere that makes long chewing sessions tiring.
Watch for the supporting clues at home. Dropping half-chewed food, drooling or a wet chin, eating pellets or greens while ignoring hay, smaller droppings, weight loss, and a new reluctance to be touched around the head all strengthen the case that eating hay hurts rather than bores him. Back teeth cannot be checked properly at home, so home observation points you to a vet visit; it does not replace one.
Make the hay itself as easy as possible today
While you arrange that visit, remove every barrier between this rabbit and hay. Put loose piles at floor level in his pen, by his litter tray where rabbits like to graze, and beside his resting place, instead of expecting him to pull strands from a rack or reach into a hay bag with a sore neck. Offer a mixture of textures: softer leafy hay he can manage now alongside his usual coarser hay, and refresh piles little and often so the scent stays fresh and inviting.
Cutting hay into very short pieces is not a good substitute, because length drives the chewing motion that wears teeth. If he will only manage soft foods for a day or two, talk to the veterinarian about bridging nutrition rather than improvising, and keep water in a bowl he can drink from without stretching. Note honestly how much hay vanishes in a day; a topped-up pile can hide a serious drop if nobody measures the starting amount.
What the veterinary check needs from you
Book promptly with a veterinarian confident with rabbits if hay intake has clearly fallen for more than a day, he is losing weight, droppings have shrunk, or he shows drooling or dropping food. Bring a short history: when the change started, which foods he still accepts, recent weights if you have them, and any past dental work or known spurs. Senior rabbits often need repeated dental attention, so the pattern over time matters as much as today's mouth check.
Ask what was found, what eating should look like while he recovers, and what specific drop-off should trigger a return visit rather than watchful waiting. Pain relief and dental correction, where needed, often restore hay eating surprisingly fast once the sore surface is dealt with, and a rabbit back on hay is protecting both his teeth and his gut at once.
Build a hay watch into his senior routine
After the immediate problem, keep a simple daily rhythm: fresh piles in his known grazing spots, a glance at droppings size as you clean the tray, and a weight check on a regular day each week. Catching the next decline at the stage of slightly smaller droppings, rather than a rabbit who has stopped eating, is the difference between a routine appointment and an emergency.
To make that pattern visible across visits, KinsLe's Pet Passport keeps this rabbit's dental history, weights and care notes together in one portable packet, ready to hand over at each vet visit so his hay story is never pieced together from memory.