Best pellets for sensitive tummies

[Katie94]

Hello,

I have always found that two of my four bunnies have very sensitive tummies and I have to be careful to prevent them getting gas pain. I currently feed burgess excel pellets but wondered if there might be something out there more suitable for particularly sensitive buns? I reduced the amount I was feeding a while ago and this seemed the reduce the number of GI incidents but not entirely prevent it.

 

[JBun]

No pellets. Free fed good quality grass hay, select leafy greens, and a salt lick, is what I've found best for buns with a sensitive digestive tract. I've had megacolon buns that were very prone to digestive issues and upset. They were on a no pellet diet and did really well. One bun kept going into stasis, back to back. I took him off pellets and put on a hay/greens diet, and he never had stasis again. Though if doing a pellet free diet, it's always important to monitor body weight and condition.

If you are set on feeding pellets, I've found sugars and carbs to be the biggest culprit of contributing to digestive upset. So a sugar/grain free pellet like Supreme select grain free, might be a good option to try. Sherwood might be another one, but I'm not sure if you can get it in the UK.

 

[Diane R]

You could try switching To Protexin Profibre pellets, not more than 1 tbsp a day.

 

[Katie94]

Thank you I will look in to some of these options. Pellet free is tempting as I’m sure they are the biggest cause of flare ups, if the two that were affected lived together I’d probably go for that but I feel a bit bad for my two girls who have had no issues and love their pellets!

 

[JBun]

Something I don't like about the protexin pellets is that they have grain, and it's the first and third ingredient before the grass hay, as well as having beet pulp(sugar). Meaning there's more grain in there than grass hay, plus sugar. So if carbs/sugar are part of the problem for your rabbit, protexin probably wouldn't be the best choice. Though I do like the probiotics and prebiotics they put in it. It's too bad they have such a high carb formula.

 

[Diane R]

Something I don't like about the protexin pellets is that they have grain, and it's the first and third ingredient before the grass hay, as well as having beet pulp(sugar). Meaning there's more grain in there than grass hay, plus sugar. So if carbs/sugar are part of the problem for your rabbit, protexin probably wouldn't be the best choice. Though I do like the probiotics and prebiotics they put in it. It's too bad they have such a high carb formula.

One thing I like about them is that they don't change the formula unlike other brands. I switched to these because my bunny had very serious digestive issues and they are now the only pellets I use BUT I use them as treats, not more than 1 tbsp a day. I agree though that going pellet free may well be better for some bunnies.