Bunny hay allergies update!!!!

[Mailablemage]

Well it's been a while and we've tried a few things to try and lessen my allergies to Timothy hay; we got an air purifier, I've been drinking tea with lemon to calm my throat, new allergy pills, the works. Unfortunately none of this seems to be working. So today we went to the local pet Shop to look at different hays. This was a last resort for us because we were worried about the bun not getting proper nutrition. So after spending about ten minutes sticking my face into various bags of hay we found two that don't effect me as much. I'll have to check the bags again but I'm pretty sure we got Bermuda hay and oat hay. So we will try those tomorrow and see if he likes them. On another note we decided to add to his diet a bit. After a nice conversation with a lady at the pet shop we added a bit if kale to his salad. Which he promptly threw to the side in favor of his apple (spoiled little bunny). We also got him a hay holder so hopefully it keeps the hay contained and the dust sober get thrown around the room. I'll have an update tomorrow on how the hay works.

 

[Mailablemage]

Ah it seems the second picture didn't upload. Here's his new salad!

 

[Imbrium]

Looks delicious!

For what it's worth, hay is all about the fiber... there is some difference in nutritional content between types of grass hays, but it's not significant enough to cause problems. I think cut is more important than type, actually. I feed orchard and bermuda for the most part, though it doesn't seem like my bunns like the new bermuda very much.

The only nutritional difference that actually really matters is in regards to "cereal" type hays like oat, wheat, rye, etc. - the seed heads (in your case, the oats) *need* to be removed before you feed it to the bunny. It's ok to not get them all, but you'd want to pull like 90%+ of them out. A few oats here and there are no big deal as long as your bunny doesn't have an overly sensitive digestive system, but if a significant amount of the hay he eats is oat and you're not removing any oats, it really adds up fast. All those extra carbs and calories can lead to obesity, digestive problems (including the dreaded GI stasis) and a variety of other health problems. As long as you're ripping out the oats, though, it's perfectly healthy to feed oat hay. [My sympathies to whichever of you humans ends up culling the oats out of the hay, heh - my girls went through a phase before I found the Sierra Valley orchard grass where the only grass hay they'd eat was oat and the Oxbow stuff I got had an absurd amount of oats, so I know all too well how ridiculously tedious it can be. It was a true labor of love keeping two growing bunnies supplied with oatless oat hay!]

I'm so glad you were able to find some hays that are easier for you to live with!

 

[Imbrium]

Also, I don't know if you saw my post about this in your previous thread, but I buy mail order orchard grass and bermuda hay. If you're in the US and would be comfortable PMing me a mailing address, my offer still stands to send you free samples of the Sierra Valley and KMS hayloft hays I get so you can try them against your allergies and your bunny's taste buds .

The reason I'm pushing you towards mail-order hay even after you've found ones you can tolerate is that pet store hay is an incredible rip-off and I hate to see someone paying those prices because they don't realize that there are much better options available!

The math:
Petsmart's website shows a price of $5.51 for a bag of Oxbow oat hay, which contains 15 ounces; let's just call it "one pound" for simplicity's sake. 45 lbs of Oxbow oat hay, if purchased from the pet store in those small bags, costs $248. Oxbow also offers larger (9 lb) bags - most places don't carry them but they can potentially be ordered (this is the largest/most economical sized bag of hay Oxbow sells). I had a local feed store order one for me when Nala and Gaz were going through their oat hay phase and it cost $27. 45 lbs of Oxbow hay purchased in 9 lb bags would cost $135.

Shipping costs vary depending on where you live, but the cost for 45 lbs of hay (1-2 types w/Sierra Valley or one type with KMS Hayloft) *including* shipping varies from around $52-65 for KMS/$67-86 for Sierra Valley. I bought a LOT of bags of pet store hay during my crusade to find one my girls would eat and I've also bought a feed store bale before. The mail-order hay is fresher and prettier than both!

Sierra Valley orchard hay (which has been sitting around the apartment for about six months):

 

[PaGal]

Just a few suggestions. Two of my step daughters have allergies. I have tried different allergy meds with them but the only one that gives them relief is Zyrtec. Of course, it's about the most expensive but it does work. Although for you it may be a different brand that will work.

If you want to keep the hay more contained maybe you could try getting a larger sized plastic storage box. Place your buns litter box in their and hang a hay rack above the litter box. You could leave the lid on , just cut an opening in the side big enough for your bun to get into. It seems a little crazy but it should really help contain the hay and especially the hay dust.

 

[Tauntz]

Oh, I have to speak up & second Imbrium's suggestion of the mail order hay & her offer to send you some samples. I used to buy the pet store hay & it was very expensive. Plus the pet store hay was smaller/shorter grasses so I got allot more hay dust. I can also tell the difference in the quality of the hay as well as my bunnies can't wait for their hay now! They are eating it out of my hand before I can put it down for them to help themselves. I hope your allergy is manageable. To me there is nothing worse than not being able to have the "pets" we love because of an allergy to something with that "pet." I have allergies too & I am about to switch my bunny girls to Orchard &/or Bermuda hay & stop the Timothy to see if that helps. Good luck & please keep updating us! My best to you & your bunny!

Oh, I could go for one of your bunny's salads myself! Yummy!

 

[Imbrium]

Oh, I have to speak up & second Imbrium's suggestion of the mail order hay & her offer to send you some samples. I used to buy the pet store hay & it was very expensive. Plus the pet store hay was smaller/shorter grasses so I got allot more hay dust.

I forgot about that (it's been ages since I had pet store hay). The orchard/alfalfa blend that I had to feed the girls for ages to get them to eat grass hay at all is pretty "dusty" from all the alfalfa leaves, but the plain orchard and the bluegrass that I've been weaning them onto have very little dust. What dust IS in the hay really seems to settle during the shipping process, so it's only when you get to the very end of the box that dust might be an issue. At that point, it's only like $3 worth of hay left anyway so for someone with severe allergies, it's probably worth the cost to just toss the last bit if it causes problems.

I have tried different allergy meds with them but the only one that gives them relief is Zyrtec. Of course, it's about the most expensive but it does work. Although for you it may be a different brand that will work.

Meds like that won't work for everyone (all rules have exceptions) but many people find them extremely helpful, possibly in conjunction with other tactics. My boyfriend liked Claritin but still complained of allergy symptoms; we both found Zyrtec to be more effective. Those two and Allegra all have different active ingredients, so just because one doesn't work for you doesn't necessarily mean none of them will. As a note, we've only used the generic versions (both grocery store and Walmart brands) - those aren't expensive at all if you buy the largest bottle available. I think I pay around $15 for 120 generic Zyrtec (so $5 a month for one person)... but the name brand, especially smaller bottles/packages, is horribly expensive.