Critical care vs Sherwood SAR-ex

[Kellyann]

Hi, new member with a support feeding question. My 1.5 yr old rescue angora cross is losing weight. He was great a month ago but he blew out his coat and had lots a hairy poops and slowed down eating hay. He still eats his 1 tbsp of Oxbow pellets every day and 1/2 cup greens(usually dandelions or organic lettuces from the garden). He also gets a few strands of organic meadow grass which we grow for hay(for horses). He loves grass its so stalky and rough. He went from 1288 grams in june to just 1200 grams today (2.6 lbs). On his 1 yr birthday he weighed 1334 grams. He has been to a vet but I didnt feel she was rabbit savy enough. We were told to count poops instead of weighing. Alf poops up a glorious 300 poops or so every day. He must be eating something, right? My sister says just feed him more pellets instead of the critical care slurry.
Anyway I'm really posting a question about Critical Care vs Sherwood SAR-ex (which was reccomended on the net as tastier than CC)
The CC package says to feed 3 tbsp per kg per day mixed with water, the Sherwood SAR-ex says 11-17 tbsp per day? Hugh difference. That would be around 240 cals per day. I'm told that rabbits need about 100 cals/kg/day.
Anyone have experience with these products? Many thanks.

 

[Jasminebunny]

Maybe free-feed pellets , I use CC and feed 4 tbsp per kg ..Or try feeding veggies like sweetcorn ..
But i'd recommend Sherwood SAR-ex over CC

 

[John Wick]

When my rabbit needed to gain weight, I used CC, so I'm biased to say that's a good route to go because he did gain weight (proportionally it was a lot; he went from 530g to 670g in slightly less than two weeks). If the goal is weight gain, at least for CC, my vet recommended "feed as much as he'll take, twice a day", so twice a day (AM + PM), I would just mix CC up and feed him as many syringes as he wanted, and then he'd eventually stop eating and hop away with a swaying, huge stomach. I've recommended this to people with rabbits who enjoy CC, so if yours does, it may be a good method? It's not precise, but it will definitely get your rabbit eating excess in order to gain weight. For powder-to-water ratio, again, not an exact science. "Pancake batter" was the instruction I received, and it worked well. It made me very paranoid at first, not to have precise amounts to feed and how to mix it, but after a day I realized it worked really well.

 

[Kellyann]

Here are the packages.

Maybe free-feed pellets , I use CC and feed 4 tbsp per kg ..Or try feeding veggies like sweetcorn ..
But i'd recommend Sherwood SAR-ex over CC

Do you find the discrepancy in feeding amounts strange? Thanks for replying.

 

[Kellyann]

When my rabbit needed to gain weight, I used CC, so I'm biased to say that's a good route to go because he did gain weight (proportionally it was a lot; he went from 530g to 670g in slightly less than two weeks). If the goal is weight gain, at least for CC, my vet recommended "feed as much as he'll take, twice a day", so twice a day (AM + PM), I would just mix CC up and feed him as many syringes as he wanted, and then he'd eventually stop eating and hop away with a swaying, huge stomach. I've recommended this to people with rabbits who enjoy CC, so if yours does, it may be a good method? It's not precise, but it will definitely get your rabbit eating excess in order to gain weight. For powder-to-water ratio, again, not an exact science. "Pancake batter" was the instruction I received, and it worked well. It made me very paranoid at first, not to have precise amounts to feed and how to mix it, but after a day I realized it worked really well.

Thanks for your reply. I'm worried about him not eating hay if he's being fed CC?

 

[Jasminebunny]

Here are the packages.


What do you feed per kg/day? Do you find the discrepancy in feeding amounts strange? Thanks for replying.

I feed 4 tablespoons as my rabbit is 1k right now .
Does she need it :?
She is nursing 6 babies

 

[Jasminebunny]

I feed 4 tablespoons as my rabbit is 1k right now .
Does she need it :?
She is nursing 6 babies

She lost the weight after having her babies

 

[Kellyann]

Your replies have been so supportive, thamks. Can I just ask do you have to syringe feed or will she eat it mixed up in a dish? Also does she have pellets free choice? I' m afraid Alfie will stop eating hay, and he is still losing weight. I have an appointment next week to see about getting his teeth checked.

 

[John Wick]

If you limit my method to only two times a day, he should still eat hay, similar to how a rabbit still eats hay when given limited pellets/veggies!

 

[Kellyann]

He's stopped eating hay, which is what I was afraid of. He ate double the amount of hus usual pellets today, no hay go speak of and two syringes of CC. I'm happy to see him eating and want to get his weight up if he needs a dental procedure next week. Thanks. Then we'll worry about getting him back on hay. So if he's eating free cboice pellets, no more CC I think, right?

 

[Jasminebunny]

Your replies have been so supportive, thamks. Can I just ask do you have to syringe feed or will she eat it mixed up in a dish? Also does she have pellets free choice? I' m afraid Alfie will stop eating hay, and he is still losing weight. I have an appointment next week to see about getting his teeth checked.

You can decide whats best for your rabbit .
And about him eating free choice pellets , if he's gaining weight from stop on the CC