Does Gus look chubby to you?

[funnybunnymummy]

This is in January:

This is the beginning of March:

This is today:

I've been supplementing his timothy pellets with alfalfa for the last 2 weeks in the hopes of improving his coat (it was moulting and nasty), but, while his coat has improved a LOT, he's gained a bit of weight too. I'm just wondering if you think he might've been underweight before and now is a proper weight or if you think he's getting chubby.

Thanks!

Rue

 

[kirbyultra]

I think that in Jan he wasn't quite underweight but could gain a little bit. You can see his hips sticking out a little bit, but not too bad.

In March he looked just adorable. Perfect, I think

Right now, I agree his fur looks much more settled. Less fuzzy from the lack of loose fur. I don't think he's really chubby. Maybe just chubby enough to be adorable

 

[funnybunnymummy]

Thanks, Helen!

Yeah, his hips were pretty prominent before. And you could really feel his spine and pelvis under his fur too. But now that's really smoothed out.

Still I can't believe 2 Tbsp of alfalfa pellets could have this much of an effect on his weight in such a short time! :shock:

Rue

 

[kirbyultra]

Toby has shed a lot less since I started to feed him half alfalfa and half timothy, and a full 1/4 a day. He never finishes the 1/4 in 1 day. Usually takes him almost two days so really, when I was feeding him 1/8 cup per day it wasn't as if I was starving him. And the protein difference between the Oxbow Tim and Oxbow alfalfa I was feeding him was only 1%. I don't really understand how such a minute difference in protein could have affected his fur maintenance this much, but seems to have worked out. I don't know if I should take him off the alfalfa now or what. Did you stop feeding Gus alfalfa yet? If so, has he kept his fur, i.e. not shed like crazy like before?

Er, but back on topic! Being able to feel the spine quite prominently is classic sign of an underweight bunny. Sometimes ina severely underweight bun you can actually see the spine sticking out of the poor thing Your Gus looks great

 

[funnybunnymummy]

No, I haven't taken him off it yet. My plan was to feed it to him so long as he continued to moult (about a month to 6 weeks), then take him off it when he was done and just feed him the timothy pellets.

But now I'm thinking maybe heneeds the extra protein and the moulting was because he was a bit underweight? I dunno. It's very confusing!

Thanks!

Rue

 

[aurora369]

Pamnock has a really great article on her website about rabbit weight. It is a PDF to download, check it out:

http://nockrabbits.com/RabbitWeight.pdf

-Dawn

 

[funnybunnymummy]

Thanks, Dawn.

I've read that article before, but still wasn't sure if he was over or under or just the right weight.

Rue

 

[kirbyultra]

Pretty sure that Gus looks ok. It would be easier to "feel" than by looks.

Here's Kirby. I do think he's a bit overweight. It's just really odd because he doesn't get much pellet food at all and yet he just keeps getting floofier and chunkier looking.

When you feel his sides, you can't really feel the ribs. His spine is well "insulated" and he's starting to develop "neck folds" You can sorta tell from this pic. He isn't fat to the point where he can't groom himself but I am growing concerned and trying to give him more playtime and reducing his intake.

Here is a pic of one of our shelter buns who came back to us in just terrible condition. She was neglected and fed probably a ton of pellets and not much else.

Abdomen is hanging low from pellet gut, neck and upper body is practically undiscernible. She's definitely overweight. Poor thing. Off topic, but she's rehabing and doing well.

 

[bunnyluv96]

I'm no expert but he doesn't look chubby to me! Looks normal and healthy!

 

[Pipp]

aurora369 wrote:

Pamnock has a really great article on her website about rabbit weight. It is a PDF to download, check it out:

http://nockrabbits.com/RabbitWeight.pdf

-Dawn

:yeahthat:

And here's a paragraph from DevilishBlueyes...

So how do I tell if my rabbit is fat?

Fat accumulates mainly in two places on a rabbit:

1. Directly underneath the hide
2. Around the internal organs

Unlike with many other animals, rabbits do not collect fat inside of their muscles such as cattle and swine do. The fat either collects directly under the hide or it collects around the internal organs. As more fat collects underneath the hide, the hide becomes loser on the rabbit's body. This especially becomes apparent around the shoulder area of the rabbit and sometimes around the base of the hindquarters. Checking the looseness of the hide around the shoulder area is the best simple way to measure the amount of fat on the rabbit, because the hide gets looser around the shoulders as the rabbit gains fat underneath its hide.