Eating a lot of Care Fresh

[Maureen Las]

She's really cute

but a little hefty (please don't be offended because if you saw a few of mine you"d be able to say the same to me )
The parsley is fine but the carrot isn't if it's more than a small piece. She look like a large size rabbit. What should her normal weight be? Do you know?

depending on what her normal weight should be I would think that 2/3 cup pellets is too much. I would think that if you added more variety of greens to her diet you would be able to cut back on the pellets. I mean like adding romaine, cilantro, kale etc.
I'll try to find the veggie link

http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=13618&forum_id=17

and the weight link

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=12058&forum_id=17

Did the vet every bring up checking out her heart. ? Sometimes a heart problem can cause shortness of breath
also beingtoo warmcan cause rapid breathing

just off the top of my head ..

 

[Offspring2099]

Thank you for the info,

She was always a bit over 6lbs. We're not ever sure about her breed, so we dont really know what weight she should be. The vet feels her everytime, he says she is not fat, hehe.

When she is laying down like that, her body really spreads, I call it "Pancake Penny"

What's involved checking her heart?

 

[Maureen Las]

if the vet doesn't feel that she is overweight then it could be the pictures. I have a difficult time telling in pics.
I think that you mentioned that she was overweight. ?

Go to medi-rabbit and click on Cardiology diagnostics.

it is pages long and I couldn't make a link

I think that they can tell by a basic x-ray a lot about the size of her heart. etc.
I just mentioned it because of the rapid breathing and no other reason.

 

[Offspring2099]

angieluv wrote:

if the vet doesn't feel that she is overweight then it could be the pictures. I have a difficult time telling in pics.
I think that you mentioned that she was overweight. ?

Go to medi-rabbit and click on Cardiology diagnostics.

it is pages long and I couldn't make a link

I think that they can tell by a basic x-ray a lot about the size of her heart. etc.
I just mentioned it because of the rapid breathing and no other reason.

Oh no, I didn't mean to sound defensive about it. I know the vet says that HE thinks that she is not overweight, but she still could be. I think I will start to limit Penny to just over 1/2 cup of pellets for now and start giving her romaine along with her parsley and a little bit of carrot.

I'll talk to the vet about an xray, I really hate putting her under. We lost Molly as soon as she went under about year ago. I can't lose her.

 

[naturestee]

Sorry, I'm just catching up on this thread. I'm glad she's pooping better now that the Carefresh is gone. Silly bun, that's not food!

It's really hard to tell whether she's overweight or not from the pictures. When you pet her, do you have to press much to feel her ribs? They shouldn't be super easy to feel but it also shouldn't feel like you have to search for them either. Although if the vet says she's ok for weight then he's probably right. Most of the vets I've met are pretty strict on weight.

How do her molar roots look on xray? If they're too long they could be pressing on her nasal passage, making it more difficult to breathe.

Otherwise yeah, I'd start asking about heart or lung problems. I'm not very familiar with those in rabbits.

 

[Offspring2099]

naturestee wrote:

Sorry, I'm just catching up on this thread. I'm glad she's pooping better now that the Carefresh is gone. Silly bun, that's not food!

It's really hard to tell whether she's overweight or not from the pictures. When you pet her, do you have to press much to feel her ribs? They shouldn't be super easy to feel but it also shouldn't feel like you have to search for them either. Although if the vet says she's ok for weight then he's probably right. Most of the vets I've met are pretty strict on weight.

How do her molar roots look on xray? If they're too long they could be pressing on her nasal passage, making it more difficult to breathe.

Otherwise yeah, I'd start asking about heart or lung problems. I'm not very familiar with those in rabbits.

Yeah, I'm still in shock how much more she is pooping. It more than doubled, tripled.
Thank you for your comments. We have an appointment coming up soon, I'll talk to the vet, keeping yours and everyone else's comments in mind.
Thank you.

 

[Haley]

I swear I replied to this! lol

From the pics, she does look a tad pudgy (but dont tell her I said so!). It is difficult to tell in pictures though.

I think if it were me I would limit her pellets to about 1/2 cup a day and work some more (and maybe different) veggies in so that shes getting at least 2 cups of greens a day. Romaine and parsley are a staple around here, but its good to mix in a third veggie if you can which should also help wear down her teeth.

Give her a kiss from me, will you? I just love Penny.

 

[Offspring2099]

Haley wrote:

I swear I replied to this! lol

From the pics, she does look a tad pudgy (but dont tell her I said so!). It is difficult to tell in pictures though.

I think if it were me I would limit her pellets to about 1/2 cup a day and work some more (and maybe different) veggies in so that shes getting at least 2 cups of greens a day. Romaine and parsley are a staple around here, but its good to mix in a third veggie if you can which should also help wear down her teeth.

Give her a kiss from me, will you? I just love Penny.

Haley,
I won't (tell her that she is fat) hehe. I saw that you mentioned 1/2cup of pellets per day. I actually thought of the same thing and started with that a few days ago.

One thing I never understood is how to measure greens. I mean how do I measure 2 cups of a vegetable??? Please help.

 

[Haley]

Yeah its difficult to really measure unless youre cutting them up and/or stuffing them in measuring cups I usually think of a cup as about a large handful so my bunnies get 2-3 handfuls.

 

[Offspring2099]

Haley wrote:

Yeah its difficult to really measure unless youre cutting them up and/or stuffing them in measuring cups I usually think of a cup as about a large handful so my bunnies get 2-3 handfuls.

Ok, I might have to do that. I thought there was some trick.

 

[Offspring2099]

2 cups seems A LOT. I mean I can fit SO MUCH greens into just one cup if I really squeeze it. This is really hard to measure. I mean I have a full plate of parsley and it's only 3/4 of a cup. :banghead

I so stumped on this whole deal. Because the pellets are they only source of fiber and now I have to take that away and introduce more veggies which I don't think are considered a source of fiber.

 

[naturestee]

In human food stuff, 1 cup of leafy greens is referred to as "loosely packed." So don't cram as much as possible in. I just eyeball it, maybe a good-sized handful is a cup for me.

Greens do have some fiber, but if you're worried about her getting enough when you reduce her pellets check out the Bunny Bytes website. I remember them having 100% hay pellets that were meant for supplemental feeding. I think they had different types too, like timothy, meadow grass, etc.

Also, will she eat timothy cubes? Some rabbits that don'teat loose hay will eat those.

 

[Offspring2099]

naturestee wrote:

In human food stuff, 1 cup of leafy greens is referred to as "loosely packed." So don't cram as much as possible in. I just eyeball it, maybe a good-sized handful is a cup for me.

Greens do have some fiber, but if you're worried about her getting enough when you reduce her pellets check out the Bunny Bytes website. I remember them having 100% hay pellets that were meant for supplemental feeding. I think they had different types too, like timothy, meadow grass, etc.

Also, will she eat timothy cubes? Some rabbits that don'teat loose hay will eat those.

Thanks, I will try this. Right now Im giving cut hay a try. Trying different sizes of cut. From one cm to about an inch.