How to put weight on a rabbit? Need answer ASAP

[Yield]

[align=center]Sabriel has lost 4 oz since he broke his leg. He's not SKINNY, but he's not the weight he was at before. We need to keep him at the before weight and keep it steady.

He's currently 4 lb 3 oz.

How can I put more weight on him?

 

[naturestee]

Is he eating normally? I think I remember reading that he is in an e-collar. Some rabbits won't eat their normal amount with one of those on. Also, he won't be able to eat his cecals. If you can, try to offer his cecals to him (I know, yuck, but some rabbits will take them). If this doesn't work, supplement his B vitamins by giving him Nutrical. You could also call your vet and ask how much of a human's B vitamin complex pill you could give him. Crush it and sprinkle it on wet veggies.

What type of pellets are you feeding- timothy or alfalfa? He has a lot of bone growth to do, so if he is on timothy pellets you could give him a handful of alfalfa hay a day. Alfalfa also has more protein and energy.

What I have done for two of mine that didn't keep weight on well and had dietary limitations was I made a mix of sunflower seeds, flax seeds, and rolled oats. I gave them 1/4 teaspoon a day. They were dwarf hotots, so a larger breed could get more.

Hope that helps!

Edit: Just a thought, if he can't eat his cecals you may also want to keep Benebac on hand for an upset tummy, especially if changes to his diet upset his tummy. I usually keep some on hand anyway.

 

[Yield]

naturestee wrote:

Is he eating normally? I think I remember reading that he is in an e-collar. Some rabbits won't eat their normal amount with one of those on. Also, he won't be able to eat his cecals. If you can, try to offer his cecals to him (I know, yuck, but some rabbits will take them). If this doesn't work, supplement his B vitamins by giving him Nutrical. You could also call your vet and ask how much of a human's B vitamin complex pill you could give him. Crush it and sprinkle it on wet veggies.

What type of pellets are you feeding- timothy or alfalfa? He has a lot of bone growth to do, so if he is on timothy pellets you could give him a handful of alfalfa hay a day. Alfalfa also has more protein and energy.

What I have done for two of mine that didn't keep weight on well and had dietary limitations was I made a mix of sunflower seeds, flax seeds, and rolled oats. I gave them 1/4 teaspoon a day. They were dwarf hotots, so a larger breed could get more.

Hope that helps!

Edit: Just a thought, if he can't eat his cecals you may also want to keep Benebac on hand for an upset tummy, especially if changes to his diet upset his tummy. I usually keep some on hand anyway.

[align=center]He is being piggy as usual =]

I have been recently taking his cone off so he can eat properly.

I feed him his cecals every morning.

I give him timothy- but he gets a lot of calcium rich veggies so my veterinarian said do not give him alfalfa hay, she doesn't want him getting bladder stones.

Thank you!

And that's a good idea, I will ask my mom to pick up some Benebac. Where can I get that and how much would I give him if an upset tummy occured?

 

[Yield]

[align=center]Is ground flax seed okay?

 

[naturestee]

It's great that he's eating his cecals! That's a huge nutritional concern.

Ground flax seed is ok, but you would need to sprinkle it on wet leaves or mix it into something like pumpkin. Otherwise he might not realize that dusty stuff is food.

When humans break bones, they are often recommended to increase their calcium intake. It would make sense to do it in a limited way for rabbits, too. I know calcium is often a concern, but IMO "high" calcium in veggies is not as high as the data makes it look. They calculate the percentages by dry weight, meaning they aren't counting all that water in the veggies that also helps to flush excess calcium out. Anyway, there are a lot of smart people on both sides of that argument. At least give him a little more kale and spinach, just in case. Stones suck, but he's going to be using a large amount of calcium healing those bones.

You can usually find small tubes of Benebac with kitten and puppy supplies. One tube is 1 gram, which is usually the appropriate serving. Some places like Petco sell it as a powder for small animals. I always have it on hand for tummy troubles, especially since I had two dwarf hotots with megacolon.

 

[Yield]

naturestee wrote:

It's great that he's eating his cecals! That's a huge nutritional concern.

Ground flax seed is ok, but you would need to sprinkle it on wet leaves or mix it into something like pumpkin. Otherwise he might not realize that dusty stuff is food.

When humans break bones, they are often recommended to increase their calcium intake. It would make sense to do it in a limited way for rabbits, too. I know calcium is often a concern, but IMO "high" calcium in veggies is not as high as the data makes it look. They calculate the percentages by dry weight, meaning they aren't counting all that water in the veggies that also helps to flush excess calcium out. Anyway, there are a lot of smart people on both sides of that argument. At least give him a little more kale and spinach, just in case. Stones suck, but he's going to be using a large amount of calcium healing those bones.

You can usually find small tubes of Benebac with kitten and puppy supplies. One tube is 1 gram, which is usually the appropriate serving. Some places like Petco sell it as a powder for small animals. I always have it on hand for tummy troubles, especially since I had two dwarf hotots with megacolon.

[align=center]Alright, thank you =] Do you think I should give him some alfalfa- I have some on hand?
We have spinach, I will give him some tomorrow. =O

And we will look for the Benebac!

 

[Katmais_mommy]

When I had bunny weight problems, I add a teaspoon of oats and two yogurt treats to the top of his pellets every day. I also fed him a small bowl of alfalfa hay daily.

 

[naturestee]

Yup, I would give him a little alfalfa at least a couple of times a week, if not daily.

 

[Yield]

[align=center]Thank you! I gave him some oats and added some to his pellets. I put some alfalfa hay in his timothy hay (not in the cage though)...

Do I use raw sunflower nuts? i dunno if thats okay but that is what we have.. we'll be putting ground flax onto his veggies tonight!

 

[Pet_Bunny]

naturestee wrote:

If this doesn't work, supplement his B vitamins by giving him Nutrical.

Ihave Nutrical on hand to feed sick bunnies or when they don'teat. It is high in supplements and it simulates their appetites. Just squeeze 1/2 inch of Nutrical onto a layer ofoats and my bunny will gobble it down.

You can find Nutircal in the cat section and store it in the frigafter you open it.

 

[Pet_Bunny]

Yield wrote:

[align=center]Do I use raw sunflower nuts? i dunno if thats okay but that is what we have.[/align]

Do you mean sunflower seeds that is used for bird feeding? The ones for birds are fine. Don't over do it though. I give mine 4-5 seeds 2x per week.

 

[Yield]

Pet_Bunny wrote:

Yield wrote:

[align=center]Do I use raw sunflower nuts? i dunno if thats okay but that is what we have.[/align]

 

Do you mean sunflower seeds that is used for bird feeding?  The ones for birds are fine.  Don't over do it though.  I give mine 4-5 seeds  2x per week.

[align=center]No, the ones I have have no shell.

They're Good Sense brand, and look like this:

The only ingredient.. is themselves. Lol

 

[Pet_Bunny]

Yield wrote:

The only ingredient.. is themselves. Lol

Looks fine to me. As long as they haven't been treated and no salt added. The bird seeds would be cheaper.

The simplest solution isgive more of her regular pellets to eat.

 

[Yield]

Pet_Bunny wrote:

Yield wrote:

The only ingredient.. is themselves. Lol

Looks fine to me.  As long as they haven't been treated and no salt added. The bird seeds would be cheaper. 

The simplest solution is give more of her regular pellets to eat.

[align=center]Sabriel is a boy =P Lol.
We already bought these so.... they're currently cheaper cause we already have them XD

 

[jwark]

They lose muscle mass rapidly when immobile too. I'm not sure of your exact situation but if there's any exercises at all you can do that could help.