new feed

[golfdiva]

Several weeks ago my neighbor's rabbit died and she gave mea big bag of left over rabbit food. I started mixing in a little with Hershey's food, then gradually adding more. By the time it got to where it was mostly new food, I started finding cecals laying around. This afternoon I found a big mushy mess on the floor, I'm assuming it was cecals.

I went straight to the feed store and bought the rabbit food he used to eat. I told the feed store guy the story and he said their food is 15% protein and 15% fiber. He said food that didn't have the same amount of protein and fiber could cause the problem I described.

I looked online for the neighbor's food - Kent Feeds, Rabbit Complete. Here is the analysis from that food:

[align=left]Crude Protein, min. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.0%[/align]
[align=left]Crude Fat, min. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.5%[/align]
[align=left]Crude Fiber, min. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.0%[/align]
[align=left]Crude Fiber, max. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17.0%[/align]
[align=left]Calcium (Ca), min. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.7%[/align]
[align=left]Calcium (Ca), max. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.2%[/align]
[align=left]Phosphorus (P), min. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.6%[/align]
[align=left]Salt (NaCl), min.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.3%[/align]
[align=left]Salt (NaCl), max. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.8%[/align]
[align=left]Vitamin A, min. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,000 IU/lb[/align]
[align=left]INGREDIENTS 1[/align]
[align=left]Dehydrated Alfalfa Meal, Wheat Middlings, Soy Hulls, Distillers Dried Grains with Solubles, Calcium Carbonate, Animal Fat, Salt, DL-Methionine, Yeast Culture, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Vitamin A Acetate, Vitamin D3 upplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Menadione Dimethylpyrimidinol Bisulfite (source of Vitamin K Activity), Riboflavin Supplement, Niacin Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Folic Acid, Biotin, Magnesium Oxide, Calcium Iodate, Manganese Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Sodium Selenite (source of Selenium), Natural Mixed Tocopherols, Citric Acid & Rosemary Extract.[/align]
[align=left]Do you think it's the Kent Feeds food that caused the excess cecals? [/align]

 

[tonyshuman]

I think yes it may have, but the other feed isn't that good either. For a sedentary house rabbit, a good feed is made mostly of timothy hay and contains no more than 14% protein, no more than 2% fat, and more than 20% fiber. The excess fat and protein in the new feed could lead to excess cecals.

 

[aurora369]

I definitely think the food is a contributing factor. 18% protien is pretty high, and 17% fiber is low.

I feed a feed store pellet with 14% protien. It is alfafa based, so I feed a bit on the lighter side, with my mini-rexes only getting 1/8 cup of pellets. They get lots of hay though, and do pretty good on this diete.

I think returning him to the feed he has previously done well on will get rid of the excess cecals.

--Dawn

 

[golfdiva]

Thanks! He is back on the old feed today. He actually doesn't eat much pellets. He prefers vegetables, and in the summer he has unlimited weeds to eat. He always has hay to eat, but doesn't like it much.

He isn't in a cage. He has a whole room to run around all day! I don't know if his fed is alfalfa based or timothy, but he has done well on it. I weigh him often and he remains a healthy weight (unlike his owner! lol!).

 

[tonyshuman]

If he stays a healthy weight on it and doesn't have uneaten cecals, it's probably fine.

 

[golfdiva]

Funny how you can tell your rabbit isn't quite right! He acted healthy to someone who didn't know him well, but I can tell he is happier getting his original pellets back!