Pellet Intolerance?

[HalaBuns]

One of my buns (Gigi) suffered from several gassy episodes last year and was eventually treated for GI stasis. I put her on a hay only diet for some time afterwards and slowly introduced a different brand of pellets (Zupreem Timothy Naturals). We had no tummy issues after that, but I have noticed that she’s put on a bit of weight and doesn’t seem to be as active. We joke that she’s a bit of a lazy chunk.

We have a national shortage of of the Zupreem pellets with no stock anywhere, so I transitioned all my bunnies over to Oxbow a few weeks ago. I possibly did this a little quickly because I misjudged how much of my old pellets I had left, but she did not appear to have any issues until yesterday, when she had her first gassy episode since she had stasis in January.

I have stopped her pellets and ordered the Zupreem brand from overseas, but I’m wondering whether to actually take her off all pellets completely. She’s obviously sensitive and I’m wondering whether the “laziness” is actually her having an adverse reaction to that brand too and it makes her feel sluggish. Is that possible?

I’ve not weighed her for a while, but from memory she was around 3kg and she get 1/4 cup of pellets a day max (sometimes less). Her diet is totally sugar and starch free.

 

[JBun]

I had a new rabbit that kept going into GI stasis, soon after starting to recover from the previous bout. I finally put it together and realized it was the pellets causing it, when I would see him belly pressing and eye squinting within a half hour of eating pellets.. I took him off pellets and free fed a medium coarse hay and select greens/forage.

I tried reintroducing various other brands of good quality pellets, very gradually. I would get up to just a pinch of them(maybe 10 pellets), when I would notice the signs of discomfort again. I finally gave up trying with the pellets and any other high carb/sugary foods, as they also caused issues, and kept him on a free fed hay and select greens/forage diet, and also a salt lick for the needed dietary sodium. For 2 years he never had a bout with stasis again on this diet, at which time he passed from non diet related post surgical complications.

All of my rabbits at the time, got put on the same diet, as I had a few others with pellet sensitivities, one due to genetic megacolon. This was their diet for several years, and they all did really well on this pellet free diet, had no health issues aside from a few bouts of minor digestive upset which resolved themselves, and they all maintained a healthy weight. So my experience has been good with a pellet free diet with my rabbits.

I would say that a sensitivity to pellets can make a rabbit seem sluggish, in that it is causing an upset stomach. So they don't feel great and are less inclined to be active because of this.

 

[Panda Lacroix]

One of my buns (Gigi) suffered from several gassy episodes last year and was eventually treated for GI stasis. I put her on a hay only diet for some time afterwards and slowly introduced a different brand of pellets (Zupreem Timothy Naturals). We had no tummy issues after that, but I have noticed that she’s put on a bit of weight and doesn’t seem to be as active. We joke that she’s a bit of a lazy chunk.

We have a national shortage of of the Zupreem pellets with no stock anywhere, so I transitioned all my bunnies over to Oxbow a few weeks ago. I possibly did this a little quickly because I misjudged how much of my old pellets I had left, but she did not appear to have any issues until yesterday, when she had her first gassy episode since she had stasis in January.

I have stopped her pellets and ordered the Zupreem brand from overseas, but I’m wondering whether to actually take her off all pellets completely. She’s obviously sensitive and I’m wondering whether the “laziness” is actually her having an adverse reaction to that brand too and it makes her feel sluggish. Is that possible?

I’ve not weighed her for a while, but from memory she was around 3kg and she get 1/4 cup of pellets a day max (sometimes less). Her diet is totally sugar and starch free.

I would try feedin

I had a new rabbit that kept going into GI stasis, soon after starting to recover from the previous bout. I finally put it together and realized it was the pellets causing it, when I would see him belly pressing and eye squinting within a half hour of eating pellets.. I took him off pellets and free fed a medium coarse hay and select greens/forage.

I tried reintroducing various other brands of good quality pellets, very gradually. I would get up to just a pinch of them(maybe 10 pellets), when I would notice the signs of discomfort again. I finally gave up trying with the pellets and any other high carb/sugary foods, as they also caused issues, and kept him on a free fed hay and select greens/forage diet, and also a salt lick for the needed dietary sodium. For 2 years he never had a bout with stasis again on this diet, at which time he passed from post surgical complications.

All of my rabbits at the time, got put on the same diet, as I had a few others with pellet sensitivities, one due to genetic megacolon. This was their diet for several years, and they all did really well on this pellet free diet, had no health issues aside from a few bouts of minor digestive upset which resolved themselves, and they all maintained a healthy weight. So my experience has been good with a pellet free diet with my rabbits.

I would say that a sensitivity to pellets can make a rabbit seem sluggish, in that it is causing an upset stomach. So they don't feel great and are less inclined to be active because of this.

Try feeding some pre, probiotics and electrolytes.. they may help with the digestion process. If you're curious I want to look for here are the probiotics that I feed to my bunnies it's a universal probiotic you can get right at tractor supply.

 

[Panda Lacroix]

I had a new rabbit that kept going into GI stasis, soon after starting to recover from the previous bout. I finally put it together and realized it was the pellets causing it, when I would see him belly pressing and eye squinting within a half hour of eating pellets.. I took him off pellets and free fed a medium coarse hay and select greens/forage.

I tried reintroducing various other brands of good quality pellets, very gradually. I would get up to just a pinch of them(maybe 10 pellets), when I would notice the signs of discomfort again. I finally gave up trying with the pellets and any other high carb/sugary foods, as they also caused issues, and kept him on a free fed hay and select greens/forage diet, and also a salt lick for the needed dietary sodium. For 2 years he never had a bout with stasis again on this diet, at which time he passed from post surgical complications.

All of my rabbits at the time, got put on the same diet, as I had a few others with pellet sensitivities, one due to genetic megacolon. This was their diet for several years, and they all did really well on this pellet free diet, had no health issues aside from a few bouts of minor digestive upset which resolved themselves, and they all maintained a healthy weight. So my experience has been good with a pellet free diet with my rabbits.

I would say that a sensitivity to pellets can make a rabbit seem sluggish, in that it is causing an upset stomach. So they don't feel great and are less inclined to be active because of this.

Also I would eliminate the pellets all together. I have two rabbits that cannot eat any pellet feed .. only hay a fresh greens

 

[HalaBuns]

Great, I think I’ll take her off completely then, see if she gets her bounciness back. We had 3 mornings of me having to give her belly rubs for an hour or so before she would eat, but no problems yesterday, so hopefully her tummy is settling down a bit.

It might be in my head, but I actually feel that both her and her buddy Kiki have a bit more energy already, there have been a few more binkies and zoomies than usual.

 

[JBun]

I know, it can be hard to tell for sure. Giving it a try certainly won't hurt. Then if there's improvement, you'll know.