Plump or Obese?

[pamnock]

Jenni wrote:

Just because a girl bunny has a dewlap that doesn't mean she's obese, right?

Gretchen has a dainty little dewlap.


In fact, I worry that she is too skinny.

Correct - a dewlap does not necessarily indicate that a rabbit is overweight.

She looks to be at a very healthy weight (and is a beautiful girl!). When a rabbit is getting too thin, one of the major indicators is that the spine is veryeasily feltand protrudes.



Pam

 

[Jenni]

Thank you!

 

[flemishr2cool]

Flabby or having lots of skin folds doesn't always mean fat. For example I have a Flemish Giant doe that recently had a Uterus infection, and shestill8 pounds underweight. Anyway by looking at her she looks like she is still normal weight, in fact she looks overweight, but once you feel her then its a different story. So my point is that just by looking at a rabbit you can't judge their weight, you need to feel for bone or lack their of due to fat layers over bones.

Julia

 

[Jenni]

Thanks. I did feel her back and it feels solid--no fat, but I couldn't feel her spinal cord. It was real easy to check that way.

 

[pamnock]

Jenni wrote:

Thanks. I did feel her back and it feels solid--no fat, but I couldn't feel her spinal cord. It was real easy to check that way.

Sounds good! It's also the way I have my 7 year old check his rabbits to be sure he's feeding the right amount.

(just a note - you are actually feeling for spinal vertebra - not the spinal cord which is protected by the spinal column.)

Pam

 

[MyBabyBunnies]

pamnock wrote:

When a rabbit is getting too thin, one of the major indicators is that the spine is veryeasily feltand protrudes.

I was actually told by a vet and have seen it myself that that is a poor indicator. Mocha was rather overweight according to my vet (you had to really DIG to find his ribs) but his spine was always very easily felt -- he could be 8.5 lbs and I'd still feel his spine very easily.

She told me that the spine often protrudes on rabbits and to not judge by it but to judge by the ribs instead. She told me that you should be able to feel them without have to really apply a lot of pressure but not so much that you feel the ribs by just lightly running your hand over their side.

Spice and Zoey on the other hand, their spine doesn't protrude at all so I guess it depends on the rabbit.

 

[pamnock]

Ribs are nearly impossible to judge by because of the narrow width of the ribspread -- I've rarely seen a rabbit's ribs protrude except in a few cases of extreme emaciation.

The spine will protrude in rabbits that are underweight, and can also protrude in rabbits that in poor condition (especially obvious during molt). In less common cases, the rabbit's confirmation can cause the spine to be very rough.

It does take some experience and familiarity with your own rabbit to be able to discern the difference, but I've handled thousands of rabbits and found the ribs to be a very poor indicator of whether or not the rabbit it underweight. In most cases, the rabbit must be very close to starvation for the ribs to protrude when the rabbit is in a normal standing position.

In show rabbits, the animal is faulted for a rough spine -- this is not something that is common or desired in rabbits but may be seen in those of poor quality or poor condition.

Having owned literally thousands of rabbits (and handled thousands more), I've found that runnin my hands over the spine to be one of the best indicators of general condition.

In rabbits that are fat (we often refer to those slightly overweight as "over finished", the flesh is softer and the coat lacks finish). There may actually be a valley at the spine and/or over the back of the rump along the spine. On the other hand, you find that rabbits generally don't get much fat build-up over the ribs -- you can still rub and the rib cage and be able to discern the ribs even on a obese rabbit.

Remember that judging general condition and assessing whether or not a rabbit is even very slightly under or over the proper weight for it's confirmation and whether it has too much or too little flesh on it's frame is actually my "profession"

Pam

 

[JimD]

pamnock wrote:

The spine will protrude in rabbits that are underweight, and can also protrude in rabbits that in poor condition (especially obvious during molt). In less common cases, the rabbit's confirmation can cause the spine to be very rough.

In show rabbits, the animal is faulted for a rough spine -- this is not something that is common or desired in rabbits but may be seen in those of poor quality or poor condition.

Having owned literally thousands of rabbits (and handled thousands more), I've found that runnin my hands over the spine to be one of the best indicators of general condition.


Remember that judging general condition and assessing whether or not a rabbit is even very slightly under or over the proper weight for it's confirmation and whether it has too much or too little flesh on it's frame is actually my "profession"

Pam

A couple of weeks ago, if you ran your hand down MooShu's spine you could feel the small smooth bumps of her vertebrea (if you pressed gently). But today it feels sharper and a bit more pronounced. Hopefully, now that her appetite has picked up, she'll be gaining some weight back.

 

[MyBabyBunnies]

I know you should know how to judge it Pam but I'm not actually looking for protruding ribs. I was told to apply a light pressure over the ribs and if I felt the ribs but not too clearly, then they were in good condition and if I had to apply medium or heavy pressure to feel the ribs, the rabbit is overweight.

Mocha must be one of those odd ones because no matter how much he weighs (even when he was obviously overweight) his spine was easily felt without applying pressure. Anyways, I'll stick to what I was told by my vet.

 

[pamnock]

I went out and checked a couple of my fat rabbits. With light pressure, I could detect their ribs as easily as in a thinner rabbit (The ribs don't build up much fat over their surface area so it's not the best indicator in rabbits of whether or not they are over wieght). Fat build-up in rabbits can vary, but we find it most commonly throughout the shoulders and over the back and loin area. During processing, large deposits of fat can be found in the abdomen and around the kidneys.

Quote by Astrid Kurse DVM "Remember that the ribs are palpable in even quite obese rabbits, so don't let your bunny fool you into more snacks!"

http://www.rabbitnetwork.org/articles/obese.shtml



Pam