Putting Weight on a Skinny Bunny

[Boz]

My bunny Dolla has always been on the skinny side. I think she has a really fast metabolism or something. When I first got her she was horribly thin and it took months to get any sort of fat on her. Now, again she seems to have lost some weight over the last couple weeks... I'm actually a little concerned and I'm going to talk to my vet about it. But until then I wanted to ask, is there anything I can add to her diet to help her chunk up a little? Her appetite is awesome and I haven't noticed her acting any different then the usual. Her two buddies, Louie and Domino, are in perfect weight, which is funny because Louie and Domino actually eat less pellets then Dolla (Dolla is somewhat of a piggy during feeding time).

I have to be careful what I give Dolla too. She has a sensitive tummy, so increasing her pellets could cause a tummy upset. I have to be careful with the veggies as well.

I've been adding flax seed and sunflower seeds to her diet right now and she hasn't had any tummy upsets with those. Was thinking of adding oats too.

Anyone have any other advice?

Thanks!!

 

[jcottonl02]

Do you worm her?
Rapid weight loss/gain is quite concerning, therefore I am not sure how recommendable a change in diet is for her, but I am sure someone with more experience can help with that.

Legume hays are higher in calories than other hays, so perhaps adding a little of this to her normal hay would help. She should be getting unlimited fresh hay anyway, but if she isn't, make sure she does from now on.
Adding a little banana and oats to her diet would definately help her gain weight but they should be given sparingly anyway. Some people are against giving oats at all, but mine get a pinch every now and then- imo a little as a treat is absolutely fine.

Upping the amount of veg is going to help too- cabbage, spinach and carrot etc. (go sparingly on the carrot due to the high sugar content) and others like that.

However, if upping pellets will give her a bad tummy then I think giving her more vegetables is a terrible idea; if pellets will give her an upset stomach then fresh greens aren't sensible to add either. Are you sure that upping pellets would give her a bad tummy? They are essentially just crushed hay/grasses anyway.

Remember when adding anything new to her diet, it should be introduced slowly, alone, and over a period of at least a few days, to see how it affects her.


Jen

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

Mixing different hays can always be good. Snuff loves Orchard Grass. He hates Bermuda. Oats are a good little treat that they love that could put weight on, but not in a "healthy" way per se. Feeding a few more pellets maybe. What kind of pellet are you feeding? What are the contents? That could help as well.

 

[bambamsmom]

I've been feeding my bunny quaker oats. He loves them and has definitely gained weight!

 

[jcl_24]

Guy rabbit loves oats . He needs lots of fibre with them though, otherwise his stomach's good bacteria balance is upset.

 

[the fluffies]

My rabbit has a megacolon. And he is skinny. Can i feed him oat too?

Can we feed Quaker Oat to our bunnies?

 

[Maureen Las]

As Jen mentioned I am wondering if she has worms?

 

[MAXX55]

There's a topic "ALL ABOUT RABBIT DIETS" started by Pipp which is an excellent review on a bun's diet. I was confused also on diets but after reading that topic I hadguidence of what to look for.

Worms are mentioned here, How can a vet determine if you bunny has them?

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

MAXX55 wrote:

There's a topic "ALL ABOUT RABBIT DIETS" started by Pipp which is an excellent review on a bun's diet. I was confused also on diets but after reading that topic I hadguidence of what to look for.

Worms are mentioned here, How can a vet determine if you bunny has them?

They take a poo sample, it's pretty easy for them to determine.