Weight issue with Brody....

[undergunfire]

I was spending time with Brody this morning really looking over him the best that I could (he HATES being fussed with), but today he was feeling extra lovable and let me basically pet him like a dog..but he acted like a cat rubbing all over my hands, haha!

Anyway...I noticed he is really skinny. He doesn't look it, but I could feel every rib and he doesn't have chunk to him.

He gets unlimited timothy/orchard hay that we got from my bunny vet that got it back in the midwest. He also gets 1/4 cup of Oxbow BBT every night. No veggies because they are such a hassle to prepare and sometimes he goes through "I don't want to eat my veggies!" phases. I also will buy veggies and they seem to go bad quicker then we can use them.

We had an issue with cecal poops, but I only noticed while typing this post that he hasn't bad any cecals in a while. He used to smash them all over his cage and not eat them....making a huge mess and causing mats all over his fur.

onder:


What do I do to put weight on him? Do I feed him 1/4 cup in the morning AND at night?

 

[Serious]

My bun tends to be skinny, too, although I've heard it's not a bad thing to be able to feel their ribs as long as you don't see them (though that doesn't seem like a very fail-safe method with thicker coated rabbits). In most pets, you SHOULD be able to feel their ribs if you touch their sides without much pushing or digging. But just in case it's really prominent...

I just doubled the amount of pellets my rabbit gets. I used to do one handfull, so now I do two. I don't know how much that measures out to- maybe about 1/4 cup. I'm not a very exact person.

 

[undergunfire]

Brody has thick fur (not sure if all Holland Lops do??)....so I can't see his bones through his fur. I can very well feel his ribs and hip point bones, though, which doesn't seem normal to me.

 

[elrohwen]

If you're not feeding veggies, 1/4 cup may not be enough. I would give him a little bit more in the evening (maybe not a full 1/4 cup) and see if that helps. Holland lops should be pretty stocky and not skinny.

 

[undergunfire]

elrohwen wrote:

If you're not feeding veggies, 1/4 cup may not be enough. I would give him a little bit more in the evening (maybe not a full 1/4 cup) and see if that helps. Holland lops should be pretty stocky and not skinny.

Thank you! I will start him on that and see how he does.

Brody is really active when hes inside of his cage, too....he is always moving around. Maybe he just gets a lot of exercise in there as well as when he comes out.

 

[BethM]

Nick is a Holland Lop, and he's also on the skinny side. His fur is really long, so he looks like a blob, but I can feel his bones when I pet him, more prominently than when I pet the other bunnies.

Nick gets 1/4cup pellets in the evening, and shares a large (3-4 cup) salad with Amelia in the morning. He also gets unlimited timothy hay. I can't really increase his food because he shares everything with Amelia, and she is on the chunky side. Amazingly, I see him eating more often than I see her eating.

Nick is super active most of the time, though. He moves around a lot in his cage, and when he is allowed out, he'll do Bunny 500's through the house. Amelia likes to laze around, and seeing her run is a rare treat.

 

[undergunfire]

Okay, a little update...

I tried feeding salads nightly to every 2 nights...and Brody soon got bored with them (even after I mixed them up).

I have been feeding 1/8th cup of pellets in the AM and 1/4 at night....now Brody is just producing so many nasty cecal poops and not eating them...it is a mess.


So...he is still super skinny. I don't know what to do. Is it the Oxbow BBT? How do I "beef him up"?

 

[Flashy]

I feed unlimited hay and only a small amount of pellets, no veggies, to mine and they do fine.

I think you need to get him checked at the vets. He may have parasites/some sort of stomach issue, or he may have dental problems and his mouth is too sore to eat his cecals and the hay that he normally would.

 

[undergunfire]

Flashy wrote:

I think you need to get him checked at the vets. He may have parasites/some sort of stomach issue, or he may have dental problems and his mouth is too sore to eat his cecals and the hay that he normally would.

I don't think he has any mouth issues...he scarfs his food just fine. His pellets are gone in literally 5 minutes (if that) after I pour them. He also eats his hay quicker then I can keep his rack full (which is probably 3 piles the size of him).

If he had parasites, wouldn't be other bunnies have it and be doing the same thing? They are come in contact with each other.

I have always had this issue with Brody . He is healthy as a horse otherwise...no issues that I can see. We have only barely gone through stasis once before he was even a year old.

What about feeding alfalfa pellets? Or will this cause issues? If not, are their supplements you can give rabbits to keep on weight?

 

[Flashy]

If he is underweight for unexplained reasons (because your previous diet for him sounds absolutely fine) then it is worth having him checked out.

With parasites I have had one with pinworms and no signs in others, and Summer had a tapeworm and no one else did, so it is possible.

I wonder if cutting him down to the pellet amount that is the most his gut can tolerate would be a good start, to stop the excess cecals. Also, what about things like alfalfa hay? Sunflower seeds can be good for putting on weight (but only one or two a day), as can oats (regular oats, not fast or quick oats), Nutrical can also help too (that helped Summer maintain weight when she was losing it ridiculously fast).

 

[bunnybunbunb]

Have you tried feeding him his set amount of pellets in more than one feeding a day? I have a doe that when fed at one time a day stays boney but if I cut her feeding in half and do it twice she firms up. Also might want to try some rolled oats?

 

[undergunfire]

I have started giving him oats in the AM and his usual 1/4 cups of pellets at night...I started this a few days ago. He still always acts like he is starving!

I think I am going to try Sweat Meadows 1/2 Timothy 1/2 Alfalfa blend rabbit pellets when I get the chance to order them...just to see if the alfalfa will help Bro.