Weight loss tips? (For rabbit)

[ottertheflop]

My rabbit is slightly overweight, so if you have any suggestions on how to help her lose weight, I would appreciate it.

 

[JBun]

What is your rabbits age and diet?

 

[ottertheflop]

@JBun, she's 2 and a half, and each day she gets a handful of pellets and hay. She also gets a couple treats and a cup of greens every day.

 

[Diane R]

@JBun, she's 2 and a half, and each day she gets a handful of pellets and hay. She also gets a couple treats and a cup of greens every day.

Reduce pellets to no more than 1 tbsp a day. Try giving a variety of grass hay. What treats do you give? You could use pellets as treats. What greens? Is she free roam?

 

[ottertheflop]

@Diane R, I give her various fruits as treats (grape, blueberry, strawberry, apple). For greens, I give her lettuce and spinach, and she's not free roam but she runs around the house for 5-9 hours each day.

 

[Diane R]

@Diane R, I give her various fruits as treats (grape, blueberry, strawberry, apple). For greens, I give her lettuce and spinach, and she's not free roam but she runs around the house for 5-9 hours each day.

I know it's hard, we all love to spoil them, but definitely stop the fruit. Spinach every day is not ideal. Try some fresh herbs (they can have pretty much all of them apart from chives) instead. Ideally they should have access to at least 60 square ft. 24/7.

 

[ottertheflop]

@Diane R ok, thanks for the advice, I'll stop giving her as much fruit and will cut back on the spinach, try to update her housing situation.

 

[JBun]

What type/brand of pellets and hay are you feeding? Does she eat her hay well? About what would you say her ideal weight is?

 

[ottertheflop]

@JBun she gets Kaytee Supreme pellets and Kaytee Timothy hay. She does eat her hay well, and her ideal weight would be 5 or 6 lbs, right now she is 8 lbs.

 

[JBun]

Yeah, reduce pellet and treat amounts like Diane R suggested. Lots of grass hay(eg. timothy, orchard, meadow, etc), leafy greens, non starchy veggies, and minimal pellets is the best way for a rabbit to have a balanced diet and lose weight.

I would also recommend switching to a different pellet, that's grass based and not alfalfa based. It'll be lower protein, and also lower calcium, which is better for adult pet rabbits, and will be better for weight loss. Kaytee has a timothy based pellet, or oxbow, science select, and sherwood have grass hay based pellets and are a bit better brands. Just make sure to slowly transition to the new pellets, over 2 weeks minimum is usually what's recommended.

https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/feeding.html

 

[ottertheflop]

@JBun thank you very much for the advice, I will definitely take all of that into consideration!

 

[W1ghtn1ght]

What breed is your rabbit? If she is a mixed breed, she could be taking after whatever the larger of the two were. If her ideal weight is 5 pounds, I would start by cutting out the treats. Fruits are loaded with sugars and would have a big impact on weight. If it is necessary for her to lose weight, you can pull everything except her hay for a week or so and see how she does. Add her pellets back for a day or two, because she will need the vitamins and minerals from them. She will eat hay in at least an amount as big as she is, in order to be " enough". Once she is atnideal weight you can offer her a small amount of treats every other day or so. Hopefully some of this helps.