When Your Rabbit Needs Special Care

[Amy27]

I just received my book today. I am not sure what took so long. I am into Chapter 2 now. So far I have found everything really easy to understand and very well written. I have enjoyed what I have read so far.

My favorite part so far is Avoding Caregiver Burnout page 42-45. That was such an uplifting section. I think it is something everyone should read whether they are dealing with a bunny who requires a month of special care or a life time of special care.

One thing I learned was on page 50 at the bottom in the note it stated, "Any pellet or food ground finely enough to go through the tip of a syringe has most likely lost its ability to stimulate gut action in the same manner as long indigestible fiber." I didn't realize long indigestible fiber didn't stimulate the gut. What is considered long indigestible fiber? Does that mean that syringing fluids when a rabbit's gut is not working properly won't help the gut get moving again?

I want to put the reference of where I got this info but I don't plan to include it in every post in this thread. So just kind of blanket statement if I am listing page numbers and quoting this is where I got it from.

Moore, Lucille C. and Smith, Kathy (2008)When Your Rabbit Needs Special Care. Traditional and Alternative Healing Methods.

 

[12354somebunny]

Hmm.. I think the sentence means that pellets or finely ground food do not stimulate gut action very much, whereas long indigestible fiber does stimulate the gut. And I think 'long indigestible fiber' includes hay strands (primarily) and vegetables.

Just my 2 cents

 

[Amy27]

Thanks somebunny I think you are right. I read that wrong that long indigestible fibers don't stimulate the gut. Rereading it after you said it I do think it means it does stimulate the gut where as something through a syringe would not. And thanks for explaining what long indigestible fibers include.

ETA: Now the word indigestible has got me thinking. If it includes hay and greens how can they be indigestible. Don't they need to be digested to pass through the rabbits system. I also thought indigestible meant something that would just sit in your stomach because it could not be digested.

 

[pamnock]

Another great work by Kathy! She's a forum member, and I'm sure she'd be more than happy to answer any questions you might have.

Pam

 

[Maureen Las]

Long indestructible fiber would be hay and grasses and maybe some greens and plants. I think that when a rabbit is not able to eat hay ( and indestructable fiber)that we feed them soft food and syringe fluids and although it may not grind down their teeth or have a large amount of fiber it still works to hydrate and nourish the rabbit until the rabbit can start eating fiber again.

We can feed some fiber in food like pumpkin
Critical care has probiotics in it and some fiber ; I have a rabbit that actually cannot eat hay or greens but lives off critical care and BBT. Miraculous as it seems he never has issues with his poops being abnormal.

Ideally a rabbit should eat long stranded hay and grasses but in times of illness food through the syringe is the best that anyone can do.

I have Kathy's book.... but not in my hand at the moment so I hope I answered what I thought to be your concerns.

 

[Amy27]

pamnock wrote:

Another great work by Kathy! She's a forum member, and I'm sure she'd be more than happy to answer any questions you might have.

Pam

pamnock, we talked about this book in another thread and a few members were ordering the book or had the book and decided it would be fun to discuss it. Kathy had said she would watch the thread and was interested to hear what we had to say about it. I sent her a PM to let her know I had started the thread.

angieluv, that answered my questions, thanks. I didn't realize a rabbit could live without hay and greens. If you don't mind me asking how old is your rabbit that only gets critical care and BBT and how long has he/she been receiving that type of a diet?

 

[Maureen Las]

Amy27 wrote:

pamnock wrote:

Another great work by Kathy! She's a forum member, and I'm sure she'd be more than happy to answer any questions you might have.

Pam

pamnock, we talked about this book in another thread and a few members were ordering the book or had the book and decided it would be fun to discuss it. Kathy had said she would watch the thread and was interested to hear what we had to say about it. I sent her a PM to let her know I had started the thread.

angieluv, that answered my questions, thanks. I didn't realize a rabbit could live without hay and greens. If you don't mind me asking how old is your rabbit that only gets critical care and BBT and how long has he/she been receiving that type of a diet?

I also think that it is abnormal for a rabbit to eat a diet like this and be OK (his teeth are very bad) but his bloodwork is normal and he has no other issues other than teeth.
He is 5.5 yrs old and has been eating like this since he was 2.5 yrs

I don't recommend it for anyone elses rabbit. he will not eat ground up greens or cut up hay but will attempt to eat greens by running around with one piece of parsley in his mouth.

His teeth are so bad that he is physically unable to chew.

 

[krsbunny]

I'm watching the thread now and would be happy to answer any questions that aren't already answered by the time I see them. At this point, I think everything has been well answered by someone already.

You guys will be appalled when you read this, but Smokey -- the bunny who inspired me to write Rabbit Health in the 21st Century -- had really bad teeth and could not eat hay or veggies either. He lived on pellets, canned pumpkin, Pepperidge Farm 7 grain bread (crusts removed), and yogurt (which westarted when he was on oral cephalexin) as a treat. Oh, and a HUGE amount of banana for a bunny.Occasionally I ground carrots and broccoli for him in a food processor. He never once had a GI problem of any sort until he developed cancer -- and then it was only because the cancer was in his mouth. When I needed to syringe feed him I used the Hazel's Pumpkin Pie recipe on Carrot Cafe -- pellets, pumpkin, and banana baby food. He loved it and did great with it.

Kathy Smith

 

[Maureen Las]

:roflmao:Hey Kathy....

if that wasn't Smokey andYOU weren't telling us this we would be yelling at you for that diet.............:biggrin2:

 

[naturestee]

On indigestible fiber- some types of fiber are digestible (able to be broken down and absorbed through the intestines) and others aren't. That doesn't mean that no nutrients are gained from the food, but that the fiber part of the food isn't digested and instead becomes the bulk of the fecals. That is exactly what rabbits (and many humans)need. Rabbit example: hay. Human examples: fiber pills, Mini Wheats, whole grain wheatbread, etc. Digestible/soluble fiber can be broken down to some extent. Example: oats. Which is why they're so very good for lowering your cholesterol levels. *looks pointedlyat husband*

Finely ground foods like Critical Care will still be full of indigestible fiber, but it will be broken down into much smaller pieces. Has anyone done any research though? Kathy? Cause if I break open healthy bunny poops I can see only tiny little bits of hay, so it's not like huge pieces go down the intestines. I'm sure part of it is about sorting food into the cecum for bacterial digestion, but I do know that baby bunnies on milk still have functioning cecums. And my baby bunny lived off of Critical Care for a long time because she was too tiny to chew much else and her cecum worked (... when it wasn't infected but that's another story). I would be really interested to see if anyone had done any scientific research on ground indigestible fiber vs. long-strand indigestible fiber in rabbits.

 

[Amy27]

I am still reading the book and really enjoying it. I have learned a lot. Everything has been really easy to understand so I reall haven't had any questions.

I wanted to post this in this thread mainly because I wasn't sure where else to put it and didn't want to start another thread. I really loved the section Kathy wrote about Avoiding Caregiver Burnout. I read it at a perfect time, going through everything with Chase and it really helped me feel more positive. When I read it I also thought of myheart and thought she may find it useful. What I would like to do is type it up and post it somewhere so that myheart could read it and others who may have a bunny that requires a lot of care. Would this be ok? I am obviously going to cite it and state where I got it from and who wrote it. If someone wants to look over it before I post it to make sure I have cited it correctly I would be happy to email it to you.

If it is not okay please let me know and I won't type it up. It was just one of the best things I read and I want others to be able to benefit from it.

Thanks Amy

 

[krsbunny]

I certainly have no problem with it, but need to run it by Lucile to be sure. Please "nag" me privately if I don't respond in a few days. I got my copies of Touched by a Rabbit today and am busy with "marketing" under the direction of HRH King Murray. Will have more time after Easter (I hope).

Kathy

 

[Amy27]

Thanks Kathy, I really appreciate you being open to it and asking Lucile if it is okay. If either of you is uncomfortable with it I understand.

I will send you a PM in a few days if I don't hear anything back. I understand you are busy. While you are talking about the new book would you recommend it to the regular rabbit owner? Or is it geared more towards rabbit professionals? I was really impressed with how easy "When Your Rabbit Needs Special Care" was for me to understand.

If it is ok to post it, I would love someone else to look over it before I post it. I want to make sure what I post is 100% what Kathy wrote in the article and cited correctly.

 

[krsbunny]

Actually, Touched by a Rabbit is not a "how to" book at all. It is a book of entertaining (and true) rabbit stories. Something we hope will appeal to non-rabbit people!

Kathy