We have a skinny boy

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Otis and Bonham

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Joined
Oct 13, 2012
Messages
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Location
Young Township, Pennsylvania, USA
Hubs and I have taken in two hutch bunny boys (in addition to our spoiled rotten bonded pair) who needed a warm place to stay and people to love and care for them. They are out of the hutch they were living in and into our warm house.
The older of the two (around 9-10 months) is a healthy weight but is very skittish with people and seems otherwise healthy.
The younger (around 6 months) is underweight. We are feeding alfalfa hay and making sure he's got lots of it but other than that what should we be doing to get his weight up?

We will be getting them checked by our vet as soon as we can get them an appointment. Both need neutered and are getting nail trims tonight. I am just concerned for the younger (not even a year yet) boy as he is small for his age and breed (Holland lop we think). You can feel how skinny he is. We haven't had them long enough yet for me to know if he is pooping properly, literally they have been here for 3 hours. We aren't sure if the people who had these boys were feeding regularly but we do know for sure that when we got them, there was NO food offered to them and their water bottles were nearly empty. :(
It literally brought me to tears to see the little man hopping around in our spare room, free for the first time. We just need to get some weight on this little man.

Any suggestions are welcome as we work on getting these boys healthy and happy. Thanks!
 
The skinniness can be because he was underfed, but parasites can also cause that problem. You may just want to ask your vet about it when you take them in.

Alfalfa is probably the best way to help him put weight on. Still only being 6 mo. he should do fine with it. Keep an eye on their poops too. It will be a good indicator of how they're doing with their food and also the stress of being in a new place. Were you able to get some of their old food to take with you? It will help them not to develop digestive problems if you are able to keep them on their old food until you are able to transition them onto whatever food you normallly feed your buns. With the skinny one, it would be best for him to be on an alfalfa pellet along with the hay, until he gets up to weight. Whatever you decide to feed, transition the buns onto it slowly to give their digestion time to adjust to the changes. I hope they both start to feel healthier and happier in their new home. So glad you were able to take them in.
 
You only mentioned hay. I assume he's also getting alfalfa pellets. I'd maybe keep going with alfalfa pellets until he becomes full-size, even if that's later than 6 months.

I;\'m so glad you saved these neglected buns.
 
Yes we are giving pellets in addition to the alfalfa hay. He pooped a little but the poops are teeny. He ate a few bites of food but if his poops and food intake isn't better by tomorrow he is going to our vet ASAP.
Never thought of parasites but it is good to think of.
We have the rescue buns isolated from our other buns just in case.
Thanks everyone for your input!
 
Are the pellets the same as he got at his previous home? If not that may be why he is having the tiny poops. His digestion is having a hard time adjusting to the new food. You may just want to give hay only for a few days, and when his poops look normal again, slowly reintroduce the pellets, just a little bit each day, so his digestion can gradually get used to the new food. Stress at being in a new place can also cause digestive upset. Probiotics might help his digestive upset from getting worse.
 
We took the food that was left at his old home when we got him and are keeping him on it for a while. I am thinking he is stressed as he has never been an inside bunny and I am sure that being in a whole new atmosphere is scary.
I am continuing to monitor him and hope he gets better. The other boy by the way is doing fine. He even did well during his nail trim. I checked both over and found no bugs or fleas or injuries so this is a good sign.
 
We took the food that was left at his old home when we got him and are keeping him on it for a while. I am thinking he is stressed as he has never been an inside bunny and I am sure that being in a whole new atmosphere is scary.
I am continuing to monitor him and hope he gets better. The other boy by the way is doing fine. He even did well during his nail trim. I checked both over and found no bugs or fleas or injuries so this is a good sign.
 
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