bunny getting skiny

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Gumbo1993

Gumbo1993

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Jul 23, 2007
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Location
, Louisiana, USA
Hi.........

yeah so i go outside to feed my bunnies and i see that gumbo is getting skiny! i feed him 2 times a day i let him out of his cage at lease 1 hour. my dad says that he maybe have high matabulisium (SP) so do you think that is true? can rabbits have high matabulisium (SP)?
 
Hmmm... Rabbits' metabolisms are faster than humans, but I don't think there's a large difference between different rabbits' metabolic rates, like there is for people. If you are feeding him the same amount as before, and he is losing weight, you either need to increase what you feed him, or get him checked by a vet to make sure he's not ill. What do you feed him each day, and how much? How skinny is he? Has he lost weight on his "trunk", or just his legs (from not getting enough exercise--1hr of run time might not be enough)? Is he housed with another rabbit (bonded pair, etc)? Another thing that you might consider is that being in the heat puts his body under more stress and he might be burning more calories that way. I would first make sure you're feeding him enough good food, and then see if he's sick.
 
If he is losing weight and housed with another rabbit the other rabbit could be eating all of it.

If he is alone this is not normal

Has he been checked for parasites?

What do his poops look like?

Is he lethargic(lack of energy)

has he been checked by a vet recently?
Anything else about him that does not look normal?
let us know
 
do you know the little food things you can buy at wal-mart or something? well i give him two of them each day....

i just noticed that he is molting also ...... do you think that that could have an effect on him?

BTW.........

can i put some non-toxic lotion on the molting spot so it wont dry out? i do not want his skin ashing out on me. that will be real bad!

his poop is normal

everything is normal but his weight it is odd... i think that seince the summer is here that he is sweating too much to make him loose sweet. he loves to exersize jumping up and down his little bunny stories.... my mom sayes that it is normal ........ maybe she knows more that me!
 
It sounds to me like maybe you should change his diet .

I don't know what you mean by the 2 food things from Walmart but if it is treat food that is not good for him .

Rabbits need to have a good pellets thatare plain pellets (either a timothy based pellet or a good alfalfa pellet) ; I mean that all the little colored pieces and nuts in some of the food is very bad for a rabbit.
Rabbits need to have good fresh timothy hay to wear down their teeth and make their digestive system work well.

Rabbits can also have some fresh green veggies and must always have fresh water.


I am going to post some links here about rabbit diet and if your mom is buying the food and helping you care for your rabbit then maybe you can ask her to read this over

OK?

Please keep us up-dated on how he is doing
 
thank you to every one!!!

i figgured out that sience it is so hot and humid out here in louisiana and he has fur that he is sweating more so i am putting more water, food, and the occ. grass that he loves! now he is molting and i am wondering if it is ok if i can put some lotion on him.
 
http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=27899&forum_id=10t
here are some tips on cooling your bun and also detecting if he is stressed out /and/or in danger from the heat.
One tip is to put plain water in 1 liter soda bottles , freezeit and place it in your bun's area so that he has the opportunity to lie next to it if he wishes to.
In your area of the country a bun is in danger of getting heat stroke if you don't take precautions to assist him in cooling him

Hope this helps him and let us know... :)

also would it possible for you to weigh him so that you can detect if he is losing or gaining wt.?
 
Also, what exactly are you feeding him? I'm not quite sure what you mean by the stuff you get at Walmart. IMO Walmart doesn't sell any rabbit food that I would ever feed. If cost is an issue, pellets from feed stores are much more economical and usually much better quality.

It is possible for a rabbit to loose weight while eating a lot if the food is poor quality, so knowing what he is eating now and how much would really help us figure out what's going on with your bun.

It's also possible he has worms, which "steal" nutrients from his tummy. You can have a vet check for that, and also for any other health problems that might be causing him to loose weight.

Also, why do you want to use lotion? If the fur is gone all the way down to the skin then it's probably not from normal shedding/molting (unless he's a rex). Rabbits can get skin infections and ringworm so it would be a really good idea to have a vet look at that. Keep in mind that ringworm can get on humans and other animals too, if that's what it actually is.
 
:yeahthat:

If you're having trouble finding him good food most pet stores carry Kaytee Timothy Complete, which is an acceptable pellet. Not the best one out there, but pretty readily available and not terrible. I think a good diet for a 5lb adult bunny is 1/4c of a timothy pellet each day, plus 2c fresh veggies, unlimited hay, and the occasional 1 Tbsp treat (fresh or dried fruit). I also wouldn't feed my bunnies the stuff they carry at Wal-Mart. Dry skin could be ringworm like Naturestee said, or also fur mites.
 
I offer my rabbits electrolites aand plain water when it is hot. It seems to help their apetites
 
Lias_ark wrote:
I offer my rabbits electrolites aand plain water when it is hot. It seems to help their apetites
Click to expand...

Good advice!



sas :bunnydance:
 
electrolytes are ions in bodily fluids that are necessary for bodies to function. For ex. when a rabbit is dehydrated it loses sodium, potassium and other ions neccessary for bodily function. If the rabbit is given pedialyte orally this particular fluid replaces the lost electrolytes.

if the rabbit is given sq fluids the fluids also replace the electrolytes lost but needed by the rabbit's body.
it is easy to understand if you think of when you had the flu and were nauseatd and vomiting. If you drank fluids like gatorade (which also contains electrolytes) you would feel better because of it.
 
I am going to check around and see if there are packets of electrolytes that you could add to drinking water. You wouldn'twant to give pedialyte because of the sugar.

I'll get back to you...
 
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