Diabetes

[bearbop]

before i ask my question here is a little information about walter

Age:1 year 11 months

Temperment: Sweet, lovable, and vicious at the same time

Breed: Mini lop

Weight-6.2 pounds

Color:Black and white broken ( mustache a.k.a butterfly nose and dimples)


So anyway i was wondering if rabbits could get diabetes? I feed walter allot of treats and i am not sure if i should keep doing this in case he gets diabetes...what are the symptoms, cures, what do u have to do to live with this.. he is in a good weight range.

 

[jamesedwardwaller]

bearbop wrote:

before i ask my question here is a little information about walter

Age:1 year 11 months

Temperment: Sweet, lovable, and vicious at the same time

Breed: Mini lop

Weight-6.2 pounds

Color:Black and white broken ( mustache a.k.a butterfly nose and dimples)


So anyway i was wondering if rabbits could get diabetes? I feed walter allot of treats and i am not sure if i should keep doing this in case he gets diabetes...what are the symptoms, cures, what do u have to do to live with this.. he is in a good weight range.

the diet,,sounds deficient in nondigestible fiber(hay)timothy/orchard grass,,-rabbits are rear gut fermenters they require a diet of 70% hay,,/.a small amt.of quality lowfat pellets daily which is generally digestible fiber,,which should makeupthe smaller percentage of the diet,,..if the hay is lacking,the health will sucum,,,which is the bigger problem..sincerely james waller:wave::rose:

 

[tonyshuman]

Diabetes is rare in rabbits but it does occur. Feeding a lot of carbohydrates is more likely to cause problems with the intestines--the bacteria that live there do not do well in the presence of carbs, and bad bacteria that can be present there in low quantities can grow out of control and cause issues. Like James said, hay should be the main component of the diet, followed by veggies and pellets.

 

[bunnybunbunb]

I was hoping this would be brought up. I have been wondering about this in all diffrent types of animals because I know it is on a rise on some species.

 

[tonyshuman]

It used to be said that rabbits can't get diabetes, although we now know it's true. It seems to be more a genetic disease rather than a lifestyle disease in rabbits. You probably know that in humans there are several types of diabetes. The most common one is type II, which is acquired late in life as a result of poor diet combined with genetic factors. Type I is another one that is a result of genetic factors and occurs early in life, usually. I bet a rabbit could get diabetes from a bad diet, but I've never heard of it. I have only heard of a few cases of diabetes in rabbits and they were unrelated to diet.

Still, there are other issues that happen with feeding sugary treats, like overweight, fatty liver disease, gastrointestinal bacterial imbalance, etc. My boyfriend's bunny just went through a bout of gas/stasis last night because he got a hold of 3 cheez-its. I was up very late and it was not fun for any of us. Best to just avoid the carbs.