Fat Bunny Butt- Bunny weight

[Alek]

I looked at my rabbit today and realized "YOUR ONE BIG S.O.B!" and I can't help but think my rabbit is fat. How do you tell if a rabbit is fat? Tiberius has a nice little rounded belly and he just appears to be so much bigger than I remember and his best friend, my little cat Gigi looks tiny compared to him. He also is sleeping stretched out with his legs kicked out and he looks enormous. I had to get him a bigger litter pan recently because he's to big for his old one. Tiberius is about a year old now so I don't know if he had a growth spurt of if he really has gotten fat.
Tiberius is a French angora and eats about 1 cup of food and a couple treats (whatever I'm eating: cookie, chips, steamed veggies, etc). How do I tell if he needs to lose some weight?

 

[I_heart_Fraggles]

We are going threw the same thing with Fraggles :sigh: Fraggles has developed a roll around her middle and she is starting to get (dare I say it) love handles! So today we started her on a diet. We replaced all treats with sliced celery. Its crunchy and she loves it but its mostly water. She gets hay and veg and I will most likely cut her pellets to just a couple of tablespoons. You can tell if your bun is overweight if they feel really fatty when petting them or if like Fraggles they have "rolls". It sounds like that round belly on your boy could stand to lose a few ounces.

 

[Alek]

It's hard not to give him treats. I eat in my room and he sits my my bed with me and often times I end up giving him a piece or two of my dinner just so I can hear him make munchie sounds and also because he's just such a luv. I'll admit he's eaten quite a few things that aren't bunny approved, including the occasional dairy (can feel fellow bunny people glaring in disapproval). His belly is probably from all the popcorn he's eaten LOL

 

[I_heart_Fraggles]

We are guilty of giving Fraggles little treats that are not bunny approved. But worse then that we are guilty of giving her roughly 20 banana chips a day. Now all the glaring is being shifted to me lol. I also love the crunchy noise Here is an idea for you. When you have your dinner why don't you also keep a few pieces of sliced celery or another veggie that he does not get often but loves. Maybe a bit of parsley? Have this on your plate but its just for bunnies. That would still allow you that special time with him but allow him to maybe lose the tummy. Fraggles hops in her cage on command and then wants a treat. Now she get a veggie slice instead of a banana chip.

 

[Serenity73]

My Cinder is a BBB(big beautiful bun) in fact I had to cut her diet down quite a bit because the vet said she was 4 pounds overweight. She still looks huge to me though. Whatever you do don't give your bunny yogurt treats or fruit more than 3x a week. Packs on the pounds big time!

 

[LakeCondo]

I agree with all the comments above. It's time for some tough love, what's best in the long run, not what feels good to you in the moment.

 

[MiniLopHop]

I have recently had to cut the carrots out of dinner time. After a year of really good feeding, Becky is finally at a good weight. However, I don't want her to keep gaining so the carrots now turn into holiday treats. I thought she would be upset, but she doesn't seem to care as long as she still gets a salad. I think I'm sadder about it than she is.

I like the celery idea and will use that. Perhaps that will help Cindi loose her last 1/2 pound.

 

[OneTwoThree]

Take her to the vet to find out what she weighs, they will let you know if she's overweight

 

[BlueCamasRabbitry]

A standard French Angora should weigh between 7 1/2 to 10 1/2 pounds, with the ideal being at 8 1/2...

So if she is over that, then yes, she is probably overweight. The chips, cookies, etc. that you are feeding her aren't helping weight, not to mention they aren't healthy for her at all. Cut back on her food, give her more exercise, and she should slim down.

Emily

 

[Alek]

Tiberius gets 1/2c morning and night so he's not hungry. I checked his weight and he's a little over but not much thankfully. I started cutting treats out but the little brat has not been happy. Tiberius enjoys laying on my bed while I work at my desk, watching tv and snacking whist he lounges- he has become quite a hedonist. I caught him pushing my dog out of the way and eating his food earlier and had to put him in his kennel- where he threw a tantrum. I think he's probably getting upset like those kids at the supermarket that throw a fit when they can't get candy.

 

[LakeCondo]

He obviously thinks he's top dog/rabbit in the house.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

We all want our bunnies to be happy while they are with us. We give ours a treat in the morning and again at night. They get hay full time and a small amount of pellets at night. They also get veggies in the am and pm. The amounts they get varies as our small bunny is 3 pounds and our Checkered Giant is 18 pounds. We do keep celery on hand and use it for "in-between" times as a treat/bribe. Some would eat everything in site while others only get pellets every three days as they don't wipe out their food. Just have to adjust it to your bunny and your vet can tell you if you are exceeding "the needs of the few".

 

[tamsin]

Lol, they are almost impossible to not treat - it's the cute noses!

The main thing to remember is rabbits like to eat a lot - that's normal, but if they eat a lot on concentrated foods (pellets) instead of natural foods (hay & greens) they end up fat. So you can feed your rabbit the same amount or more but it has to be the right types of foods.

The good thing is most rabbits think that broccoli etc. counts as a treat. Personally, I'd rather have chocolate cake, but that's bunnies for you.

I'd suggest you deliberately save a portion of your rabbits meal time foods for treating. Also, if you are having vegetables save him the uncooked portions (carrots tops, cauliflower leaves, broccoli stalk, herbs). If you have something to hand that is good for him, you can still treat but will automatically have the health stuff.

Another thing to remember is treats are much less of a problem is they are getting plenty of exercise to burn off the calories. So encouraging exercise is a good way to prevent obesity and treat it