Freddy is always starving...

[FreddysMom]

as per pellet instructions, he gets a 1/4 of acup and he eats all the hay he wants all day long ...and he goes thruhay like its water..like one of those big bales of Kaytee hay lastsabout two weeks.....he NEVER seems satisfied...i recently startedgiving him some canned pumpkin mid-day figuring that would be a prettyfilling snack...but hes a food monster you put anything in front of himand its gone in 5 minutes and then he's begging for more.....i justkeep giving him more hay b/c i wont give more pellets cuz i dun wanthim to become over weight....im just starting to feel bad for himlike im doing something wrong...

 

[Snuggys Mom]

Poor Freddy! He's just a growingboy! Have you weighed him lately? Maybe he can havea little more food.

Laura

 

[EEEM]

Judy is like that too. Before we gother she was on unlimited pellets and she was HUGELYoverweight. I guess some rabbits will just eat and eat andeat and always act hungry. Judy gets 1/4 of pellets, ahandful of greens, lots of hay, and maybe one treat a day (like araisin or a piece of apple). She weighs about 4.5 pounds andcould honestly stand to lose a tiny bit more weight, but she's activeand happy now so we're not going to put her on a diet.

I'm sure you're not underfeeding Freddy and he's perfectly healthy...he's just a little pig. It's good that you're not givinginto his demands! Just keep reminding him you're being a goodmommy.

 

[Carolyn]

Hi Freddy'sMom,

It's good for them to have such a healthy appetite. That'swhat you want. Tucker acts that way too, but he will be aporker if I don't control him. Are you all set with theparasites/worms issue? Is he on any meds still and how longago were they given to him? Has he always been like this?

Saw in Tina's thread that you might be moving to VA in the months tocome? Are you considering coming back for a BBQ on the 20thof August?

-Carolyn

 

wait

Doesnt Freddy have orhad worms , how old is he , ?

If he is still getting cleared ofthe worms ? he is going to eatlike he is starving , the worms areor were taking all nutritional value awayfrom him . he basically was eating likea pig and basically starving todeath at the same time . Iwould let him have a bit more unless yousee he is gaining too much weight .

 

[JimD]

Binkie and Rosie do the same thing. Their bowlsand hay boxes are the first one to be emptied. And then they're lookingfor more. I'm sure they would suck their cheeks in, if they could, justto make me feel bad. Lil piggies!!

The other 5 buns seem to ration their food so it lasts all day. Theywill usually still have hay and pellets left in the morning when I goin to do refills.

Maybe try some of those compressed timothy blocks.

 

[FreddysMom]

I havent noticed any worms, but he gets anotherdose of Strongid in a week to be on the safe side and then i have tocheck in with the vet and shes gonna decide whether she wants him on areg. de-worming program.

He's always been a piggy..but you know when something just keepsrepeating itself you tend to think its right or youre wrong .. thatshow im starting to feel (i dunno if i explained that right)

lucky me we dont have any parties booked for the third week of Aug. sohes closing down the restaurant (i love working for private companies!)so ill be visiting my dad in Myrtle Beach that week...sun and fun herei come!! ...but i would love to be there and if something happens whereim unable to go my dads ill be there in a heartbeat

Va wont be until at least January, when i graduate and even then itsnot a def. thing...its still in the wierdstage right now..

 

[Kricket]

Hey FreddysMom! Did Freddy have tapeworms? Or pinworms? How do you think he got them?

 

[FreddysMom]

I believe he had pinworms....it def. wasnt atapeworm..and didnt look big enough and white enoughto be aroundworm........i honestly have no idea how he got most often you canworms for a very long time and only when the worms find your gut tolonger be a prime or when theres too many you see them in thestool..........he had them about two months before so im assuming itwas never fully erradicated....like i said i think its pinworms, butthe medicine he was given Strongid kills both pinworms androundworms................lol heres a gross fact for you .. 1 in 3 pplhave some kind of worm and worms are the most often cause of diareaha...yuk!

 

[bluebird]

1/4 cup might not be enough if hes still growing or especially active.bluebird

 

[Kricket]

FreddysMom wrote:

I believe he had pinworms....it def. wasnt a tapeworm..anddidnt look big enough and white enoughto be aroundworm........i honestly have no idea how he got most often you canworms for a very long time and only when the worms find your gut tolonger be a prime or when theres too many you see them in thestool..........he had them about two months before so im assuming itwas never fully erradicated....like i said i think its pinworms, butthe medicine he was given Strongid kills both pinworms androundworms................lol heres a gross fact for you .. 1 in 3 pplhave some kind of worm and worms are the most often cause of diareaha...yuk!

I am not sure what kind of worm Star had, but my vet said that quiteoften, rabbits can bite at a flea and ingest it, causingworms. THAT is so gross! Poor babies!Glad Freddy is better! Is Freddy a youngster?

 

[FreddysMom]

bluebird wrote:

1/4 cup might not be enough if hes still growing orespecially active.bluebird

he's right at the beginning of the weight range for 1/4th of a cup....hes about 6months now so hes not supposed to be on free feedanymore :?...he gets a good amount of exercise hes out for atleast 4 hours a day..so many hes just burning it off too fast?



Kricket,

ew!! that sounds so gross !! ill def. have to ask my vet when i giveher a call! ..Freddys in his "teenager" mode .. just at that 6 monthmark!

 

[Carolyn]

Did you talk to the vet, FM?

-Carolyn

 

[FreddysMom]

Fatboy's been worm free...poopies have beenlookin nice .. lots of fur in them lately, so the vet doesnt want toput him medicine regularly .. i forgot to ask about the flea thing:?IMO tho ...i guess if they weere chewin on the flea and theflea itself had a parasite it could be possible...but wouldnt it justget disgested down once it hit the stomach?

 

[brookebunny]

Hello FM,
I am a vet twch living in Maryland, and even in te picture your littlebaby looks a bit skinny. Oh and by the way, fleasdo cause tapeworms when ingested. Also, many w\methods of readingfecals are no very accurate when it comes to detecting tapeworms. Thisis usually because tape worms are not passed regularly through feceslike other more common worms. i would fing a rabbit specialist if iwere you! you need to take your baby to a vet who only sees exoticpets. I have worked in a vet office who casually sees rabbits but whosevet know little to nothing about rabbyt health. of course a vet wouldnever admit that to you. Be very careful who you take your bunny to.and also remember that as far as rabbit care goes, youabsolutely get what you pay for!

 

[JimD]

brookebunny wrote:

Hello FM,
...even in te picture your little baby looks a bit skinny.

I just saw Freddy recently and he isn't exactly what I would consider"skinny". The avatar was a pic taken a while ago (as far as I can tell)from the "present" Freddy. His ears absorb most of his nutrition(jk...inside joke here folks ).... ***keeps lowand runs fast***:run:

On a more serious note.....we have two buns that are exactly the sameas Freddy. They will eat EVERYTHING you put in front of them, but theymaintain their "girlish figures" (btw... they're both gurls!!). On theother hand I have larger buns that eat half as much and still have theappearance of "chunkie bunnies". I think that it's more of a differencein their metabolisms.

Freddy's vet is pretty savy from what FreddysMom conveys to us. Ibelieve that Freddy was diagnosed with pin worms. As is commonly known,pin worms are very difficult to eradicate completely and may continueto be recurrent in rabbits, in lieu of treatments.


~Jim

 

[lyndsy]

I'm having the same problem with Emma. When I goin her room with food I get mauled, and when I dump it in her bowl shegoes CRAZY! and acts as though shes never eaten before!

I feed her 3/4 - 1 cup a day. She is a full grown, lazy, femalecaliforninan! She also gets about 1 1/2 cups of fresh veggies a day,unlimited hay, and water. Is it enough? I always feel guilty....

 

[FreddysMom]

JimD wrote:

brookebunny wrote:

Hello FM,
...even in te picture your little baby looks a bit skinny.

I just saw Freddy recently and he isn't exactly what I would consider"skinny". The avatar was a pic taken a while ago (as far as I can tell)from the "present" Freddy. His ears absorb most of his nutrition(jk...inside joke here folks ).... ***keeps lowand runs fast***:run:

On a more serious note.....we have two buns that are exactly the sameas Freddy. They will eat EVERYTHING you put in front of them, but theymaintain their "girlish figures" (btw... they're both gurls!!). On theother hand I have larger buns that eat half as much and still have theappearance of "chunkie bunnies". I think that it's more of a differencein their metabolisms.

Freddy's vet is pretty savy from what FreddysMom conveys to us. Ibelieve that Freddy was diagnosed with pin worms. As is commonly known,pin worms are very difficult to eradicate completely and may continueto be recurrent in rabbits, in lieu of treatments.


~Jim

Thanks Jim!! oh and... you quit pickin on my Freddy for his ears!! they are his most defining feature

on the worms, as Jim stated, Freddy had pinworms...nothing majorbutgross none the less...and he's been wormy free since hislast treatment

My vet, Dr. Welch, is an exotics vet (one of the few in thearea...getting an appt. with her takes forever shes in such highdemand...but there in 5 seconds if there is anemergency)andextremely skilled at what shedoes......i know this from personal experience (shes takencare of other pets of mine) and my best friend was her techforafew years...

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Lyndsy...i think i am just going to chalk it up thats hes a growing boyand is just hungry....hes been going thru a major growth spurt so imsure that has to have something to do with it....i just keep giving himall the hay he can eat..and it seems to be okay that way

 

[Snuggys Mom]

My two girls are suddenly acting like they'restarving. I haven't changed anything. They've beenfed the same way for about eight months - each of them get 1/4 cuppellets, unlimited hay and large salads every day. Now when Igo to put the pellets in, they make me spill half of it because theyspaz out - same with their hay and salads. Is it theweather?

Laura

 

[HoneyPot]

You know what Laura - I have been going throughthe same thing with Cookie these past couple weeks. I wouldbe interested to know if anyone else is experiencing the same thing.