How much canned pumpkin to feed?

[napagirl]

Dimi just overcame a gastric stasis crisis two weeks ago. Her poops have finally gotten back to normal, although some are strung together with hair. I started giving her a tsp of canned pumpkin a day two days ago, because I read about it here. Her Reglan rx has stopped. She is pooping great. I am giving her NO pellets, unlimited timothy hay, and ~3c of healthy greens a day. I am wondering how much of the pumpkin puree I should give her... again, her poops are improving, but still show hair. She is a black mini lop, weighing 5.2 lbs. She loves the pumpkin. Thanks!

 

[Katielovesleo3]

I don't know about the pumpkin, but I commented to ask....I thought the recommended amount of vegetables was 1 cup per 4 lbs of body weight...? Or am I crazy? oops wait that's not a question...hehe..I am definitely crazy! LOL!

 

[JBun]

When a rabbit is molting, you will commonly see fur in the poop because it's being ingested when they groom. The problem is when there isn't enough fiber to keep it moving through, then you start having a slow down or stasis. You can't really stop the fur from being in there, but you can limit it by grooming, and you can keep the GI moving well by your rabbit eating more fiber, which happens when you feed less pellets. All of these things you are already doing. If excess fur is still causing a problem, you can tell by how the fecal pellets strung together, are coming out. If they are looking mostly like normal round fecal pellets, but with a little fur connecting them, then that is ok and normal. But if they are starting to get smaller in size, or irregular shaped, then that indicates that the fur is starting to cause a slowdown. But with the steps you have taken, it hopefully isn't an issue.

I'm not sure about the pumpkin though, as I haven't used it.

 

[napagirl]

Thank you. They are now totally normal, but strung with fur. I have groomed her galore... she has been molting like crazy for over a month. I can remove a whole grocery plastic bag of hair and she still sheds. it is getting better- I bought a brush that brings out the undergrowth of hair. So things are better now...

I was just wondering because I read on threads here that canned pure 100% pumpkin is a mild laxative and good during molting.

Thanks again!

 

[napagirl]

I don't know about the pumpkin, but I commented to ask....I thought the recommended amount of vegetables was 1 cup per 4 lbs of body weight...? Or am I crazy? oops wait that's not a question...hehe..I am definitely crazy! LOL!

I was told by the vet, especially during this time that she suffered gastric stasis, to give her unlimited hay and "liberal" healthy greens. She used to also be on alfalfa pellets, which my husband and daughter fed too copiously. I have stopped all pellets, so she needs more food since the pellets were calorie dense.

She get arugula, kale, mustard greens, dandelions, romaine. I think those are pretty healthy, but I do know that some rabbits get diarrhea from too many leafy greens. This has never been Dimi's problem... quite the opposite