How to feed Fiver

[maherwoman]

To all those dietary gurus:

Okay, more questions about Fiver's diet...

I'm going to keep him on his current Oxbow 15/23 pellet food (as it's alfalfa based, and I think he should stay on it for a couple/few months after coming home with me)...but what else should I give him?

He was very recently rescued from the streets...and was barely surviving off of what little greenery California has to offer, so he's pretty severly malnourished.

What are the suggested things to add to his diet?

GREENS: Auntie Heather was saying I should/shouldn't (she kinda went back and forth) give him greens. She said that the nutritional values would be good for him, but in the same breath mentioned that it might be too much for his GI system, as he's still getting used to eating a regular domestic bunny diet. (I believe he was just rescued a few days ago. The reason why he was on the list of euthanization was because they thought he wouldn't survive long enough to be adopted.)

HAY: Should I mix some alfalfa or a mixed blend of hay in with his Timothy, or should I keep even that really basic for him for now?

PELLETS: How long do you recommend I keep him on the alfalfa based pellets before switching him (gradually)?

EXTRAS: Should I add a bit of oats to his pellet food, or would this be too much? How about a raisin or two...should I skip that altogether for the first few months?

I'm thinking he'll be kind of in the state Flower was in when we first got her. We gave her ONLY hay and water for the first few days (she hadn't eaten in quite a long time), and then slowly started introducing an alfalfa-based pellet food. He's past his first few days...but I want to be sure I don't overwhelm him.

They don't know how long he was outdoors, trying to survive...so they don't know how long he's been malnourished.

Anything special you recommend beyond what I've mentioned? Will it be okay to put vanilla in his water like I do with my girls? Or would even that be too much?

Thanks so much, guys! I just wanna do what's right for my baby...

Hugs!

Rosie*

 

[TinysMom]

I'm probably wrong on this - but I would definitely be adding a bit of oatmeal to his food. Not much....a teaspoon or so maybe? I'm just thinking it might help him put on a bit of weight...but I tend to give oatmeal to all of my bunnies in their food and they LOVE it.

Definitely give him hay - I don't think you can go wrong there.

I'm sort of so-so on the greens. I'd avoid them for the first week or so - after all - he's changing water systems, etc. but I'd probably offer him a quarter size piece of greens (one at a time of course) after a couple of week - you'll know when. He'll just sort of start to look more healthy and stuff and he'll have good regular poops so you can monitor him..

Peg

 

[maherwoman]

Okay, cool...thank you!

I think I might be overthinking things...after all, Flower wasn't much better than this little guy, and I knew when to do or change things for her.

Yeah, I think most of it will be pretty obvious...I know a good amount of their regular dietary needs, and should be able to figure things out.

:biggrin2: Yer awesome!

 

[aurora369]

Lots and lots of hay, I would mix a bit of alfafa in with the timothy too. The hay will help to settle the GI tract and keep everything moving nicely.

I would feed the normal amount of pellets for a bunny the weight he should be. Don't try to over feed him. If anything, I would think too much pellets would upset his tummy.

On the greens, if he was outside eating grass and foraging, then I would think he's used to greens by now. Start him out on some simple greens and watch him carefully.

But, the most important thing for him in my opinion is lots of hay.

--Dawn

 

[HoneyPot]

Same opinions here... give him te recommended amount of pellets, start him on the greens. I say just give him the diet he is supposed to have and he will gain weight if he is currently underweight.



____________
Nadia

 

[maherwoman]

Okay, cool...thanks guys! :biggrin2:

 

[naturestee]

Yup! No need to rush gaining weight, it'll just add fat. If he gains weight from a "normal" diet, it'll be more muscle than fat.

HoneyPot wrote:

Same opinions here... give him te recommended amount of pellets, start him on the greens. I say just give him the diet he is supposed to have and he will gain weight if he is currently underweight.

 

[ra7751]

Hi Rosie,

Since I do rescue, we see this all the time. Slow and steady is the way. We see a lot of abandoned rabbit come in with distressed GI tracts. First thing to do is treat for worms and I also treat for coccidia since nearly every rabbit that has been outside has both. I have also learned to feed thema very basic rabbit diet. Lots of hay (with alfalfa in the mix too) as well as high quality pellets. Nearly every rabbit that has come in...and you will read Danny's story in our blog soon....that has been outside, their gut would get upset with greens. Danny inparticular seemed to have a very delicate GI when he came in. From my experience, I would not offer greens, oats or other supplements at this time. The only exception I would have here is canned pumpkin. This is a case I would offer pellets free choice at least for a while. And watch his hydration since most buns like this are dehydrated. This is also a goodtime for mixing in some Critical Care. It took nearly two years before Danny could eat greens withouta GI upset. You also don't want to shock the system by adding too many things. Keep it basic and let the body "relearn" and adjust to a proper and basic diet. Also, as mentioned by Naturestee...by using a basic diet, you will get muscle instead of fat and having the added benefit of helping the gut to stabilize.

Randy

 

[maherwoman]

Yeah, that's pretty much what I was thinking, Randy. I thought that maybe doing anything other than the bare bones basics with him would be too much. It feels to me to be kinda what I had to do with Flower. I gave her just hay and water for the first few days (which he's already passed) then started introducing pellet food to her a bit at a time (at first just a teaspoon, then gradually more each day until she was at the amount where she could freefeed for a while), and waited about a month before introducing any greens or anything additional.

Does that sound right for Fiver?

Obviously his GI system is much more sensitive than Flower's was...so I'll take it slow and easy, like you say. I think doing much more than hay, pellets, and water right now poses a threat of overwhelming his system.

Thank you so much, guys!

Hugs and love to ya'll!

Rosie and Fiver (and obviously the rest of the Herd)*

 

[Bo B Bunny]

I would give him unlimited pellets like you would a baby bunny, give him unlimited hay (either alfalfa or timothy). I remember when Bo was little and couldn't handle alfalfa hay - he would sneeze. The vet said that the pellets had enough alfalfa in them and the timothy was just fine.

I would also give him a little pinch (5 or 6 little pieces) of dry oats like Quaker oatmeal - or a little bitty bite of banana or apple or something like that for a treat each day. Like for breakfast.Breakfast alone put weight on clover and bo...... :?