Malnourished rabbit. Help.

[MonsterElla]

Hi. I have a problem concerning my rabbit's nourishment. I am doing to following:
[!NOTE: I can only not feel his bones but feel the "details" of his spine. It's creepy! And I'm saddened because my efforts never seem to work. But he's happy and jumpy, not sad and lazy. He's active, very playful actually.]

1. Giving him unlimited access to vegetables and grass [alternately] (I never allow more than 2 hours of empty food basin; it should always have something to eat).
2. Only caging him 5 hours, 5 times a week (that's when I have to leave for uni); the rest while I'm at home, he roams around my room and about the garden and the entire house.
3. Had him checked, negative of worms.
4. Unlimited water supply.
5. Comfortable bedding and sleeping area.
6. Brush him twice a day.
7. Play with him at least 2 hours everyday (he loves to be cuddled and played with until he falls asleep on my lap).
8. Towel-bath him at least twice a week to clean his fur from dust and other dirt.
9. Have no kid play harshly with him.
10. Away from presence of predators to avoid intimidation.
11. Released into the garden every morning to have his morning stretch and a ray of morning sunlight.
12. Have his stool checked from time to time and I never saw any change; his droppings are either soft, hard, fairly round droppings OR wet, soft dark droppings that look like cluster of grapes. I have asked breeders about it and they said it's normal and there's nothing wrong about the feces.
13. And yes, believe me when I say I even talk to him... aloud... as if he's going to reply. LOL! :biggrin2:


I only started giving him pellets the other day. I think the non-pellet diet is the reason for his being underweight? If there's anything wrong or lacking in my care list, what should I remove or add?

If it's the non-pellet diet that's making him still skinny despite my efforts, when shall I be expecting improvement on his body?

 

[plasticbunny]

From your other post, I understand that he came to you in this condition only recently? It will likely take a month or so before you notice a real weight gain. Just free-feed him as many pellets as he likes.

The only concern I have is the grape-like poops. Those are his cecals, and he is supposed to eat them all. If you see them laying around, limit his access to the veggies, as he is likely choosing to eat his veggies over his cecals. Don't limit pellets, because he is underweight, and always let him have grass.

 

[Must_Love_Pets]

Actually rabbits can gain weight very rapidly on the correct weight gaining diet. You can see results in as little as 1 week if done right. If I were you I would add some steel oats to his pellets. This will aid in weight gain. You can also add some (limited) black oil sunflower seeds to his pellets to help his coat and weight gain. You can try some whole grain conditioner too.

 

[MonsterElla]

Yes, he was already looking unhealthy when I bought him.
Uhm.. you mean he should eat those grape-like poop? O.O Do I have to... like gather them and put it in his food basin? Because I have provided an aluminum to catch all his droppings and pee. I have filled it with saw dust and wood shavings to avoid too much smell. It's difficult to pick the cecals from the other kind of poop. What do I do?

 

[MonsterElla]

How about a small amount of rice grains like say, thrice a week? Will that do? Omg. I feel so evil experimenting on my rabbit. I might come home and see him dead.

 

[plasticbunny]

Rabbits will generally eat them right from the source and you'll never see them. If he is leaving them around, he won't eat them, so don't bother collecting them.

Must_Love_Pets is right, you can help him gain weight fasterwith steel cut oats. Totally forgot about that one, lol.

 

[MonsterElla]

He just dropped handfuls of those grape-like poop around. I was so stupid I gathered them and placed them in another food container :surrender
my stupidity and being a noob for rabbit care is helpless.
I'm just desperate to provide what's best for him.

But I have seen him drop those cecal everywhere, he never eats them. So he'll never eat it? Even if he's hungry, he only smells the poop. Never eats it. :|

 

[Must_Love_Pets]

Tehehehe it's my magic weight gainer when needed. :bunnysuit:

 

[MonsterElla]

Hmm.. how about rice grains? small amount. Will it do?

 

[plasticbunny]

Sometimes you will see your bunny sit up and he appears to be grooming his lower belly? Well, he's eating them then. They won't drop them, and then turn around and eat them. You should literally never see them. But, like I said, if you cut back on his veggies, he should start to eat them more.

Steel cut oats are like oatmeal and you can likely get them where you are. I don't know about the rice though, but maybe someone can answer your question on that.

 

[MonsterElla]

OHHHHHHHHHHH!
Yeah, I often see him do that. Now I know the purpose! I thought he was just cleaning his belly... like grooming. >.> Thank you!!!!!

Ah, by the way... oats. Hmm.. can I give him these oats for human consumption? Those you see on groceries. >.>

 

[MiniLopHop]

Yes, the oats for humans, just not the "instant". You want steel cut or old fashoned oats. My lops tend to be on the skinny side because they run around so much (indoor free roam 24/7) so I add a little to their food every day. They LOVE oats and Becky won't eat breakfast without them.

The oats helped them gain weight when they needed it and now the smaller amount just makes them soft and maintain their optimal weight. I started to see a difference in about a week.

 

[MonsterElla]

Thank you for that!!! I will post a vid if I see any improvements. Thank you so much!! Sorry for too many questions but I used to be a cat lover. This is my first time to actually care for a rabbit this downright serious.

 

[MiniLopHop]

I'm a cat and bunny lover

As long as you have a cat that doesnt' have intense hjunting instincts they can be good friends. I feel like my one cat is the third to my bunny pair. He's constantly sleeping with them, drinks their water, plays little games. It's really cute to watch.

 

[MonsterElla]

The thing is, my first pet rabbit - he only lasted for a few days with me because a stray cat attacked him. That's when I had the fear of owning a cat and a rabbit at the same time.

When I had Pepper and Empress, I never dared buy any other animals. Because I spoil my pets that's why they think they should only be the ones to be loved. If other pets are adopted, they attack it or kill it. When my sister's dog arrived, Pepper ran away. She never came back until now. When Empress' children were all attacked by my mom's dog, she became violent and attacks everybody except me. So my mom decided to give her away. That's why I have Chrome... and I'm literally starting from scrap knowledge. I'm glad I found this forum. Had I not, chrome's life could've been in danger by now.

 

[lagomorph]

Funny thing about cats and rabbits. I have 3 cats that pay absolutely no attention to our rabbits, other than to touch noses with them from time to time. However, these same cats occasionally kill wild rabbits.

I expected them to treat our rabbits as prey, so did not give them access to the rabbits for months after we first got the buns. The cats were curious at first, but then ignored them, so I let the rabbits out of their cage to see what would happen. And what happened was nothing. The cats, amazingly, seem to understand that the buns are part of the family, and not prey.

I know dogs can have that sense of family, but never expected it from cats. So, the bottom line is that cats can befriend rabbit as part of the family, even if they have a history of killing wild rabbits.

 

[Must_Love_Pets]

My Bengal cat and DSH are both a little scared of my Flemish becasue he is so big. I keep them both away form my mini rex, he is smaller and much easier to pounce when their instincts kick in. But from what I can tell is that neither Talladega nor Ricky Bobby really give a hot about either rabbit. Thor is just intimidating.

 

[MonsterElla]

I wonder... how do you raise such friendly pets? My pets are super loving towards me but they are having difficulty dealing with other people. My rabbit, especially now, he is sweet... only to me. But he's scared of other people.

 

[MiniLopHop]

I think part of it is when they are young I expose them to as many things, people, other animals as possible. My one cat that I had since he was 6 weeks old I would take to the pet store and ask strangers to hold him for a second to teach him to trust strangers. Now he thinks EVERYONE that comes into the house is there to play with him! We had to shut him down stairs because he kept sitting on the plumer's back while the man was trying to work.

With the older animals it takes longer, but slowly exposing them to multiple situations and giving them lots of treats and positive reinforcement helps. The rabbits go to the pet store to pick out treats every couple of months. They love riding around in the cart and getting attention from strangers. They get pet and new yummy snacks so it is a very positive situation. Some times they are in the mood for oat hay, some times orchard grass, etc so it gives them veriety in addition to their normal timothy.

I also have a rule that every fuzzy pet (excludes the fish and birds who would be upset) gets a hug every day whether they like it or not. At first they may not be very happy with it, but over time every one has come to want it. The buns get one on one tv time every night for 30 minutes each. I want to make sure they know they are loved as individuals and it helps reassure me everyone is healthy since I do a little check with massage daily. Heck, Andre will put a foot out and spread his toes wide when he wants a foot rub!

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

About Chrome: I don't think you mentioned hay. Do you feed him hay? Bunnies should have an unlimited access to hay. Every day. All day. My vet said to up the hay when my bunny wasn't eating all the cecotrophs. Basically its a lack of fiber. And if he's not too interested in the hay, try mixing several types to keep interest. I think hay will resolve the problem with him leaving the cecals. Also, do you know how much fiber is in his pellets? I think the pellets i give mine has like 25% crude fiber (max). The fiber is what they really need if you're seeing cecals in the tray.