nemo and his weight....

[timetowaste]

well, the debate remains strong over if nemo is a mini lop or a holland lop. for those of you who want to weigh in with your opinion, please check out my thread in the rabbitry and showroom.

i am unsure of how much nemo weighs now, but my friend krista picked him up yesterday and she said WOW you're thin, to him. bearing in mind here she is not rabbit savvy, i got upset and said he is NOT! but, it is true, you can feel his spine through his skin on his back. you can feel every single ridge. but you cant see it! although that could be because his back is covered in black fur...

in any event, i am terrified. he has always been this way, and he is happy and healthy! i feed him plenty of hay and other greens, and back in mid august he was about 3.5 pounds and the vet said he looked good. i can't imagine his weight changing too much, possibly a little bit heaiver since then, since he has had more time with me and i care for him (unlike his rude previous family!).

anybody have an opinion here? is it okay that i can feel his spine?

AHHHH!!!!!!!!!



tracy

 

[Flashy]

If you are worried, why not take him to be weighed at your vets so you can compare. If the vet said he was in good condition before and his weight hasn't changed much, then all should be good.

Is your vet rabbit savvy?

 

[timetowaste]

yup, very rabbit savvy he's great. actually i found him on the forum, when i needed to get nemo neutered. sounds like a good idea.

can you feel your buns spines?

 

[Flashy]

It's great he is so savvy. I found mine on here too, and equally, he is also great.

I have, sitting on my left, a fairly chunky bunny and I can feel his spine all the way down, apart from near his tail. I know on the others I can too.

Can you feel your buns ribs prominantly?

But yeh, my best advice is to take him to your vet and get a checkup on his weight, even if it's only you put your mind at rest

 

[pamnock]

Lops are rather notorious for their rough flesh condition and loose skin, so it may just be his normal body conformation/condition. Does he feel like skin and bones with no flesh around the spine? (You can feel each individual vertebrae easily along the sides of the spine if the rabbit is emaciated). The spine sharply protrudes in rabbits that are too thin.

Is he eating his normal ration and not appearing ravenous? For some individuals, "thin" is normal. If he's actually being underfed, he may need to have his feed slightly increased.

Feeling the ribs is not a good way to determine whether the rabbit is too thin or too fat.



Pam

 

[Flashy]

pamnock wrote:

Feeling the ribs is not a good way to determine whether the rabbit is too thin or too fat.

Thanks for correcting me Pam, I had obviously remembered it wrong

 

[timetowaste]

im telling you guys i am just not getting notifications by email that people have responded. and i was so upset that no one was helping me!!

thank you pam, and no, i cannot feel his vertebrae from the sides. he always attacks his food like he has never been fed before. but i feed this guy PLENTY.

it's good to know lop buns are known for this body type. he definitely does not act different or seem to be emaciated in any way. thank you so much, everyone who responded!!!

tracy (and the healthy weighted nemo!)

 

[Flashy]

timetowaste wrote:

im telling you guys i am just not getting notifications by email that people have responded. and i was so upset that no one was helping me!!

Not sure if you have seen the thread in the chat about the fourm forum, no one is getting all their notifications.

Sorry I wasn't any help on here, I'm glad Nemo is ok.

 

[JadeIcing]

Nemo sounds like Dallas. All good healthy boy.