Oxbow Critical Care - Apple and Banana gone?

Love your rabbit
Advertise with us
Shop deals on ebay
shop deals on amazon
Rabbits Online Forum

Help Support Rabbits Online Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
EdwardV

EdwardV

Supporting Member
Joined
Sep 11, 2021
Messages
51
Reaction score
20
Location
Frankfort, IL
Was looking to pick up another package of Critical Care - Apple and Banana but found out no one has it. No one. Looked on the Oxbow site and they say they are still making it. Going to call them tomorrow. I know they make a similar product with Anise flavor but I read it is not as palatable. And I am having trouble even finding this.

I did call a emergency clinic that is listed as an Oxbow's retailer and they said they do not have it but they did recommend EmerAid Sustain Herbivore https://emeraid.com/vet/emeraid-herbivore-sustain/ Was wondering if anyone has experience with this product?

Our 11 yo Dwarf rabbit Lola has a history with stasis and I give it to her often at the first sign of problems.
 
Last edited:
I did a search and, what the heck! No one sells it anywhere anymore, except maybe some on ebay. Is oxbow only selling it to vets now or have they discontinued it?

No experience with Emeraid, but I'm not really liking the high grain and sugar content in the ingredient list.

Sherwood and Science Select both offer recovery food mixes, with Science Select being more expensive as it's imported. I haven't fed Sherwood's recovery food, but I have fed their pelleted food in the past, and it's a very good quality food. They have large and small kits on their site or Amazon. Or just the bulk bag of mix, large or small, on their site, which is probably the best value.

Or you could make your own pellet mush by soaking your rabbits usual pellets in warm water, though this usually is chunkier and requires a large tip syringe so it doesn't clog up.

I thought I should add a note on syringe feeding. You may already know all this, and if so, this is for anyone else reading this thread looking for information. A rabbit experiencing stasis should almost always be first examined by an experienced rabbit vet before syringe feeding is started. The route cause of the stasis needs to be investigated, and bloat and a complete blockage need to be ruled out before syringe feeding is started. If a rabbit has either of these as the cause of the stasis, syringe feeding can dangerously complicate the situation by increasing pressure in the stomach, which can put pressure on the heart and lungs, as well as risk stomach rupture.

Just FYI if you weren't aware, or for others if you were.

https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Acute_gastrointestinal_dilation
 
Last edited:
JBun said:
A rabbit experiencing stasis should almost always be first examined by an experienced rabbit vet before syringe feeding is started. The route cause of the stasis needs to be investigated, and bloat and a complete blockage need to be ruled out before syringe feeding is started.
Click to expand...
Yes. With Lola what usually happens is her poops start to look different. Smaller, gloppy, etc. The moment I see that I give her Critical Care and she gobbles it down and the problem goes away. The few times I did not catch it right away are the times she stopped eating and then we went to the ER vet. She is very healthy but just seems to be susceptible to having stomach issues. Our other rabbit gets the exact same diet and has no issues.

We have about 1/2 left of the small bag of Critical Care.

Going to call Oxbow today.. hopefully.
 
JBun said:
I did a search and, what the heck! No one sells it anywhere anymore, except maybe some on ebay. Is oxbow only selling it to vets now or have they discontinued it?

No experience with Emeraid, but I'm not really liking the high grain and sugar content in the ingredient list.

Sherwood and Science Select both offer recovery food mixes, with Science Select being more expensive as it's imported. I haven't fed Sherwood's recovery food, but I have fed their pelleted food in the past, and it's a very good quality food. They have large and small kits on their site or Amazon. Or just the bulk bag of mix, large or small, on their site, which is probably the best value.

Or you could make your own pellet mush by soaking your rabbits usual pellets in warm water, though this usually is chunkier and requires a large tip syringe so it doesn't clog up.

I thought I should add a note on syringe feeding. You may already know all this, and if so, this is for anyone else reading this thread looking for information. A rabbit experiencing stasis should almost always be first examined by an experienced rabbit vet before syringe feeding is started. The route cause of the stasis needs to be investigated, and bloat and a complete blockage need to be ruled out before syringe feeding is started. If a rabbit has either of these as the cause of the stasis, syringe feeding can dangerously complicate the situation by increasing pressure in the stomach, which can put pressure on the heart and lungs, as well as risk stomach rupture.

Just FYI if you weren't aware, or for others if you were.

https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Acute_gastrointestinal_dilation
Click to expand...
Thankyou very much for sharing
 
EdwardV said:
Going to call Oxbow today.. hopefully.
Click to expand...

Let us know what they say. I'm interested to know what's going on with this.

When I've had rabbits prone to repeated digestive upset, there's usually a food sensitivity going on. The most common one I've seen has been a sensitivity to pellets and high carb/starchy foods. Once I found the offending food(s) and reduced or eliminated it, the digestive issues always cleared up. Occasionally other foods can cause issues, like a certain veg, a grain hay, or a hay that's too rich of a cut. Occasionally non food issues can be a trigger, like changes to a rabbits routine or environment, or other stressor.
 
Just wanted to say that Sherwood (mentioned by Jenny) is a great company for rabbit food, etc. They are easily on par (or better than) Oxbow. They have a digestive support product and an appetite restore product (among others).
https://store.sherwoodpethealth.com/rabbit/

So if you have no luck with Oxbow, you do have other good options.
 
Hopefully it's just a production pause and they'll continue in the near future.

I still have two unopened packs in the freezer, but their BBDs are 2019 & 2023. (I should probably toss the older one.)

I only needed to use it once years ago (and she pretty much refused it), but try to always have one on hand that isn't too far past the BBD just in case.
 
samoth said:
Hopefully it's just a production pause and they'll continue in the near future.

I still have two unopened packs in the freezer, but their BBDs are 2019 & 2023. (I should probably toss the older one.)

I only needed to use it once years ago (and she pretty much refused it), but try to always have one on hand that isn't too far past the BBD just in case.
Click to expand...

If it's always been kept in the freezer, cold temps and no light exposure help preserve dry packaged food. I wouldn't ever suggest anyone use it past the freshness date, but I usually will for a while past the date if I've kept it stored in a dark cool environment and it looks and smells normal. I check to make sure it doesn't smell rancid.

Though 4-5 years past the date, definitely use your discretion.
 
EdwardV said:
Was looking to pick up another package of Critical Care - Apple and Banana but found out no one has it. No one. Looked on the Oxbow site and they say they are still making it. Going to call them tomorrow. I know they make a similar product with Anise flavor but I read it is not as palatable. And I am having trouble even finding this.

I did call a emergency clinic that is listed as an Oxbow's retailer and they said they do not have it but they did recommend EmerAid Sustain Herbivore https://emeraid.com/vet/emeraid-herbivore-sustain/ Was wondering if anyone has experience with this product?

Our 11 yo Dwarf rabbit Lola has a history with stasis and I give it to her often at the first sign of problems.
Click to expand...
I've spoken to someone at Oxbow and she said that they are having sourcing issues. I work at an animal hospital and I can't get any Critical Care, including the papaya nor the Emeraid. I've heard from other exotic techs that Emeraid is better than Critical Care. Just keep trying animal hospitals. Or you can grind up hay and pellets.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top