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Nummy

Nummy

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Joined
Feb 1, 2010
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Location
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Hello all :wave:First of all Nummy is going through a bit of stasis... I think his fiber intake was too low or something.

I have to start by explaining my situation, Nummy has had a bladder stone. He passed it but endured pain and discomfort as you can imagine. I have since then been trying to get Nummy the best food I can get from a pet store for him. He was eating the "Martin" brand pellets for sometime before I noticed that it was all alfalfa meal. I thought maybe feeding that to him may have caused him the bladder stone. So of course I wanted to get him on a better pellet and avoid the stones occuring. I live about 1 1/2 hours from Nummy's vet who happens to sell Oxbow brand Pellets. Which I noticed were a timothy hay based pellet. It took a while to convert Nummy to the new feed but he eventually did the switch. My problem is this, I can't seem to find anyone that is local who sells Oxbow brand pellets. I have a pet value and a petsmart available to me and the choices are few. I stupidly bought Nummy some "Nutriphase" brand pellets only to notice for the last week I have been feeding him a alfalpha based pellets :headsmack. I am frustrated with how little of a choice there is for a healthy adult rabbit food. Well a week after eating this "Nutriphase" he started to show symptoms of early stasis. Even the vet noticed his less than normal sized poops at his last visit. The scary thing is that I just read the feed bag today don't ask me what I was thinking the day I bought that food... must have been having a bad day or something. Well I had to think fast when it comes to Nummy and his stasis so I made a fast trip to the store to buy him his favorite pellets..."Martin Brand" I figured it would quickly help to bring him out of stasis. This time I bought him the Less Active rabbit brand and noticed the first ingredient on the bag was timothy hay. :)Of course Nummy did indulge a little and I was glad he accepted the food.

Now this is my big question... is the Martin brand okay to feed to him? Does anyone have a suggestion for a good brand that I could get?? Any advice is welcome :D. I have added some pics below of the food bags and the nutritional information aswell.

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That is the information for "Martin" which he was eating before but was eating the regular formula instead of "Less Active" which he has been eating the last couple of days because of the stasis. The following pics are of the food he was on that I think may have lead to his stasis.

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As you can probably see there is nothing good in this food... I am slapping my head big time today.
 
The Martin one looks ok since it's timothy meal. The fiber level of both of these are a little low but so long as the bun is getting the majority of his fiber from hay, it should be just fine. How is his hay intake? What kind of hay does he eat?

If you are hooked on the Oxbow Bunny Basics T, you can find it online at rather reasonable prices. American Pet Diner also makes a nice pellet.
 
Thanks! I will look it up online, his hay intake is zero as he refuses to eat hay of a variety. He was rescued by me after he was already 2 years old and I don't think his previous owner ever gave him hay. I have tried and still do but he never eats it. I try to get him to eat fresh untreated grass from outside which he will eat a few blades once in a while. That is as close to hay as it gets. In the mean time I give him pleanty of greens like romaine, spinich, kale (only when he has stasis), mint leaves, carrot tops and the occasional carrot. Apple and bannana in moderation (not given every day). he likes brussel sprouts, and green beans too. I try to find higher fiber greens to give him because of his low fiber intake, any suggestions on high fiber veggies???
 
The greens sound good but he does need more fiber. You're probably right about his previous owner experience. Typically buns who have been fed only pellets have "pellet gut". The bun looks chubby with a hanging gut in their underside. It's just unhealthy weight because they only got pellets and no hay to fill them up.

He gets a measured amount of pellets that he probably eats all of in a fairly short amount of time right? Maybe if you tried to take away the greens for a day, he might get hungry and nibble some hay. Healthy buns need a lot of fiber in their diet. Hay is low calorie and high fiber which makes it a great source of fiber all day long for a bunny.
 
He is fed about a 1/4 cup of pelletsa day and if I give it to him all at once he will gobble it up right away. I have tried taking away the greens and leaving the hay but he just leaves the hay and paces around his pen demanding food!!! I wish I could get him to eat it but he is so old now and stuck in his way it seems...I am still working around the clock to get him back around from his current stasis problem, I hope he will come out of it soon.
 
The foods you are giving him, including the greens, veggiesand pellets, are supplying plenty of fiber. Many people mistakenly believe that fiber is only provided by hay. However, greens and veggies (as well as a littlepellets)supply not only fiber, but other important nutrients!

Because you are supplementing the pellet diet, you need not be overly concerned about the pellet composition since it's such a small portion of his diet.

Our buns are only fed pellets - I've never heard of rabbits developing "pellet" gut due to this diet (unless they are overfed and fat LOL).

However, I have heard of rabbits starving or developing "hay bellies" due to high roughage low nutrient diets resulting in lack of proteinin the diet. Moderation is key - do not overfeed any one component in the diet - and this includes fiber. Recommended percentage of fiber in the diet is around 20% - feeding excessive dry hay may exceed this amount and rob the rabbit of important carbs and proteins in the diet.



So - it is not a problem if your rabbit doesn't eat hay. There are many other roughage sources including pellets, vegetables, fruits, and greens.


 
That is certainly good to know :). I have been forever trying to make sure he has a good diet. I have to keep him on a low calcium diet too since he has had some stones. Nummy has only ever eaten pelets (and veg etc.) and he does not have "pellet gut" that I am aware of. Nummy's gut looks a little pudgy but he is good that way lol.

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The good new is that Nummy seems to be feeling better. The stasis might be finally over, but we will have to wait and watch with that one. I am relieved to know he dosen't have to eat hay, although I wish he would for his sake. I just give him extra greens through the day as a substitute. He is always hungry though, or at least he thinks he is. Nummy has been snubbing his greens though the last few days since his stasis problem, he only wants the fatty treats like carrots, bannana and apple maybe just a tiny bit of kale. He is being picky but at least it seems like he is getting better.

Oh I hear that romaine is bad for rabbits since it is high in calcium... Is this true? Nummy loves his romaine but I certainly don't want to cause him another bladder stone.

 
I don't think that high calcium veggies are necessarily bad - I think they can be fed in high amounts to normal rabbits.

However, since your guy does have a history of bladder problems, I would probably limit any of the veggies in the high calcium category to a small amount, or only a few days a week (just to be safe). More important though is the calcium content of the pellets - those will be the primary source of excess calcium in his diet.
 
pamnock wrote:
Our buns are only fed pellets - I've never heard of rabbits developing "pellet" gut due to this diet (unless they are overfed and fat LOL).
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Pellet gut (otherwise lean body with a hanging fat belly) is usually developed from carelessly free feeding pellets and nothing else to the bunny :( Usually a pretty lousy pellet that doesn't offer a good enough variety of nutrients.
 
I can't imagine not giving Nummy anything other than pellets. I figure he's gotta be like me in some way... like having a hankering for someting new to eat :biggrin2:. I wonder if his previous owners ever fed him anything other than pellets... who knows but I keep him eating a variety of veg and fruit that are safe for him. He does have a bit of a gut though, I could see it really good when he was laying down. Maybe he needs to loose weight or it could be pellet gut from a previous time in his life maybe, the vet never mentioned anything about it though, but I never thought to ask. I will have to find out what veggies are high in calcium... does anybody know what is a safe amount of calcium intake for a rabbit??
 
Some bunnies just won't eat hay--I know Pipp has some that won't. The Martins Less Active pellet is one of the better ones that you can get in Canada, it seems from what I've read from our Canadian members. I would make sure he gets a good variety of veggies, including fresh grass, to keep up his fiber and teeth care. Not eating hay can be normal for some bunnies.

Amy27 and I have done a lot of research on calcium in veggies and I'd really like to compile it or something, to get a good idea of what the real deal is. However, I have read that bunnies need 50 mg of Ca a day. Romaine is not that high in calcium, it is one of the lower-calcium veggies. High calcium veggies include dandelion greens, mustard greens, and parsley, to name a few. I like to alternate high and low-calcium veggies to keep them healthy.
 
There's nothing wrong with lettuce, except iceberg lettuce. It has water, fiber, and some vitamins. Romaine is quite good for bunnies, and red and green leaf lettuces are also good. Some people say lettuce isn't good for bunnies because if you feed iceberg, or you introduce it too quickly to their diet, it can cause digestive upset. Any new food should be introduced slowly.
 
I hear that iceburg lettuce just has no nutritional value. I don't know if it is unsafe for the rabbit to eat, I personally don't feed it to my rabbit.

I am glad to know that there areothers out there with rabbits who refuse to eat hay. I think I am on the right track then with some of the veggies and fruits that I have been giving to him. I think he does get board too so I try to switch things up too. I will have to keep in mind the amount of calcium though for his badder sake.
 
Iceberg lettuce has very little fiber and can have highly laxative effects or cause bloatin rabbits (especially those not used to eating it).

When I was little, my mom worked at a restaurant and brought home heads of lettuce to feed the rabbits - but they were used to a varied diet.
 
With regards to your pellet brand, I have been feeding my guys Martin's Less Active for over 3 years, and have never had a digestive issue.

Stan (petbunny) also feeds Martin's Less Active, and speaks highly of it!
 
:biggrin2:That is great news in regards to the Martin pellets. I was using the regular one before I made the switch to the less active brand. He seems to really love it. Nummy does get his bouts of stasis but I am not really sure the cause exactly. I give him lots of daily greens and his regular amount of pellets, but he still comes down with the problem from time to time. I am just glad I am always wayching for any changes with him. Thank you all for helping me get to the bottom of this problem I was having. I am glad I got him on the Martin brand :biggrin:.
 
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