Peters Rabbit Pellets

[Kizza]

Hi there,

I recently emailed the RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, incase people don't know what it is) in Australia about a brand of rabbit food called 'Peters', as it is endorsed by the RSPCA.

This brand of rabbit food I believe is very unsuitable for bunnies as it contains a lot of grains, cereals, seeds, sugar and sugared fruit etc. There is not a lot of nutritional value at all in these foods, and they were making my rabbit sick, so I have emailed them about it because I think it is terrible for the RSPCA to endorse a brand that is so bad for rabbits.

All that aside, there is a brand that is 'Peter's' but I dont think it is the same brand, as this one is from the UK (I think), and I want to see if the ingredients were ok for bunnies:


Peter's Rabbit Food Growth Formula Ingredients: Dehydrated alfalfa meal, dehulled soybean meal, oat hulls, sun-cured meadow fescue hay, wheat shorts, sun-cured Alaska brome hay, dried beet pulp, sun-cured perennial ryegrass hay, dried bakery product, sun-cured timothy hay, dried beet pulp, sun-cured birdsfoot trefoil hay, sun-cured red clover hay, dried cane molasses, sun-cured bluegrass hay, sun-cured white clover hay, dandelion, dl-methionine, dried yeast extract, magnesium oxide, salt, dicalcium phosphate, calcium carbonate, vitamin A supplement, vitamin D supplement, vitamin E supplement.

Pet Rabbit Food Feeding Suggestions:
Sm breed rabbits, ¼ - ½ cup daily
Lg breed rabbits ½ - 1 cup daily

It says it is for growing rabbits, adult rabbits, and babies transitioning to solid food.

Opinions?

Thanks

 

[pinupchick]

This is what I feed my rabbit, as she refuses to eat any timothy based pellet. My vet is concerned that the calcium content is too high and might cause bladder problems. Ula has gained a bit of weight since she's been on this brand.

As of now, she won't eat this brand either due to some GI side effects she's facing from Baytril. But before this, she really enjoyed them.

 

[gmas rabbit]

Had Benjamin on a similiar brand ( Canadian ) but he developed hot ears and really gained weight. We traced it back to the additives of sugar, corn etc. I personally think like humans the simplier food is and more natural the better. Just my opinion. I know if you have a rabbit on medicine or is picky you do what you can to maintain their health. Nickolas our last french lop developed a huge intensinal cancer, we had him on Martian's extruded pellets. Have always wondered if the lack of fiber and additives contributed??
Just changed Benjamin at 16 months ( really late I know ) over to timothy hay and pellets. He really doesn't like them but gets lots of clover, dandelions, grass etc from our property until he develops a taste. To encourage him on the pellets I mixed half alfalfa to timothy pellets. I bet he is picking the alfalfa ones out. lol

 

[Kizza]

You are right, we do what we can to keep them healthy. Rocky is a bit picky and there isn't a lot of hay or grass to get around here for him so I give him as much dandelions and grass stuff that I can get.

I didn't get the pellets that I originally posted about. I have been trying to get him onto oxbow timothy pellets but he really doesn't like them. I mix them with the pellet mix I was getting before that he likes to try get him used to the smell, taste etc but he picks out the bits he wants.

He has developed a nice little trick of scraping them all out of his bowl onto the floor and picking at the bits he likes, and the bits he doesnt like he poos on so I can't scrape it all back in haha

I was contacted by the RSPCA also, and they said that they had done some studies after receiving multiple complaints about the Peters brand, and they are no longer endorsing it, so I am happy about that. There is way too much stuff in it that isnt good for our little critters, like seeds and corn and what not.

 

[gmas rabbit]

Sounds like Benjamin and Rocky are of the same opinion on Timothy pellets. He is digging through his food dish and picking out the alfalfa pellets and leaving the timothy ones. He loved his alfalfa hay, not too crazy about the timothy grass hay. Doesn't poo on them, just pushes them out on the floor. Too bad alfalfa is so high in calcium.