Senior bunnies and pellets

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myheart

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I am concerned about Patrick and his age. His health seems fine, but lately he just seems to have that "old skinny rabbit" look about him. He is not overweight by any means, but if he became sick, he would have very little weightto lose.

His vet says that he will probably only have his incisors left within a year's time. He still eats his hay and veggies, but has taken a particular liking to his pellets. Patch and Luna each get about an eighth of a cup (little less for Luna) of pellets at night along with their veggies as well as mounds of hay, and another serving of pelletsin the morning and salad at noon. I have stopped all carbohydrates (cheerios, crackers) except for a bit of pumpkin on occasion andtheir nightly piece of carrot. Patrick's poo's have become so much bigger because he is not getting the badcarbo's (I am so proud of my little guy:biggrin2:).

Anyhow, my question revolves around Patrick's interest in his pellets. He never really cared about them before asmost were left in his dish in the morning (which Luna usually took care of for him). Now he can't wait to get more. I feed the Oxbow BBT, so it agoodpellet.Because I am concerned about his weight, can I feed him an extra serving of pelletslater in the afternoon? He is very good about only eating until he is full, but I don't want him going around hungry all of the time. Maybe now that his digestion is better, resulting in bigger poo's, he is getting hungry more often. I have to start thinking in terms of what would a toothless bunny want to eat, especially if eating becomes difficult for him. I also think a little added weight would not be a bad thing for him either.

Any thought?

myheart
 
http://www.petplace.com/small-mammals/care-of-the-older-rabbit/page1.aspx
This articles discusses minimizing pellets if the older rabbits has soft fecals but Patrick doesn't have that; if you are only giving him 1/8 cup per day I would slowly begin increasing them (I think you feed timothy pellets?) to at least a 1/4 cup per day unless you see a change in his poops or see him decrease his hay intake significantly.
I think that you rabbits get a significant amount of exercise and smaller amount of pellets is generally always recommended for rabbits who are not getting a lot of out of cage time.

I would slowly increase the pellets and if you see anything negative possibly talk to your vet re. other alternatives to increase wt. I will also give you the dietary link inour library


http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=12046&forum_id=17

Maureen :)
 
Thanks angieluv. I am just concerned that not having all of his teeth bothers him. He seems to have a look about him like is contemplating worldly issues instead of eating up his noonsalad. Maybe he is just bored because we haven't been able to go outside because of the hot, humidweather. I have no clue what we will do during the winter for entertainment...:?

I guess I also worry because he is six years old. Are his little bones starting to ache as much as mine? Are foods starting to seem bland? Is chewing so much, because of his lack of teeth, causing him not to eat as much as usual?

I will just increase his pellets a bit, to see if there is a change in his attitude, behavior, and output. He has been a tough little guy this far, a bit farther would be nice.

myheart
 
I really am surprised that he can eat everything that he does with so many missing teeth. My 5 yr old dental patient bun, Beau, has had serious teeth and root problems for years and can only eat soft foods despite the fact that this is not good for his mouth
It sounds to meas ifPatrick is reallydoingwell.
It's possible that it is a little harder for him to chew his food but if he is not in any pain it probably hurts you more than him :)

I have heard of some bunny owners who give their older bunnies glucosamine.chondroitin for their bones but I think it gets some mixed reviews .
Why don't you just try a few more pellets for now.

 
angieluv, do know of any healthy "high calorie" snacks that I could feed him? Like I said, he has very little body fat, which is probably a good thing for him not to be overweight as a senior. But if he stopped eating for what ever reason, he would have nothing to "live off of." Patrick doesn't look ribby, but I can feelhisindividual vertebraedown his back when I pet him. I don't want him to get fat, but I do want him to have a little bit of meat to his bones.

myheart
 
angieluv wrote:
I really am surprised that he can eat everything that he does with so many missing teeth. My 5 yr old dental patient bun, Beau, has had serious teeth and root problems for years and can only eat soft foods despite the fact that this is not good for his mouth.


That always surprises me when I hear people say that. Dallas has no teeth and NOTHING stops him from eatting. He chows down on papaya tablets like nothing. His brother also had all his teeth removed and before he was adopted he like Dallas had no problem eatting.

Maybe since he(Dallas) has no teeth and nothing that would hurt him he is effected like other bunnies.

 
Beau has a lot of inflammation in his mouth and that accounts for the problem. he actually has to have some teeth pulled this week and one side of his mouth is really inflamed. His teeth grow back when they are pulled.
if he was toothless I think that he would be more comfortable.

myheart..I forgot to post that I think You should ask Angela what she would think of giving Patrick Nutrical (a food supplement an appetite stimulant for cats and dogs). I think that she may have used it more than me.
Also why don'tyou ask her what she would feed him. She is extremely knowledgeble about diet issues. :)
 
I mentioned to her yesterday that Patch seems to be taking on the "old skinny rabbit" look to him and she thinks that letting him have more pellets might be the way to go with him for now. She mentioned that some one else on the forum (can't remember who off the top of my head) who also has a senior toothless rabbitand likes to keep a little bit of extra weight on their senior as a "just in case" the rabbit doesn't feel good and won't eat. So I guess I am on the right track with wanting some extra meat on his little bones. I just don't want to fall back into the bad habit of giving him the cheerios and crackers to add that weight when I know it is not something his little bodyneeds. I want the most healthy snack suggestions to get the weight on him without compromising his GI track and his nice big poo's. :D


Thanks angieluv for all of your help on this topic. I'll keep poking around the forum to see what others do for their senior's health and body weight.


myheart

 
Okay folks... So now I know I need to do something about Patrick's weight. The guy who lives with me actually said something today about Patrick looking smaller than usual. So if some one else is able to see that he is getting thin, I know it is not just me seeing things, and I need to do something for him yesterday.

Please send along suggestions for healthy, high-calorie snacks that I could give to him to get some weight back on him. I don't want him to fade away from going skinny all of a sudden. I need to stop this weight lossnow before it can't be stopped.

myheart
 
I would start weighing Patrick on a weekly basis so that you can keep track of weight changes.

if you are going to increase his pellets and they are a timothy pellet I wouldn't look for treats. Some older rabbits can be free-fed pellets if they are losing weight (Except if it cuts in on their hay intake)

I would increase the pellets slowly and see if that makes a difference
 
Thanks angieluv. I was just really concerned because if some one else is able to see his weight difference, then there has to be something wrong. I will give him pellets to start with especially when he asks for them. His next dental check is the first Friday in October so I hope he hangs on until then. I know the vet is double and triple booking clients already, so if I don't have to bother them, I'd prefer not to.

myheart
 
I just wanted to update this thread because Patch and Luna just went to the vet this past Friday for dental check-up's. (Looks like dentals will be done every eight weeks :?.)

Patrick did loose weight... He was 11 ounces less than what he weighed at last appointment approximately seven weeks prior. :shock:I am sure he even lost more than that because he had looked ribby when I posted this thread, andhas gained some weight with all of the extra pellets I have been giving him since I didn't know what else to do for him.

I told the vet that out of frustration I gave Patrick two double doses of Bene-bac (one morning an one evening) one day. That seemed to help a bit, but he still wasn't eating all of his greens at night. So I bought a night-light for him---andall of his greens started disappearing :D.

So the vet concluded as I did, that perhaps Patrick's vision is starting to deteriorate and finding has food is getting to be more difficult. The vet looked into Patch's eyes and said that the lenses do show signs of aging but nothing more.I have noticedPatch trying to zone in on me with his hearing/ears more, although Inever really thought much about it as he knows his name and usually come when called. But now that I look back and reflect on his behavior changes, everything seems to point to visual problems, as well as losing his teeth/dental issues.

So, aging is not going to be as kind to the little guy as I have hoped for :(.

myheart
 
Thanks for the tip on the pellets. Do you know how different it is from the Oxbow BBT (regular timothy pellet) in nutrition? Would it technically be better for the senior bun vs. their regular timothy? I would really like to get more weight on him to be on the safe side. He goes in for another dental in two weeks, and if this organic pellet will provide him more nutrition while he recoups from the adjustment in tooth alignment, I will be happy to get him the organic.

myheart
 
When I get enough time I will post all the ingredients and nutrients in it. It is not speciifcally made for a rabbit to gain weight but probably is healthy enough to let him have a generous amount/
Beau is presently free fed as he has lost weight after the dental extractions.
 

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