Skinny Rabbit

[Peter Rabbit]

Hey everyone! Im new here!

I have a very old rabbit named Peter... For awhile now she has been losing weight and is very noticably skinny! As I said she is VERY old! We got her free to good home and her previous owners even said she was old... I have had her for about 5 or 6years... she is very special to me and I was wondering if anyone could help me...

I have tried feeding her banana and some oats soaked in water and she wont eat either... Last night I managed to get her to eat some baby food "Heinz pureed apple and banana cereal" and she ate about a tea spoon

I am trying to save to get her to the vets and nearly have enough but in the mean-time is there anything else I can do to make her more comfortable/gain more weight?

She gets fresh veg everyday and has a constant supply of dry food, she does eat them but doesnt gain weight!

She does have a cage mate, Stanley, he is a neautered male and is quite chubby

If anyone has any advise it is greatly appreciated! Thank you

Also may I ask... what is the average lifespan of a rabbit?


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[Hazel-Ra]

Hi Peter Rabbit:


My concern is: have you noticed Peter's feces? If he isn't pooping normally, then he could have ilieus (GI Stasis), which is painful gas and bloating and causes blockagein bunny's abdomen, and causes them to not want to eat. My rabbit suffered from this before, and it can be quite serious--if that is what is is.

1) check his poops and is he urinating? Ifpoops are small, or smaller than usual, or if he hardly poops, then it's very possible he could ilueus. 2) try to feed timothy hay...this is the best thing for bunny's diet. I know, it is sometimes hard to get them to eat this.

3)try to get him to the vet as soon as you can, so they can fix the problem before it gets worse. If he does have ileus, they may give you some formula to syringe feed him. It's made up of Two-Cal(a can of concentrated milky stuff) w/ nutrients, and you mix it with Critical Care, an Oxbow Hay-based powder. Syringe feeding him several times a day for about a week would do the trick.

This is just a guess. I do hope Peter will get the help he needs, and please keep me posted!:sickbunny:

 

[Peter Rabbit]

Hey She is pooping lots! They are smaller than usual,its hard and dark coloured... somtimes though she does soft ones and they get stuck to her tail i had her in my arms last night on her back and she had like 5all sitting near her bottom!... she is urinating also b

I am in Australia and not sure where to get timothy hay from over here... we get bales of hay from a store and she loves this stuff... also I cant get critical care over here :?

I do know of a lady who specialises in guinea pigs and rabbits... and im going to get her to neauter my guinea pig...she is quite a way away and I dont drive so ill give her a call and see what she says... I have a normal vet just down the road who I will take her to...

Ill definatly try to get her to the vets ASAP

Thanks for your help Will keep you posted

 

[JimD]

Hello,

Older rabbits sometimes have difficulty retaining weight.

Adding alfalfa to their diet may help. Alfalfa based pellets and alfalfa hay are normally given to younger rabbits and then they are very often switched over to timothy.

Try giving her the rolled oats dry. Try giving her about 1/2 teaspoon in with her pellets.

Nutrical (or it's Australian equivalent) is a good idea, too.

~Jim

 

[Peter Rabbit]

thanks fo that!

I tried oats with a bit of water, will just giving her dry oats make her bloat?

Thanks!

 

[JimD]

Peter Rabbit wrote:

thanks fo that!

I tried oats with a bit of water, will just giving her dry oats make her bloat?

Thanks!

Bloat shouldn't be a concern as long as your not overloading her with oats.

 

[Peter Rabbit]

Okay thanks Should I seperate her cage mate when I put it in her food or should it be okay?

 

[clarzoo]

I've got an old guy who's 9.5. He's hard to keep weight on, too. When it was cooler over the winter, he really picked up his eating and had put on some weight- but now that it's warming up again, he's starting to thin back down.

Nutrical is a good supplement. You can also put electrolytes in her water. Both of these things can be found in pet stores. If you can't find electrolytes, you can give her Pedialyte to drink. I realize that you are in Australia- so the brand names might be different- but I know you should have similar items.

When they get skinny, anything you can feed them to keep them eating is good. Just don't give her too much of any new thing that it will upset her stomach. Introduce new foods slowly. Rabbit-safe veggies andgood grass hay (it doesn't have to be Timothy) are nice additions. I know many breeders use supplements to bulk up their show rabbits. It's usually an oats/barley/safflower seed mixture, sometimes with flax oil or some type of oil mixed in. These supplements can run hot' though, so you have to keep a close watch on your rabbits droppings.

 

[Peter Rabbit]

thanks for that info! Its really helped

 

[bluebird]

7 to 10 years is anaverage lifespan for a rabbit.bluebird

 

[Peter Rabbit]

thanks!

 

[Flashy]

You could trying putting some rabbit probiotic power in the water, or on the food. That helps keep the bacteria in their stomach healthy and keeps things working. You might be able to buy it off the webhttp://www.vetark.co.uk/news.html (this is the one that we get) but I'm not sure if you can get it in AUS. But there should be something similar around. Maybe try asking your friend about it, or trying local pet stores.

We had a bun that was nearly twelve that was quite skinny, but he was not ill, he was tough, yet he had a frail physical frame. Try to think about people as they get older, often, they get frail, and skinnier,but it is not necessarily a health problem, just age.

But yes, like everyone else has said, the vets as soon as you can