Thinking of changing pellets..

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ariusshadow

ariusshadow

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Joined
Apr 28, 2010
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Location
Concord, NC, USA
So my rabbits have always been on Purina rabbit chow Complete. Because it comes bulk and is cheap. It is also a plain pellet, not mixed with seeds, sugar bisquits, or other filler nonsense. To be dead honest, I've fed this pellet for years and are ashamaed to admit I never bothered to look at the ingredients. I was appalled. The ingredients read.. "Wheat middlings, alfalfa meal dehydrated..." as the first two ingredients. I would much rather them have a healthier pellet. As I'm nearing the end of my 50lbs bag, I'm realizing it's nearing time to make a decision. To change.. but to what.. I know Oxbow is superior to all other commercial rabbit foods.. however, I have 4 buns. 2 are over 6 pounds. A ten pound bag at $20 will not last long. After doing some window shopping at various Pet Stores, I found that Brown's (sold in 25lb bags) was the healthiest one sold in bulk in the area. The ingredients read "Alfalfa meal, Timothy Hay.." I was wondering what may be the opinions of people on here about Browns.. if you've ever used it or heard things about it. Also, does anyone know if Oxbow perhaps sells bulk bags? Or if there is another healthy rabbit food sold in bulk? I don't mind paying more if I don't have to go out for rabbit food several times per month. I'm now working manager hours and take the bus to and from work and it's increasingly more difficult to get things done as I'm out of the house for 8-10 hours per day. The bus wont exactly wait for you to run into a store and pickup a bag of food.. it ends up taking upwards of an hour for this task to wait for the next bus. X.x
 
tommy just has 1kg bags of normal brown pellets from our local pet shop you can buy the 1kg muesli bags but he isnt keen on them he leaves the seeds hope that helps x
 
sherwood forest sort of sells in bulk (largest is a 19 lb box)... it's all natural with NO soy or wheat and no added sugars or molasses. it's the only food that I rank above Oxbow Essentials in terms of high quality rabbit foods. took my bunnies about a month to devour it the way they did their old pellets, but they did come around to the healthy stuff and now they positively LOVE it. (you'd need to buy it online, btw)

http://www.naturalrabbitfood.com/sherwood-forest-natural-rabbit-food/
 
Healthier pellet? The highly touted Oxbow that pet owners like to use has these as the first three ingredients..."timothy grass meal, soybean hulls, wheat middlings..." the main difference being that Purina is alfalfa based and Oxbow is timothy based. Sorry, but I'm tired of people dissing Purina rabbit feed as unhealthy, cheap and junk. We don't use the Complete so I don't know who it's targeted for, but we've used the Show formula for years, and it isn't unhealthy.
 
I'm in agreement with majorv. If your rabbits have been doing well on a pellet for years, stay on it! Differences in pellets of different brands are minor, and it is rare to find a pellet that performs well for a long time. I have always used brands that come in larger quantities. The bunnies love it, maintain great condition and stay very healthy.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it! Especially when it comes to pellets.:)
 
I agree wholeheartedly with OakRidgeRabbits!!!!! "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" Everyone has to do what works for their bunnies, their pocketbook, their lifestyle....and what works for one may not work for someone else! I love my bunnies like 4 legged members of my family....any who knows me can tell you that.....however....having said that....I, for me, cannot justify spending the the additional money for pellets from companies like Oxbow and others, when I have successfully fed Blue Seal Bunny 16 for over 20 years without a problem! I also feed horse hay (as I have horses and my bunnies LOVE it) to my bunnies rather than prepackaged hay. This is what I have always done and what I will continue to do....in the event that somewhere along the line, one of my bunnies has a problem....then I will consider another option. Like I said, everyone has to do what works for them....Good luck and remember...."If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"
 
It was great to hear your opinions. :) I'm afraid working at a pet store that sells mainly the more holistic brands of everything and my vet have me a little brainwashed. Also, I work with rescues rabbits. My newest acquisition is a mildly obese rabbit and my vet gave me "the look" when I said Purina. :p But she gets out of cage time now, which she didn't before I got her, and she was also on a highly fatty diet (Wild Harvest 2x more than her body weight should need) and she's been successfully switched off it already and cut down. So as long as the general consensus is to not worry about it, then I think I'll agree. Thanks for the help, everyone. :)
 
ariusshadow said:
After doing some window shopping at various Pet Stores, I found that Brown's (sold in 25lb bags) was the healthiest one sold in bulk in the area. The ingredients read "Alfalfa meal, Timothy Hay.." I was wondering what may be the opinions of people on here about Browns.. if you've ever used it or heard things about it. X.x
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Is your bunny fixed? House Rabbit Society recommends different nutritional criteria for a neutered house pet vs a breeder rabbit.
[FONT=&quot]http://rabbit.org/natural-nutrition-part-ii-pellets-and-veggies-2/


[/FONT]For fixed buns they recommend no more than 14% protein (while for intact they recommend 16% or more protein). High fiber is always good.

The Purina Chow & the Brown's have 16% protein. The Purina has 17-20% fiber, but Brown's only has 14-18%fiber. So I don't see advantage of considering Brown's over Purina. (They both have alfalfa as main ingredient.)

The Oxbow Essentials has the 14% protein for fixed rabbits. Their fiber is 25-29% and timothy is first ingredient.

Some are more concerned about getting timothy as the first ingredient and go with Oxbow. Others want to avoid the soy and molasses stuff and go with the Sherwood Forest.

It comes down to one's own desires in what they feed their rabbits and making a decision based on what factors (fiber %, protein %, or ingredients) bear more weight to you as an individual owner of bunnies.


@ Majorv -- the Oxbow Essentials they sell in petstores is $10 -$12 for a 5 lb bag. So, yeah, the $61 for 50 lbs may be high compared to other foods but is certainly a cheaper way to buy that particular brand.
 
Blue eyes said:
It comes down to one's own desires in what they feed their rabbits and making a decision based on what factors (fiber %, protein %, or ingredients) bear more weight to you as an individual owner of bunnies.
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I actually think and believe it isn't up to the owner but more the desire of the rabbit itself. If they don't perform well (whether it be for maintenance or breeding) then it's time to change things. If the rabbit is healthy then what you're doing is perfectly fine. Its when changes are or are not seen then its when something needs to be done differently. What you feed your rabbit can be up to the owner in a small way but it is up to the individual essentially. To go kind of off topic an example of this is owners at the vet clinic try to feed their dogs "better" food after seeing hearing and reading numerous people bashing certain ingredients and foods. So many people I have seen switch their perfectly healthy dogs food to a more "wholesome" food and the dog ends up with diarrhea.

I agree with everyone above as if it isn't broke don't fix it.
 
woahlookitsme said:
I actually think and believe it isn't up to the owner but more the desire of the rabbit itself. If they don't perform well (whether it be for maintenance or breeding) then it's time to change things. If the rabbit is healthy then what you're doing is perfectly fine.

I agree with everyone above as if it isn't broke don't fix it.
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I understand what you are meaning, however I respectfully (and heartily) disagree with the idea that an owner should leave well enough alone if their rabbit "seems" healthy (a judgement call). There is nothing wrong (imho) and everything right about a diligent owner re-evaluating their rabbit's diet. I would hope that all owners would be willing to do so.

And by way of bringing up an example, I remember the story of that one bunny that some of us here on RO tried to "rescue" that had been turned in to a pet shop. The rabbit was 5 years old, adorable, and apparently quite the picture of health. The owners just didn't want him anymore. For his entire life he had been fed dry dog food and no hay nor greens.

I would not agree that in the above example that "if ain't broke, don't fix it." and I certainly wouldn't continue to feed that rabbit dry dog food.

Ultimately, it is always the owner who is making the decision about what food they feel is in their bunny's best interest.
 
The benefit of Oxbow or another alfalfa free pellet is the higher fibre content (there's a huge difference between Purina foods and Oxbow) and the lower carbs. Carbs may be well tolerated by a healthy rabbit but the second they develop any GI issues, they can make things much worse because they encourage the wrong types of bacteria. The higher fibre content also helps maintain healthy bacteria levels and motility. Many specialized vets recommend avoiding all alfalfa in an adult rabbit's diet because it's too high in carbs and doesn't have enough fibre.

The lower calcium content is an added bonus. I'm sure if you end up with a rabbit needing a bladder stone removed you may think the more expensive pellets are worth it if they reduce the risks. Obesity increases the likelihood of UTIs and it's suspected many bladder stones start out because minerals have something to latch on to and accumulate.

I don't understand why there are so few pellets available that don't have alfalfa. When I first got rabbits, Oxbow was impossible to find in Canada and there was not a Timothy based alternative.
 
molly said:
The benefit of Oxbow or another alfalfa free pellet is the higher fibre content (there's a huge difference between Purina foods and Oxbow) and the lower carbs. Carbs may be well tolerated by a healthy rabbit but the second they develop any GI issues, they can make things much worse because they encourage the wrong types of bacteria. The higher fibre content also helps maintain healthy bacteria levels and motility. Many specialized vets recommend avoiding all alfalfa in an adult rabbit's diet because it's too high in carbs and doesn't have enough fibre.

The lower calcium content is an added bonus. I'm sure if you end up with a rabbit needing a bladder stone removed you may think the more expensive pellets are worth it if they reduce the risks. Obesity increases the likelihood of UTIs and it's suspected many bladder stones start out because minerals have something to latch on to and accumulate.

I don't understand why there are so few pellets available that don't have alfalfa. When I first got rabbits, Oxbow was impossible to find in Canada and there was not a Timothy based alternative.
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Though Oxbow does have higher fiber than Purina, most often grass hay is being fed along with the pellets. A rabbit is going to get plenty of fiber if it is eating a good amount of hay each day. If hay isn't being fed, or not very much, than the fiber content in the pellets is going to be more important. I don't know that it is possible to accurately compare carbs in the different pellets though, as there is no nutritional data available, listing the amount of carbs in pellets. Individual ingredients are listed, and you can somewhat go off the order the ingredients are listed in, but that still isn't definitive. I have some rabbits that are sensitive to carbs and sugars, and they had just as many problems when I tried to transition them onto oxbow, as they did when I tried an alfalfa based pellet with them. In fact the oxbow seemed to cause mushy poop sooner than the cheaper alfalfa based pellets. Which made me think that the oxbow may have more sugars/carbs than the alfalfa pellet that I tried. But since feed co. aren't required to list that info, it's difficult to know.

Usually the problem with alfalfa is that it is higher in protein and calcium. The higher protein may not matter too much as the pellet amount can just be reduced if a rabbit is gaining weight. If a rabbit has severe obesity, then it would probably be better to go with a pellet with a much lower protein level though. With the extra calcium that alfalfa has, there are varying opinions on whether or not it is bad. Excess calcium can cause bladder sludge issues, but some research seems to suggest that it may be due to genetics that this happens, and that only certain rabbits are prone to it, and that most rabbits won't have an issue with it no matter their calcium intake. But if a rabbit does have bladder sludge, then of course it is necessary to minimize calcium intake as much as possible.
 
Honestly, I have my two rabbits on Oxbow and I noticed they're happier with less pellets as opposed to me feeding the Martin's Little Friend's Timothy formula (only available in Canada) since the Oxbow is higher in Fiber and can't really remember the protein.

I've heard both good and bad things about Sherwood Forest pellets but the molasses and the soy DEFINITELY is something that is a concern for me in other rabbit foods so if I had the chance (they cannot ship it to me in Canada) I would totally try out a bag with my buns! Again, just reiterating what others have said but what works for some people and their buns doesn't work for others, so just experiment and you know your buns best, I'm more than confident you will make the best decision!
 
There is not a "huge" difference between Oxbow and Purina...not enough to warrant the difference in price. I agree with JBun that fiber difference is moot as long as they're also getting hay to eat. Carbs are not even listed on the nutritional label, but what I do see is that cane molasses is higher in the ingredient list on Oxbow than it is on Purina. Tells me that there could easily be more carbs/sugars in Oxbow.

It's silly to debate the different rabbit feeds. You feed what works for you, plain and simple. If it works, why mess with it and if it doesn't, then change it.
 
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I volunteer at a shelter and we feed Purina there as rabbits come in eating everything and anything (hamster seeds, hot dogs and cheetohs, you name it) and they are more likely to switch to Purina cold turkey than Oxbow. With 40+ rabbits at the shelter, it's too hard to adequately monitor everyone's eating everyday. We often have issues with soft stools and overproduction of cecotrophes though, and even if we restrict Rabbit Chow to 1/8 cup per day, they often still have issues. Almost always, these issues are resolved when we put these rabbits in foster homes where they are fed either Oxbow or Martin's Little Friends, another Timothy based/alfalfa free pellet sold in Canada.

Judging a label by the placement of an ingredient is not very precise. If you ever have a question about the nutritional analysis of any Oxbow product, you can contact the company and they usually reply. I've contacted them a few times to ask about different formulas and products and they've always replied very quickly. I doubt Purina would do the same.

Simply free feeding hay does not ensure rabbits will get enough fibre. I haven't fed my rabbits pellets in years and every time I've weaned a rabbit off pellets, they've all increased their hay consumption. A lot of people feed more pellets than recommended, even if you're following the HRS guidelines or 1/4 cup per 6 lbs of body weight. Keeping those two points in mind, the fibre content in pellets makes a huge difference.

As mentioned earlier, I volunteer for a rescue. Many people apply to adopt rabbits or guinea pigs or chinchillas and list that they will feed them seeds, nuts, cheese, no hay (too messy), etc. When we explain that they're not suitable foods for herbivores, they often reply that they've had that species before or they know someone that does and they did well on that diet so it must be fine.

The 'if it ain't broke don't fix it' attitude really does a disservice to companion animals. There are so many health issues that take years to develop (i.e. kidney or liver disease from excess fats, protein and carbs) and you would not see with the naked eye. Oxbow pellets are not that expensive in the grand scheme of things, a 10 lb bag used to last me 3-4 months when I had two rabbits getting 1/8 cup each daily.
 
To each his own. We've fed Purina Show for 4+ years with zero problems. We RARELY have to provide any kind of treatment to our rabbits or have to consult a vet. You see one side of a situation and your views are formed by that...doesn't mean it's true for everyone or every rabbit by any means.
 
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