Underweight.

[alyona]

A friend of mine recently came across a very friendly, young, abandoned lop in a field near his house. Knowing that I have two rabbits of my own, he thought it best that she be handed off to me.
I've been observing her for the last couple hours, she looks pretty ratted up, but appears to be healthy aside from one thing. She is incredibly thin.
I am currently feeding her Timothy hay and Pellets, which is what I am feeding my other two. I was wondering if anyone knows of any foods that can help her get to a healthy weight, or any supplements I can add to her diet.

 

[BlueGiants]

I have a couple of suggestions... first of all, keep her seperate from your other two bunnies for several weeks. After everything she has been through, you do not know if she is stressed or carrying any diseases/ illnesses/parasites. Feed/handle/care forher after the others and wash your hands before you touch your rabbits. (Sort of like a temporary quarentine. Better to be careful now than sorry later. I usually quarentine for 30 days... anything that is going to show itself,should do it within 4 weeks.)

You don't want her to gain weight too fast. A well balanced diet is best. You can suppliment with a couple of teaspoons of rolled oats (Plain cooking Quaker Oats, not the instant oats!).

 

[gentle giants]

I agree with Blue Giants, a quarantine is always a good idea, evenwhen the new bunny hasn't been runnning wild.

Again, like BG said,don't free feed her all at once, gradually increase it over a few days, because her stomachhas gottenused toonly small amounts of food at a time it might be hard on her trying to adjust.

 

[DyemondRabbitry]

I'd have introduced the pellets slowly- don't want to mess with her gut too much. The oats work wonderfully and most rabbits love them so that's a definate. The other thing is that I have given original yogurt to a few. Hay is a must- keep at it because it's easy on them. Just do everything in moderation until you're sure she can handle it.

 

[Pet_Bunny]

alyona wrote:

I was wondering if anyone knows of any foods that can help her get to a healthy weight, or any supplements I can add to her diet.

Alfalfa hay, alfalfa pellets, oats, nutri-cal, sunflower seeds, bananas. If her poops are large and dry, just about anything she wants to eat.

 

[MissBinky]

Don't worry too much about her putting on the weight rapidly. It will take sometime but it's best that way. Also, rabbits are quite finicky about their treats so you don't want them getting used to always having their candy because after they won't want the healthy stuff

As for the yogurt, it's not recommended though many people still think it is. Just the regular food and you'll want to introduce the greens gradually so you can testdrive and see if the bunny reacts to any differently