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BSAR

BSAR

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, Washington, USA
We feed our rabbits Del's food which is 16% (cant think of what its called). Some of our rabbits are a little overweight i.e Bruce, Willow, Autumn. I have limited all of their pellets and they get unlimited grass hay. They still have not lost weight. We get them out for excercise as often as we can (hard when you live in rainy Washington). The only reason Willow lost about half a pound and a bit of lose skin was because she was on a no pellet diet for about a week. They also get grass quite often.

So what else can I do to bring them down? I know it has to be done gradually.


 
BSAR wrote:
We feed our rabbits Del's food which is 16% (cant think of what its called). Some of our rabbits are a little overweight i.e Bruce, Willow, Autumn. I have limited all of their pellets and they get unlimited grass hay. They still have not lost weight. We get them out for excercise as often as we can (hard when you live in rainy Washington). The only reason Willow lost about half a pound and a bit of lose skin was because she was on a no pellet diet for about a week. They also get grass quite often.

So what else can I do to bring them down? I know it has to be done gradually.
Click to expand...

It's Called Dels Rabbit Ration 16%.

Willow HAS lost weight (She doesn't "Lose skin" ;)) and it's not because she was only on a no-pellet diet for a week ;)

All the "fat" bunnies only get a limited amount of pellets (enough to cover the bottom of their food dish, or half of it, if it's really big) once a day, and unlimited hay daily. ;)

Just clearing that up, since she didn't explain it very well. ;)

Emily
 
Well, since the no-pellet diet worked with Willow... Maybe try it with Bruce and Autumn. And just give them extra excrise time. See what that might do..


:twocents Just my $0.02
 
How much are they actually getting per day? You could probably limit the pellets more. Some rabbits do well with just a few tablespoons of pellets and unlimited hay.

You could also look at switching to a maintenance pellet for the buns that aren't pregnant or nursing. Some feed stores carry brands with 15% protein that are still economical. I know Pen Pals and Heinhold have 15% maintenance pellets, those are the brands by me.Ifcost for all those buggers isn't a problem you could switch them to a timothy pellet such as Oxbow, Zupreem,or Kaytee TimothyComplete.

Also, large cages and plenty of toys that are switched often for variety can help if you can't get them out to play often enough. Any chance they could play in the house when it's raining?

I don't like the idea of temporary no-pellet diets for weight loss. That's pretty much acrash diet for rabbits. Healthy weight loss is slow and gradual, fast weight loss can result in loss of muscle mass before fat because it's easier to digest. It also doesn't fix the cause of the problem. Once you go back to feeding them like normal they'll just getchubby again.
 
I am able to buy 12-14% protein, a maintenance pellet, for my bunnies at my local feedstore. Still economical and very healthy for my buns. You should ask around and see if you can find some.

I would also suggest start measuring the pellets. Find out exactly how much you are feeding them, and then gradually cut down until they are only getting a couple teaspoons each.

--Dawn
 
Thanks! Yeah I think that my sister and I should switch them to 12-14% food but my sister said "no that doesn't have enough protein in it" but it actually has the right amount. Because i read somewhere that 16% is a bit to much, and you should feed 12-14%.

I will start measuring how much they get. They get around a few tablespoons right now. Since Willow was on that no pellet diet and then got back on, when we feed her she charges at us to get the food and all, she never used to do that before. It makes me wonder if it was because she had barely any pellets during that time. she still does it and she gets pellets, I am thinking its because she isn't used to getting that little.

i don't know if any stores around here (dels, darigold, kiajas, petco etc) sell 12-14% food. or oxbow. we are going to start feeding show food, maybe we can find one with 12-14% protein.

we do bring them in the house, but my mom doesnt like them being on the carpet because some aren't litter trained. most are and only go poo a few times. we cant have them on the linoleum because even if their nails are cut they still don't like it. usually we put them in towled playpens in the kitchen or living room.


 
I used a no pellet diet for Mulch who was hugely overweight to the point she couldn't clean herself when I got her. I very gradully reduced the pellets (don't stop them suddenly) and increased the fresh food until she was just getting fresh food and unlimited hay. The weight loss was still very gradual and it worked. She's a new rabbit now and so much happier. She's back on a normal pellet/fresh food/hay diet now and is maintaining a good weight. It worked very well for her!


_MG_7143muweight.jpg


 
Interesting thread. Couple of things....rabbits should neither gain nor lose weight fast. It is damaging to their liver, especially coming down. Rabbit metabolize fat differently than any other animal and that happens in the liver. Like cats, they are quite prone to hepatic lipidosis...aka fatty liver disease.

As far as protein, in nature, a rabbit eats mainly grasses, leaves and bark if there is nothing else (like in winter). Since domestics were once wild, they havea similar need. Any pellet contains far too much protein for a proper diet. A rabbit doesn't really need that much protein in their diet....assuming they are being fed properly. In our rescue, we have some rabbits that eat only hay....now the key to that is having very high quality hay. Evenour 30 pound Flemish gets about 1/4 per day. We use pellets only to maintain weight and body conditioning. I have no concerns at all if they never eat pellets....as long as they empty their hay racks.

The way to lose weight in rabbits is the same as for any other species....calories. Lower the intake and increase the burn. I would start a weight loss program by reducing the pellets by about 10% every 4 or 5 days....maybe down to nothing over a period of several weeks...or no more than 1/8 cup per day if you are offering pellets. Unlimited grass hays....and maybe increase the greens a bit. Monitor hydration carefully since hydration is so important to liver and renal function. Increase the exercise as much as possible. We had a mini lop that the people thought was a French and couldn't understand why she would not gain weight. Well, this mini was a maxi and came in at nearly 10 pounds. It took us over a year to bring her weight down. Today, she is slim, trim and healthy. Point is...have a plan and do it gradually...don't rush it.

Randy
 

"The way to lose weight in rabbits is the same as for any other species....calories. Lower the intake and increase the burn. I would start a weight loss program by reducing the pellets by about 10% every 4 or 5 days....maybe down to nothing over a period of several weeks...or no more than 1/8 cup per day if you are offering pellets. Unlimited grass hays....and maybe increase the greens a bit. Monitor hydration carefully since hydration is so important to liver and renal function. Increase the exercise as much as possible. We had a mini lop that the people thought was a French and couldn't understand why she would not gain weight. Well, this mini was a maxi and came in at nearly 10 pounds. It took us over a year to bring her weight down. Today, she is slim, trim and healthy. Point is...have a plan and do it gradually...don't rush it."



Okay I measured how much food our fat buns get, which is Autumn, Bruce and Willow. And they get anywhere from 2 to 4oz (how many cups is this?)once a day. We have increased the amount of greens i.e grass, dandys and they still get unlimited hay. I don't really want them to go without pellets because our doe Willow has become food aggresive since the time when she was on the no pellet diet. I dont want our other buns to do that. Bruce has jumped out of his cage to get food, we leave the doors open on some cages while we go to get their hay or food, and he jumped out once because he wanted his hay badly. They all love hay a lot now. Since it is getting nicer out more often we will be letting them run around a lot.

We are planning on breeding Autumn agian, because she wants babies and I know that they can't be to pudgy when they have babies so i need her to get down a bit before i can breed her. she might be okay enough to be bred. this would be her 1st litter in nearly a year, but her fifth in two years.


 
Are there any veggies/fruits that can help with gradual weight reduction? And aren't to high in sugars....
 
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