Bugsy and Maybelline’s new diet

[Yuki Kathleen]

After the very sad passing of my dear bun bun Milo due to a clotting of hay in his stomach, I am switching up the bunnies diet.

What it was-

  -Unlimited orchard grass that we got from our friends farm

  -Unlimited water

  -1/8 cup pellets a day

  -Salads everyday or everyother day

This was a very good diet, but the main change will be the hay. The hay I was feeding them was a very tough and dry hay (which is why Milo had a clotting; it was too dry for him to be able to digest correctly) , as it had come right from the farm and was mainly for horses. We were not aware that the hay was too dry/tough at the time but the doctor preformed a necropsy on Milo and let us know . Now I will be switching them to store bought hays, which is more expensive, but it is made specifically for small animals. 

What I am switching them to-

  -Unlimited STORE BOUGHT hay, (oxbow) a mixture of timothy, orchard, and a teensy bit of alfalfa from time to time. (AS A TREAT ONLY!!!!!)

  -Unlimited water (of course)

  -Bugsy has grown, so he will now be getting a 1/4 cup of pellets, and maybelline will get 1/8 cup. (Oxbow pellets)

  -daily salads, about 2 cups each.

  -I may from time to time give them a little bit of the hay I used as a snack, because I still have 3 bales

Does this sound alright? The only reason the bunnies will be getting a teensy bit of alfalfa, is because my vet recommended it, so we bought some, but because alfalfa is not all that great for bunnies, I will only give it as a snack (so I dont waste it)

  

It is not  a huge change, but I thought I would let you know.

BTW- I am thinking about switching vets, because the fact that our vet recommended alfalfa was just a bit.. odd…

[LittlePuffyTail]

Your new bunny diet sounds right on. I use Oxbow hay and, while it’s expensive, its one of the better brands. I use both Orchard grass and Timothy. The increased veggies is good but you’ll want to increase the amount slowly to 2 cups if they were getting much less before. My vet recommends at least 3 different green veggies per day and to switch those veggies every once in a while.

With regards to the pellets, just curious how old your buns are and their weights.

Did you ask your vet why she suggests Alfalfa?

[Sarita]

It does sound fine. I think alfalfa as a treat is fine, but I think your concern for this replacing the grass hay is correct.

It would be good to find a more experienced vet – ask the rabbit rescue where you adopted Maybelline from for some recommendations.

[Elrohwen]

I think you’re right to want to switch vets. Bunnies can get stasis for all sorts of reasons, and they do need to keep their GI tract moist, but dry tough hay is actually good for them – they need lots of fiber. Horse hay, if it’s good quality and not moldy, is typically fine for bunnies, so I think whether you feed that or store bought grass hay it’s a good diet.

[Yuki Kathleen]

Bugsy is about 5 pounds and 1 1/2 years old. Mayebelline is 2 pounds and 2 1/2 years old.

Our rabbit society gave me some names of new vets, so I will be looking into them soon.

[Sarita]

Let us know how your search for a new vet goes.

[LBJ10]

Found this thread from your other thread. I agree with the others, this new diet sounds good. The Oxbow hay is just fine. I buy it for my buns because it is easier to store (no place to put monster box of hay) and the place I buy it at isn’t too expensive. Plus they have those Oxbow punch cards, so the seventh one is free.

[Yuki Kathleen]

Today I went to Petsmart to pick up the new hay. I was surprised to find that the price of the Oxbow hay had gone up from $14 to $24, and it wasn’t even a very big bag!! It was a bit too expensive for me, but they had a new brand that I had never seen there before, VitaKraft. My cell phone has internet, so I did a bit of research at the store and it seemed like a good quality hay. I bought a large bag of sun cured timothy hay, and a slightly smaller bag of orchard grass. I carefully read the backs of each bag, and every thing seemed to be good, and the hay is grown with no pesticides.

Also, I bought some oxbow digestive support hay tablets. Because Milo died of a digestive problem from the hay I was using, I picked these up to help the digestive process a bit with Bugsy and Maybelline, just in case they were also having any problems that hadn’t become serious yet. (I looked online and these seemed to be safe)

[LBJ10]

What size bag is it? The small bag is $6 here. I buy it at a feed store though.

[Yuki Kathleen]

I think it was…50 oz????

[Freyja]

ah that worries me about the hay as i buy it by the bale, what type of hay did you used to use? also very sorry to hear about your bun

[LittlePuffyTail]

You could maybe get hay cheaper by ordering online, a lot of BB members do that.

[Yuki Kathleen]

Ok I will look into that.
It was orchard grass hay from our friend who is a farmer. He feeds it to his rabbits that he breeds, but it is mainly for his horses. I didn’t think anything was wrong with it, but when the vet did the autopsy on Milo, he found that the hay was just packed in his stomach..If you are worried about your bun, just look out for if he is pooping/eating normally. Also, the night before, Milo was moving quite a bit slower and dragging his butt a bit.

[RabbitPam]

I trust the mini bales I get from BB’s store, which Sammy likes much better than the same kind from Oxbow. It’s great to switch to a store bought brand (Oxbow is the best as far as I’m concerned) but I consider the BB store’s bales store bought as well because she is very careful that their quality is specifically for bunnies’ health. I was a bit shocked at the markup on all Oxbow products in my local big box pet stores. Shipping costs for ordering online, but some items can be bundled for one shipping price. (So might get hay, plus a toy or treat along with it that’s not sold in local stores.) Sorry, it sounds like a plug. I just like shopping at the bb store.

[lwayne]

You could always use the old baled hay in the litterboxes or as bedding, if they like the store bought hay better. That way, you can use less litter and at least get some use out of it. I found baled hay isn’t always good quality, although it may be super cheep. I usually buy hay online from KMShayloft and order 45lbs. The shipping is expensive, but comes out cheaper than petstore hay, for how much mine eat. I had a bale that was awful, i ended up giving it to a friend for her garden.

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