Forti-Diet Timothy Hay w/ sweet potatoes

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This topic has 6sd replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 7 years, 11 months ago by MountainBuns.

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- 04/15/2018 at 9:51 AM
  BunnyHibi
  Participant
  33 posts
  My mom has given my rabbit — well, me — this package of Timothy Hay that is littered with little pieces of sweet potato, the first I advise not because rabbits AREN’T supposed to have it, I forgot what exactly at the time ( one was that it was too high in something that wasn’t good in excessive amounts for rabbits ), and it’s massive pain picking out all of the pieces ( which I do nonetheless ) and growing anxious whether I ended up overlooking others and feared he would eat them. I did test it to see if he would, the first time he didn’t, so I was semi-content he didn’t want them, but the second time we got it, I did the same thing, he didn’t want anything to do with the pieces at first, sadly with this junction, I ended up overlooking some pieces and he got a hold of it as he refuses to really touch his new hay feeder, now he scavages through the remaining hay pieces for the sweet potato. Granted, I think only one or two are left over if I do miss any, so it’s not like he eats an entire group of it — which I heard was okay to give in treat consideration? After I got my new bag of hay, thankfully, nothing in it, it’s a plain bag of hay, I searched reviews about my prior product and someone claimed that it killed their rabbit four hours after indigestion ( or that the product itself was mainly assigned to birds? Which is apparently fine for birds ), this can be assumed they ate too many of the pieces — Shadow has been fine ever since, since I don’t believe he ate a large quantity of the sweet potato. The pieces themselves aren’t very large, hence, why they’re so easy to miss. I don’t know, sometimes I find myself wondering why do people stock items that aren’t good for rabbit health and don’t hold responsible for the death/probable health issues — while I am aware they are not the direct or involuntary cause of it — it would be nice for them to be educational in animal’s health to advise their customers not to get it. It’s off putting hearing “oh, if it has a rabbit or (whatever your pet is) it means it can have it/it should be fine.” The purpose of this affair was to question whether it’s okay as long as he only gets a hold of a scarce amount of those pieces rather a large amount that holds a higher risk of getting him sick?
- 04/15/2018 at 10:00 AM
  professorzap
  Participant
  72 posts
  From the house rabbit society: “Stay away from starchy and high sugar content foods such as bananas, peas, corn, beans, grapes, white and sweet potatoes.” I found an earlier post here on binky bunny talking about this topic (https://binkybunny.com/FORUM/tabid/54/aft/112731/Default.aspx) and it sounds like your little guy should be OK, just try not to let him have any more. If he gets an occasional few pieces I don’t think you’ll have a huge problem–though it sounds like he’s learned quickly to look for this forbidden treat in his hay LOL
  
  As far as why things are sold for bunnies that aren’t healthy…I think it’s because companies that sell bunny products don’t always know about what’s good for a bunny. [BTW, it’s not just bunnies, many dog foods/treats aren’t actually healthy for dogs.] That’s why I do research for myself (and my bunny), especially on the house rabbit society webpage and by talking to my rabbit savvy vet. Most of the food and hay I get is from Oxbow, which seems to generally have a very good reputation in rabbit circles. I agree that it’s VERY frustrating though!
- 04/15/2018 at 10:21 AM
  Bam
  Moderator
  17030 posts
  The sweet potato pieces will be fine as treats. It’s not toxic or anything. It’s just starchy and sweet like for example carrot or fruit in general. We can give those types of food to our buns as treats, but the amounts should be very limited.
  
  As for someone claiming this product responsible for their rabbit’s death of indigestion – it’s terribly sad, but buns can get indigestion for many reasons. We often tend to blame what the bun ate right before the symptoms started – but indigestion can start slow and bunnies hide illness so well, when they show symptoms, things may very well have been going on for a while.
- 04/15/2018 at 10:46 AM
  princessbookworm
  Participant
  135 posts
  My opinion is that although sweet potato bits are unhealthy for buns, they won’t hurt them. I don’t buy them anymore but my mom also bought my buns some dried sweet potato bits (she didn’t know they were unhealthy, just wanted to treat her grandbunnies!) and I gave them as treats before I knew.
  
  I equate it to being like bunny instant
  ramen ? it might be super unhealthy and not something they should eat regularly (or at all), it won’t kill them
- 04/15/2018 at 12:30 PM
  Muj Mom N Bun
  Participant
  352 posts
  Hah hah! Bunny Ramen!
  
  I am always quite dismayed when I walk into the pet stores and see the aisle stocked high with mostly products that rabbits shld not consume… from cheese flavored chews to yogurt drops and pellet bags chock full of starchy seeds and corn kernels. Yet, that is just scratching the surface! I ask the same question all the time, Why would a company market pet foods and treats for animals that are potentially harmful to them? Sadly, I’ve come to the decision that it is partly because the company doesn’t have much knowledge, but it is mostly simply because they can. They can market these items because as much as they, the market producers and sellers, lack the proper knowledge, is sometimes as much the buyers lack that same knowledge…so in the end, it sells!
  
  Hopefully the more pet owners educate themselves, thanks to so much great information continuing to be put out for those of interest… the less these manufacturers and retailers will be able to continue to push out goods that are simply not good for our dear furry loved ones ???
- 04/15/2018 at 12:32 PM
  Muj Mom N Bun
  Participant
  352 posts
  But… side note… I Do Love Me some instant ramen!
  These days I enjoy elavating it into a pretty nice more healthy dish on the fly!
- 04/15/2018 at 4:37 PM
  MountainBuns
  Participant
  513 posts
  MMMMM, Y U M M Y. Instant Ramen!
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