HRS veggie guide (mobile)

[AbigailBW]

Hi, I was reading the care page at the House Rabbit Societie’s website.  It all makes sense, except that they have this picture/list you can put on your mobile phone to take to the grocery store.  The heading says “bunny veggies, 3 types of greens daily! choose:” and it has two lists, one with the heading “one” and the other “two.”  Under the “two” the have sprouts, basil, bok choy, brussels sprouts, celery cilantro, clover sprouts dill, escarole, fennel, green peppers… and under “one” they have arugula, beet greens, broccoli, carrots, chard, collard greens, dandelion, endive, kale, mustard greens, parlsey…. I don’t get why the vegetables that have vitamin A are under the “one” and not the “two,”  aren’t these staples for the rabbit? Am I missing something?

Thanks,

Abby

 

[Beka27]

You are supposed to limit the veggies that are high in vitamin A, altho for the amount that a bun will be getting, the added vitamin A really should not pose a health risk.

The ones that you should limit (to only a few times a week or a very small amount each day) because they are either too high in sugar, carbs, or can cause gassiness are:

broccoli
carrots
kale
spinach

There are others I’m sure I am missing, but those are the ones listed that you need to be a little bit more cautious with.

My buns get quite a bit of the “one” items each day… their daily diets are primarily “lettuces”, greens, and parsley…

[RabbitPam]

Glad you posted this with Beka’s reply. My bunny has discovered she LOVES Kale. I think I have given her a bit too much the past couple of weeks. I just found some really gorgeous fresh bunches lately and she snarfed it up. I will back off when I get a new lettuce in the house.

[BinkyBunny]

I know we’ve been through this before and I for the life of me can’t remember the answer exactly. I do vaguely remember reading or posting that you can absolutely feed more than one a day. I know I do with my bunnies as they get very large variety of greens, and I wouldn’t do that without feeling safe about it at one point.

But I would like to clarify this even the list that HRS gave me to use on BB as it IS confusing. So I just emailed the HRS health care coordinator about this and update everyone.

That mobile phone list is a great idea – I just can’t figure out how to get it on my mobile phone. I thought I was sorta tech savvy but I am not getting how to transfer that list. Can someone help me out?   Are you supposed to take a photo of it or something? 

[jerseygirl]

Yes, maybe you save the image and load it onto your phone? I read the list above as at least one from the “One” column and 2 from the other so they get at least 3 different types. Assuming the One column is the high vit A. I wasn’t aware you had to watch intake of that. To me, the one’s with an asterick are the ones you should limit due to oxalates. (???)

[Beka27]

I knew I saved this for a reason… I wrote to Dana Krempels a long while back to ask her opinion on this matter:

can you feed too much Vitamin A by feeding more than one *A* veggie per day?

this question seems to come up every few months.  the wording on the food list is a little bit unclear for some people (myself included) so awhile back i emailed Dana Krempels to get her take on it.  i have the email in my BB saved folder, but i thought i’d post it here for everyone if it comes up again.

Subject	is too much vitamin A a concern?
Question	Hello, I am a member of the BinkyBunny.com forum and we have had a question about vitamin A and if it’s possible to feed too much.  The recommended veggie lists we’ve seen all say to feed ONE veggie with Vitamin A per day, but is this LIMITED at one per day, or AT LEAST one per day?  If you feed a couple veggies a day with Vitamin A, can this cause a problem?  I did read your article about what to feed your bunny, but I did not see any mention of this topic. I appreciate your time. Thank you
Answer	Dear Beka, It would be pretty much impossible to overdose a rabbit on Vitamin A with only fresh vegetables.  The quantities in the plants are far too low to ever be concentrated enough to cause a problem. Only by using synthetically produced vitamin supplements containing high concentrations vitamin A could you possibly overdose the bunny.  So don’t worry at all about too many vitamins in the fresh food.  They will never cause a problem. Hope that helps. Dana
	Dana Krempels, Ph.D. University of Miami Biology Department H.A.R.E., Inc. of Miami, FL dana@miami.edu House Rabbit Society: http://www.rabbit.org Rabbit health: http://hare.bio.miami.edu *Your feedback is appreciated!*

[RabbitPam]

Yea! That’s great, Beka, thanks.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Near as I can figure is vitamin ADEK are the fat soluble vitamins -which means they are not excreted in urine and can build up. Symptoms of Vitamin A toxicity are headache, rash, dryskin etc. So it is a vitamin (though most you can od on) that you can get too much of a good thing. So only having one veggie a day high in A is good way to ensure too much is never consumed. Just my guess -many water soluble vitamins can be od’d on too though

[jerseygirl]

Mmmm… I know there are often warnings with Vitamin A for humans – I just never thought about it for rabbits. Just that it’s good they get vit A source. Never questioned that either, why it’s important they get it.

Thanks Beka, K&K, for the info.

[BinkyBunny]

I got an email regarding this from the person who created the list that BB uses (HRS Coordinator) and she says it’s to mean “AT LEAST” one. So I changed that on the BB list as well so it will be less confusing. As far as the rest of the Vitamin A questions. I’m checking with some resources and the leader team will be collaborating about this so we can finally nip all of the confusion in the bud! We’ll keep you updated!

[BinkyBunny]

I consulted with the HRS Health Coordinator and Dr. Harvey and they both agreed that it is to mean AT LEAST one. And if I am correctly summarizing what my Dr. Harvey said to me then this is the lowdown on Vitamin A overdose concerns: That though yes, Vitamin A can be overdosed on, there are different forms, and the form of A that is in fresh greens/veggies is Beta Carotene. The body converts that into Vitamin A and THAT kind can NOT be overdosed on. Your body gets rid of what it doesn’t use. The only thing that will happen if a person gets a ton of it is their skin would turn orange.

So really from what I am understanding is that the list wasn’t meant to limit to ONLY one, but to make sure that Vitamin A rich veggies are present in the diet, and so at least one is recommended. I also asked if rabbit was on a diet of greens that was mostly Vitamin A rich (like Romaine, Dandelion, Parsley, Green Leaf, wheat grass, swiss chard) would that be a problem, and the answer was no. So it’s not a proportional thing either.

NOW…the question is why is Vitamin A so important then?? I don’t know…I forgot to ask. (BOOO!) So I will get the answer for that and let you all know.

[Deleted User]

Fresh grass like timothy is rich in beta carotene. In hay, the beta carotene deteriorates which is why ‘summer butter’ is a richer yellow color than winter butter. I imagine it would be necessary to increase the intake of beta carotene from vegetables in rabbits that have no access to fresh grass.

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