Addressing a coat issue with food…

[Aminah Undone]

Bella is still recovering from her ordeal a few weeks ago, and her fur is dull.. not brittle like before… but still dull and broken; so I’d like to give her some “coat therapy” type foods. I know that flax seeds will help quite a bit, and I’ve been giving her some for a few days.

Are there other foods that I can increase amounts of ..or introduce.. into her diet routine, now? 

She’s on Oxbow Basic Bunny/T now.. along with just timothy and oat hay. We cut out the Oxbow 15/23 and the alfalfa hay, since she’s not on baby watch anymore. I give her a fresh salad of 3 foods listed on the list linked this site. I still give her a carrot with a top (tiny carrot.. pinky finger size, actually), every other day. She has plenty of fresh water, of course. And the flax seed.

What can I add?

[Sarita]

I don’t think I would add anything. Eventually with her better diet and better care once the new coat “grows” in it will soften. You may not notice this until after a molt though. Just have patience that it will improve now that she has good care.

[wendyzski]

The occasional unsalted peanut (no more than 1/day) will add extra protein and fat which should be reflected in her coat.

When my Pepper was sick, she stopped and started a stress-shed several times, and her skin got dry and flaky in patches and her coat was dull.  My vet gave me a palm oil supplement that is usually used for birds called Sunshine Formula.  I put a couple of drops on her pellets at meals for a little over a week and it seemed to help the flakiness.

[KatnipCrzy]

I adopted Schroeder in January and he had a very dull, thin coat compared to my other Mini Lop, Cotton.  After being on Oxbow T for about 6 months he grew in a lush, soft, thick fur coat.  So it will just take some time. 

Schroeder did not shed at all for the first 5 months I had him- now he sheds normally.  I think food quality plays a huge role in what their coat looks like.  Schroeder was fed very cheap pellets at the petstore where he was at for adoption thru the Humane Society- and before that he was picked up as a stray.  After I adopted him and got him on a proper diet he seemed to have a bigger belly- it took some time for his body condition to fill out properly.  He was a bit think and had a poor haircoat (compared to what I was used to) when I brought him home- but you would never guess it now!

Even with Griffin- I have only had him about a month- and I started mixing Oxbow 15/23 into the alfalfa pellets the breeder was feeding- and in a month I have noticed he is much softer, shinier and his coat is smoother.  When Griffin is older he will be switched to Oxbow T.

My adult bunnies get very limited Oxbow T pellets- about 2 Tablespoons a day- but it seems to add the extra something into their diet to keep their coats looking great (in addition to the hay and greens/vegies).

[Moonlight_Wolf]

Gosh! if good food makes bunnies shed more then maybe I should take my bunny’s food quality down a notch… just kidding.
But mine are like nonstop shedding!

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