Fat buns! Oh no! What should I do? I’m a bad mom!

[felmotes]

I rarely pick up my buns because they don’t like it. I reserve picking them up for nail clippings and the like. Well, I haven’t picked them up in a while.. and today I did to clip their nails.. and oh no! They’ve gotten fat! They feel heavier and rounder.

I suppose it’s my fault; they trick me into hand-feeding them raisins way too often. I also fill their bowl to the top with pellets every day. They always have fresh hay, but it worries me when I see their pellet bowl empty because they need to eat so often and I guess that worry is what makes me keep it full.

I’ve also been feeding them Kaytee Forti-Diet Adult.. whereas I was previously feeding them Oxbow Bunny Basics T. I switched the food b/c I got sick of driving far across town to get the Oxbow. Also the Oxbow is about $12 for 5lbs. Ouch!

Any suggestions for getting them to lose weight? I guess I should limit their dry to 1/2 cup a day, switch them back to that expensive Oxbow (I think it was lower fat) and stop giving them treats… but this is going to be hard! They are TOTAL BEGGARS.

Is there anything I can give them that’s low calorie and will fill them up? I usually reserve veggies as treats only.. it’s just so expensive to keep a constant supply, and I’m on a very limited budget. I feel bad about it, but I can’t afford to routinely drop $10 a week on it. It was my understanding that with pellets AND hay, they don’t really NEED the veggies. But I’ll start finding a way to afford the veggies if it’ll help them lose weight.

They also don’t seem to run around like they used to. Maybe this is because they’re finally “adults” (they’re almost 1 year old), but they don’t run around like crazy maniacs like they used to. They explore a bit, and then eventually flop down somewhere for a cat nap together. How can I encourage them to get more exercise without chasing them around? I don’t like to chase them; I don’t want them to be afraid of me.

Any suggestions?

[jerseygirl]

  You sort of know what you need to do already……They can be little beggars.

Start with cutting back the pellets – that’s waaay too much.  The Kaytee pellets look ok – you don’t have to switch them – just give less.  Don’t make huge changes to their diet all at once though.  They do need to eat often – but that is what hay is for.  They won’t starve.  You sort of have to think of pellets as a supplement to their diet and not the mainstay.  It gives them the nutrition they may not get thru hay or veg but as a supplement it only needs to be little. 

What type of hay do they have?  The hay is the low calorie thing you are looking for to fill them up.  It should be the chief part of their diet.

[felmotes]

Hey, thanks for the response. Yeah, I need to get out of the mind-set that pellets are their main diet. I guess I’m just so programmed as a dog owner that I associate the dry food as their FOOD.

I feed them timothy hay. Should I mix it with something else?

And man, are they ever beggers! I need to stop using food as love with them. They don’t like to be picked up and cuddled, so I’m always self-consciously trying to show them I love them by giving them the thing they most desire.. delicious, wonderful, food-of-the-gods: raisins.

[jerseygirl]

Tim hay is good - no need to change it.. You certainly can If you want to give them variety – just stick to grass hays. The pellets do contain alfalfa meal along with timothy so you may need to watch that – but if you start limiting their pellets that’ll help. You may find they’ll just become more active once not overloaded with calories. You can try things like hiding their pellets in a paper bag full of hay so they fossick around for them. I have a dog treat ball I sometimes put pellets in and they have to push it around to get them.  Toys provide exercise too, so things like cardboard boxes to jump on and tear up. They don’t seem to do full on exercise bu I imagine thier “high strung” nature and constant grooming probably burns up alot of energy.

Take a look at Diet guidelines here or at rabbit.org. You could give 1/2 cup pellets and eventually bring it down to 1/4 cup. Veggies do provide vitamins (such as Vit A) & nutrients. Rabbits can live without them but they enjoy them and it’s a healthy treat. It sort of provides some mental stimulation for them too. Maybe you could just try one veg that is in season and cheaper – and give small amounts to begin with. Asian greens are pretty cheap.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

First donn’t blame yourself-you noticed and care-that’s what counts

Add hay big time, cut down pellets. And cut down fattening stuff like fruits

I started doing aerobics with Rupert (my chub bun) -I put a toy or whatever under his chin, and he grabs it to toss or diggs it. Also I rearrange things in their habitat biweekly. When things are moved around they are totally compelled to check them out, and do more zoomies and binkies

sooo I’d say rearragne the cage/habitat, decrease kibble increase hay, and watch fruits and treats If you bun gets to run around your house and you can-rearrange your furniture!

[Monkeybun]

Ooo rearranging furniture is fun! I <3 it when the hubby lets me do that

…am I weird? O.o

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

…am I weird? O.o

ahaha nope-my mother in law has Dave come over all the time to move furniture-some people just love rearranging rooms. I used to when I lived at home…now it’s my time and work so I like things staying the same lol!!

[Karla]

Molly was really fat when I got her – but after just 2 months she was so pretty and slim. I was actually just looking at her yesterday thinking how amazing her weight loss has been.

This is what I did:

• No fruits, no treats.
• Lots of hay
• And the best part: she had to learn to work for her pellets. Her pellets (amount measured according to her dream weight) was put in a treat ball so she had to do some exercise to get something to eat. She loved it. Well, at least she was working her butt out.

After she has lost weight, she is much more active. She jumps a lot and although she is bigger than Karl and Jack she can jump much higher than they can – and she does it constantly whenever there is something to jump over or onto. So maybe the weight is the reason your bunnies are not that active.

[Elrohwen]

How big are your buns? You should probably gradually get them back to 1/4 cups each depending on their size. How many veggies do you give them? Just make sure they’re getting enough veggies when you lower their pellet amount. Even a lot of dark green veggies won’t have many calories or fat.

Also, measure out treats for the day. If each bun gets one raisin, measure it out and give only one raisin! Don’t let them trick you into giving them extra 😉 I think cutting down the pellets will drastically reduce their weight so you might not have to totally cut out treats, but I would limit them to no more than one raisin every day or every other day. Or use some of their pellet ration and give it as treats. Get them running across the room to you, or standing up on their hind legs to get a few pellets. This will at least get them moving and they’ll think it’s “treats” when it’s really part of their regular food rations.

[Sarita]

I also recommend getting them active along with cutting back on pellets and treats.

[felmotes]

thansk for the suggestions everyone!

my buns are 2 holland lops; they’re quite tiny. so i’ll see about cutting them back to 1/4 cup a day.

i’m going to try that paper bag idea! and i’ll see about getting a dog treat ball if i can find one that isn’t $15.

[felmotes]

oh my gosh… i LOLed at bunny AEROBICS! hahahaha

i imagine them in little sweatbands doing binkies all over…..

[Adalaide]

I rearranged Freya’s condo once since she got it. She was really mad and moped in the back corner for a week. For the first day she wouldn’t even take a raisin from me. I wish that would work to get her off her lazy bum. I know you said you were concerned about the price of veggies, which frankly so am I with winter coming. Our garden is toast so we have to buy everything now. I just check the ads for every local grocery store every week. This week a store has cilantro 4 for $1, so that’s the biggest part of her veggies. I can usually find lettuce for $1 also. Freya doesn’t get gassy from things like cabbage so we’ll grab a head of that for her when it’s on sale. (I only let her have 1/2 in a week, I always take the other 1/2 for me.) We’re only spending $3-4 a week right now on veggies. Cutting back on pellets will save a ton of money, we’ve been going through $15 worth of pellets every 3 weeks. I can’t wait to cut her back on them.

[jerseygirl]

Posted By felmotes on 11/06/2009 09:40 AM
i’m going to try that paper bag idea! and i’ll see about getting a dog treat ball if i can find one that isn’t $15.

Maybe try a thrift shop. f you can find the hard plastic kind, they’d be easy to clean up and disinfect.

Another member used a cardboard egg carton, put holes in the lid and stuff inside.  Then the bun just had to flip it to dispense the goodies.  You could even use a toilet paper tube wrapped with newspaper or brown paper like a Christmas cracker and a hole in the tube somewhere.

 

[Dee]

My BunBun looks quite round to me… when I look at him from above when he’s sitting there, he looks like a perfect black egg. But I can still feel his bones, like his spine and ribcage. How exactly do you determine that a bunny is fat?
Anyway, Felmotes, you’re not a bad bunny-mum- I find it hard to resist my buns when they beg too. Until recently, I was giving them hamster pellets as a treat cuz BunBun loves them so much. But the high protein content is bad for them, so I had to stop. Now I’m trying to get them off of my cereal- it’s Post Great Grains with Dates, Raisins and Pecans- pretty nutritous but still too full of carbs for rabbits… but they are so pathetic, the way they beg.
While we’re talking about pellets, I want to warn you and everyone else about Kaytee food- a lot of it has ETHOXYQUIN, a preservative that can cause cancer in animals and humans. It’s regulated so that it can’t be in harmful amounts in human food, but there are no such regulations on it in animal food. Many popular small animal foods and treats have ethoxyquin- you have to look carefully through the ingredients. Oxbow does NOT have it- neither do CareFresh pellets, which are a bit cheaper. Obviously some animals can eat foods containing ethoxyquin and never get sick, but I’m too parinoid to take the chance. Just wanted to give everyone a heads up!

[jerseygirl]

This is the guide I use.
 

How do you know if your bunny is fat? Many house rabbits are, and they are not at all embarrassed by it! Rabbits store fat inside their abdomen, which makes just eyeballing them for love handles ineffective. Run your hands along your rabbit’s side, feeling the rib cage. When you reach the end of the ribs, your should be able to feel a slight inward slope, the waist. Fat bunnies will balloon out instead. Remember that the ribs are palpable in even quite obese rabbits, so don’t let your bunny fool you into more snacks!

The key to diet change and weight loss is to do it GRADUALLY. Any fast weight loss will risk doing major, sometimes fatal, damage to the liver as it becomes clogged with fat. Slowly wean your rabbit off pellets, reduce starchy vegetables like carrots but always make sure your bunny has plenty of hay. Provide your bunny with lots of exercise time and toys. Not only will your rabbit look like a supermodel, and be fit as a triathlete, but they’ll feel great and hopefully be snuggling with you for years to come. Weight Watching for Rabbits by Astrid M. Kruse, DVM

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

oh my gosh… i LOLed at bunny AEROBICS! hahahaha

i imagine them in little sweatbands doing binkies all over…..

Heheh Glad you got a giggle. Seriously Rupert has a disability and can be quite lazy so by me forcing him to play-it’s like an exercise group for him It’s working so far

I rearranged Freya’s condo once since she got it. She was really mad and moped in the back corner for a week. For the first day she wouldn’t even take a raisin from me.

That’s too bad-mine seem to love when I switch things up (I do it weekly on the big clean day)

How exactly do you determine that a bunny is fat?

It’s tricky-like generally with an animal you should be able to feel ribs easily and not see them (If you can see them they are too skinny) but with buns it’s harder.
Are their fat rolls-esp. under the chin and around the bum? Is your bun active? Plays a lot? Eats a good diet?
I think these questions are more important then what they look like.

ALSO and this may be me-but I prefer my pets to be between ‘idea’ and ‘heavy’ because I want them to have some fat reserves (firstly for fat soluble vitamins!) for pulling through an illness.

[Beka27]

Like everyone said… it’s important that you noticed! An adult one year old bun will require a different diet than a growing 6 month old bun. So what worked well 6 months ago might not be the best for them right now. It sounds like you’re doing well with the unlimited hay, cutting back on pellets is going to be your big step towards helping them slim up. What is their daily exercise schedule like? Increasing playtime (by a even just a half hour or so) during their MOST ACTIVE period (usually late evening) can also make a big difference in their exercise.

I would really try to do some veggies everyday. It doesn’t have to be the full, recommended “2 cups per bun per day” if you cannot afford it… If you could give them 2 cups to SHARE each day, that would make a big difference. It would give them something to look forward to (most buns get SO EXCITED for veggie time!) and they would depend less on pellets…

Also keep in mind that lops are going to look more round or bulldog-shaped than an uppy-eared rabbit, so if you’re used to sleeker looking “standard buns” they will look different.

[BinkyBunny]

I know here in California, there are some great farmer’s markets that I can get greens at half the price. I’m not sure how Conneticut fairs with this especially in the winter, (might not be year round like here) but if you have anything like that, it might save you some $$ on greens at least in the spring and summer months. I did find this link regarding Farmers Markets in your state – have no idea how reliable it is. http://www.farmersmarketonline.com/fm/Connecticut.htm

[Author]

Messages