Harvey weight loss

[Sofia]

I’m at a bit of a loss right now, bb is always a good place to turn to so I’ll give it a go

I’m not exactly sure when Harvey lost his weight, but it was a week or two after he came to us. I contacted his previous owners (the rescue) and it turns out that it was a simple misunderstanding, the food he was getting once a day, he was meant to be getting TWICE a day. So I made the changes but a month later he is still scarily skinny. His weight is also very inconsistent, he might gain 100g one day, and lose all of it the next day. It’s just been going up and down for almost a month. I need to make it clear that throughout all this he is eating well, pooping.. ok (there’s some cecotropes every now and then), and is bouncing off the walls all the time, very active, very curious.

 I have tried everything I can think of. He already gets quite a lot of pellets but if I raise the amount then there’s just cecotropes everywhere. Also, our pellets had more protein than the ones he was getting before, but I thought they were the same (long story) so he’s already getting more protein in the pellets. I tried giving him sunflower seeds, he ate one and decided he didn’t like them, then refused to eat any more. I’ve gone to a couple of my local pet stores looking for alfalfa, apparently the only place I could get alfalfa is in huge bales from the countryside ages away. 

Right now his diet consists of : 

In the morning : a quarter of an apple, 3 or 4 slices of carrot, and 1/8 of a cup of pellets. 

In the evening: a quarter of an apple, 3 or 4 slices of carrot, a small slice of cabbage and 1/8 of a cup of pellets

Hear me out, obviously I know that he should NOT be getting these amounts of carrot and apple every day. But that was his diet before he came here, and in the process of changing his diet to leafy greens, that’s when he lost weight and I was recommended to stay on his old diet until he got the weight back. Still, I find it strange that he’s getting huge amounts of sugar everyday and he is still not gaining weight.

Any ideas?

[Asriel and Bombur]

The excess amounts of sugar are probably what’s causing the excess cecals. I’m concerned why a rescue gave him that in the first place *sigh*. I forget how old Harvey is, so please refresh my memory. You could try alfalfa pellets and critical care. I know when Wick was trying to gain weight they gave him critical care to supplement. It could be worth ago, and without all that extra sugar. Honestly, though, a half an apple a day? I’m surprised he hasn’t had tummy issues. I know it’s not your fault but it just amazes me.

[Tony's Mum]

I adopted Mellie from the same rescue and I remember being pretty surprised at the amount of carrot and apple they gave. I can only assume it’s a financial issue. I would make sure you’re weighing the pellets because it’s easy to get them wrong if you’re eyeballing it, that’s how Mellie got so chunky ?

[sarahthegemini]

You need to really find out if there’s an underlying cause of his weight loss but in the mean time I would stop the apple and carrots and instead use critical care as a supplement to boost his weight. It’s a much healthier way for him to gain weight

[MintJulep]

When I adopted my Julep from the rescue she was almost a full pound underweight. I started feeding her rolled oats to supplement her diet and help boost her weight. I still give them to her now because she doesn’t like to eat much and if I stop the oats her weight drops. Silly bunny… Anyways oats are a good and very cheap way to help increase weight. I would suggest starting with just a small amount so you don’t upset any tummies.

[Sofia]

I forgot to mention that his owners (before the rescue) fed him very very poorly. I was told he was kept in a box and was fed literally mud. Because of this his tummy is especially sensitive, so if he’s already switching pellets soon I think that changing veg as well will be a bit much.
I know that it isn’t good for him but at the rescue he was eating Apple and carrot for a while and he was ok.
For now every morning and evening he’s getting exactly 12/13g of pellets and the veg has stayed the same. I’ve ordered the other pellets and critical care, which should come in a few days.

[Tony's Mum]

Oats are a good idea. I would recommend changing the veg but I do think you’re right to do one thing at a time, especially if he has a sensitive tummy. I know you had issues with stasis at the beginning too, so I would take it slowly.

[Sofia]

A&B- sorry only seeing your question now. We really don’t know for sure but were guessing around one years old.
Good news! I weighed him yesterday and he was 1280g which was a big increase. Normally he would have lost it all again today, but I’ve weighed him just now and he’s 1330!
I’ve kept the veg the same, I’ve increased the pellets to 25g a day. So 12g in the morning and 13g in the evening. I will continue to increase this until we get to around 35g a day.
Also today I bought the adult pellets, so I mixed 2 or 3g in with the junior pellets (the ones he was getting) this evening. I want to switch him over to the adult ones asap so Ill slowly transition him over.

[Sofia]

I didn’t weigh him yesterday but tonight he was just around 1300g. I guess in some way it’s progress?

[sarahthegemini]

I really wouldn’t bother weighing him daily. There’s going to be some fluctuation and you’re just going to end up panicking and obsessing (I know I would!) Why not try weighing him weekly to begin with? Or fortnightly?

[Sofia]

You’re probably right ? I think every week is a bit too much but every second day I could go with

[Sofia]

Just an update. He’s now completely weaned onto the new pellets and he’s getting 35g a day. Along with the same quantities of apple and carrot as before with a tiny bit of cabbage.

I ended up simply forgetting to weigh him, so I was weighing him every week or so. He was doing amazing! Consistently gaining weight with minimal drops.

He’s now 1400g. He feels much healthier and his stomach feels full, he’s not nearly as bony as he was before. I can tell that he’s still the tiniest bit underweight, but only a bit. I’d say his healthy weight is 1450g (which is strange, since Boos healthy weights is 1400g and she’s a bigger bun than he is).

He’s still pooping cecotropes, but a lot less than before, I’m not exactly sure what is causing the cecotropes. Should I just slowly switch him to his new diet and see what happens then?

I’m planning to now wean him off the carrot and apple and onto leafy greens. And reduce the amount of pellets he’s eating. He’s getting nearly 4 times as much that Boo gets in a day. Boo does get very little, 10g (1/8 of a cup) but it still feels a bit much with his small little body.

Do you think he’s ready to switch to greens? And any suggestions/ideas for the cecotropes would be appreciated

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