Help! Underweight rabbit needs to gain.

[MK]

Hello all,

As some of you might already know, I was having problems with one bunny getting all the food. I am quite worried about the one that isn’t getting as much. I was just visiting them yesterday, and I could feel that she was skinny. Is this a good plan to help her gain weight? 

Give her about a quarter cup of Angel’s Much (basically homemade critical care) every day

Feed her more veggies

Give her a tablespoon of oats a week

[Bam]

Would you share the recipy for Angel’s Munch?

Veggies don’t really make bunnies fat. I’d up the pellets, if you’ve a quality brand that she likes.

If she’s not keen on pellets, a classic for keeping good weight on outdoors-bunnies is sunflower-seeds. They’re really rich though and may be hard on the tummy, so you should introduce them slowly.

I personally don’t believe in oats or other grain for bunnies, but it is also commonly used to keep them in good weight over winter.

[MK]

The recipe is:

1 cup of either oat or barley flour
4 cups timothy pellets (i.e. high-fiber)
5 cups water

Mix together the flour and pellets. Add the water and let the mixture stand an hour or so until the pellets have dissolved.

Then add:
1 – 8oz. can vanilla Ensure or Deliver 2.0 (or it’s equivalent)
1 – 28oz. or 32oz. can pumpkin (NOT pie mix)
1 – 12oz. can V-8 juice

Mix together, adding additional water if needed. We keep it fairly dry for bunns eating it on their own and fairly soft for syringe feeding. Store small amounts in baggies and freeze. Thaw as needed.

I got it from the Colorado HRS page

[Sarita]

Can they be separated for meal times? I’m sure that mush stuff is probably fine however if they are both housed together how will you know the other rabbit is not eating the mush?

[BlueMoods]

You need to separate them and let the skinny one have more pellets, that will do more than anything else to help. I know you may not want to separate them but, it sounds like if you don’t you will be slowly starving one to death and, you don’t want to do that. It might be a hassle and, extra work but, for the health of the rabbit, you need to feed them separately.

I didn’t check but I believe Insure contains milk and, that is NOT good for rabbits, I’d rethink that mix to get the milk out of it.

[MK]

OK. So I tried (unsuccessfully) to give her some Mush. When I gave them their pellets together, she was right by Coco, and I even caught her herding him away. I am going to talk to the manager of the shelter I volunteer at tomorrow (7:00 am) She takes care of all the minor medical emergencies at the shelter, and rehabilitates rabbits. She has had experience with underweight buns before so I hope she can help.

I was a little more worried today however, as Ginger (skinny one) seemed a little less hyper than before. I don’t know if she is maturing, or if she is tired from lack of food. I’ll update tomorrow.

[MK]

OK, I have been trying to give Ginger more food, so I think that she should be fine. Thanks all for your amazing replies!

[manic_muncher]

Just wondering how Ginger is doing now?

[MK]

She is still not eating well, so she is getting checked up on Monday. She may have a spur on her tooth that is bothering her (that’s one of my thoughts)
Thanks for asking!
I’ll update as soon as we get back on Monday.

[MK]

Update! Ok, so it turns out Ginger had some gas bothering her, so she had pain meds and reglin, thank goodness it was nothing serious!

[manic_muncher]

So she’s feeling better? Has her eating improved?

[MK]

She seems to be feeling better, and has been more active but it has only been a day, and she is on the meds for a week. She was pretty hungry this evening, so I hope for the best! I’ll keep updating until next Monday.

[Deleted User]

Do you live in the cold part of the world? I only ask this because my suggestion is gonna sound stupid if you do, but what the hec, that hasn’t stopped me before, lol! If you live in the warmer part of the world where banana’s grow – banana leaf is a great natural ‘fat’ food. It isn’t good for bunnies (not many nutrients), but it’s not bad either and I was told it’s ok for bun’s, if anything it is good for fattening them up (filler food). Sadly I know this cause my hubby was from Spain and it was a basic food for their rabbit’s. We have a banana tree growing in our yard (Australia), and Henry LOVES the leaves, but because it is fattening, he only gets a bit once/twice a week as a treat. Oh, and I had this confirmed (don’t tell my hubby that I didn’t believe him) by a fellow BBer (who researched the topic). I’m sure this is no help to you MK, sorry! But on the slight chance……
Wishing Ginger good health. Cheers MK.

[MK]

Thanks AndHenry! I can get her a few banana leaves, cuz we have a Hispanic food market that we go to all the time. Thanks for the idea definitely not giving any to her companon though…since she’s been sick he has gotten so fat! Haha, he’s like a little fluffy brown cotton ball!

[Ouisie]

I’ve heard that plain oats are calorific and good for buns who need to put on weight. And they LOVE oats. My buns get them as an ocassional treat. Alfalfa hay is also good for young rabbits but not recommended for older rabbits as it can cause obesity, maybe this might be an idea for a skinny bun too?

[MK]

Thanks! 

Ginger is improving. She is eating more and is already more active! However, since she does still need to put on weight, I will definitely be trying to give her some oats and things until she gets her weight back.

[Author]

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