High Metabolism? Too thin?

[HitchcockDT]

Hitchy, my 2 year old Holland Lop doe is, according to my vet, is “on the leaner side”. The first time that she mentioned this to me, I gave her a bit more grain because she wasn’t really on much. She’s approximately 3lbs. She currently gets 1/4 cup of Dumor Classic Diet Rabbit pellets, about 2 cups of veggies (a mix of kale, lettuces, cilantro, whatever looks decent at the store and is bunny friendly that day), and free-choice hay. My vet says she’s still on the leaner side, and she seems harder to put weight on than the other two rabbits. My vet doesn’t think that I should give her any more grain.

 Is it possible that she has a higher metabolism than my other two? Should I worry that she’s considered on the leaner side of the scale? Is there anything I can do to bring up her weight slightly without turning her into a fat bunny? 

[LBJ10]

Is she really thin or just small. Hollands typically do not exceed 4lbs, but there are bigger and smaller individuals.

There isn’t a lot of information out there about DuMour, but I remember it coming up on here in the past and we determined that is wasn’t a good food. What does it have in it?
And I agree with the vet, grains really aren’t good for bunnies. People use them to add weight because they are fattening. Hmm, the only other thing I can think of is did the vet check to make sure she doesn’t have any parasites?

[HitchcockDT]

Well, I have two other Hollands (one is just under 3lbs and the other is about 4.5 lbs) and Hitchy is in between, but I can feel her ribs and spine more easily than the other two, even though they have similar diets. My vet wasn’t too concerned by her weight, but she did comment that she was on the leaner side. The vet wasn’t convinced that it was parasites since she wasn’t showing any other symptoms other than she could pick up a little weight. The vet wondered if for whatever reason, Hitchy had a slightly high metabolism than my other two, but she couldn’t find any documentation of that for me. 

 As for the grain, I couldn’t find any documentation online about the nutrition in DuMor Classic Diet rabbit pellets, which, now that I think about it, is kind of strange…. I already threw out the bag that the grain comes in, but when I go to the store I’ll look at one of the bags. I have considered changing their grain before (since I have heard that DuMor isn’t the most stellar), but that’s all that’s readily available in my area without having to travel an hour or an hour and a half. I did find this (Kaytee rabbit food) at Petco, but I don’t know if it’s any better. I’ve heard good things about Oxbow pellets, but I’m not really sure where to buy that around here.

I wonder if it would be as simple as switching her food out for something higher in quality.

[LBJ10]

Kaytee Timothy Complete is okay. When looking for a good pellet, you want to make sure it is timothy-based and it doesn’t have dried fruits, nuts, seeds, colored pieces, etc. We do like Oxbow here, but I know it can be hard for some people to find. Look for something with a nutritional analysis that is close to these recommendations:

Recommended Nutritional Value
Fiber 18% minimum (20 -25% best)
Fat 1 – 2% max
Protein 12 – 14% max (long-haired breeds may need higher)
Calcium 1% max

As for her being thinner, it actually could be the food. Way back when I had chinchillas, my boy was a skinny little thing. We were given these cheaper pellets that they had been fed since they were babies. They both ate it fine, but my boy always seemed thin. We decided to switch to a better pellet and he started putting on weight. So in a way, it could be your bunny’s metabolism and her body just isn’t able to process the food the say way as your other two.

Are they all together? Could the others be hogging the food? I always have to watch Leopold and Wooly because Leopold is a piggy and he will eat everything is given the chance.

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