Rabbit gaining weight

[Vicky]

Hi, other bunnies

I would need an advice. My bunny is gaining weight but I haven’t changed anything in the diet. She still eats the same amount of pellets as she ate like two months ago. She was fine until now. I weighted her twice in a week and she is just gaining weight i don’t understand. We cut on treats, she started to have one cecotrope in the litter every evening. She still eats her hay as usual.

Is this normal? Should I be worried?

 

 

 

 

[DanaNM]

How old is she? And can you describe her full diet in detail?

 

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Vicky]

She just turned 1 year old a few days ago.

Okay so her diet, in the early morning she gets like 8 grams of pellets, later she gets a bowl with greens.

Throughout the day she doesnt get any pellets. She does get a vitamin for her imunity system which is like 5 little flower shaped pellets I don’t know how to explain that sorry. Sometimes we give her treat but as I said I don’t give her anything now.

In the evening she gets the other half of greens around 6pm and before I go to sleep I give her again pellets like 15 grams, I mean that’s not much of pellets for a day no? 🙁 Everyone gives more

 

Can the leafy green give her weight? Or?

 

We got through GI stasis once but we changed the diet completely since then. She ate too much pellets when she was younger.

[LBJ10]

It’s hard to know how much 15 grams of pellets is. Different types of pellets are going to weigh different amounts. But, from what I have found online, 1/4 cup of pellets is about 15g. If this is true, then yes, 15g may be too much.

What brand of pellets are you using?

[LBJ10]

OK, curiosity got the better of me. I weighed 1/8 of a cup of Oxbow pellets. It was about 20 grams.

I guess Google lied. LOL

[Vicky]

Well I have this one ” Supreme Science Selective Rabbit ” for adults. And there is written 60 grams for rabbit for a day and that is a bit too much haha 😅

[Wick & Fable]

Some data would be helpful, in terms of what weights you’re actually getting. Especially if not weighing at the same time of day/around same times relative to food presentation, the presence of food and poop in the GI system can actually impact weight a bit.

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[Vicky]

Well okay, I wrote her diet in other answer.

And I’m just worried I don’t know how much a bunny should weight. Mine weights around 2 kilos. (it is always like 2030grams, 2056grams) but now it keeps going up and up

I’m just scared because when she got GI STASIS she weighted 2175 grams and im scared when she reaches the weight she will be sick again. I don’t know if that’s stupid.

I checked her ribs, I can feel them but I don’t know if it’s good I have to gently push a little. The vet once said she should lose weight to like 1700grams but it is impossible for her. I would need to not give her anything and she would be very very skinny so I’m sure that was a little wrong of him. How much does your bunnies weight?

 

 

[Wick & Fable]

Vegetables are rarely a source of weight gain– they are essentially water.

Pellets are typically the most common culprit — if it is indeed close to 1/4 cup, that will be more than probably needed for most pellet brands. Definitely for Oxbow pellets. My 7lb (3.2kilo) rabbit gets a tablespoon of pellets (Selective Science brand), to give you an idea. When she was on Oxbow, she got a small handful, so probably around 1-2 tablespoons.

The following link may have really helpful insights and ways to think about weight management: https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Weight_management

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[Vicky]

I have these Supreme Science Selective Rabbit for adults. Until now we didn’t have problem with weight but suddenly now she is gaining it.

[Vicky]

Oh well your bunny only gets one tablespoon? When do you give it?

[Wick & Fable]

I give it in the morning by literally dumping it on the ground, haha. I give Fable (7lb) two tablespoons and then Wick (2lb) one:

As @DanaNM noted, rabbits out of their young growth period aren’t going to be converting as much of their intake to actually growing their body size, so weight gain with the same diet/quantities may not be unusual, especially paired with a more “chill” energy expenditure in terms of running around.

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[Vicky]

Aaah thank you for the picture !! I need to have a look at my measuring spoon.

Its weird because as I have seen in other bunnies I don’t give mine a lot at all and it still seems too much. Is it really like that, they should eat so so little pellets? Ugh

[DanaNM]

What types of veggies is she getting? And what is her activity level like? Also, is she still on alfalfa pellets?

If she is getting a ton of veggies, I have heard of buns gaining weight on veggies and hay alone, but at her age I don’t think you need to panic.

Since she just turned 1, her metabolic needs have dropped recently since she’s an adult now, and not a growing youngster. Bunnies of this age tend to fill out into their adult form after been lean teenagers.

I think cutting back her pellets to 1 tablespoon (and switching to a timothy pellet if you haven’t already) would be my first step. And encourage exercise and movement. You can even scatter feed and use food puzzles to make her “forage” for her food.

 

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Vicky]

We give her romaine lettuce, parsley, green lettuce, cilantro. That’s the main I give her. And how much of greens do you give your bunnies?

No no she is already few months on adult pellets, supreme science selective rabbit food.

Yeah well wer activity levels, haha, she is one lazy bunny. She just runs a little in the morning and evening. We try to play with her but she is really the kind of lazy bun haha.

I’m just worried as everywhere is written you should check the body by touch. But I’m not sure how it should feel like you know.

[Vicky]

And what could be the thing with the cecotrope? I just find one every evening and that’s it.

[DanaNM]

I usually go based off how their spine feels. You should be able to feel the bumps that are on the top of the vertebrae, but not edges of them, if that makes sense?

Since Science Selective is an extruded type pellet, it’s a little less dense and the weird shape might make it harder to measure out with a spoon. But I think you could prob cut her pellet ration in half and see how that goes.

I tend to give my buns about 1 big handful of greens total per day (prob about 1.5 cups), split into two feedings. I used to give a lot more, but I’ve recently cut back a bit and they are all doing great (hay consumption is good and have had less gassy episodes).

 

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Vicky]

If you touch the spine? Do you press it just gently or harder? Sorry it it’s a weird question but I think this is the main thing that’s confusing me. If I should just pat it or literally press it to try to feel.

Yep, i give her a little less now and I will weight her in a week. It’s just as she really looooves her pellets and begs for them all the time it’s horrible. But it’s weird because I really don’t think she eats many of them as I have seen how many other people give.

About the lettuce I don’t even know how much I give her. It’s hard for me to measure in cups as I always measure by grams. We don’t have cups here.

 

 

[Vicky]

I just Googled and maybe 1,5 cup is like 110 grams of lettuce. Can this be right? 🤔

[DanaNM]

As far as how to touch the spine, I just feel for it when I pet them, maybe a small amount of pressure but not much. If you have to push to feel it, then they are over weight, but if you feel it really really easily (and it feels more sharp), they are underweight. I have to balance this all the time because I have a younger bun that is a meat bread (so she tends to put on weight easily) bonded to a senior bun who has a tendency to be more underweight!

Bunnies differ in their metabolisms, just like humans, and most of them act starving for pellets when they are getting the right amount! Pellets are very energy-dense, so they are sort of like candy to bunnies.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Vicky]

Oh yes i always try to feel the spine she is just a ball of fluff so she has quite a thick fur so I have to push more.

Yes she acts like she is STARVING and stands on her back feet to beg for the pellets even start to chew her like iron fence so it makes noise, so I would give her 🙄

[Azerane]

Given that she has recently turned 1, weight gain is not entirely surprising if you’re feeding the same amount as you were a few months ago. At a year old most rabbits have stopped growing so they don’t need quite as much food as before. The easiest thing to do is to reduce the amount of pellets you give, it doesn’t sound like you’re giving much so just halve the amount and see how you go. Otherwise if you’re feeding a variety of leafy greens every day, pellets can be an every other day food.

[Vicky]

Thank you. And how often do you give treats to the bunny? Is it a everyday thing? I have seen many owners do that

[Azerane]

My girl Luna gets 1 treat every day (1 slice of dried strawberry) when she has her medication at night. Apollo is a little overweight so I might only give him one once a week. You can use pellets as treats too.

[Vicky]

Thank you ! ❤️

[Wick & Fable]

Re: veggie amount, I would not be too concerned about weighing/measuring that– it is very hard for a rabbit to gain weight through veggie eating. I would put your focus on the pellets as discussed, as veggies shouldn’t make a significant different in weight gain/loss.

Re: the cecotrope, a left over occasionally can be perfectly natural. It could also be a sign that indeed she is getting too many pellets and so she doesn’t need all the nutrients from cecos (excess cecos are common in baby-young rabbits because of their nutrient dense diets).

Re: pellet amount, yes, just that small is enough! Pellets are manufactured and very effective as dense, nutrient vehicles to fill in the gaps of a rabbit’s diet, even in small quantities.

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[Vicky]

Thank you!! Your answer has really helped ❤️ i will try

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