Underweight, Ideal or Overweight

[SirThumpsey]

I had been thinking about this recently because my sister (14) thinks that my dog is “fat.” If anything he could probably stand to gain a pound or two.

Anyway, to get to my point…There are charts for dogs and cats to tell you if they need to eat more or go on a diet. I have been looking (maybe I’ve been looking in the wrong places) and I can’t seem to find one.

I was sure Halo was a little overweight. I was also certain Bunnie ( <33 ) was overweight too. Halo's vet said she was fine. Bunnie never made it to the vet but she may have been fine too. I'm starting to think that maybe Sir Thumps might need to gain weight. He has grown a bit since his last vet visit (length wise) So I'm sure he probably might need to gain some.

I wanted to get this discussion started on what a healthy weight looked like in rabbits. Wild rabbits often look very different (somehow skinnier, more muscular) than domesticated rabbits. Some of the domesticated breeds have rounder back ends, I’ve noticed. That probably has a lot to do with it.

I guess I could ask my vet about this but I think it would be a good idea to have something on here about it that everyone can pitch in on.

So feel free to pitch in any thoughts you may have on what a well-fed healthy rabbit should look like.

Thanks All!

[Deleted User]

It is tougher to tell with rabbits. With a dog, no matter what breed, you can check how easily the ribs can be felt, or once a dog is rather fat, there will be ‘meat’ around the base of the tail… but with rabbits, especially those of unknown breed it’s not as clear. You should be able to feel their bones through the coat. When I got Deirdra I thought she was chubby but she wasn’t. As a flemmie mix female her rolls of skin are characteristic. Mops, too, sometimes appears fat, but he’s part lop and they’re built very compact… I actually have one rabbit here where I know he’s underweight. Clifford, Holland Lop, though not obvious from photos, is very skinny. If it wasn’t for his fluffy coat his bones would be sticking out. There is no fat on him whatsoever. I can feel bones on him that I can’t feel on any other rabbit here.

I think you really need to feel them over looking for fat; fat feels very different from loose skin that still allows you to feel bone tips.

[Barbie]

This was from Jerseygirl in another thread. I found it helpful:

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! Astrid M. Kruse, DVM

Full article:www.rabbitnetwork.org/articles/obese.shtml

[MooBunnay]

For my bunnies, I usually look at their overall shape, and see if I can see a defined shoulder and hip line. Obviously, in some positions they look like a big ball, but usually if they are just sitting normally, or laying down, I can see that they have a defined shoulder line and hip line, and it isn’t just one long line.

When bunnies are WAY to overweight, they will usually leave a lot of excess cecals on the floor of their cage because they can’t reach them to eat them, but I think by that point you would definitely know they are overweight

[MooBunnay]

I couldn’t find a good example of what I meant – but here is kind of what I mean, in this picture of Bean you can see how her hip line and shoulder line are defined, and her tummy goes kind of “in” before you get to her hips

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[Beka27]

The vet will examine the bunny at the initial exam and he/she will be able to give you a good idea if your bun is on track. Vets will also track the weight in the bun’s chart so if there are any drastic increases/decreases, they can address it.

Weight and build is very individual to a bunny’s breed/age, some are more stocky/compact/round like lops… some are more lean and muscular looking like many uppy-eared buns. Fur length and density is going to effect how you “see” a bun… so feeling with your hands is very important.

Your best defense against a bun being under or overweight is to provide the right diet and exercise CONSISTENTLY. If there is a surefire schedule that your bun can count on, they will be less likely to overeat b/c they know what to expect each and every day. Exercise is also very important. Give the bun things to run thru, boxes or platforms to jump up onto, make eating into a “game” by spreading the food around and allowing them to forage. Toys will keep the bunny’s mind sharp and provide them with something to do besides eat.

There are “breed standards” that list weight ranges, but I think these need to be taken with a grain of salt… not all buns are purebred, even ones that are “advertised” as purebred may have another breed somewhere further down the line. Each rabbit is an individual and their body/build needs to be evaluated separately.

[SirThumpsey]

I think the reason Sir Thumps has been looking smaller waist wise is because of his shedding. His hair is a lot shorter because it’s still growing back in.

He is a Holland Lop and at his last checkup he weighed 4.6lbs. which from what I can tell is about average. If you consider show Holland Lops, I think I read somewhere that anything over 4lbs was overweight for the breed.

Sometimes the way he sits, it looks as though his hips stick out but not all of the hair on his hip area has been shedded. The poofy hair makes it look bigger.

Beka27- Thank you for bringing up the idea of fur changing how you see a bun. I hadn’t thought about his strange shedding problem making him look skinny. Sometimes, I forget to think about certain circumstances affecting the way he looks.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Chuck is a little overweight and he has a little fat skirt. (vet does not think this is a concern). I will say that in my opinion I do want my pets to have a *little* extra weight-especially my buns-I just think it’s a little easier if they do get sick, to have that extra weight. If they are ideal or under, then a small weight loss can be a big loss. IMHO though But pet obeisity is just as bad as it is for people so you don’t want to go too far in that direction either

And too true about the shed, my lionhead has shedded almost all her wool in the past few days and compared to normal she looks anorexic!!!

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