Yummiest foods

[mia]

**Please understand this is for medical end of life comfort **

I know everybun is different but what are some yummiest foods/treats *regardless of health implications*, though hopefully not make stasis worse as bun is persistently near stasis but runny/soft poo is better than opposite. Need easily obtainable/online (US) as I’m housebound myself. My buns have always gotten very limited, very healthy treats so I’m not familiar with much.

Bun will not eat hay any more, except alfalfa . He does eat Grandpa’s Best’s Nibblers which looks like it has small strands of Timothy hay so I have timothy cubes coming in to see if he’ll go for that. Currently planning on unlimited alfalfa, mushed pellets, and CC. Some oats, herbal supplement, baby food pouches. He still eats veges.

[Bam]

I think you’ve covered most of what I would’ve suggested. Perhaps try small amounts of sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds or flaked almonds. I gave my longterm poorly bun some grated carrot daily, which he liked a lot (he couldn’t chew very well).

[mia]

Thank you, I’ll get some seeds. Carrot are already part of vege diet as I love carrots as much as buns 😀 .

[Bam]

Seeds have lots of calories, plus some essential fatty acids that are beneficial for the brain as well as the rest of the body. Fingers so very crossed!! 🤞

[DanaNM]

My senior bun LOVED Emeraid recover food (the Herbivore Sustain version) when he was nearing the end of his life. I’m certain that it gave us at least 5 more months with him as he had stopped eating hay due to advanced arthritis. He hated critical care, so if you bun is not super into pellet mush or CC, you could try Emeraid.

. . . 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.  

[mia]

So I gave him more alfalfa (was building up to unlimited), sprinkled/mixed in soft orchard. He picks out all the alfalfa, pushes all the orchard away, and then ignores his CC / mashed pellets (which includes some junior pellets). He will eat the mush fine but reluctantly… hoping for more alfalfa and when he can’t hold out, then eats it. I even tried putting the mush on celery and he pushed it/shaked it off. He picked off the oat and pumpkin seeds off the top of the mush.

What about Sherwood Appetite Restore? Is that different from CC and Sustain / would that help?

Oh, how much seeds is appropriate in this situation (assuming everything else remains stable)? Is there such thing as too much? He is super duper skinny (dry megacolon-like + other issues).

 

My brain keeps yelling – noooo, this is so unhealthy!

[DanaNM]

Sherwood appetite restore is more like bunny “Gatorade”, so I don’t think that would be appropriate in this situation, but you could certainly try it.

Also, just to be sure, what type of medical issues is your bun having? It sounds like he is on palliative care, is he on pain management? Have his teeth been checked? There are also some pellet brands that are formulated to be free-fed, including alfalfa based ones from Sherwood, so those could be something to try as well.

Emeraid sustain is comprable to CC, it’s just a different brand. It’s formulated to be a complete food that can be fed long term for buns that are chronically ill, old, or recovering from illness or surgery. My bun hated critical care as well as the sherwood brand recovery food, but he LOVED Emeraid. I think they sell sample sizes so it might be worth a try.

That same bun also liked oat hay so you might try that as well.

Is your vet knowledgeable on Megacolon? Megacolon buns have a different set of nutritional needs, so they can be a bit different. I do think there is such a thing as too many seeds. I’m not sure exactly how many but usually around a tablespoon of oats and/or a teaspoon of sunflower seeds is appropriate. It would be better to try to put weight on using a product such as CC or Emeraid.

. . . 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.  

[mia]

Yes, I plan on trying Oat too. I see BB had Wheat too. What’s wheat like? I was thinking before he’d prefer softer but he crunches on extremely hard cookie…

HMM, I may be feeding too much oat and seeds… On the other hand, his poops actually look pretty good compared to before.

Our vets are very savy but I’ve never bothered asking about day-to-day nutrition as no one knows what’s wrong; early on when the situation looked smaller/perhaps just old age, it was just to add junior pellets. It’s been 2+ yrs with almost a visit every month for various reasons and problem has exploded with 4 emergency visits past month. Last visit, i threw in the option of putting him down due to his condition. He is very active when not in crisis though. We decided to try a bigger list which is 10 meds/therapies.

He not true megacolon but we’ve crossed out or treating all the possibilities.

New symptom just popped up… 😥

[DanaNM]

If his poops are looking good then I think you are doing OK with the seeds/oats.

. . . 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.  

[Bam]

Seeds and grains are unhealthy for healthy rabbits because healthy rabbits are prone to weight gain, and filling up on high calorie low fiber food can interfere with hay consumption. Buns are highly selective eaters and will go for the richest food available.

For a poorly elderly bun that has difficulty keeping weight on, the situation is different though.

As for seeds, I’d say a few seeds. Not over 10 per day, less for starters. That would be a safe amount.

[BZOO]

Some nummy treats are Science Select Loops and Natures Salad.

Both available through Chewy.

[mia]

Ugh, he refuses timothy cubes. I even tried “withholding” a little but he’d rather starve than touch cube or straight hay. Everyday I even dump his hay over to his friends to give him fresh ones but nope…

I have Loops coming in; someone told me a medical bun lived solely on Loops for a few months.

I’ll check out the Salad.

[Bam]

The loops are good, the sticks are even higher in fiber. Buns seem to like them a lot (mine do). Bit pricey though if they’re not given as treats only.

[LBJ10]

Treat-wise, my bunny will not touch timothy hay cubes. He turns his nose up at them, but he never seemed to care for timothy hay in general (he likes orchard the best). If I give him an alfalfa/oat hay cube though, he will go bonkers.

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