• Forum/Server Upgrade If you are reading this you have made it to the upgraded forum. Posts made on the old forum after 26th October 2023 have not been transfered. Everything else should be here. If you find any issues please let us know.

Is obesity a form of cruelty?

Sooz

Wise Old Thumper
I was handed the mot overweight rabbit I have ever come across today, she should be a medium/large lop but she is about the size of a Frenchie :shock: and I sprained my wrist picking her up. The owner didnt even realise she was overweight....she just thought she was a large rabbit.

She finds it hard to get about and her claws were so overgrown we had to trim around 1.5-2cm off of them. She is worn out very quickly and cannot clean herself or eat her ceacal pellets.

In my opinion this is another form of neglect and amounts to the same level of cruelty as starving an animal. We have weeks of work in front of us now which could all have been avoided with a well-informed diet :evil:
 
I'd say it is, bunnies can only really eat what they're given so cannot get overweight on their own. I find this unacceptable and a definate form of abuse :evil:

Glad she's now with you, hopefully she can get well and back to a proper size and in good health.
 
yes it is..the worst case I've had here was Sian , a rex who was overweight and collapsed breathing heavily when she tried to move more than 2 steps..she lost her weight and is now living happily with another bun who passed through Honeybunnies:D
 
Yes, in my opinion it is. I am actually hoping to do a disertation on this very topic. I am hoping that someone gets prosecuted for child cruelty because of obesity within the next 12 months so I can do with a comparison piece between pets and children. I think it shows either a person has not seeked vetinary care for their pet for some time (animals don't become overweight over night) or they have not bothered to do anything about advice they have been given.

I know they are exceptions to the rule but did anyone ever watch that programme with the rottie dog?
 
My Biscuit is obese and I'll admit that it's my fault, but It was because I spoilt her. I'm used to having cats and when a cat's dish is empty it usually means they're hungry and I always thought it was the same with Bunnies.
But, with some advice from some of the lovely people on RU, she's on a strict diet and has started losing weight
 
It is taken seriously as a form of abuse, earlier in the year the RSPCA brought about the first successful prosecution against a pair with a lab so seriously obese it could no longer walk.
 
If they cant clean or groom themselves and get breathless i would say it was but most of this is done with love so its hard.When you take on any animal there health is top agenda including diet.
 
Yes, particularly when an owner has been told it's a problem and how to correct it but continues to ignore or worsen the issue. Obesity has so many complications from pressure sores, to fly strike, the extra pressure it put on organs/heart etc.

Tam
 
I think obesity is more a symptom of ignorance that leeds to indirect cruelty.
Some people can't take proper care of the diet and wellbeing of their own children, no wonder we see so many obese rabbits.
 
Yes it is a form of cruelty, as someone has mentioned about the lab it made me want to cry when i saw it on the news. I think the lab was actually given back to the men as well, i think it should have been taken off them :( Poor thing.
 
I feel it depends on the circumstances. If the bunny was confined to a hutch with no exercise to burn off the weight from being fed then yes, it is a form of cruelty. If the bun has been out for most of the day but having rich digestives for breakfast, a packet of yoghurt drops during the day etc etc then it is as Jill has said 'killing them with kindness' but the owner is unware of the damage it causes but they do love their pets, they just dont know their proper dietary requirements for size and we all know how good our pets are at begging;)
 
something else to look for too is that the rabbit may have an underlining cause for being fat like a tumour, or, some-one on here (sorry cannot remember who) had a bun with fatty deposits with led to obesity despite the bun being out all day, and then there is cushions disease which I would be interested to find out if buns can and do actually get this as this disease can produce a barrel of a pet as I saw it with my moms dog
 
Not tumatic believe me....she is big all over, (unless she is a tumour on 4 legs). Pippa was my obese bunny with the tumours but we picked up on those the day she arrived....the texture of the tissue is very different to that of fat in a tumatic growth.
 
I don't know if you remember I had JD i a few weeks ago, he was a barrel of a bunny. e had weird fatty deposits in his neck, he couldn't have a biopsy, because he was too large to survive a GA.

Anyway, I was trying to get some wierght off him and he took a turn for the worse, he was rushed to the emergency vets, but they were as good as usless. He died during the same night, the next morning my vets did a pm and I weas theer for it. He had a lot of fat in his liver, more than what a normal bun would have in the same cercumstances, theer was fat stuck to all his organs, it was quite gross. :cry:

It was thought that he must of had a metobolic disorder, the other bunny he came in with who ate the same as him, wasn't as big. Then he got fatty liver desease, so I just wanted to warn you.

Good luck and I send lots of slimming vibes. :D
 
I do think it is a form of cruelty I am not just saying this regarding a little bit of podginess as I think many of us are guilty of that however when it comes to an animals being obese as in VERRRY overweight I do think its cruel as animals will eat as much as you feed them.

When I see photos of my bunnies when I lived in my old house they were all so overweight compared to now and I feel awful when I see the photos :oops:

Also as Tree said knowing what happened to little JD it shows what the outcome of our animals being overweight can mean :cry:
 
well yes and no... i mean when my bun chelsea was un speyed she was very bony n we kept trying to feed her up a bit but to no avail vet said she must just have a sort of fast matabolism as she used to run and binky the garden all day... after her spey she started gettin a bit podgy (i guess hormone change) and as she gotten older she runs less and hops about slowly a bit more (is now nearly 10) so became a little overweight she has grass and garden plants and leaves access all day everyday pretty much... were quite ashamed when vet said she was gettin overwieght... so we cut down her dried food as this is basically a treat dish for her apart from in winter due to the outside forage she gets...she is now slimming down but just as happy i think with age buns get a bit tubbyer(as do i seem!! lol) but it is knowing when a bit of tubby gets to fat n the diet needs to begin. most owners dont intend to make their pets fat...and so if they are fat like someone said its due to extra love not anything else. so no i dont think its cruelty unless the owner is not prepared to help do something about it. then yes i guess sadly it is if it affects thier helath.
 
Of course it's cruelty. Animals don't know that they're going to get fed regularly and sufficiently so they'll just eat what you give them, by and large. As a result, if you overfeed them, they'll get obese, and that causes health problems - so it's cruelty.

AMETHYST
 
Back
Top