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Bromelain tablets - info I have learned

W

Wizbit

Alpha Buck
Hiya :wave:

I just thought I would pass on to everyone something my vet told me about bromelain tablets.

She was all for giving some kind of pineapple extract to the buns regularly, but her only worry with the bromelain tablets is the fact that they also have dicalcium phosphate in them and also other bulking agents.

She was concerned that if given regularly the calcium could cause other problems such as bladder sludge or kidney stones. She suggested giving the dried pineapple and papaya instead.

Just a word of warning for everyone.

:D
 
Wizbit said:
Hiya :wave:

I just thought I would pass on to everyone something my vet told me about bromelain tablets.

She was all for giving some kind of pineapple extract to the buns regularly, but her only worry with the bromelain tablets is the fact that they also have dicalcium phosphate in them and also other bulking agents.

She was concerned that if given regularly the calcium could cause other problems such as bladder sludge or kidney stones. She suggested giving the dried pineapple and papaya instead.

Just a word of warning for everyone.

:D
Click to expand...

That's quite interesting because I always give my two bromelain and papain tablets.

My worry would be with dried pineapple is that it may not contain enough of the good stuff and would it be too sugary and cause other problems.

I don't know, looking after rabbits is never easy.
 
FriskyClover said:
That's quite interesting because I always give my two bromelain and papain tablets.

My worry would be with dried pineapple is that it may not contain enough of the good stuff and would it be too sugary and cause other problems.

I don't know, looking after rabbits is never easy.
Click to expand...

as far as i knnow the pinapple has to be fresh otherwise the rbomaline is not active in it?
 
I learnt on another thread on here that you can get chewable papaya enzyme tablets from Holland and Barrett and you just grind one in a pestle and mortar and sprinkle on their food! This is what I'm going to do for Josie, I also give her a small piece of fresh pineapple occasionally!

Your vets right about the Bromelain tablets too! x
 
I've just looked on H&B's website, and they don't seem to sell the chewable bromelain anymore. They do a chewable papaya enzyme tablet and yes, it does have calcium in (as well as lots of sugar):

Ingredients: Sucrose, Calcium
Carbonate, Anti-Caking Agents
(Stearic Acid, Magnesium Stearate),
Papain, Corn Starch, Flavouring,
Protease, Alpha Amylase, Papaya
Fruit.

Personally I prefer the Oxbow papaya tablets. Will look up the ingredients when I'm downstairs.
 
Last edited:
bunlover said:
as far as i knnow the pinapple has to be fresh otherwise the rbomaline is not active in it?
Click to expand...

Correct. Any processing of pineapple destroys the bromelain enzyme which is what is *thought* to aid in the breakdown of gastric mucus which binds hair together in to trichobezoars.

Dried pineapple is usually given as a treat and for no other reason. Personally it's too sugary for my liking.
 
I've got mixed views on it, as I've found the Oxbow tablets to help with reducing the stringy poos (ie to say it doesn't work at all for me just isn't correct - I may not have any scientific evidence but the proof is in the lack of stringy poos). But I've also found that Dusty is far better off without them - her gut is far too sensitive for them.
 
It's so difficult to know what to do isn't it. my Bertie is so prone to gut stasis that I wondered if the bromelain might help. my vet said that she always tells people to give pineapple juice to buns to help break down the fur in their gut.

I said I had the same worry about the dried pineapple having a lot of sugar and she said that it's catch 22 really whether to give the dried pineapple in case it helps prevent the fur build up or not to give it because of the sugar.

I am very interested in what everyone else does though.
 
Wizbit said:
It's so difficult to know what to do isn't it. my Bertie is so prone to gut stasis that I wondered if the bromelain might help. my vet said that she always tells people to give pineapple juice to buns to help break down the fur in their gut.

I said I had the same worry about the dried pineapple having a lot of sugar and she said that it's catch 22 really whether to give the dried pineapple in case it helps prevent the fur build up or not to give it because of the sugar.

I am very interested in what everyone else does though.
Click to expand...

Why don't you give them a little fresh pineapple instead? The bromelain will still be active and it's no where near as concentrated in sugar as the dried stuff which has 'dead' enzyme in it anyway....so useless for potential fur build up. It also has a fair bit of fiber in it :)
 
One word of advice is dont give too much pineapple because it can give them the runs. Plus anything high in sugar can in itself cause gut stasis
 
to be safe just small amounts of fresh pinapple.. buy one and cut it up yourself and if its kept in the fridge should be ok..you could always chop up the whole thing and freexe the parts i wonder if its frozen if when defrosted it would kill the enzyme though? hmmm
 
:roll: Bunnies...so hard to get a balance.

I was giving them bromelain instead of as much fresh pineapple ( squeeze the pineapple and give them the juice) as my vet said too much could cause them to put on more weight and could contribute to diabetes if they had too much.

Now I don't know what to do.:?
 
bunlover said:
to be safe just small amounts of fresh pinapple.. buy one and cut it up yourself and if its kept in the fridge should be ok..you could always chop up the whole thing and freexe the parts i wonder if its frozen if when defrosted it would kill the enzyme though? hmmm
Click to expand...

You can't freeze it.

TBH I really don't feel, unless you have had previous issue's with stasis related fur build up, there is any need to give an enzymatic supplement. None of my 6 have ever had pineapple, bromelain or papayazyme and have never had GI motility related problems.
 
I think that I am going to start giving a little fresh pineapple a couple of times a week. It will be good for me to have more fruit anyway!! Thanks for all the replies, it's really interesting to see peoples thoughts. Hope that my original post has been useful to people. :D
 
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