Can a veg based diet ever be good?

I am concerned about Cherry Blossom's diet.

She is a dental bun (back teeth) and refuses to eat hay. The vet recommended building her up and then taking veg and pellets away. But I can't see Cherry agreeing to that.

She is going through lots of veg, like handfuls and handfuls of it a day. Like normal buns go through hay.

What I am concerned about is if this is a good long term diet. Daily, it is based on Spring greens and rocket (vet said dandelions and grass, but it is scarse around here) then I will add what ever is on offer, spinach/rocket/watercress mix, carrots, apple, swede, turnip. She is also getting pellets and porridge oats (only every other day, as someone said it wasn't particularly good for their guts).

I would say if you can get to to eat as much grass as she would hay then it would be fine as hay is just a grass alternative anyway :wave:

With severe dental buns, I think it's just best to feed them whatever they'll eat, otherwise they can lose weight

I agree with Abbymarysmokey.

My dental bun wouldn't eat hay because it was painful to drink water. He had to get all his water from his food - like wild buns.
Because the problem has been so long standing, he had to learn to drink water. As soon as he could do that he immediately ate hay (bone dry).

For the last 4 years I supplied the necessary fiber from tree leaves, twigs herbs & weeds.
If you've got a balanced diet that works, I advise you to stick to it.

Grasses and leafy greens are better than root veg (long term). If she will eat grass but won't eat hay then ideally you need to work out a supply of grass to replace the hay portion of the diet. Green are good in terms of fibre and vitamins but they don't replace all the fibre found in grass and don't create the same wearing action on teeth.

I would try freecycle (or similar) and see if you can find someone with a lawn that needs regularly cutting if you don't have one of your own. I would also suggest a window box of grass on each window if you don't have outside space.

If you haven't already you could also try some of the hay alternatives like readigrass.

Hiding the pellets/geens in the hay is also a good way to encourage eating.

Tamsin

Tamsin said:

Grasses and leafy greens are better than root veg (long term). If she will eat grass but won't eat hay then ideally you need to work out a supply of grass to replace the hay portion of the diet. Green are good in terms of fibre and vitamins but they don't replace all the fibre found in grass and don't create the same wearing action on teeth.

I would try freecycle (or similar) and see if you can find someone with a lawn that needs regularly cutting if you don't have one of your own. I would also suggest a window box of grass on each window if you don't have outside space.

If you haven't already you could also try some of the hay alternatives like readigrass.

Hiding the pellets/geens in the hay is also a good way to encourage eating.

Tamsin

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Tried these, along with spraying it with apple juice and just about everything else I have found on the site, and web as ways of encouraging hay eating.

With the above two, I do get accidental hay eating, but she doesn't actively look for tasty hay. Although she seems to enjoy 'rearranging' it like other bunnies do when looking for tasty bit of hay.

In some ways I would sort of go along with what your vet says...

Even if she is on a veg only diet she really dosn't need to be eating more that about a small cereal bowl of veg a day & definately not handfuls... try and mix it in with the hay in the rack and make her work for it. She shouldn't have swede or much carrot (about 1 inch max) and no oats at all. Try switching on to the lower calorie veg like herbs, celery and raddish rather than root veg. Celery is especially good as it is quite stringy, herbs like parsley and thyme will enourage her to look at long thin strands (like grass and hay) as food. She will (assuming that her teeth have been seen to and she is not in pain) only start to eat hay/hay substitutes if she is hungry. As people have said readigrass and or misting with apple juice or grated carrots are all ways to help her make that transition.You can grow grass for her in pots, just use normal grass seed and let it grow to a certain length before trimming it and mixing in with normal hay.

See how she goes for two weeks keeping an eye on her weight, if she starts to loosing too much then build up the food she is eating again and also keep on top of the dentals so you are going in to the vet before it starts causing her problems. We have also had buns in rescue who have had to have dentals every 4 weeks before they can to us and were given up because of it, on a mainly hay based diet some of them are dental free, others have had the time extended dramatically. Of course when there are very severe dental problems as in my little santa foster bunny (one tooth had no partner to rub against) then this doesn't always work but it is worth trying first.

I think vegetable are the best for rabbits.C arrots and other vegetables are great for rabbits, though a whole carrot (top and all) is more nutritious for them.

Better to feed him whatever it likes, other than forcefully trying to give alternative food.

Tamsin said:

I would try freecycle (or similar) and see if you can find someone with a lawn that needs regularly cutting if you don't have one of your own.

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I thought grass cuttings cause bloat?

Oats are nice and easy on the tummy, so they shouldn't be a problem. They are regularly used to feed babies separated from mum too early, or for babies who have had problems with their gut and it does seem to help settle it.

I would think a veg diet is ok but it would need to be balanced in the right vits and minerals to ensure she didn't end up deficient. That said, obviously it would be great if there was some sort of fibre in there.

Does she eat grass?

How did you get on with the Nutrical?

i have the same trouble with my casper, he is now a dental bunny and iv never got him to eat much hay but he loves his greens the vets also told me to give him veg but it gives him diarrhoea but i found if i give him hay every few hours he will eat it but it has to be fresh fresh and nice green/golden hay think caspers very fussy ^^

Is she able to eat a hay-based pellet such as Oxbow Bunny Basics T? They're timothy hay-based and aren't as hard as the normal extruded biscuit ones.