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What are the best foods for putting weight on a bun?

A

angeleyes

Warren Veteran
Any tips/ideas?

I really have to maintain Lionels weight, he is eating and eating but it is dropping off. He is currently having baby bun pellets as they have more fat in them, he is eating all his hay/veg/readigrass and having loads of treats of dried banana, carrot and beetroot.

I got some plain porridge oats yesterday and mixed some with water for him he had a few mouthfuls but wasn't really impressed :? I don't care what he eats, we know he is sick and won't be with us for much longer so i just want to help him keep his weight up so he can enjoy his last weeks with us so it doesn't have to be particulary 'healthy'.
 
One thing I like to do for my buns is make them a 'special dinner' every now and again.

Basically, chop up a handful of normal hay and a handful of treat hay, if you have any. Perhaps even add some grass if you have some.

Then finely chop some veg, carrots, broccoli, coliflower.... whatever you have, but it has to be small chunks so its really hard for them to only find the veggy bits. Add these to the mix and mix.... leave for a while, the 'juices' soak into the hay :p

Then add pellets. If I am feeling really nice I will crumble up a fenugreek crunchie or two. The buns go MAD for these and eat the entire lot.....

I would suggest doing this but adding some oats?

Perhaps put a handful of oats with the chopped veg and add a bit of water so the juices are soaked into the oats and make them smell veggy like and then add the hay, grass and pellets....?

Just a thought.... :)
 
Raisins, weetabix and barley rings (not sure where to get barley rings, my friend gave me some). Dried oats without the water are ok in small doses too :)
 
My bunny was on Mayfield Fruity when I adopted him & that was to get his weight up too as he'd lost a lot of weight due to neglect.
It has dried veg & bananas & smells of sweets (well it does to me anyway), my bunny loves it but it's too rich for him now.

He's now @ a good weight & eating excel pellets but I still have loads of the fruity mix left - I'm going to take what's left to my local rescue centre but you're welcome to some if you'd like to try it for your bunny, I could post you some if you like.
 
There are some great suggestions on already, I like to give (mine for a treat) porrige made with water but then grated carrot and apple with a tiny drop of honey, its gone in seconds
 
My bunnies ultimate favorite treat for either when they are poorly or when its freezing cold is..

warm water based porridge with mushed up banana and grated apple mixed in
add pellets and finely chopped curly kale, and then i add some sort of dried herb, normally a pampered piggies treat but anything dried, i add dried carrots and herbs from pp and mix all that into a big mush and give it to them.

they literally go crazy for it! its what got Jelly eating when she came home from her dental! they wouldnt let her home til she ate but i told them she would be happier at home. she got home and didnt want anything. I made her favorite and she scoffed it:lol:
 
Some breeders feed plain hobnob biscuits to put weight on rabbits. I'd normally advise against feeding them because of the sugar, but might be an idea for Lionel
 
Norty foods like little pieces of bread and some muesli mix eg wagg bunny brunch may go down well. also apple, pear, plum, baby sweetcorn...
 
Just to say do be very careful with adding too much carbohydrate to his diet as with him being on Depocillin his guts are already being challenged .Add lots of carbs and gut dysbiosis and enteritis is an even greater possibility.
 
Vin has the same problem atm, after losing so much weight with her EC. I just give her as much as she'll eat. Vet said not to worry about sugary things as it's only short-term. In a day she'll get half a carrot, a handful of kale, 3 or 4 leaves of greens, some apple, a stick or so of celery, unlimited pellets, raw oats (she won't eat porridge either) and whatever else I have in the house. It sounds like a lot but she's put on half a kilo in the last week and a bit which is a huge relief. Just be aware that the dry oats will swell up in the stomach so not too many.
 
Jack's-Jane said:
Just to say do be very careful with adding too much carbohydrate to his diet as with him being on Depocillin his guts are already being challenged .Add lots of carbs and gut dysbiosis and enteritis is an even greater possibility.
Click to expand...

What foods do you suggest then Jane?
 
Jane is right about being careful not to upset his guts and I meant to say, these foods should only be offered in very small amounts alongside a normal healthy diet and are not meant to be a long term thing :)
 
lilbun said:
Jane is right about being careful not to upset his guts and I meant to say, these foods should only be offered in very small amounts alongside a normal healthy diet and are not meant to be a long term thing :)
Click to expand...

I just want something high in fat to give him as 'treat foods' I won't be substituting his normal diet at all jsut need to add a little something as he is still loosing weight although eating his normal diet in larger quantities.
It also won't be a long term thing as he only has a few weeks left to live :cry:
 
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