Vet Check up tonight...

:wave:

I took Daisy and Poppy for their first check up with the vets tonight and they got their myxi jab too. He said they were both deffinatly girls, he listened all round to their chest/heart etc and said they all seem fine. Checked eyes and teeth and weighed them and said all was fine there too :thumb: He also said we were good to have them both spayed at 6 months too.

He asked about their diet and I said they were having a handful of pellets each per day and lots of hay. He said that he would be happier if we slowly dropped the pellets to a treat only and just routinly fed them loads and loads of hay/grass etc with the occasional fruit/veg. The reason he said about dropping the pellets is that Daisy is a bit porky! (Poppy was a perfect weight).

So im just wondering...how slowly do I need to drop the pellets? The vet seemed very strongly that they should be having an almost hay/grass ONLY diet with occasional fruit/veg rather than pellets and said there is no need for the pellets at all in healthy non pregnant/feeding rabbits.

Thanks!

I suppose theoretically there isn't any need - in the wild rabbits mainly eat grass.

But try and give them more fresh food instead.

How many pellets is a handful? Is that once a day each you give them? Or twice a day to share?

One of my handfuls twice a day to share (so one handful each per day and a handful just covers the bottom if the bowl) but daisy is Deffinatly a little piggy so in wondering if she pinches more than her share! Tonight I fed them seperatly (a bowl each as opposed to sharing a bowl between them.

Thing is they really love them...do you think I could cut down but still feed daily? They do both eat lots if hay too they are on pets at home pellets at the moment...are some more fattening than others? What should I look for in a pellet nutricen wise?

Maybe halve it - and do as you did today, feed seperately. I know one of my buns is bigger than the other and I know very well she is a little piggy and practically inhales the bowl of pellet before her sister can have any.

Do you have another appointment to check up agian with the vet in a month or so? Maybe you have big hands :lol:

A lot of folks on here follow the egg cup rule - an egg cup a day per bunny. Maybe try that, see how it goes x

Hmm thanks for that...yes they will need their VHD jab in 2-3 weeks so if i leave it 3 then get them weighed again might show us if its working...

yes i think feeding tea seperatly is a good idea from now on...they had half a hand full of pellets just now with about an inch piece of parsnip and I dished out fresh hay too Perhaps they could just have the half handful at tea time and just fresh hay and leaves etc in the morning rather than pellets then too...

Thanks for your help!!

I feed mine about an eggcupfull or less in summer at bedtime. They have hay at least twice a day and veg/herbs/wild or garden foods in the morning.

Especially if they are watching their weight but also because they can upset tummies keep sugary veg like carrot and parsnip to a very small occasional treat - mine might get an inch of carrot once a week. There are some excellent threads covering the various veg and wild foods that are suitable and safe for rabbits - check out our Foraging 2011 thread for a start.

IMO there is no need to decrease a food (ie pellets) gradually, it is introducing or increasing foods that can cause a problem and needs to be done slowly. I feel it is safe to start a new pellet routine straight away, providing of course you are supplying plenty of fresh hay and water - of course you may be subjected to dissapproving looks from your rabbits!

Unless you feed large amounts of veg or fresh herbs/leaves etc, then I would still feed them a small amount of pellets. mine get an eggcupful twice daily shared between them, and this keeps them at a constant weight. I don't feed any veg or fresh food. They do get hay and herbs though.

Thank you

Today the girls had their run on the grass for the first time as it was lovely and sunny out there...they loved it and ate lots of grass from the lawn while they were out there...

I havnt given them their normal breakfast of half handful of pellets each this morning but instead they had more hay than I had been putting in and some dandilion leaves I opened a new package of hay as the Wilko stuff I had bought ran out and so this morning they got meadow hay from THE and went nuts for it I gave them a few apple leaves and a twig each this afternoon but they have gone untouched at the moment :shock: they are just nomming their hay instead!!

As for veg, I have tried them with parsnip, apple, carrot, cucumber and banana...they only ate the carrot and apple (both really small pieces and on seperate days). So at the moment they really are only having their small amount of pellets (now half a handful per day...I will count the pellets) and ALOT of hay :thumb:

When we got them we were told that they had been fed 'a bit of everying' so i think they had more veg/fruit and pellets than hay...maybe now that they are having a decent diet Daisys weight will settle down a bit!