Overweight rabbits?

:wave:

When my rabbits were at the vets last week, they were weighed and Milly weighed 2.4kg and Molly weighed 2.1kg. We were really happy with Molly's weight gain as she's usually really small and i wanted to get some weight on her for winter. However, the vet warned not to allow Milly to gain any more weight as she is right at the top end of mini rex weight range, which is 2.5kg.

I just weighed them both, and Milly weighs 2.5kg and Molly weighs 2.2kg. They have both gained 100g in a week, even though Milly went through gut stasis last week. :? I'm really suprised, especially as I feel I feed them a mainly hay diet with a few extras. Here's their daily diet:

Morning:
- an eggcupful of SS pellets shared between them
- a huge pile of hay added to their run for them to munch throughout the day, they have thick hay all over the floor so have constant access to hay

Afternoon:
- another huge pile of hay in their bedroom in their hutch
- an eggcupful of SS pellets shared between them
- a handful of dried herbs (eg dandelion, plantain)
- 1 Bunny Cracker each per day (https://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/Nat...s.7/Bunny+Crunchy+Crackers+:+Parsley.416.html)

Please tell me where I'm going wrong. Milly looks huge, like a big ball. Her fur is dense, but not long (due to being a rex), so we know its not all fur, its her actual size. I don't want them to get overweight because Molly has sore hocks (and I don't want to make them worse) and Milly could develop sore hocks if she has too much weight.

ETA: I've always wondered if they are pure mini rexes, or they are cross standard rex, which would mean they would weigh more than a mini rex. They are both sisters, but came from a rescue litter and don't know the parents. Milly has always had a look of a standard rex to me, with the longer head and bigger size (she's always been bigger than Molly), whereas Molly has the mini rex look about her.

Funnily enough, I read your post and instantly thought '2.5kg? That's awfully small for a Rex!' I didn't realise your girls were minis. Is it your vet who has determined that they are minis, did they come from a breeder, or is it just a guess, in which case they might be a cross?

Although if your vet is advising for Milly not to gain any more weight, I'd go with that. I assume that s/he is going on the whole bunny rather than just taking a weight off a chart, so should be a good indicator AFAIK. I know that I sometimes worried about Oidhche-Velvet being overweight, even though she was a perfect size (vets words) because Rex fur seems to create bumps and lumps where there are none!

To be honest, it sounds like they have a perfect diet, I'm just away to look up the cracker as I've never heard of that before...hmm, I might cut that out depending on what's in them (sugar wise) as I don't know anything about inulin, I'd ask the vet and cut or keep dependant on what they say. I'm assuming here that your vet is fairly rabbit savvy too. What kind of hay are they having as some hay is more fattening (oat, alfalfa) and high in other bits too, and should only be fed in small quantities, unlike timothy or meadow hay which should be free-fed

ETA - you have added what I was thinking about. Well my standard Rex went between 3.5 and 4kg which was a fine weight for her. She was just over 2kg right at the end and she was a scrawny wee thing, she looked okay but you could really feel the bones when giving her a stroke. I always used to worry about her being overweight because of the hocks but she maintained a weight the vet was happy with.

Your scales just might be set slightly differently to your vets, hence the difference in weight Their diet sounds perfect to me :wave:

Coineanach said:

Funnily enough, I read your post and instantly thought '2.5kg? That's awfully small for a Rex!' I didn't realise your girls were minis. Is it your vet who has determined that they are minis, did they come from a breeder, or is it just a guess, in which case they might be a cross?

Although if your vet is advising for Milly not to gain any more weight, I'd go with that. I assume that s/he is going on the whole bunny rather than just taking a weight off a chart, so should be a good indicator AFAIK. I know that I sometimes worried about Oidhche-Velvet being overweight, even though she was a perfect size (vets words) because Rex fur seems to create bumps and lumps where there are none!

To be honest, it sounds like they have a perfect diet, I'm just away to look up the cracker as I've never heard of that before...hmm, I might cut that out depending on what's in them (sugar wise) as I don't know anything about inulin, I'd ask the vet and cut or keep dependant on what they say. I'm assuming here that your vet is fairly rabbit savvy too. What kind of hay are they having as some hay is more fattening (oat, alfalfa) and high in other bits too, and should only be fed in small quantities, unlike timothy or meadow hay which should be free-fed

ETA - you have added what I was thinking about. Well my standard Rex went between 3.5 and 4kg which was a fine weight for her. She was just over 2kg right at the end and she was a scrawny wee thing, she looked okay but you could really feel the bones when giving her a stroke. I always used to worry about her being overweight because of the hocks but she maintained a weight the vet was happy with.

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thanks for the reply. They get fed Hay 4 Pets meadow hay, which has flowers and herbs in it too. In a few weeks, I'm hoping to add Western Timothy Hay, Readigrass and Vitakraft herbal hay to their diet. Are these low in fat? I can still feel Milly's spine and also the tip of her hip bones, but she's round widthways. I always thought rabbits should be plump (not fat, but not thin or trim either). Now I'm not so sure.

Heather&Bart-MyLittleBuns said:

Your scales just might be set slightly differently to your vets, hence the difference in weight Their diet sounds perfect to me :wave:

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thank you. That is a possibility, especially as they have appeared to have gained the exact same amount. I'll weigh them every week or so and keep an eye on their weight I think, using my scales.