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Pet Supermarket Stopping Selling Muesli

youthnovels

Wise Old Thumper
I've probably missed this as not really been around much but they're stopping selling Chudleys Rabbit Royale, was supposed to be 31/05 but they've still got some up. I presume until their stocks run out. Shame really as although I don't usually feed muesli I was always VERY impressed with Chudleys, smelt gorgeous and mine did really well on it. I guess it's a good thing though?

SPECIAL NOTICE

Rabbit Muesli Awareness

We will stop selling rabbit muesli-based products from the 31st May 2013 - the main reason for this are there are potential health issues for your rabbits with these types of products.

If you are currently feeding your rabbits these products, we recommend to gradually phase them out replacing them with nuggets as part of their regular diet. Please read further for more details.

Health Issues

Recently, a large scale study performed at Edinburgh University confirmed suspicions that rabbit muesli-based diets are actually detrimental to our rabbits’ health.

Feeding a muesli-style diet can lead to dental problems, gut problems, faecal soiling, obesity and nutritional deficiencies. The risk remains high even if muesli makes up only a small part of the diet. See the results of the study here. (http://www.rabbitawarenessweek.co.uk/diet/the-research)

The PDSA ( http://www.pdsa.org.uk/pet-health-advice/rabbits/diet) and the RSPCA (http://www.rspca.org.uk/allaboutanimals/pets/rabbits/diet/muesli) are both fully supporting the results of this study and recommend that muesli-style diets should never be fed to rabbits.

Therefore, at Pet Supermarket we believe the responsible path to take is to discontinue rabbit muesli on our website from the 31st May 2013.

Recommended Diet

According to the study, the best diet you can feed your rabbit is a mix of 80% good quality hay/grass, and 20% nuggets/pellets. Rabbit nuggets or pellets contain all of the vitamins and minerals your rabbit needs in a safe format, with long fibre strands for good teeth and gut health. You can make the change from muesli to rabbit nuggets/pellets by gradually phasing the nuggets in and the muesli out. This should be done slowly over 14-28 days, to ensure your rabbit accepts the new diet, and to give the rabbit’s gut a chance to adapt.

Introduce the nuggets or pellets at a ratio of 10% nuggets to 90% muesli to start with. Every two days, increase the amount of nuggets by 5-10%, so by 2-4 weeks later, the muesli will have been replaced completely. If you have any concerns, or problems with the transition, please see your vet for advice.
 
I think it's a shame, although I don't feed muesli, as that study at Edinburgh uni was most certainly not large scale! I have nothing against products being withdrawn but as I've said on other threads I think that study wasn't done properly.

Secondly, as we all know, some people feed muesli food sensibly and as a best option. What happened to choice.
 
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