Worried about SS choking

Lately I have seen more and more mentions of rabbits choking on SS pellets - now, how frequent do you think this is and is there any way to minimise it?

Thank you.

I scatter feed and just watch them, any massive pellets I break up.

I no longer feed SS as I have witnessed and heard about too many choking incidents. They might all be just a coincidence, but having nearly lost a Rabbit to choking I am not prepared to take the risk.

My rabbit doesn't like them at all she won't touch them

If you feed them to your bunnies then you could just break them up

marchi1990 said:

Lately I have seen more and more mentions of rabbits choking on SS pellets - now, how frequent do you think this is and is there any way to minimise it?.

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If you go back through the threads about choking, yes some of them have been SS, but there are also a good number of people who reported that their rabbits choked on a range of other pellets including excel, allen and page, oxbow, and foodstuffs including greens and hay! I work with statistics and personally I believe that the higher number of reported incidences of choking with SS on here are more to do with the fact that more of us on here feed SS, so proportionally of course there will be more reports. Given that Allen and page are one of the smallest pellets and SS one of the largest, I'm also unconvinced by the argument that breaking up the SS will help, because the evidence from here is that a number of bunnies have choked on Allen and page too.

I feed SS to my four and am comfortable doing so, I think the benefits outweigh the risks, especially as the risks seem to be reasonably proportionate to the number of people who feed it (i.e. I don't think he risk is any higher for SS than for any other food). But others may not be comfortable with that and may choose to use other foods instead - it's whatever you're comfortable with as a balance between a food that suits your bunnies and your concern over the choking, I guess.

As one whose bunny choked on SS I'm unsure whether it is SS or pellets in general but obviously Smudge is susceptible. I switched to Fibafirst as it is far less dense so breaks up. Also as they have to take a 'stick' and chew it up as it's far too big to eat in one go, they have to take it a little slower.

I don't find it more expensive either, one £10 box lasts my three bunnies about three months, one 1.5kg £3 bag would last them one month. So it works out pretty much the same. The only annoying thing is I can only get it online.

I've recently moved Pete onto SS and have witnessed him possibly choking ( he had eaten one and started running from one side of the hutch to the other, making funny movements - like he was trying to move something inside him) so I have been crushing them up abit.

I am actually considering moving him back onto excel as it does worry me. I don't always have the chance to be able to stand and watch him eat . Luckily the day he choked I was watching.

Elena said:

obviously Smudge is susceptible.

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It does make me wonder if there's anything common to most of the bunnies who are choking - some kind of dental issue maybe? Even if the rabbits are not 'official' dental buns as it were, but perhaps have something not quite right with the normal occlusion. Something like that might impact on the way that the rabbit picks up and chews the pellet, and hence the type of pellet (large, small, even, uneven etc) may have a different effect depending on the exact issue that the bun has.

Elena said:

As one whose bunny choked on SS I'm unsure whether it is SS or pellets in general but obviously Smudge is susceptible. I switched to Fibafirst as it is far less dense so breaks up. Also as they have to take a 'stick' and chew it up as it's far too big to eat in one go, they have to take it a little slower.

I don't find it more expensive either, one £10 box lasts my three bunnies about three months, one 1.5kg £3 bag would last them one month. So it works out pretty much the same. The only annoying thing is I can only get it online.

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I think Fibafirst is by far the best 'hard feed' for Rabbits. I cant afford to feed all mine on it though. When my numbers reduce ( ) I hope to be able to do so.

Santa said:

It does make me wonder if there's anything common to most of the bunnies who are choking - some kind of dental issue maybe? Even if the rabbits are not 'official' dental buns as it were, but perhaps have something not quite right with the normal occlusion. Something like that might impact on the way that the rabbit picks up and chews the pellet, and hence the type of pellet (large, small, even, uneven etc) may have a different effect depending on the exact issue that the bun has.

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He's not got any obvious problems dental wise but he gets VERY excited when food comes out and I think he tries to eat too quickly.

Jack's-Jane said:

I think Fibafirst is by far the best 'hard feed' for Rabbits. I cant afford to feed all mine on it though. When my numbers reduce ( ) I hope to be able to do so.

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It does seem to last but you're right it is expensive when you add in carriage costs

All my bunnies are fed SS now. One of them was on Excel but had a really bad choke incident, had to be rushed to the vets, go on oxygen and everything. Initially I had to give him the kiss of life (YUK!!), and actually heard the blockage shift, which put him out of immediate danger, but it is something I would hope to never repeat.

I actually though SS was better because of being bigger pellets, as I've noticed all mine appear to properly chew them now, whereas with the Excel being much smaller, and if bunnies are being greedy and eating quickly, I thought there would be more risk of choke with smaller ones. Roger was on Excel when he choked, and was being a greedy bun :roll:

Elena said:

It does seem to last but you're right it is expensive when you add in carriage costs

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I bought the 2kg box last week and that was £11, still a sizeable amount when the 2 5kg bags of SS I buy are £17. How much do you pay for your fibafirst?

I buy the large box off THE for £9.99 plus postage. I tend to buy two or three boxes at a time because of postage. Not sure of the weight but as I say it lasts. I give a small handful twice a day to my three which seems ideal, no weight loss but no excess cecals either and that gives me around three months worth.

So three months for £10 when I used to buy a £3 bag every month. I know it's cheaper to buy SS in bigger bags but I preferred buying smaller due to storage (though now I have to store FF!) and freshness. Neither of those issues was big enough to me though to put me off buying FF in bulk.

We've put their pellet intake right down now and we have 2 full 5kg bags left! The fibafirst has gone down really well though and they take ages eating it. I bought it to see if we could get more fibre in Poppy but its too hard for her :lol: the others are enjoying it though

Might go to the hay experts next time then :thumb:

Ludo is on SS as he's a stasis bun and I'm not changing a food routine that works!

However, I won't let him eat it until I've broken each piece up into 2-3 smaller pieces and he's watched as he eats it.

It is a concern, I must say.

Santa said:

It does make me wonder if there's anything common to most of the bunnies who are choking - some kind of dental issue maybe? Even if the rabbits are not 'official' dental buns as it were, but perhaps have something not quite right with the normal occlusion. Something like that might impact on the way that the rabbit picks up and chews the pellet, and hence the type of pellet (large, small, even, uneven etc) may have a different effect depending on the exact issue that the bun has.

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This is my concern. Wood has serious dental issues in the form of spurs which are treated once a month.

He also gets extremely excited when he sees his pellets to the point of attempting to jump out of his shed to get to them.

He eats half SS and half fibafirst (because he doesn't eat hay - another ongoing issue). But, he isn't a lover of fibafirst, in fact, he only tolerates it I would say.

He looks forward to his SS every day and I am worried that if I swapped him over to fibafirst completely he would not be eating enough to keep his weight level. When fed the fibafirst he always leaves around half.

I am considering perhaps going over to excel?

Aly&Poppy<3 said:

We've put their pellet intake right down now and we have 2 full 5kg bags left! The fibafirst has gone down really well though and they take ages eating it. I bought it to see if we could get more fibre in Poppy but its too hard for her :lol: the others are enjoying it though

Might go to the hay experts next time then :thumb:

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I bought some this morning here for £8.99 - postage was a little cheaper too :thumb:

http://www.petplanet.co.uk/product_group.asp?dept_id=331&pg_id=2130

Hesperus said:

Ludo is on SS as he's a stasis bun and I'm not changing a food routine that works!

However, I won't let him eat it until I've broken each piece up into 2-3 smaller pieces and he's watched as he eats it.

It is a concern, I must say.

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I wonder if it is the larger size or the density which causes the choking? I might start breaking them up regardless.

Jack's-Jane said:

I no longer feed SS as I have witnessed and heard about too many choking incidents. They might all be just a coincidence, but having nearly lost a Rabbit to choking I am not prepared to take the risk.

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What do you feed your rabbits Jane?