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Underweight rabbit - how soon should you see any weight gain?

KarenM

KarenM

Administrator
Staff member
Taz has been with us for a couple of weeks now (thread here in case you want to know his background). He was very underweight when we brought him home and, despite eating really well, we checked his weight tonight and he doesn't seem to have put any on. The scales might be slightly out so we need to double check on the vet's scales too but I thought I would have seen an improvement by now.

Erm, anything relevant I can think of: His bloods were checked when he came in to the vets 2.5 weeks ago with nothing abnormal detected, he's being treated for suspected EC and mites. He eats lots of hay and we've also been giving him Excel junior pellets and some porridge to try to build him up, plus some greens. His poops are massive and golden.

We're going to see the vet on Monday anyway for another check up on his progress so will add the weight issues to my list of things to discuss with him but just wondered if anybody had any ideas in the meantime......

TIA :love:
 
Ok so that's answered all my questions i just text You!

i wouldn't worry too much right now. He has had bloods and is lively and pooing well :)

You are doing everything that i would try xx

Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk 2
 
Hugo's There said:
Ok so that's answered all my questions i just text You!
Click to expand...

I should have read this before I typed out that long reply to your text then! :roll::lol::lol:

Thanks Liz, I'm so used to having bunnies that put on weight just by looking at food; this is all new to me & I just want to make sure I'm not missing anything obvious.
 
I would say it probably depends how much he lost. Whilst fat is quite quite to put on, gaining back muscle is going to be a bit slower and if he was very underweight then some of what he lost could well be muscle mass.
 
Tamsin said:
I would say it probably depends how much he lost. Whilst fat is quite quite to put on, gaining back muscle is going to be a bit slower and if he was very underweight then some of what he lost could well be muscle mass.
Click to expand...

I agree with this

Also, if it is a severe mite infestation then that too will slow down weight gain

Has the Vet checked Taz's ears ? Chronic otitis can lead to poor body condition and the Rabbit usually struggles to gain weight even if they eat like a horse.

ETA, just read the other thread and given his 'slight head tilt' I'd put money on a chronic bacterial otitis media being one of his primary issues. Is he on antibiotics ?
 
I'm not sure how underweight he actually is; I'm used to quite plump bunnies :oops: so that probably makes him seem all the more skinny to me. His spine is quite prominent though, especially around the shoulder blade area where you can feel every little nobbly bit. The muscle mass thing makes sense though. :thumb:

Jane, the exotics vet checked his ears and found lots of waxy build up in the left one which he felt was indicative of ear mites so Taz has got canaural ear drops. No antibiotics but the head tilt seems to have pretty much gone already so I'm wondering if it was just the discomfort from the mites; I'll query it with the vet though.
 
KarenM said:
I'm not sure how underweight he actually is; I'm used to quite plump bunnies :oops: so that probably makes him seem all the more skinny to me. His spine is quite prominent though, especially around the shoulder blade area where you can feel every little nobbly bit. The muscle mass thing makes sense though. :thumb:

Jane, the exotics vet checked his ears and found lots of waxy build up in the left one which he felt was indicative of ear mites so Taz has got canaural ear drops. No antibiotics but the head tilt seems to have pretty much gone already so I'm wondering if it was just the discomfort from the mites; I'll query it with the vet though.
Click to expand...

I am just paranoid about otitis in Rabbits having experienced what a :censored: it is to treat and also what a profound effect it can have on a Rabbit's overall health. Hopefully Taz does not have such a nasty problem as the one's I have seen.
 
I hope so too &, with Taz's history being unknown, the vet most likely decided to start with the simplest & most obvious cause. He has a few different things going on (Taz, not the vet :lol:) so it could be related to any one of them or could just be a result of being stray for some time. I can totally understand your concern though and will see what the vet thinks on Monday morning.
 
Just thought I should update this in case it helps anybody who stumbles across the thread in future. :wave: Taz had a full check up yesterday & his ears have improved dramatically so it looks like the canaural drops are doing the trick & hopefully it's nothing more worrying than that.

The vet wasn't overly concerned about Taz's weight; his weight is the same now as it was 2 weeks ago and, while he's on the lean side, the vet doesn't feel he's overly thin but described him as more of a wildie type build than a pampered (ie. plump :lol:) pet bunny. If he'd lost weight it would have been of more concern & of course we'll continue monitoring while he's here and then Liz can see what she thinks when he gets to Rainbow Rabbits.
 
Just a thought, you could treat Taz to some alfalfa hay, my vet advised me to give it to my rabbit little miss who I found as a stray, she was underweight.
Apparently it has higher protein than normal hay so more calories, and the extra protein may help build his muscle too.
 
I have always found Protexin Pro Fibre pellets good for helping buns put on a bit of weight. :)
 
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