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"All rabbit pellets are the same" - no they're not post 20

weedug

Mama Doe
I wondered what others thought of what I was told by a vet yesterday. They reckon all rabbit pellets are the same, including Pro-fibre, and there are none that have a higher fibre content or are better for buns since they are all made from hay.

Do you agree, or do you think some pellets are better than others?
 
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I wondered what others thought of what I was told by a vet yesterday. They reckon all rabbit pellets are the same, including Pro-fibre, and there are none that have a higher fibre content or are better for buns since they are all made from hay.

Do you agree, or do you think some pellets are better than others?

Surely it's the ratio of hay to other ingredients such as binders that determines the Fibre content. Some pellets have a higher hay to other ingredients ration than others so I cant see how they are all the same :?

Was it a D1ck Vet who told you that ?
 
Surely it's the ratio of hay to other ingredients such as binders that determines the Fibre content. Some pellets have a higher hay to other ingredients ration than others so I cant see how they are all the same :?

Was it a D1ck Vet who told you that ?

Yes it was Jane. One of the guys that I really don't get on with. I was thinking that maybe I misunderstood what the different pellets were. I was going to change Bailey to Oxbow Bunny Basics because I believed it was a better pellet, but he says not. And the pro-fibre has a high fibre listed on the ingredients, so I thought it was good too.
 
Am I just being naive here, what is a D1ck Vet? :shock:

Also I think that complete nonsense, of course some have a higher fibre content etc etc. They couldn't put it on the packaging and then completely lie about it could they!? x
 
Nope, he's wrong. I know he's a vet, but vets can be misguided too. You just need to look at the ingredients to see that they are very different. And the crude fibre content in rabbit pellets varies between 14 and 32%, that's a huge difference.

Of course, there is the argument that if you only feed a little pellets that it shouldn't make too much difference to a healthy bunny with a hay-rich diet, but that still doesn't mean that they are all the same, and I think it's worth paying a little more and doing research to get a decent brand with a high fibre content.

Also, if it's protexin Profibre pellets you're talking about, they're not really the same as normal rabbit pellets, they don't have all the added vitamins in, so I wouldn't recommend replacing normal pellets with them completely unless you have a specific reason to and bunny has a varied diet of greens etc daily to get the vitamins from. They're designed to be more of a supplement. ETA: The crude fibre is 19% and the dietary fibre is 46% - crude fibre is what is measured as fibre in other rabbit foods. I personally think pro-fibre pellets are more beneficial due to the pre and probiotics in them, rather than the fibre content, but probiotics are controversial in rabbit-medicine.
 
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Am I just being naive here, what is a D1ck Vet? :shock:

Also I think that complete nonsense, of course some have a higher fibre content etc etc. They couldn't put it on the packaging and then completely lie about it could they!? x

this gave me a much needed smile today :) x
 
i think he's wrong about them all being the same. how can they be? they have different ingredients and ratios. :?
 
Thanks for the replies. That's what I had understood about the pellets. I was looking around for something else for Bailey to be on, since he has suspected megacolon he has to have a high fibre diet and thought that I would get him a good, high fibre pellet to help, especially since he needs to eat quite a lot of them to help keep his weight up. I was quite taken aback to be told all pellets, including Protexin pro-fibre, are all the same :? and that anything that said otherwise was a marketing hype.
 
Haha! Ooooooohhh! Right *facepalm* :lol: I am SO dim! :oops:

Well he may have been both from the D1ck and also a :censored: by nature. Had to censor out the word when used the second time as using it to describe a character trait as opposed to a University may have earned me an infraction :D
 
Weedug, have a look at Supreme's VetCare Digestive, they're the highest in fibre I've found (as high as hay) and have extra ingredients to help the digestive system. They're not as tasty as brands like Burgess, but personally I think they're the best on the market. You can buy them online or your vet can order them.
 
Well he may have been both from the D1ck and also a :censored: by nature. Had to censor out the word when used the second time as using it to describe a character trait as opposed to a University may have earned me an infraction :D

That's what I was thinking, but I didn't want to say :lol::oops:.

Thank you nessar, I'll get some of them for him to try. I doubt if he will eat them because he is being so picky, but there will be somebun else who will like them if he doesn't.

I'm glad that I hadn't totally got everything wrong about the fibre.
 
I think they based it on the fact they don't rate pellets all that highly in rabbits where fibre is the issue they said same thing to me only I think I got a bit more clarification from the vet Evan saw she explained it in terms of it wouldn't matter which pellet I put him on because what I needed to increase was fibre and although some pellets are higher in fibre they still all fall much*shorter than hay so if Evan would eat more pellets than hay they were essentially all the same as it was limiting the hay in take hopefully I've sort of explained that ok
Obviously all pellets are different some better than others but when I took my bunnies there they were kinda anti pellets and put Evan on hay only with a few fibafirst that was all he was allowed
 
I think they based it on the fact they don't rate pellets all that highly in rabbits where fibre is the issue they said same thing to me only I think I got a bit more clarification from the vet Evan saw she explained it in terms of it wouldn't matter which pellet I put him on because what I needed to increase was fibre and although some pellets are higher in fibre they still all fall much*shorter than hay so if Evan would eat more pellets than hay they were essentially all the same as it was limiting the hay in take hopefully I've sort of explained that ok
Obviously all pellets are different some better than others but when I took my bunnies there they were kinda anti pellets and put Evan on hay only with a few fibafirst that was all he was allowed

The guy definitely said all pellets were the same, and if any said they were better then it was just marketing hype.

I see what you are saying, and it does make sense, but it was them that put Bailey on such a high amount of pellets and veg to try to get some weight on him, and I assume because he is having difficulty getting goodness from the food that he is eating. They put him on 40g of pellets a day, which is 4 times what he was getting, and 3 times the amount of veg. Even at that he is struggling with his weight, and surprisingly he is still munching on hay.
 
Have had it confirmed by Kevin from D1ck vet that pellets aren't all the same, and there is more fibre in Bunny Basics than Excel. And that I should continue to feed Bailey quite high amounts.

Glad that I haven't totally got things wrong.
 
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