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skinny bunny

S

suzy_d

Alpha Buck
helloo,

I went round to my friends house today and was very shocked that her old bun (about 9 years old) is very thin. She is really worried about him although his teeth are ok and he is eating ok he is still very very thin. The vets cant seem to find anything wrong that would stop him from eating so its really a case of trying to fatten him up.

does anyone have any suggestions of food to fatten him up a bit?

Thank you ! xxx
 
Maybe adding a high calorie supplement to his daily feed?

What exactly does his diet consist of?

Have vets done dental xrays?
 
the diet consists of pellets, hay and veg. Yes the vet did a dental examination and couldnt find anything that would stop him eating, he eats fine but he is just not putting on any weight?
 
I am not familiar with what you would supplement to a rabbits diet to gain wait so hopefully someone else with more experience can help you there.. I know with the chinchillas I had supplemented nutri-cal or calf manna to the normal feed to encourage weight gain.. not sure if this would translate over to buns though.
 
this happened to my flopsy when he was alive eating normally teeth were ok but he was thin it turned out he needed wormed has your friend got any panacur? id suggest trying that it could be worm related like Flopsy's was
 
yea I have got some that she could have. I just wanted to see of there was any food/s that could give him a bit of fat really. He is just so thin and frail at the moment. Poor old man. :cry:
 
yea I know he is...which is why we are desperate to fatten him up a bit. Bless him, he struggles to get up sometimes cos hes so old. Hes so delicate to pick up I was scared I was going to brake him when I checked him over today. :roll:
 
It could be old age. I had 2 rabbits who lived to 13 and a half years old and in those last 6 months they did loose condition. My vet suggested feeding as much pellets as they wanted as there was no risk of them getting obese. Vary the diet with lots of tasty foods and grass, grass, and more grass to keep the teeth down! The last thing you want is a dental at his age !
 
Old aged Buns do loose alot of muscle mass which will mean their weight drops significantly. As long as the old boy is eating well and his poos are normal then I would just supplement his diet with a SMALL portion of Whole Oats ( about a dessertspoonful a day for a medium sized Bun). If the Bun is drinking more than normal and weeing very clear watery urine that will indicate that his kidney function is not as good as it used to be.This will also effect his weight. Making sure he does not have to burn calories to keep warm will help too, so extra bedding and a snugglesafe at night will help.

To slow down muscle wastage it is important that the old boy gets a bit of exercise, nothing too strenuous but just a gentle hop about.

Janex
 
I give my old fellow a tablespoon of oats, supa excel pellets ad lib (This used to be just a treat) He is on grass all day and lots of vegetables, especially those naughty fatty carrots!
He has arthritis and his kidneys are on their way out. He really dropped weight during his moult this spring and I was really worried but the above diet has def improved his weight, not massively, about 0.3 kg but he now doesn't look anorexic! You can see he is an old boy and feel his bony spine but like Jane said, all his muscles have deteriorated. He is eating really well, has a shiny coat and is waiting at the back door every morning to be let out to chill and amble round the garden :D
 
I would just do as Jane says with a few porridge oats, either dry or mushed up with a few pellets and warm water from the kettle - my outdoor bunnies went mad for that last winter and put weight on really quickly with just a couple of teaspoons of oats a day.

I'd also give him more pellets so long as it doesn't upset his tum - Maa was a bag of bones last year as I tried the 'less pellets more hay' approach to feeding, but she wouldn't eat the hay like the other rabbits do - she now gets a big handful of science selective morning and evening - about twice what the other rabbits get. She's not old and it hasn't made her fat or upset her tum at all in over a year.
 
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