Does anyone ever wonder how some peoples buns dont get poorly....

[Vilija]

The trouble is, those of you who haven't had problems with stasis etc don't know whether what you've been doing is beneficial, whether you've just been lucky, or whether your bunnies are particularly robust. That's why I don't think anyone really knows the answer to the OP's question.

I think that is the problem, no one will ever know for certain whether it is genetics or previous feeding experience (if that makes sense) or a combination of both, so all we can do is try our best to feed them the best diet possible.

 

[JessieandFaith]

Previous owner of my rabbits told me they liked toast in the morning and on her way out told me not to forget to give them some everyday. Infact she was adamant about it. After reading that bread isn't good for them I didn't take her advise and my buns have a nice rabbit healthy diet without a sniff of toast in sight. X

 

[Jojo123]

I suppose its like the raw v cooked meat for dogs debate, raw is natural but then as dogs are domesticated they still live a long and healthy life on cooked meats. Domesticated pets just may evolve into eating differently. Doesn't mean that its the healthy option though. I do agree that its possible that some of these owners may not notice if their buns are n pain or not, or by the time they um and ahh over taking them to a vet they may recover without treatment. I like the theory that maybe our buns live longer than they could be destined to on a healthy diet and may keep problems at bay that they could have if on a poor diet

 

[belgian2]

some people feed their animals appalling diets- but their own diets are usually just as dire.
i keep chickens-someone came to me wanting advise as their chicks weren't doing so well and it turned out they had been feeding them on wheatabix and gingernut biscuits- nothing else. scary. poor creatures.apparently that was how their gran had reared chicks many years ago.

We also have a ringneck parakeet and I can tell which unhealthy foods she was given in her previous homes by the hysterical screaming when she sees desired item- crisps and pizza she will try and dive down and grab-and i can assure you she has had neither here. she is finally starting to click that its only fruit or salad that she has a chance of getting with begging

 

[Hele]

The buns with the terrible diets also tend to be the ones stuck in a hutch and seen maybe once a day for a couple on mins.

They might be getting very ill from their diets, the owners just wouldn't notice, the first thing they notice as wrong is a dead bunny. Then they replace the bunny with another one but are adamant that their bunnies never get sick, they just die of old age (at about 5 )

When talking to non bunny people they always seem surprised that a bunny can easily live as long as they can. I've met loads of people who have owned both breeds certain that an average lifespan for a bunny was 6 and a g.pig was about 3 :shock: they think they look after their animals fine since after all 'all my rabbits have lived till over 5'

It's also quite common that bunnies rescues from horrendous conditions get sick after coming into rescue, it's almost like they were living on pure adrenaline before but as soon as they realise they are safe they relax and that's when they get poorly

Plus some humans can smoke 40 a day and live till very old age with no ill affects, and yet cancer seems to strike anyone it's not fair.

 

[Snowytoshi]

People who feed their rabbits tend to not give a They're going to be less observant about what their rabbits are doing on a day to day basis until they die and then many of them are going to not think twice about it because the rabbit was 'probably pretty old anyways'. I've met people who thought four years old was ancient and that they did well by their rabbit if they lived to be that 'old'.

 

[DemiS]

The trouble is, those of you who haven't had problems with stasis etc don't know whether what you've been doing is beneficial, whether you've just been lucky, or whether your bunnies are particularly robust. That's why I don't think anyone really knows the answer to the OP's question.

We can't say for certain but on here stasis seems to be a very big (and very common problem) whereas I never hear of other pet owners (who are less cautious) having rabbits who stop eating (and to be honest i think they would be even more likely to notice because people who don't know much about rabbits also tend to keep them by themselves, you'd notice a big bowl of uneaten food if they were in stasis), and in the show world it wasn't a problem either. I'm not sure if getting them used to diet changes has to be done when they're young though to work, to find out you'd probably have to get three sibling rabbits as babies and give one a very strict diet, one a diet where it's varied and suddenly changed from a very young age, and one where you start the variation after about the age of one. I can't see anyone trying that :lol:

My rabbits were fed absolutely terrible diets when I first got them but I assure you I knew what stasis was and I spent a lot of time with them each day, they didn't get ill. I'd never recommend feeding rabbits absolute rubbish though.

 

[SarahP]

I'd argue that my bunnies were introduced to different kinds of bad foods at an early age, as they were being fed treats of parrot food with coconut pieces, sugary treat bars etc, before they came to me. I still suspect pellets as being the common factor with all of this.

 

[SJH]

We can't say for certain but on here stasis seems to be a very big (and very common problem) whereas I never hear of other pet owners (who are less cautious) having rabbits who stop eating (and to be honest i think they would be even more likely to notice because people who don't know much about rabbits also tend to keep them by themselves, you'd notice a big bowl of uneaten food if they were in stasis), and in the show world it wasn't a problem either. I'm not sure if getting them used to diet changes has to be done when they're young though to work, to find out you'd probably have to get three sibling rabbits as babies and give one a very strict diet, one a diet where it's varied and suddenly changed from a very young age, and one where you start the variation after about the age of one. I can't see anyone trying that :lol:

My rabbits were fed absolutely terrible diets when I first got them but I assure you I knew what stasis was and I spent a lot of time with them each day, they didn't get ill. I'd never recommend feeding rabbits absolute rubbish though.

I'm afraid I don't see you can draw that conclusion. It's simply people don't post "my rabbit is fine" only "help; He/she is Ill".

Personally, all my rabbits have had similar diets and yet they haven't all been poorly or reacted the same. I've seen ripe old ages too.

I can't imagine that, if someone wants to breed a rabbit or show it, one would put up with a sickly bun as some of us do either so it may be one just doesn't see they have problems.

As to getting them used to diets, I suspect the damage (if at all) has been done with many of the rabbits on here before they've been acquired by members. I also think it's likely there's a genetic difference, just like humans.

It's a hugely distressing situation for rabbit and owner no matter how experienced an owner.


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[Jojo123]

I see treat food to my buns as fruits and certain veg that are high in sugars, but natural ones. Does anyone think that feeding them a wide variety of veg and fruits would count as setting them up to have a more sturdy belly? It could be that some owners know there bun is poorly but would rather ignore it than spend the money on vet bills with the view that they will get over it where a lot of people on here wont sit back while their buns in pain and the first thought is to get them to a vet so will never know the odds on how often they could get over it

 

[DemiS]

I see treat food to my buns as fruits and certain veg that are high in sugars, but natural ones. Does anyone think that feeding them a wide variety of veg and fruits would count as setting them up to have a more sturdy belly? It could be that some owners know there bun is poorly but would rather ignore it than spend the money on vet bills with the view that they will get over it where a lot of people on here wont sit back while their buns in pain and the first thought is to get them to a vet so will never know the odds on how often they could get over it

Definitely, what I've been trying to get across is that I don't feed mine rubbish, Flash and Harley I've had since I was a kid so they did eat a lot of bad stuff, but all of my rabbits since haven't each anything they're not allowed. Just lots of fruit, veg and different types of leaves and pellets, and changes are quite random rather than gradual. In no way am I condoning feeding rabbits toast and biscuits and dodgy pet shop treats with dairy products in

 

[SJH]

I see treat food to my buns as fruits and certain veg that are high in sugars, but natural ones. Does anyone think that feeding them a wide variety of veg and fruits would count as setting them up to have a more sturdy belly? It could be that some owners know there bun is poorly but would rather ignore it than spend the money on vet bills with the view that they will get over it where a lot of people on here wont sit back while their buns in pain and the first thought is to get them to a vet so will never know the odds on how often they could get over it

All I can say is if a varied diet from very young is the answer, it has gone very wrong here. Hector arrived eating a massive amount of varied veg and fruit at 12 weeks and I continued it. I have done absolutely nothing different from other rabbits and yet his problems are so difficult and frustrating. Who knows, I may have totally caused this problem, but I'd hazard a good guess his genetics are a more likely culprit.

DemiS - I do agree with you, I don't think one should pussy-foot round and wrap in cotton wool (bit like human children) but I think it's more complicated than you suggest.


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[Jojo123]

All I can say is if a varied diet from very young is the answer, it has gone very wrong here. Hector arrived eating a massive amount of varied veg and fruit at 12 weeks and I continued it. I have done absolutely nothing different from other rabbits and yet his problems are so difficult and frustrating. Who knows, I may have totally caused this problem, but I'd hazard a good guess his genetics are a more likely culprit.

DemiS - I do agree with you, I don't think one should pussy-foot round and wrap in cotton wool (bit like human children) but I think it's more complicated than you suggest.


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I agree, I liked Tasmins theory that with a good diet you can prolong the buns life if they genetic problems

 

[SarahP]

I see treat food to my buns as fruits and certain veg that are high in sugars, but natural ones. Does anyone think that feeding them a wide variety of veg and fruits would count as setting them up to have a more sturdy belly? It could be that some owners know there bun is poorly but would rather ignore it than spend the money on vet bills with the view that they will get over it where a lot of people on here wont sit back while their buns in pain and the first thought is to get them to a vet so will never know the odds on how often they could get over it

I don't think feeding fruit is a good idea in general. It's not something I'd feed to rabbits, or guinea pigs.

 

[SJH]

I don't think feeding fruit is a good idea in general. It's not something I'd feed to rabbits, or guinea pigs.

A tiny bit as a treat is generally fine but, yes, you are right they shouldn't have a great deal.


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[Tamsin]

I don't think you can take individual rabbits for evidence, you need big groups and controlled conditions to get usable data.

A rabbit fed perfectly but with severely limited exercise, for example, is more likely to have health issues because their heart, digestive system etc. will be less sturdy and they are likely to be overweight. So many different factors it's hard to pick.

We do know some things though because they have been studied. The paper on the muesli v. pellet diets came out a couple of weeks ago which demonstrated things like a lack of hay increased the risk of dental disease and that even when a poor diet didn't cause visible issues with spurs, there were often changes to the tooth roots which could predispose rabbits to dental problems later on.

 

[Rupert & Tia]

I wonder this all the time - my brother has a bunny who is about 8-9 years old now (at least) and he doesn't eat hay at all, has a bit of grass sometimes (nowhere near as much as he should), steals dog food, eats everything and anything, yet doesn't get ill, never has teeth issues. nothing.

I think it's due to the breeding, or over breeding now - a lot of older buns (I think) are more hardy... cos they're so bred now. That's my theory.

I feed my two perfectly, yet Rupert still has his issues. It's just the way it is. Even my vet said that out of my two, she'd expect Tia (lop) to have issues rather than Rupert.