For anyone who uses VetUK own brand rabbit pellets - they have been discontinued...

[Bunny Buddy]

Shimmer recommended them during the first lockdown when we were all having trouble getting food due to stockpiling (the rest of the world was gathering loo roll, RUers collecting bunny food!)

I have been using them since and at £9.99 per 10kg a very welcome find. However, I thought I would warn anyone who takes longer to get through a sack than we do here, they have discontinued them. A lot of their other rabbit pellets are out of stock so I am wondering if they are just stopping that side of the trade altogether?!

So, I am on the hunt for a replacement, having been scrabbling around buying odds and ends for the last two weeks.

Having got the news of the discontinuation, I decided to bite the bullet and get 4 sacs of Science Selective from good ol' Notcutts as they have an offer.. but of course they are out of stock.... back to the drawing board.

 

[tonibun]

I now use Burgess Excel. It's quite expensive when you have 30 Rabbits! Wagg have also disappeared from the market.

 

[Bunny Buddy]

I now use Burgess Excel. It's quite expensive when you have 30 Rabbits! Wagg have also disappeared from the market.

Yup, last time I used Excel I had about 20 rabbits, I have 34 currently. We would be talking of about an increase of £20 a week in the food bill!

 

[Shimmer]

I've been waiting to order some more from VetUK as well, but have some SS (I usually mix them anyway). I'd noticed that other rabbit stuff was going out of stock with them, but there's no direct way of contacting them to ask if they are coing back in stock. The fact they are still listed gives some hope, I suppose - why list something that you are no longer going to supply?

Burgess is my next option - but the price difference is significant.

 

[Bunny Buddy]

I've been waiting to order some more from VetUK as well, but have some SS (I usually mix them anyway). I'd noticed that other rabbit stuff was going out of stock with them, but there's no direct way of contacting them to ask if they are coing back in stock. The fact they are still listed gives some hope, I suppose - why list something that you are no longer going to supply?

Burgess is my next option - but the price difference is significant.

I contacted them a couple of days ago via the Contact Us tab. This is what I received this morning:

Good Morning



Unfortunately, this item has been discontinued therefore we will not be expecting any new supplies to arrive with us.



I apologise for any inconvenience caused by this matter.





Should you require any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.



Kind Regards



Elliott

Customer Service Advisor

VetUK

I messaged back to ask if they were planning on a replacement.

Like, yourself, I assumed when it was still listed that it would eventually be back in stock. I have been checking for about 2 weeks as it isn't all that uncommon for it to be out of stock for a few days.


Blue Barn (Otley) have this:
£13.49 for 20kg. It is the fibre content that make me keep searching for other choices.

Composition:
Wheatfeed, Oatfeed, Grass Pellets, Rape, Barley, Molasses, Maize Bran, Vitamins and Minerals, Calcium Chloride, Binder E565
Analytical Constituents:
• Crude Oil 3%
• Crude Protein 15%
• Crude Fibre 13%
• Crude Ash 7%

 

[InspectorMorse]

What about A+P

https://equi-box.co.uk/other-animals/pet/rabbit/a-p-natural-rabbit-pellets

 

[Bunny Buddy]

What about A+P

https://equi-box.co.uk/other-animals/pet/rabbit/a-p-natural-rabbit-pellets

I have fed it in the past, and on paper it looks good but the bunnies just were not enthusiastic. I have also found that with a couple of other pelleted foods that are similar, ie really dense, that the bunnies are not keen. (A 20kg bag of A&P takes up about the same space as 10kg Excel, due to pellets being so compact). It is stocked by a pet shop only a mile away, so handy to buy. I would also need someone to lift it for me as I cannot lift a 20kg load without setting off pain in my fingers.

 

[Shimmer]

I used to use A&P as well, but the rabbits are really not that keen and the pellets are very small. It is good value if they will eat it, though.

 

[Bunny Buddy]

What about A+P

https://equi-box.co.uk/other-animals/pet/rabbit/a-p-natural-rabbit-pellets

The high quality muesli type food that was a decent price, was that Russel Rabbit? When I've been trying to find a substitute locally I considered getting a bag of it as a hand feed treat, but I have forgotten the brand name, I've looked at some many. The fibre content and ingredients were good. .. not full of peanuts and pea flakes!

 

[Bunny Buddy]

Pets at Home (wash my mouth out) pellets looked a decent price as a stop gap but I remembered they too have swapped to the dense pellets that bunnies don't like.

 

[Shimmer]

The Blue Barn stuff would be Ok except I don't like the use of molasses in animal feed. The rest wouldn't be an issue as I don't feed much in the way of pellets - it's more of a bribe and to general welfare check - if they don't eat the pellets, there's something wrong, and it's a good backup if they can't eat normally for any reason.

 

[Bunny Buddy]

The Blue Barn stuff would be Ok except I don't like the use of molasses in animal feed. The rest wouldn't be an issue as I don't feed much in the way of pellets - it's more of a bribe and to general welfare check - if they don't eat the pellets, there's something wrong, and it's a good backup if they can't eat normally for any reason.

Yes, same.

Excel has molasses too, which was one of the reasons I moved away from using it:

Composition: Grass, Oat Bran, Wheat, Soya Bean Hulls, Lucerne, Peas, Yeast, Molasses, Mint, Soya Oil, Calcium, Carbonate, Monocalcium Phosphate, Ligno-Cellulose, Fructo-oligosaccharides 0.25%, Salt, Vitamins and Minerals. Contains Natural Antioxidants.

I didn't know/had forgotten that Lucerne is alfalfa, so not massively keen on that either. There was another reasonably priced pellet that had that as the first ingredient so knocked it off the 'highly probable' choice. (Think it may have been Russel Rabbit pellet)

 

[Bunny Buddy]

Further response for VetUK on enquiring if they had any plans to sell a replacement pellet:

Good Afternoon





Thank you for your email



I can confirm that we have no such plans, however I am happy to note your interest going forward.



I am sorry again for any disappointment caused.



Should you require any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.



Kind Regards



Elliott

Customer Service Advisor

VetUK

 

[Shimmer]

Shame about the VetUK pellets. I hope they don't stop other items of their own brand.

Has anyone used these? Really want to know the size of the pellets (ie whether they ate comparable with Burgess, or are tiny ones)

https://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/pets-at-home-adult-rabbit-nuggets?weight=10kg

: Grass Meal (21%), Wheatfeed, Oatfeed, Cereal Straw (partially treated), Sunflower Seed Meal, Peas, Wheat, Full Fat Cooked Linseed Meal (1.4%), Vegetable Oil (soya (bean) oil), Calcium Carbonate, Dried Pumpkin (0.25%), Short Chain Fructo-oligosaccharides (Prebiotic) (0.25%), Sodium Bicarbonate, Dried Mint (0.1%), Dried Nettle (0.1%), Dried Parsley (0.1%).

Analytical Constituents: Protein 13%, Crude Fibres 20.4%, Crude Oils and Fats 4.1%, Crude Ash 6.6%, Moisture Not stated

£15.79 for 10kg.

 

[Bunny Buddy]

Shame about the VetUK pellets. I hope they don't stop other items of their own brand.

Has anyone used these? Really want to know the size of the pellets (ie whether they ate comparable with Burgess, or are tiny ones)

https://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/pets-at-home-adult-rabbit-nuggets?weight=10kg

: Grass Meal (21%), Wheatfeed, Oatfeed, Cereal Straw (partially treated), Sunflower Seed Meal, Peas, Wheat, Full Fat Cooked Linseed Meal (1.4%), Vegetable Oil (soya (bean) oil), Calcium Carbonate, Dried Pumpkin (0.25%), Short Chain Fructo-oligosaccharides (Prebiotic) (0.25%), Sodium Bicarbonate, Dried Mint (0.1%), Dried Nettle (0.1%), Dried Parsley (0.1%).

Analytical Constituents: Protein 13%, Crude Fibres 20.4%, Crude Oils and Fats 4.1%, Crude Ash 6.6%, Moisture Not stated

£15.79 for 10kg.

Fairly recently, in the last couple of years, I saw a lot of discussion on FB rabbit groups about how P@H had changed their pellets and no-bun would touch the new ones. I adopted a bun from them last year and as he was on those pellets in store I bought a small bag to take home with us. he wouldn't touch them... his face said he would rather starve. I mixed the pellets in with the other food and shared it out. The other buns picked their way round it and quite clearly didn't like. It's that super compressed stuff like A&P pellets.

 

[Shimmer]

OK. Back to the drawing board. May have to use just SSS for a while, but I don't like relyig on a single brand for any of the beasties. It causes problems when it inevitably becomes available or changes recipe.

 

[Bunny Buddy]

OK. Back to the drawing board. May have to use just SSS for a while, but I don't like relyig on a single brand for any of the beasties. It causes problems when it inevitably becomes available or changes recipe.

As a stop gap, I have been buying Country Value Fruity Nuggets, looks similar to Excel, and I think made by Burgess, around £14.50 - £16.00 for 10kg. It is going down well. Contains molasses though.... Half the price of Excel though. I am going to check out the Blue Barn stuff when I get chance.

 

[Shimmer]

I spent ages trawling through for different options on alternative nuggets. There were a few on Amazon, including Country Value Fruity Nuggets, the Fancy Feed Company Bunny Nuggets and Extra Select Premium Extruded Nuggets Rabbit Feed (all in 10kg-ish bags). All are on my shortlist now, just as an alternative to SSS. I'm not a fan of molasses or apple type flavouring in rabbit food, and these tend to have them - but as I only feed a small amount, it shouldn't be too much of an issue - especially mixed in with SSS. Others were available but either got too expensive or had issues such as tiny pellets rather than chunky nuggets.

However, I also called in at Jollyes today and bought a massive 10kg bag of SSS for £18 as it was on offer at 25% off. There wasn't much listed on the website and there was hardly anything else in stock - Burgess was down to one bag of each on the shelves. Staff said they are having big problems with getting stock in for rabbits & some others. They haven't been able to get some cat food brands since Covid started.

 

[Bunny Buddy]

I spent ages trawling through for different options on alternative nuggets. There were a few on Amazon, including Country Value Fruity Nuggets, the Fancy Feed Company Bunny Nuggets and Extra Select Premium Extruded Nuggets Rabbit Feed (all in 10kg-ish bags). All are on my shortlist now, just as an alternative to SSS. I'm not a fan of molasses or apple type flavouring in rabbit food, and these tend to have them - but as I only feed a small amount, it shouldn't be too much of an issue - especially mixed in with SSS. Others were available but either got too expensive or had issues such as tiny pellets rather than chunky nuggets.

However, I also called in at Jollyes today and bought a massive 10kg bag of SSS for £18 as it was on offer at 25% off. There wasn't much listed on the website and there was hardly anything else in stock - Burgess was down to one bag of each on the shelves. Staff said they are having big problems with getting stock in for rabbits & some others. They haven't been able to get some cat food brands since Covid started.

Oh that's interesting. I visited Jollyes a couple of weeks ago when I first ran out of the VetUK food. I came away with a bag of Excel. Interestingly, they are only about 100 metres away from P@H and Excel was massively cheaper than P@H. I don't think they had any 10kg bags of SS, I'm pretty sure at £18 that would have been my first choice. I will have to have another look. I'm still planning on trialling the Blue Barn stuff but BB can get the Country Value Fruity Nuggets in 10kg bags so that would be really easy for me to order and have delivered. I have been known to get an extra bale of hay just to tip the cost into free delivery zone but if I am buying pellets from them it will be easier to juggle.

 

[Zoobec]

I don’t suppose any of the grass pellets designed for horses would be any good instead? You’d have to look to see if the ingredients contained any oils or molasses.