weight vs fat???

[Ellasyn]

2 of my bunnies are bunny like. They are soft, a nice shape, good weight etc. The other is what I can only describe as solid. Its not fatty, definitely muscle (shes a very very active bunny) and its properly distributed. She eats loads more than my other 2. I mean, my others get a treat ball of pellet a day, Verity (solid bun) is eating that plus about 2 eggcups in a bowl! She (and the other two) hoover hay like theyve never eaten, and poops all look wonderful. Im just concerned that she a) eats so much for such a small bunny (netherland dwarf at a guess, as is one of my others) and b) she is very solid, and I worry that like people this can be an issue later in life when solid goes to fat, or that her random muscly body is because something is wrong.

She was probably only 4 weeks is (vets guess) when I took her on, she had a wound about inch and a half diameter on the back of her neck, down to her muscle and tendons (it was gross) but without any surgical intervention, but many vet clean ups (the nurses loved her) she has healed and you wouldnt know there was ever an issue. She obviously was on normal bunny foods at that age, and I had to tempt her with greens on occasion, although it never caused any obvious issues at the time surprisingly. Shes the cuddliest bunny, very bold and clearly a real fighter, so I dont want to think she's some odd body builder bunny and its actually a sign of an issue! She didnt once show any weakness through her fight, other than having no idea what most of the foods were (dont know what she was on before so sudden change too). I havent weighed her recently (naughty bunny mummy hasnt replaced her broken scales yet).

I suppose Im just checking its within normal range for her to be like that. So much knowledge and experience on here

 

[Silverleaf]

I can't really help, but one of my Nethies is a chunky bun too. I don't think he's overweight, but he's noticeably more muscular than his littermate brother Nemesis, and he's growing faster as well according to my scales. And he loves his food! They get half an egg cup of pellets and three FibaFirst sticks each a day but he would happily munch far more than that if I let him.

I think there are a lot of differences in non-show quality Nethies because of the way they are bred - generally the bucks chosen for breeding are as small as possible but the does are bigger so birthing is easier, and this is going to lead to a lot of variation in size and body type in the pet-quality babies.

 

[Silverleaf]

Oh and with people, muscle doesn't turn to fat like that. You often see it with body builders or boxers or other muscular athletes when they retire or have injuries - if they reduce their training but don't also reduce their food intake they start storing fat. They haven't lost their muscle (well not much of it) but they are eating too much for their exercise level and get fat as well.