Any ideas of foods for weight gain?

Hi all!

All those who haven't followed little Bunty's story, when we got her she was very underweight. She was weighed again when she was at the vets for her fracture and she was 1.36kg - much better than she was but still not quite at an average that a mini lop should be.

Well, we assumed that being on cage rest she would continue to gain considering she now can't do manic binky circuits around the house! But maybe I was naive - I thought the extra energy it takes to heal would be similar to that saved by being on cage rest and that she would gain, if not at least maintain her weight. Well she seems to be getting a little skinnier again

Bear in mind she eats like a pig and I already give her more than she should have - and no, she definitely doesn't have worms or anything like that she was just very underweight and the whole situation doesn't seem to be helping.

Does anyone know of specific foods that are maybe a bit more fatty or does anyone have any ideas in general? I can't stress enough we know it's not illness causing this, when we got her, her backbone was sticking out. She's put on loads I just need her to put on a bit more and progress seems to have slowed /stopped since her accident!

Thanks all any ideas greatly appreciated!xxx

Doughnut is a mini lop and went down to 1kg when she was ill, because she is so small she is now 1.29 and just a little bit tubby, but my specialist thinks she's a great weight now, so trying maintaining 1.25-1.29!!

He suggested Oxbow alfalfa hay and she loved it. It's fattening and still good for the teeth since it's hay. Some people on here feed a bit of porridge oats for weight gain but I just went with what he told me. You could also up the pellets but I found Doughnut ate less hay then so didn't go down that route.

Good luck.

Has she had her bloods ran to make sure she doesn't have something going on with her kidneys or something else? Always worth ruling that out.

Otherwise, I would feed what Cpayne has suggested. How does she feel? I find weight can differ from bunny to bunny depending on their body shape. The best way to gauge body condition is by feeling their bum and ribs. Although, bear in mind that this changes too. :lol: I have a bun who is very "solid" feeling and you can barely feel her bones, whereas I have another who feels quite bony. It's just knowing whats normal for that particular bun. :thumb:

There is no average weight for a mini lop Even pedigree ones vary in size and one rabbit at the bottom of the scale could be underweight where as another just right. When you introduce pet shop cross breeds the weights vary even more.

You need to check body condition rather than weight - it can be tough to judge so you might want to ask your vet instead. You should be able to feed the bones of the back, for example, but they should have some padding, also the muscle should give a rounded appearance over the hips/where the spine meets the ribs.

Your vet should be able to give you a rough ideal weight for her specifically so you can aim for it.

As she's on cage rest you might find she has lost muscle mass rather than is underweight, so once she starts moving about more and exercising it will build back up again

I just go on what my specialist says as I find it difficult to tell. I know if you run your finger down their spine and can feel it easily then they are underweight. I can now still feel the spine but there is padding there, I guess if you can't feel it at all then they are over weight!

I know 1-1.1kg is too light for Doughnut and on 1.25kg she apparently has a tubby tummy and this is the weight to keep her at. Another mini lop on here who looks exactly the same as her weights 2.4kg but he's not overweight. Doughnut would be morbidly obese if she was that weight as she is very short.

Thanks all, well I always go on how she feels I only know the weights from when the vet checks her and the vet gave an ideal weight for her as about 1.4 to 2kg - when we rescued her (not from a pet shop and she's not a cross) she was pretty much skin and bones, we were told she just needed a good covering of fat so her backbone and ribs were no longer sticking out, which we did but I'm starting to be able to feel them again, I think a lot of it is loss of muscle mass I just think she could do with some more fattening food but no idea what other than what she already has! I did try more pellets but like said above then she barely eats hay

If only she was like me, I can look at a cabbage leaf and put on weight :lol:

The alfalfa hay will definitely help and good for her teeth too.

cpayne said:

The alfalfa hay will definitely help and good for her teeth too.

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Thanks! I think what she has now is Timothy hay but I will try her on some alfalfa!

Just give her a handful a day to get her used to it and then maybe up it to two if she isn't putting on weight, but a handful may do it. She should still have the timothy hay, it isn't a replacement it's in addition. Alfalfa is really for babies or can be used as a treat hay as it's fattening.