Stasis prone bunnies

[loobers25]

It's interesting isn't it that just by making small changes, you can make rabbits feel much more secure. I've noticed how much more relaxed Tethra is, now that he has Tui. He flops out when sleeping and it's visibly obvious that he's more deeply asleep. I suppose two sets of eyes and ears are better than one.

Toby's diet sounds excellent now. It's wonderful that he's eating so much more hay. You must be feeling much less concerned about him. Apple sticks are going down very well here too atm. Are you feeding Maple the same diet?

Yes maple is on exactly the same diet, she was getting lots and lots of cecos on excel so I changed her over and binned the lot.

I make them activities like stuffing rolls with hay and plaintan. I think the thing with Toby is he's a fast eater so I make meal times a bit of an effort with him.

Interestingly another point I forget to mention was that Toby has not lost any weight at all. When we started he was 2.8 and yesterday he was 2 8. I really thought he would have lost some weight given he only eats on stick a day plus hay and forage? Maple has lost a little but was a bit overweight so that's ok. She is 2.4 at the moment.

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[MightyMax]

I would just like to update with a few observations I have seen with Toby

I moved furniture around to give him multiple exit ways instead of a big open space. I moved his big hay dog bed from against the wall and now he sleeps in the corner behind. When he's excited he does laps round and round. So thank you for that advice, he definitely feels much safer.

Toby has 1 fibre stick a day, half in the morning and half in the evening. He has nature pellets - he may get one a day if i think he's particularly hungry for the vitamins and minerals. I no longer have to metacam soak the pellets as he takes it from the syringe and funnily enough he will eat his heart tablet raw!

Taking the advice for a more natural high fibre diet I have changed Tobys diet:

His daily diet includes no bowl.
Big pile of hay with forage.
He has:
Apple leafs
Pear leafs
Apple twigs
Pear twigs
Birch leafs
Plantain
All scattered in hay

Then to keep it exciting I will add one or two of the following:
Sunflowers
Nettle
Rose
Occasional dandelion
Rasperry leafs

For treats he has:
Chicory root
Dandelion root

He gets unlimited hay, every time I go to see him I top up with hay. He really enjoys his timothy hay.co.uk. He really stuffs his face with it, it's very cute. He also has meadow hay and burgess grass hay.

Obviously I don't want to jinx anything as I know it can take weeks to recover from stasis but so far I would say his hay consumption has improved drastically. His poos are large and golden in colour. I see him eating hay more than I ever have.

I used to find nibbles out of his pine ikea bed. That's has stopped.

I have taken willow away as I wasn't sure if his heart medication where some sort of blood thinners. Not that he is keen on it any way, he's loving apple twigs at the moment!

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What an amazing diet sheet

I'm glad it's working for Toby and I hope he stays well.

He's such a sweet lad

[Jack's-Jane]

Yes maple is on exactly the same diet, she was getting lots and lots of cecos on excel so I changed her over and binned the lot.

I make them activities like stuffing rolls with hay and plaintan. I think the thing with Toby is he's a fast eater so I make meal times a bit of an effort with him.

Interestingly another point I forget to mention was that Toby has not lost any weight at all. When we started he was 2.8 and yesterday he was 2 8. I really thought he would have lost some weight given he only eats on stick a day plus hay and forage? Maple has lost a little but was a bit overweight so that's ok. She is 2.4 at the moment.

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I have found that when a Rabbit is on a very 'natural' diet they seldom fall below a healthy weight. I think they metabolise dietary calories very efficiently when they have a diet tailored to their specific needs

[MightyMax]

Yes maple is on exactly the same diet, she was getting lots and lots of cecos on excel so I changed her over and binned the lot.

I make them activities like stuffing rolls with hay and plaintan. I think the thing with Toby is he's a fast eater so I make meal times a bit of an effort with him.

Interestingly another point I forget to mention was that Toby has not lost any weight at all. When we started he was 2.8 and yesterday he was 2 8. I really thought he would have lost some weight given he only eats on stick a day plus hay and forage? Maple has lost a little but was a bit overweight so that's ok. She is 2.4 at the moment.

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I have found that younger rabbits can gain weight on hay!

With our elder buns, it's harder for them to keep the weight on with a mainly hay diet. whether that's due to their teeth or metabolism, my vet isn't sure, but I know I've had to supplement sometimes

[zoe2112]

That's ok, debate away! I just thought I would be careful quoting him on public forum because I really do respect him and his knowledge. I'm so lucky to have him as a vet . I just wish they're was a bit more research into Infacol, gripe water and even papain. Maybe we could spark that?
Just thinking aloud here...

Do you think readigrass can cause gas? My mum was told to avoid green hays as will cause gas to prone bunnies.

Thoughts? Xx

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I’ve been wondering the same about readigrass but couldn’t find anything about it causing gas online, just warnings about the calcium content. Freddie’s gas incidents are getting less frequent and I’m also not giving him readigrass that often, I’m going to cut it out entirely in the hope that it’s the culprit.

Toby’s diet sounds amazing now, does the forage all come from hayexperts.co.uk?


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[loobers25]

I’ve been wondering the same about readigrass but couldn’t find anything about it causing gas online, just warnings about the calcium content. Freddie’s gas incidents are getting less frequent and I’m also not giving him readigrass that often, I’m going to cut it out entirely in the hope that it’s the culprit.

Toby’s diet sounds amazing now, does the forage all come from hayexperts.co.uk?


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How is freddie? ? The reason I thought was because my mums rabbit couldn't tolerate readigrass although fresh grass was ok?

It's all from the hay experts except the pear and apple twigs/leafs they are from Galens Garden. It is a bit more expensive but definitely cheaper than anton vets x-D

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[zoe2112]

How is freddie? ? The reason I thought was because my mums rabbit couldn't tolerate readigrass although fresh grass was ok?

It's all from the hay experts except the pear and apple twigs/leafs they are from Galens Garden. It is a bit more expensive but definitely cheaper than anton vets x-D

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I saw there was a rescue which sells apple sticks on here but they have a waiting list. At present I’m stripping my father’s tree bare but will look into Galens Garden.

Freddie is doing okay, we had an out of hours vet trip last week and I’m pretty sure they think I’m completely neurotic as he was fine once we got there. I’m now trying to have more patience at home when nursing him with gas. I’m home over the Easter break so I’m able to give him tummy massages and encourage him to move about when his tummy is firming up.

Is Toby still getting occasional gas with his new diet or is it under control now?


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[Jack's-Jane]

I’ve been wondering the same about readigrass but couldn’t find anything about it causing gas online, just warnings about the calcium content. Freddie’s gas incidents are getting less frequent and I’m also not giving him readigrass that often, I’m going to cut it out entirely in the hope that it’s the culprit.

Toby’s diet sounds amazing now, does the forage all come from hayexperts.co.uk?


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I have had a few Rabbits who developed gas as a direct result of eating Readigrass. Once it was cut out of their diet they had very few problems in that department again.

The Rabbits I have now are all OK with it, but I certainly do not free feed it as I do hay. I just give each Rabbit a small handful a day as part of there overall (pellet free) diet

[MightyMax]

I’ve been wondering the same about readigrass but couldn’t find anything about it causing gas online, just warnings about the calcium content. Freddie’s gas incidents are getting less frequent and I’m also not giving him readigrass that often, I’m going to cut it out entirely in the hope that it’s the culprit.

Toby’s diet sounds amazing now, does the forage all come from hayexperts.co.uk?


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Every rabbit that has lived with me (hundreds ) has had readigrass and no problems. But of course there will be the odd one out here and there

I hope you find what works for Freddie