Healthy weight loss

twistedtiggerz69 · Dec 27, 2020

So just weighed Mischief. He is now 5.8kg. He was 6kg only 4 days ago. And 6.1kg only a week ago. So has lost 0.3 kg in a week! Seems a lot to me??...

He was overweight with a big belly and we started him on a healthier diet of less greens/pellets and no snacks before he became ill 4 weeks ago.

He has fluid around the lungs with breathing issues so it's important he shifts the weight. Plus upper respiratory issues..ear infection/ runny eye.

He is eating loads of hay plus the veggies but not really touching the nuggets. Can I do anything to stop him losing it so quickly?

Tried nuggets softened in water and he is not interested. Do we need to consider syringe feeding again? Obviously very carefully. But would rather not stess him out unless he needed to keep weight on.

Any advice would be much appreciated. Not really had issues with this before in my buns [emoji53]

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Omi · Dec 27, 2020

twistedtiggerz69 said:
So just weighed Mischief. He is now 5.8kg. He was 6kg only 4 days ago. And 6.1kg only a week ago. So has lost 0.3 kg in a week! Seems a lot to me??...

He was overweight with a big belly and we started him on a healthier diet of less greens/pellets and no snacks before he became ill 4 weeks ago.

He has fluid around the lungs with breathing issues so it's important he shifts the weight. Plus upper respiratory issues..ear infection/ runny eye.

He is eating loads of hay plus the veggies but not really touching the nuggets. Can I do anything to stop him losing it so quickly?

Tried nuggets softened in water and he is not interested. Do we need to consider syringe feeding again? Obviously very carefully. But would rather not stess him out unless he needed to keep weight on.

Any advice would be much appreciated. Not really had issues with this before in my buns [emoji53]

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I see from your other thread that Mischief is now eating pellets again

Until he is completely better, I would try to get him eating normally and monitor his weight as you are doing. If he is improving and is now starting to eat more foods again, he will probably not lose any more weight.

Once he is better, you could focus on getting him to a healthier weight. Has the vet suggested what weight he should be? I would guess a French Lop should be around the 5+kgs mark.

To achieve a healthy weight, I would cut out all snacks/treats. Slowly reduce the amount of pellets that he has and maybe make him work to find them. Give him more exercise i.e. call him from one side of the room to the other with a pellet as reward. All green leafy veg is good, as are herbs and forage. A good variety is the thing to aim for, although this is more difficult in the Winter. Also obviously lots and lots of hay.

InspectorMorse · Dec 27, 2020

Not sure if you feed him Readigrass, but that has a higher protein content than hay. So you could add that to his diet. It is better to try to increase protein to stabilise weight, rather than adding too many carbohydrates which can upset the balance of ‘good’ bacteria in the caecum, especially if Bunny is on oral antibiotics.

Prebiotics can aid the absorption of dietary nutrients. I use a Pre/probiotic supplement which can be sprinkled on food or added to drinking water
https://www.vetark.co.uk/shop/rabbits-and-other-furries/health/proc-professional/

From your other thread I see that his Lordship has now started to eat his nuggets again. This is a really good sign. I am not sure if he is on any analgesia eg Metacam ? But if he does also have sore ears this could put him off eating pellets. Eating hard food can exacerbate ear pain. To encourage him to continue eating his nuggets you could mix them up with some grated carrot and apple. Many of my Rabbits can’t resist that.

It’s excellent that he is eating lots of hay. If you are not already feeding any Alfalfa hay then adding a moderate amount of that will also help keep his weight on.

I think holding off syringe feeds unless as a last resort is what I would do. Keeping his stress to a minimum is going to help him a lot and as long as he is eating and pooing personally I don’t think the stress syringe feeds cause him is a risk worth taking at this stage.

He will have ups and downs during the day as he fights the infection. Rather like when we have a nasty RTI, we may think we are feeling better, get up to do something and then feel wiped out again after half an hour. Hopefully as the days go by his energy levels will improve and he will have less times of feeling tired

twistedtiggerz69 · Dec 27, 2020

Omi said:
I see from your other thread that Mischief is now eating pellets again Until he is completely better, I would try to get him eating normally and monitor his weight as you are doing. If he is improving and is now starting to eat more foods again, he will probably not lose any more weight.

Once he is better, you could focus on getting him to a healthier weight. Has the vet suggested what weight he should be? I would guess a French Lop should be around the 5+kgs mark.

To achieve a healthy weight, I would cut out all snacks/treats. Slowly reduce the amount of pellets that he has and maybe make him work to find them. Give him more exercise i.e. call him from one side of the room to the other with a pellet as reward. All green leafy veg is good, as are herbs and forage. A good variety is the thing to aim for, although this is more difficult in the Winter. Also obviously lots and lots of hay.

Thanks Omi [emoji4]

He had a few pellets. He is not there yet. His diet was too hifmgh in carbs before plus he was on a growth pellet so he didn't eat enough hay. Plus he had too many treats aswell.

He now eats loads of hay and plenty of different veggies. We have about 6 shop bought types of greens for him plus dandelions/parsley and other veg. Would like him to eat more pellets though as don't want him to eat too much veg again.

I think we need to keep it healthy but somehow get pellets in him or similar...won't he need them for nutrients?

Foraging would be good idea when he is better. We do the run around room together and he does it without pellets plus I jump then he does a binky. But the binkies have got less enthusiastic as he has got chubbier.

We thought his weight gain was not moving around due to eating so much (as he does love food) and putting on weight!! But now think he may have been too ill to want to move around and that's why he got chubby

It would take a lot for him to refuse food. It rules his world. I've never seen a bunny eat so much!!! [emoji23][emoji23]

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twistedtiggerz69 · Dec 27, 2020

InspectorMorse said:
Not sure if you feed him Readigrass, but that has a higher protein content than hay. So you could add that to his diet. It is better to try to increase protein to stabilise weight, rather than adding too many carbohydrates which can upset the balance of ‘good’ bacteria in the caecum, especially if Bunny is on oral antibiotics.

Prebiotics can aid the absorption of dietary nutrients. I use a Pre/probiotic supplement which can be sprinkled on food or added to drinking water
https://www.vetark.co.uk/shop/rabbits-and-other-furries/health/proc-professional/

From your other thread I see that his Lordship has now started to eat his nuggets again. This is a really good sign. I am not sure if he is on any analgesia eg Metacam ? But if he does also have sore ears this could put him off eating pellets. Eating hard food can exacerbate ear pain. To encourage him to continue eating his nuggets you could mix them up with some grated carrot and apple. Many of my Rabbits can’t resist that.

It’s excellent that he is eating lots of hay. If you are not already feeding any Alfalfa hay then adding a moderate amount of that will also help keep his weight on.

I think holding off syringe feeds unless as a last resort is what I would do. Keeping his stress to a minimum is going to help him a lot and as long as he is eating and pooing personally I don’t think the stress syringe feeds cause him is a risk worth taking at this stage.

He will have ups and downs during the day as he fights the infection. Rather like when we have a nasty RTI, we may think we are feeling better, get up to do something and then feel wiped out again after half an hour. Hopefully as the days go by his energy levels will improve and he will have less times of feeling tired

We get a bale of hay from the local pet shop delivered to us. The hay is used for horses and is good quality. Readigrass is a good idea as another type of hay. He loves his hay bale toy and as he unwinds it we mix it with his usual hay. He loves that.

I use to feed my horse alfafa to gain condition. We will introduce some to the other 2 hays and hopefully will help him keep weight on.

Thanks for the probiotics link. How much would you give him per day? Would the small size last him for a while? We can get some more in new year but want to see if can take him to vets this week for a
Frusol boost if vet agrees to it.

He had a few nuggets but he is not too keen really. He was on 1ml Loxicom twice daily. We still giving him same dose as before as forgot to check with vets. We just reduced it to 0.7ml twice daily. Would that affect him much? We are aware he has been on this 4 weeks already ( 2 weeks at higher dose of 2ml twice daily) and don't want it hurting his stomach/kidneys. Will try apple and orange like you suggested...would crushing pellets in banana help maybe? He is not keen on wet pellets. Think it reminds him of syringe feeds!!

He seems better for eating some veg. Think his energy levels were waning. He also had his meds an hour ago so perhaps pain got to him?

Thanks for your help Jane. I love the 'His Lordship' ...it's so him!! We call him Little Lord Faunteroy as he is like 'you may feed me now...you may groom me now...' We are his lowly servants [emoji23] xx

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InspectorMorse · Dec 27, 2020

twistedtiggerz69 said:
We get a bale of hay from the local pet shop delivered to us. The hay is used for horses and is good quality. Readigrass is a good idea as another type of hay. He loves his hay bale toy and as he unwinds it we mix it with his usual hay. He loves that.

I use to feed my horse alfafa to gain condition. We will introduce some to the other 2 hays and hopefully will help him keep weight on.

Thanks for the probiotics link. How much would you give him per day? Would the small size last him for a while? We can get some more in new year but want to see if can take him to vets this week for a
Frusol boost if vet agrees to it. How do I give that to him though? xx

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The Pro C comes with a scoop and instructions of how much of the powder to give
The small tub should last a couple of months

The Vet may just want to give a one off shot of Frusol. If he/ she prescribes more it will probably be in oral form, it comes in a liquid form which would be easier to administer than tablets which would need to be crushed.

twistedtiggerz69 · Dec 27, 2020

A small tub would work for now then. And get the Readigrass/Alfafa aswell [emoji16]

The first Frusol jab seemed to help so maybe one more would be enough. Will see what vet thinks.

I am learning so much on here! And I thought I was fairly clued up about bunnies...I realise I know nothing!! [emoji23]

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Healthy weight loss

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