Best rabbit food for a difficult situation

[mickey45]

Hi, I have a friend and neighbour who is quite vulnerable and has just gotten an indoor rabbit. I haven't kept rabbits for a few years and I've offered to help her out a bit because I'm a bit worried about her living situation. What would be the best food to get her under the assumption that the rabbit might not always be getting fresh food/ hay? Something with a high hay percentage? And anything else that i could reasonably do that might make things easier for her and the rabbit. Please be sensitive cos this is quite a complicated situation

 

[Shimmer]

Can you offer to eg clean out the enclosure weekly? That way you can groom bunny, check the nails, refil water bowl, and add a lot of hay.

Hay is a lot cheaper by the bale, if there is eg an equine supplier nearby. A bale will fit in a standard wheely bin. That way there is a plentiful supply either with your neighbour, or you can drop a bagfull in weekly (refill an existing hay bag that she has?), along with some foraged greens (dandelion leaves, grass, bramble leaves, willow or apple branches, outer leaves from cabbage, etc).

Pelleted hay / grass is available - someone else may know what's suitable.

 

[mickey45]

Thank you that's really helpful, especially dropping over foraged stuff that didn't occur to me! Unfortunately we both live in small inner city flats so I think a bale might be more stress not less. I'm not sure how often I could reasonably go over (like I said very complicated situation) but having some nail clippers and stuff around also sounds like a good idea. I reckon I'm gonna get her some hay and the biggest water bottle I can find, then mix some decent food half and half with hay pellets. I'll offer to drive her to PDSA too maybe

 

[Shimmer]

Rabbits need an annual vaccination. The diseases it protects against are deadly, and indoor rabbits need just as much protection as outdoor rabbits.
Neutering is also a good idea. Entire females are prone to uterine cancer, which has a high death rate in relatively young rabbits. Entire males will exhibit unwanted behaviour (spraying urine, buzzing, etc).

Water bowls are better than bottles as the rabbit can drink more, and more easily. Pick a heavy ceramic one (eg dog or cat ones) so it doesn't get tipped up.

A good source of info is:

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