How much weight do they each need to lose?
I would certainly cut out all of the treats from now. How many pellets do they each get per day? Rather than cut those out entirely, I would gradually reduce them until they each have the equivalent of an eggcupful per day. It may seem hard, but as Jane says, it would be so beneficial for their health. You will probably find that they will eat more hay too, when their tummies are less full with no treats and reduced pellets. More hay will also be better for their health.
I actually don't think you would need to or should cut out the dried herbs or veggies. I would feed each of those at the times when you would normally feed treats. They would also provide some good nutrition for them.
I'm sure you'll find that if you make the changes gradually, which is better for them anyway, they won't notice. I would also weigh each of them once a week, so that you can monitor how the diet changes are working.
Well the vet did not say as we only spoke to the nurse and she said he did not say. It is confusing as the vet at PDSA said they both did not need to lose weight.
However I did think Chief is still too big but I thought Lillabelle was ok as you can feel her ribs easily enough but the vet said she has a little fat in her when he opened her up to do the spay.
I think I will ask the vet on Monday about this. Lillabelle was 5kgs and Chief is 5.6kgs which means he has put on 200gs since last time at vets.
We have been feeding him a little pellets since then as he has noticed when Lillabelle gets hers now. He had stopped all his pellets to lose weight. Lillabelle has 22gs of pellets per day which is an eggcupful based on checking on google.. Do I reduce this now then? And stop giving Mischief pellets at all?
They currently have a cereal bowl up to the rim of fresh veggies in the morning and at 6pm every day. They were getting a measured amount of 4 pots of dried veggies, flowers and herbs which I get from Natures grub. A pot is equivalent as a large handful. So basically 4 large handfuls. Which we feed them at 11pm before bed. Other than that they get 2 types of hay. One is a meadow hay we get in half bales locally from a horse feed shop and the other is a soft hay with rose and plantain which they love.
They do eat hay and both eat hay through the day but I think they could eat more. I am thinking of reducing the dried food so that they are not so full and eat more hay. Should I reduce the dried food down by half and stick to dandelion leaves and plantain? Are the flowers and other food very fattening?
We only give them treats in the evening around 8pm to 10pm. They are at their worse then. They beg constantly and jump on the bed. They terrorize us then scrabbling at the bed and picking up our stuff. They are big rabbits when they turn into the mob!
Or Mischief will next to me on the floor and scratch at the bed and chew the bedclothes and my clothes! Or just stare at me with this 'mummy I'm starving' look and look so cute.
They were having a fruit loop and a fibrestick each. We started giving them treats again after the PDSA vet said they were a good weight. I really need a rabbit savvy vet I can trust to feel them and say how much weight they need to lose. I will ask on Monday when they have their check. Hopefully they will be able to give us an idea.
I have already cut back their green veggies and they usually finish them or go back within the hour to finish them. I also cut down their dried herbs by a third. They had lost weight really well. Then I felt that Lillabelle was losing weight a little quickly. Inspector Morse advised me to give her a handful of pellets which we started to do. We got up to 22g slowly until I felt she wasn't losing weight anymore.
How will I know they are the correct weight plus also lose the fat around their organs? Is it a case of them slowly losing weight and getting trim as such? I realise I need to weigh them regularly so I need to find a way I can weigh Lils as we call her or L as Jane said. Easier than writing Lillabelle every time.
Thank you for your help. They have been losing weight and eating more hay since I reduced their veggies and dried herbs. I think if I reduce the dried herbs a little more plus stop their treats then they will lose it slowly. I will weigh them to see how they do x