My rescue girl is too heavy to be spayed :-(

[Amity & Nic]

Hi all,

I rehomed an unspayed female at the start of September to eventually bond with my bereaved boy. She was unfortunately kept in a small cage due to a hunting type dog being brought into the family. They realised she was putting a lot of weight on & not getting any exercise, therefore rehomed her.
I let her settle in, which was easy as she's so friendly and then booked her in to be spayed. The vet said she's approx 900g overweight. She's a rex so it's very obvious she's quite overweight. I thought with all the exercise she's now getting, her weight would come down but she looks the same. The problem is she will beg and beg for nuggets..she will hound me and bite my clothes etc. until I give in. She has selective grain free currently (in a treat ball/snuffle mat & hidden in toys etc). Does anyone know if the 3% fat lite burgess nuggets will make much of a difference? (selective is 4%). I've just bought some fibafirst which she seems to like.. That's 3.5%. I would cut nuggets completely but she's so insistent, it's really hard!!
Many thanks for any advice

 

[Shimmer]

I think it's a training issue - she's got you very well trained . I would swap the pellets out for something much more boring / low calorie, such as forage / dry forage or just hay (although that's not something you can carry in a pocket so well). Maybe try sprigs of fresh herbs, carrot tops or dandelion leaves. 900g is a lot of weight to lose, so it will be a long, slow process. Rexes are notoriously greedy as well, but it is for her long term well being.

Well done for taking her in and getting her sorted out, though.

 

[Omi]

I agree with Shimmer 100%. The reason why she will beg and beg for nuggets, is because that gives her the result she wants
I have had Rexes, so I know they 'think' they are forever hungry. The trick here is for her to unlearn this behaviour, by getting her to forget that pellets exist. Replace them with herbs or forage pieces, like Shimmer suggested.

I suggest you concentrate on quickly reducing the pellets, rather than changing to a different brand, until you can cut them out completely. How much exercise does she actually get? I would make her work for each pellet from now on until you can cut them out. Stand a distance away from her and make her run towards you to get each pellet.

I agree that it's very hard, but 900g is a large amount to be overweight by. It's not only being unable to have her spay, which is necessary both for her health and also so that she can bond with your boy. It's also going to make it much more likely that she will get Arthritis later in life, especially as she had little exercise before she was adopted by you.

I would also monitor and record her weight carefully and weigh her at least once a week.

Good luck, it's a very worthwhile project!

 

[bunny momma]

I agree with Shommer and Omi.
Well done on making her work for pellets with toys.
My first mini Rex was obsessed with pellets and she soon was more than a kg overweight because she got fed by both of us. Even though she had the space she did not exercise so I encouraged her to move around as Omi said.
I rationed her pellets so they were a small part of her diet, and gave her dandelion and other greens when she begged. She always had lots of good quality hay . She got lots of head pets and attention when she begged. She lost the weight faster than I expected and moved around better too.

 

[Amity & Nic]

Many thanks for the replies. I think i just needed to hear from others I've got to be cruel to be kind. She does get other forage too, but she will ignore everything until the nuggets appear. I just want her to be happy so didn't want to deny her of anything. It was the second day I had her the behaviour started, my other two buns never did anything like that and I was amazed how persistent she was. I think she did train me from day 2 .
She has most of the downstairs to herself.. But she's fairly inactive. She's not attempted to climb the stairs yet. I do move things around for her which she likes but then will go back to sit down. I think it's hard work for her .

 

[bunny momma]

Sometimes we do not even realize how many pellets we are providing when we give a few here and a few more there throughout the day/evening. To better monitor the quantity I am providing, I put their ration in a separate container the night before and then I give my bunnies them from the separate container throughout the next day.
I know it will be difficult until she learns you are not the nugget dispenser. Sending positive vibes.

 

[Omi]

Many thanks for the replies. I think i just needed to hear from others I've got to be cruel to be kind. She does get other forage too, but she will ignore everything until the nuggets appear. I just want her to be happy so didn't want to deny her of anything. It was the second day I had her the behaviour started, my other two buns never did anything like that and I was amazed how persistent she was. I think she did train me from day 2 .
She has most of the downstairs to herself.. But she's fairly inactive. She's not attempted to climb the stairs yet. I do move things around for her which she likes but then will go back to sit down. I think it's hard work for her .

How old is your girl? As you say she is fairly inactive, it would be sensible to arrange an x-ray and blood tests, certainly before she has any operation. Rexes are prone to heart disease and so, it would be wise to check that her obesity hasn't already damaged her heart. As you're probably also aware, unspayed Does are high risk for developing uterine cancer and so that could be checked also. She could additionally already have Arthritis, which would be another possible cause of her inactivity. Weight loss for her should also be gradual and monitoring this carefully will allow you to achieve this.

 

[Amity & Nic]

How old is your girl? As you say she is fairly inactive, it would be sensible to arrange an x-ray and blood tests, certainly before she has any operation. Rexes are prone to heart disease and so, it would be wise to check that her obesity hasn't already damaged her heart. As you're probably also aware, unspayed Does are high risk for developing uterine cancer and so that could be checked also. She could additionally already have Arthritis, which would be another possible cause of her inactivity. Weight loss for her should also be gradual and monitoring this carefully will allow you to achieve this.

Well in the advert, they had her at 3y 9m but when I got there they said she was around 3. Sadly that was already her second home. I get the feeling she put the weight on fairly quickly. I will definitely get her checked out before trying to book her in again. She seems very happy and stands on her hind legs a lot (I've got a barrier set up between my boy and her). She's had only her treat ball today. Bunny momma is definitely right, I think drip-feeding was causing me to lose track of how many nuggets my girl is having. Many thanks for all the advice.. The people here are always so helpful