bun w/low phosphorus level and bun w/high chloresterol

Question
QUESTION: Hi Lee,

Since Dana is on vacation I hope you can answer my question.  Momma, my 8 year old bun just had a blood workup.  Her Phosphorus is low @ 2.5 (ref range is 4.0 - 7.2).  She had a few other highs and lows but nothing that means much according to my vet. Her calcium is good and pretty much everything else is good.  Curious if you'd know why her phos level could be low and any ideas on how to up it?

Another bun, Inky, the son of Momma (7 years old) had blood work done in May (he actually had been very sick prior and had gone into headtilt but he's much better now - although still slightly tilted).  His chloresterol level was extremely high at 142 (ref range is 10-80).  His phos was actually low too at 3.2 and a few other highs and low levels that my vet didn't seem too concerned about.  Any reason why a buns cholesterol would be high and any thoughts on how one could lower cholesterol in a bun? They get BBT, varied veggies and of course tons of hay.  I did read something today that got my attention though - it was an article on the probiotic revolution and one specific paragraph that stuck out at me said "consumption of yogurt has also been shown to decrease serum cholesterol levels in humans and rabbits".  The paragraph goes on to say that serum chloesterol levels were also lowered in other critters i.e. rats, swine, hens, by giving L. acidolphilus (found in yogurt and fermented milk).  I'm thinking that since the article is discussing the probio L. acidophilus perhaps just giving that probio and not the yogurt would help lower the chloresterol?

Any thoughts or ideas on both issues would be appreciated.

Thanks very much.
Jenna

ANSWER: Hi,

in reality, the reason why they are low in phosphorous probably has the most to do with their hay.  WHatever the hay grows in, absorbs while growing, is probably the most significant factor.  The soils in which the hay is grown in, that is.  If they are a little low the hay probably doesn't have a great deal of phosphorous in it.  The veggies as well.  Even the pellets. Lower quality pellets skimp on phosphorous because it's expensive.  If you are not giving them Oxbow or American Pet Diner food pellets, I would switch them over, as either of these are regarded as THE superior rabbit pellets out there in terms of what rabbits need nutritionally.  You will want to address this via the diet because low phosphorous levels can affect calcium loss in the body, and as your guys are getting older that's not a good thing.

As far as cholesterol goes, again diet is probably where I'd start looking.  In particular anything fatty he might be eating.  Nuts, seeds, etc.  Being vegetarians they don't normally eat items that would push cholesterol up.  For people meats and fats are the big sources.  In rabbits fatty foods would be.   There are things like Hawthorn fruit, which can help get cholesterol down, but finding the source of the cholesterol and eliminating it is important too.

Also it could be high because of his prior health problems, especially if it affected the liver and its capacity to remove cholesterol from the blood.  If he needs some liver help, milk thistle, dandelion, and yellow dock can help get the liver working better.  Herb capsules of these can be opened and given a little sprinkle over wet lettuce or food pellets.  Or mixed in a small amount of critical care.

Acidophilus can be given, generally I give it for gut health, but if the corssover benefit is lowering cholesterol, then that's good too.  You can either mix some powder into their petromalt, or get flavored wafers and split into quarters and give a piece daily.  Just watch him more carefully and make sure that it doesn't cause gut problems.  Nature's Bounty makes strawberry flavored wafers that you can split up into 4 or 5 pieces and give a piece a day.  They are taken well by rabbits, and I'd probably do it on more of an empty stomach just because more of it may survive the stomach acids when the stomach isn't so active and producing a lot of acid to digest a meal.

It should have some effect as the study you mention was a study conducted on rabbits.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks for your reply, Lee.  They are on BBT and have been all their lives.  Regarding their hay, I switch between timmy, 3-way blend (oat,wheat,barley) or oat hay depending on the season because hay is so seasonal.  They do not get nuts, seeds, carbs or otherwise.  Their diet is a pretty controlled diet.

Answer
Hi,

just wanted to mention one other good source of probiotics, and that is Bene-Bac.  You can get it at pet supply stores or on the internet.  It actually would be better than just acidophilus because it has about 7 different good bacteria in it.  I would suggest getting the 15 mL feeder syringes because the bacteria are in a fatty paste media (slightly sweet) that allows the bacteria to survive the stomach acids very well.

Also, just figured out what you menat by BBT (I am not an acronym guy). :)