How can I help our rabbit gain weight?

Question
My Mini-Rex houserabbit, Bella, is almost 11 years old. She's been a steady 3.9-3.11 lbs. for most of her life. For approximately 7 years, we had another rabbit, Denali, and they traded off having time outside their enclosures, about 12 hours a day each. Last year, we lost Denali to cancer.  Since then, Bella has had the run of a very large room, and sometimes, the whole house, twenty-four hours a day.  

When we took her in for her her yearly vet visit, we found that she's dropped to 3 lbs.  You can feel her bones on her back, but she doesn't seem too thin, otherwise. Bella has been very healthy, so our vet ran several tests to be sure that there was no health reason for her weight loss.  Thankfully, nothing showed up.  Perhaps she's thinner due to the increased exercise since Denali's death?

I'd love any help you could provide in ways we can increase her weight, if possible. She's a hearty eater. Here's her usual daily food intake:

~3 cups of greens, given in two portions, AM and PM
Free feeding of Bunny Basics T (Timothy)
Free feeding of Timothy Hay and Orchard Grass
Small amounts of oat hay and/or alfalfa
1 craisin, 1 papaya tablet

Thanks for any help you can give!
Peace,
Laurie


Answer
Hi,

congrats on having her healthy up to 11, that is wonderful!

One thing with older bunnies is that it isn't uncommon for them to lose weight as they get older.  I believe she probably has been losing weight slowly if you haven't seen any changes or had bouts of sicknesses or injuries this last year.  You aren't aware of it because you only get a weight reading from the vet annually.  One thing you can do to see howthe weight is, is to weigh her when you trim her nails every couple months.  If you always trim her nails about the same time of day, each time, you'll get a fairly decent/consistent weight measurement.

I'd discuss her condition with your vet (who has a history with her health) and ask if they believe she is now underweight.  If she is still really active, and doesn't have any bladder/kidney issues, is a small handful of oxbow alfalfa pellets.  Another treat good for their gut is papaya pieces.  Little papaya chews from the pet supply store.  Good natural sugar and the papaya has good enzymes for the gut.  A ribbon of petromalt on a small piece of hay cube (kaytee makes alfalfa and timothy hay, hay cubes) could be good too.

Given she's in good health, and active, it sounds like she's lost some weight due to her age.  Apparently this often happens in older people too.  

Your vet may also have some other additional suggestions.  I'd avoid too many new foods, or ones that are really sticky/sweet like banana due to tooth issues that can arise.  But the ones above in some combination might be something to entice her to eat a little more.

I do know that refreshing the hay with a handful of fresh hay several times a day gets them to eat more hay.  Also sometimes if they have left pellets in their bowl and are resting somewhere else in their area, I will pour some of them in my hand and place some pellets next to them.  Sometimes they eat right away, sometimes in a little bit (sometimes they forget they have some, sometimes they are still a little full from other things).