Maintain a healthy diet

Question
QUESTION: I have been purchasing Oxbow pdts (hay and pellets) for my pet rabbit.  In addition to that I also feed greens, apples and carrots.  I realized that in the morning, there will be curshed sift stools and I believe it is due to the carrot which I start feeding recently.

I like to find you from you, hope you can give me advise whether it is good to feed pet rabbit greens and veg and fruits.  I have friends telling me just give them hay and pellets is good as greens tend to have a potential risk of worms and bacteria.  What is your opintion.

I also have friends who told me feeding herbs such as basil and dabdelion is good.  Is it true?  How much and how often to give?

Now that I know carrot is no good, can I don't give carrot now?  I also give celery, maybe the whole stalk is too much?  What is the best amt to give.

Also I read from some health website, we have to be consistent with what we feed and feed the same.  Say if I feed Oxbow tim hay all this while and due to shortage of supply I bought another brand of Timothy hay for my rabbit to eat.  Will this cause indigestion problem?

Pls advise me asap as I wish to fix the soft stools problem soonest possible.  many thanks.

ANSWER: Hi Angela,

the soft stools you are finding in the morning are called "cecal pellets", or just "cecals" for short.  These are normally pellets your rabbit will re-ingest (eat again).  They are full of vitamins and normally a rabbit will eat them because they smell sweet to the rabbit.

However, when you feed a rabbit a diet that is too rich in high energy and sweeter foods, they often start to skip eating these cecal pellet clusters, and you will find them uneaten - just like you are.

You don't have to eliminate the carrots entirely.  I would reduce the amount you are giving your rabbit by 50%, or if you are giving a lot, by 66%.  I would also reduce the amount of fruit you are giving by 2/3 (66%).  

By cutting the amount of higher sugar items (carrots, fruit) the cecal pellets your rabbit produces will become more attractive to your rabbit again, and he will start eating them again.  

Greens generally do not cause this problem, as they are not sweet and are not high calorie.  I basically wash all their greens with clean water in the sink, thoroughly, before I give them to my rabbits.  I buy their greens in the grocery store and I eat some of them myself.  There shouldn't be a big problem as long as you rinse them off.  Take the same precautions with the greens as you take with your own vegetables.

Herbs:  Basil and Dandelion are okay, if he likes them.  I would watch how much dandelion you give him, as it can cause diarrhea.  Also, do not give him more than one new green/herb at a time, because if he cannot tolerate one of them, you will not know which one is giving him trouble.  Wait two weeks on the first new item, then if he's okay, start a new one.  

Consistency:  yes, it generally is important.  More so in the pellets they eat, because they really tend to get used to pellets and you have to switch them over gradually over a month.  With hay, they also know when you have switched brands, but they will eat what they like from the new hay, and often don't mind variety in different hay.  They may even like the new hay better.  If you can get your hands on Orchard grass hay (a softer hay) I would bet your rabbit would like it very much, and eat a lot more of it than the Timothy hay he has now.  But switching a brand of hay should not cause them indigestion or gi tract problems.  The only thing that could cause them problems would be if he didn't eat ANY of the new hay and he would start having stomach problems.

Write back if you have any other questions.  Always glad to help someone concerned about their rabbits' diet.

Lee

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

QUESTION: Thanks very much !

I read from some website that it is good to vary the types of greens to feed my rabbit. I try giving romaine lettuce but my rabbit don't seem interested.  so far he is on 2 leafy vegetables, a few short thin strips of green apples and some wheat grass every day.  Is it good to maintain this? Is it necessary to give a variey?  My rabbit does not like changes to his normal routine.

I read that wheat grass is good due to its benefits to the human body but I received advise from friends to cut back on the wheat grass as it can cause obesity. Is this true?

Is it necessary to buy those veggie cleaner from the supermarkets to wash the veggies? Is it safe for rabbits?

Due to his sore hocks problem, I am trying to watch his weight. I cut down alot on his Oxbow Tim pellets and give free flow of hay (Timothy, Oat and Orchard). I also gave Orchard Grass but he still prefers the Timothy hay. I feed pellets twice a day, morning and evening.  At times I wonder if I am underfeeding; I gave around 10-12 pieces of pellets only. Is it too little?  My rabbit is 4 yr old and weighs about 2.7kg, he is a Dutch.

Before my bedtime I give him a stalk of celery and a long strip of carrot (cut into the size of those in Sizzler's salad bar) and that's when I see the soft stools sticking to the flooring in the morning.  Is celery safe to give? My purpose of giving is to bound with him and create closeness as he will come to me for the carrot.  Are there any other healthy treats for pet rabbits?

The dandelion available here is in a dried herb form, not in its green, plant form. The shop owner told me it is for tea making. Is this safe to give to the rabbit?

When my rabbit use his litter box, he will lift up his tail. I understand this is to pee. But I don't see urine when he does that.  Is this something to be of concern?

At times after he pee and leave the litter box, there will be alittle urine dripping on the floor, is there something unusual?

Will rabbits get Pneumonia from contact with air condition?

I realized he's been drinking alot more water, is it because of his increase hay consumption? Or that there are other health issues?

I also realized that whenever I groom him or clean his feet/sore hocks in the afternoon from 1pm onwards, he will get consistent soft stools. This does not happen when I clean him in the early morning or in the late evening.  There's no change to the diet or anything but I noticed that every time if grooming in at noon, from then onwards, he will have soft stools on the floor every where and it has a foul smell.  is there something wrong?

thank you, you have been most helpful
ANSWER: Hi Angela,

in your second reply you mention he has sore hocks.  Make sure he has soft bedding on the cage bottom where he sits and rests.  Also sore hocks, combined with him not eating cecal pellets, suggests he is overweight.  Six pounds is a decent sized dutch rabbit.  I don't think you're giving him too much pellets - rabbits should get 1/8 cup (measuring cup) of pellets per 5 pounds of body weight, per day.  So if you give him pellets twice a day, he'd get 1/16 cup in the morning and 1/16 in the evening.  It would be very good to greatly reduce fruit and other high calories items (as mentioned prior).  Increasing exercise time for him would help too, getting him moving and burning off stored up fat.  Next time you're at the vet ask about his weight and if he's a good weight.

For consistency, you should not really VARY greens much.  But you still can offer a VARIETY of greens.  Two or three greens that he likes is fine.  They will tend to like certain greens more than others, like people do.  If he eats the romaine, but not first, it just means he likes another one better.

Wheat grass: I don't know much about wheat grass.  If it does tend to be a higher calorie item, I'd stop giving it to him until his weight is safely down.

Wash veggies:  you can use whatever you use to wash your own veggies.  There are several different types of veggie scrubbers, you just need to find one that feels good to use and works to your satisfaction.  Sometimes I use a plastic "brillo-type" sponges (dedicated to just washing veggies!) and that works pretty well.

Bedtime snack:  I would stop giving celery and greatly reduce how much carrot you give him.  Carrots are high in calories.  If you can find hay cubes (compressed hay pieces) you could give him small (1/4 to 1/2 inch thick) pieces to nibble on as a nighttime snack.  Otherwise, just make sure he's got a lot of hay through the night.  You really want him to eat a lot of hay, all the time.  Too many treats and too much of them cause weight gain.

Dandelion: I would not give him the dry form.  

Peeing:  when he does not go but looks like he did, do you hear a squirting sound?  I usually don't see my guys go but I can hear it.  If he appears to be straining but nothing comes out, that could indicate a problem (bladder sludge or kidney stones).  But you say he does go because he misses the box sometimes.  that is common, sometimes they lift up their butt too high and go over the edge of the box.

Air condition:  do not put your rabbit where a direct air current will constantly blow on him.  He should be okay if the airflow is not hitting him directly.

Water:  they will drink more water when they eat more hay and drier foods.  They will also drink more water in warmer weather, and when they exercise more.  So that is not unusual.  Just make sure that he his urine output matches his intake.  If he is drinking more he should be peeing more (and that he isn't having a problem peeing it out).

Cleaning:  I can't say I have heard of a link between sore hocks cleaning and them not eating cecal pellets.  I also don't know what kind of "cleaning" you are doing to his feet.  Is it painful to him?  That could be a reason he isn't eating cecal pellets.  If they are in pain, rabbits tend not to move or eat.

But definitely he must be on soft bedding material (old soft cotton towels, or medical pet bedding, or synthetic sheepskin) while he has this sore hock problem.  I would probably take him in to the vet to make sure there aren't any infections present because they can get into the bone and cause all sorts of problems.  It would be good to get him in to a good rabbit vet.  Then you could ask about the weight issue, as I believe his weight could be the cause of his sore hock problem.  too much body weight causes the hair on the hock to rub off and expose bare skin, and that is how sore hocks can occur in overweight rabbits.

If you're in the US, go to:

www.rabbit.org/vets/vets.html

and find a House Rabbit Society-recommended vet in your area.

Lee


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

QUESTION: Yes, currently he is using HealthyPet Soft small animal bedding.  I use the white colour ones to also check his urine. It looks brown/orangie. is this colour ok?

I use Homeapathic Healing cream (for pets) to apply on his sore hocks. The sore hocks are at the heels and at the side of the sole. The ones on the heels are very hard to heal because of the pressure and also because that area is bald. Vet ask me to provide alot of cuhioning; which I am using soft cutton bath towels all over the place. When we sit down to cuddle, I have a baby blanket folded thickly on the floor and we both sit on top of it. Of course there are other areas without cushions because it will be rather warm for him as he prefers to lie on the cool ceramic tile flooring. Btw I am writing to you from Singapore, the climate here is warm and humid.

If I want to stop giving bed time snacks how do I stop totally? As you know they are very rountine pets and every night around the same time, he will take the effort to hop to my room to ask for his bedtime snacks. Once I tried not giving at all, he just choose to lie around in the room not even hopping out of the room at all. That means there is no exercise.

My rabbit since young (where he is not overweight) he is already not an active rabbit. He likes to lie around with hind legs stretch out and can stay there the whole day. I thought as long as he is not a caged rabbit, sore hocks won't happen.  Never did I realized that an overweight rabbit can have sore hocks too. Currently the heels with sore hocks are covered by a thin layer of fur means if you don't spread the fur open, you won't realize the sore hocks. Only when you spread open the fur, you will see a round patch with the skin/bones exposed.

My cleaning method is to use Nova Small Animal anticeptic lotion to clean the feet area, spray aloe vera (pure, ones, with no chemicals) on the bald area and apply the homepathic healing cream. As for front paws (the padding can be reddish looking) I use aloe vera gel to mositurize.  I do it once every other day. He is only especially "active" when I need to clean his feet, it is very difficult to catch him.  What do you think of my rountine?

I do see his pee on the bedding now that I am using white colour bedding. His poos are round, big and black. Why is it that sometimes the poos are grey and somtimes the poos are black?

For cecal stools which he consumes, when I clean in the morning, I can see a circular stain left behind but cecals have been consumed. Is this ok? Or that there should be no stain at all?

Also, I noticed the genital area of my rabbit is abit reddish. is it urine scald or something? I am refeering to the area above his tail and above his male organ..there tend to be messy with slight stains of stools. is there a cause of concern?

Sometimes in order to make him eat his medicine, I will stuff the small pillets into a dry canberry, I know I should cut down on sweet stuff but what can I do?  Does it mean 1 or 2 sunflower seed is a No No too? I thought that is good for skin condition.

On occassions when I cut the quantity of his food/treats he turn very violent, always dashing at my feet when I enter his room area. Honestly it is very scary bcos his bite is painful to me.

Say if he is still running towards to his food bowl, and dashing and attacking my broom and sometimes doing the binky dance, does it mean his feet is not giving him any problems?

I admit I pamer my rabbit alittle too much with food and treats. he does eat alot of hay though. Besides making him happy I also want him to be healthy and live as long as possible; he is family to me. I am deeply concern about his health. Is 4 years old too late to rectify anything?


Answer
Hi Angela,

I would stop using the aloe vera immediately.  Aloe is toxic to rabbits (the juice in the plant).  He will be ingesting that when he grooms himself in those areas.  It can wind up killing him.

The "bedding" I was talking about was not litter.  I was talking about bedding like sheepskin or soft cotton that can be placed over wire cage floors.

As I mentioned before, you don't have to totally stop giving him treats.  Just start to reduce portions.  For his nightly treat, start reducing the amount you give him.  If you want to give him a treat, but not the one you currently give him, start now.  Give him a piece of lettuce instead of the high-calorie nighttime snack.

The color of fecal pellets is determined by the food he has eaten.  generally I notice that darker fecal pellets are more because they have eaten vegetables.  the browner ones are from hay.

No seeds.  Seeds are high in fat calories.

If his skin is red around his vent area, you can use some of the cream you put on sore hocks.  You can also use baby wipes or preparation H.

The dried cranberry should be okay as long as it is not artificially sweetened (no sugar added).  You may need to use it regardless if he won't take medicine without it.

If he does try to nip you is he doing it because he is angry or is it because he's trying to groom you?  If he is misbehaving you need to remind him you are the alpha bunny.  The moment he tries to bite your, gently but firmly press his head into the floor and say "No <his name>" so that he learns this is not a good thing to do and that you are in charge.

No, rabbits can still express happiness and do binkies even though they may have sore hocks.  They probably are not hurting him, though, if he is doing hops and binkies and running around.  Rabbits tend to stay still when they are in pain.

Lee