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Is she sick or picky

22 11:26:22

Question
Hi Brenda,
Last weekend we went out of town.  My mother came over to take care of our animals.  Jellybean, our Dutch bunny refused to eat for my mother.  As soon as we returned home she started eating again.  We were told we could add oatmeal to her food to fatten her up before fair next week.  She will now only eat the oatmeal from her bowl, she leaves the pellets and will eat the hay.  If I use only pellets she wont eat them. Her stool and urine output is the same as her male counter part (Jack).  I know she is ready to breed but Jack does not show well, and I would hate to breed a sick rabbit.  Is Jellybean being picky or could she be sick?

Answer
See if she will eat some fruits and veggies --- try things like pineapple, strawberries, carrots, brocolli, apples, romain lettuce.  If she eats those then I'll bet she is being picky.  The best food for show rabbits is the Manna Pro "Sho" formula.  If you want to breed you should try the "Gro" formula.  Oats do not have enough nutrition in them and I would never recommend them as "fattening up" feed.  She really needs to get back onto the pellets and off of the oats.  Keep feeding her the fruits and veggies, but stop the oats and only offer hay and pellets, she will have to start eating them again - she won't starve herself just because she is picky.