# Help!!! Am I starving my bunny?!?!?



## lydiasmom (Jun 13, 2006)

I need some help fast. My bunny Lydia is an American Fuzzy Lop. She is now 10 months old. I had her spayed 2 months ago and the vet told me I was feeding her incorrectly. At the time she weighted 4.5 lbs according to the vet. I was feeding her 1/4 cup of pellets and unlimited Timothy hay each day, along with fresh spinach and carrot tops a couple times a week. The vet (who is supposed to be a rabbit expert) told me to continue with unlimited hay but only give her 1 teaspoon - 1 tablespoon of pellets per day. Didn't seem like much so I have been going with the 1 tablespoon but I am worried that I am starving her. I can now feel all her ribs as well as her spine and if I touch around on her sides by her tummy I can actually feel my fingers through her little belly. She just seems hungry all of the time. This is my first bunny andI want to take thebest care of her I can. Can someone please give me some feeding advice?? I am really worried about her!!


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## bunnydude (Jun 13, 2006)

1/4 cup of pellets with unlimited hay is good. However, I would reccomend adding more vegetables. My bunnies have the same weight as yours and they get 1/4 cup of oxbow timothy pellets, 1 to 1 1/2 cups of veggies, and unlimited hay/water every day. Add the veggies slowly though. 1 tablespoon is *much *too little if she isn't getting alot of veggies, and feeling your fingers through her ribs isn't good either. 

As a side note, most bunnies will always act hungry. As prey animals, they are hard-wired to eat often and to eat alot. However, it is important to not get sucked into the habit of overfeeding them. But in your case, you need to slowly increase her pellets back to the previous amount, and then consider slowly adding daily veggies.


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## peapoo_bunny (Jun 13, 2006)

:yeahthatslowly increase the pellets back to 1/4.. 1 tablespoon probably isnt enough for her.. and maybe some more veggies:wink:


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## Pipp (Jun 13, 2006)

A rabbit not being fedpelletscan eat its weight in vegetables. I think you need to balance one withthe other. :?

Good for her or not, I think it's cruel to be on astrict diet where she's always really hungry. The same with people --eating nothing but whole grains and raw vegetables may be the healthiest diet for a long life, but there's also the quality of life issue. 

As long as they remain hungry enough to still eat a lot ofhay (very important), my guys get a sizable array of healthy veggies and a handful of pellets, but very few treats. (This is a craison-free zone). 

That little bit of extra weight came in handy when Pipp suddenly stopped eating due to molar spurs -- something else to consider.



sas and the gang of gluttons :bunnydance::bunnydance::bunnydance::bunnydance::bunnydance:


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## lydiasmom (Jun 13, 2006)

Thanks so much for the reply. I will increase her pellets slowly back to what I was giving her. I will also add some veggies. Can you give me some insight as to what veggies are best and if there are any that are an absolute no-no? I feel like such a bad bunny mom.


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## Pipp (Jun 13, 2006)

Was she ever having small or mushy poops?

I wouldn't increase the pellets by too much, try increasing the veggies slowly (as noted elsewhere in this thread).  

All of mine lovebok choyand kale (kale seems to be a bunny favourite, but they shouldn't get it everyday), romaine lettuce, the leaves off of tne celery (and the stalks only if they're de-threaded and cut up in caterpillar sized pieces), cilantro, parsley (not everyday), carrot tops (another fav), dandelion leaves (a few times a week), just a few buttons of carrot (not too much, lot of sugar), occasional spinach (again, not too much), radish leaves (a few times a week),chard and radicchio (?).(Mine don't like beet greens). 

Three of my five love broccoli and cauliflower, haven't tried it on my sensitive stomach guys (who didn't eat veggies before coming here). 

I try to give them at least two greens and onedifferent colored veggie daily and rotate them every three days.

sas and the gang of five :bunnydance::bunnydance::bunnydance::bunnydance::bunnydance:


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## lydiasmom (Jun 13, 2006)

Her poops have always been normal--no small or mushy ones. I will definitely start with the veggies. Thanks for all of your help!


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## naturestee (Jun 14, 2006)

There's a bunch of safe veggie lists and other veggie information in Bunny 101:

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=13618&forum_id=17

I'm surprised your vet recommended such a strict diet. Did she have health problems? My vet had me cut out all pellets temporarily for two neglected girls I had adopted, but he said I had to introduce veggies immediately and feed them daily or they wouldn't get enough vitamins. And he had me start adding pellets back in after two weeks.


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## lydiasmom (Jun 14, 2006)

Lydia had no health problems at all. The vet said to reduce her diet because he was concerned about her weight. She did not see overweight to me. She is definitely underweight now. I thought his recommendation was pretty strict. As a matter of fact I asked him to repeat it twice and I even wrote it down and asked him if it was correct. Thought I was o.k. following vet advice.I didn't feel the change was necessary and it seemed too strict, wish I would have followed my instint and continued what I had been doing. 

Thanks for the veggie link.

I am so impressed with this forum. I registed as a new member, posted my problem and all you good people were responding within minutes. Thanks so much to all of you for helping me out. I really appreciate it. As I stated this is my first bunny so any other helpful hints would be great.

I will keep you updated and let you know how Lydia is doing.


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## Snuggys Mom (Jun 14, 2006)

I have two American Fuzzy Lop boys. One eats 1/4 cup pellets per day and the other eats 1/2 cup daily (I rescued him and he is still skinny, so I give him more). They also get free-feed hay and daily veggies. 

Do you have pics of your rabbit? I'd love to see her!


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## JimD (Jun 14, 2006)

You've already gotten good advice from the other members:goodjob

Our Buns' Daily Diet: 1 ounceof pellets per pound of normal bun weight (ie; 4lbs = 4 ounces), one teaspoon of rolled oats, unlimited hay, and fresh water ALWAYS available....are my rules.

To supplement (and add some variety to their diet), they all get 1/2 cup veggies once a week, timothy cubes twice a week, and dried papaya once a week. The other 2 days they just get extra love .


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## Spring (Jun 14, 2006)

What type are the pellets? Are they timothy or alfalfa based? 

I'd say to increase the pellets a bit, and increase the amount of veggies and add variety.

Hmm, thats weird to have so little pellets if she wasn't noticably overweight. She needs a bit more pellets, because with a diet oflow fat timothy hay, and mostly vegetables that are a large part water, she's probably not getting enough calories.

You could also maybe add some alfalfahay in her dietto gain a bit of weight for a little while.


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## gentle giants (Jun 15, 2006)

Hold on! Pipp, you put in your veggie list romaine lettuce, but I have always been told not to give bunnies any kind of lettuce because it can give them diareaha/gas. I'm confused!


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## bunnydude (Jun 15, 2006)

I feed my bunnies romaine lettuce on a regular basis and they have never had either of those problems. However, I have heard that you should stay completely away from iceberg lettuce because it carries little nutritional value.


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## Pipp (Jun 15, 2006)

*gentle giants wrote: *


> Hold on! Pipp, you put in your veggie list romaine lettuce, but I have always been told not to give bunnies any kind of lettuce because it can give them diareaha/gas. I'm confused!


 It's an urban myth, or equivalent. Lettuce in general is great for bunnies, especially Romaine and the other darker leaf varieties. 

There are concerns about Iceberg lettuce, but even they are overstated.Pam Nock has a post here somewhere that explains it really well -- Iceberg is nutrient-poor so bunnies have to eat an awful lot of it to get what they need, which also means they get way too much water in the process and thus the diarrhea (and worse). She explains it a lot better, I'll see if I can find the post. 

It's simliar to the myth about carrots. They shouldn't get a lot of them because of the high sugar content, butthey can certainly get them as a regular part of a balanced diet. 

All veggies should be rotated, a variety provides the best diet. Romaine is one of my rabbit staples, here, though. It's one of the few that all of minecaneveryday with little fear -- as long as they get other veggies, too. 

sas  and the gang :bunnydance::bunnydance::bunnydance::bunnydance::bunnydance:


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## gentle giants (Jun 16, 2006)

Ok, I will keep that in mind. I have a hard time getting enough veggies for all my buns (about 26-30 at the moment, expecting more the begining of next week) so any _affordable_ veggies are a wonderul thing! I have to get at least two bundles for all my bunnies to get a serving. My feeding schedule is pellets and hay in the am, and veggies in the pm. I can't give them veggies every night, I just can't afford it, but I give them extra hay to make up for it on the off days.

P.S. What about cabbage?


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## naturestee (Jun 16, 2006)

Cabbage is known to cause gas problems, so it's not a good idea.

What about dandelions? Or carrot tops? You might be able to find a grocery store that will give you stuff like carrot and radish tops for free because they are throwing them out.

There's safe veggie lists in the Bunny 101 section, too. You might find some other good, inexpensive ideas there.


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## petkeeper (Jun 16, 2006)

I don't feed pellets at all they get all natual veggies and hay....I find their fur is better and they seem healthier. I would go with what you were feeding if she was doing well on it.


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