LOCK? DELETE? OLD Rabbit Owners- NEW LINK INSIDE

[PeachFuzz]

Does anyone know what I can do for my older rabbit? She's a blue dutch doe, not fixed (surgery would be too much for her stress wise), and she's 5 years old now.

I have had the hardest time keeping weight on her. Our other two buns- a 2 year old meat breed and a 4 year old dwarf- are fine. However, my poor little River is just terribly thin, her spine and hip bones and ribs all sticking out more than what is healthy. She is always ravenous when I feed her, and now she's having her bowl refilled three times daily with timothy pellets, giving extra handfuls of grass, and extra hay. She feels great; bright eyes and clean fur, always her happy, snuggly, proud self, it's just the weight I'm having trouble with.

Should I switch her to a different feed with more fat? I plan on getting a different food bowl that won't have to be refilled as often, so that she just has more to eat, and I've been adding more and more fresh veggies and fruit in, but it's doing little good.

Ideas?

Have you checked her teeth? Is she eating normally besides being extra hungry??
My suggestion would be to bring her to the vet and have her looked at. There are a few possible causes, and some if not treated can be life threatening.

[Baby bunnies!]

Does anyone know what I can do for my older rabbit? She's a blue dutch doe, not fixed (surgery would be too much for her stress wise), and she's 5 years old now.

I have had the hardest time keeping weight on her. Our other two buns- a 2 year old meat breed and a 4 year old dwarf- are fine. However, my poor little River is just terribly thin, her spine and hip bones and ribs all sticking out more than what is healthy. She is always ravenous when I feed her, and now she's having her bowl refilled three times daily with timothy pellets, giving extra handfuls of grass, and extra hay. She feels great; bright eyes and clean fur, always her happy, snuggly, proud self, it's just the weight I'm having trouble with.

Should I switch her to a different feed with more fat? I plan on getting a different food bowl that won't have to be refilled as often, so that she just has more to eat, and I've been adding more and more fresh veggies and fruit in, but it's doing little good.

Ideas?

Like PeachFuzz said, Check her teeth.
Also Have you dewormed her ever? If you haven't dewormed her within a year there is a chance that she has some sort of worms getting her nutrition. Even if she doesn't have worms, the dewormer will not harm her (most all rabbits have a small level of pinworms which is okay until there are too many.)
Sugested dewormers are: oral pipperazine, oral Noromectin, injectable ivermectin.

Also if none of these are the issues and you think she needs more fats in her diet, you may give her old fashioned oats, rolled oats, Black oils sunflower seeds, and flax seeds. (also has protein and fiber in them.)

[King of Crows]

Have you checked her teeth? Is she eating normally besides being extra hungry??
My suggestion would be to bring her to the vet and have her looked at. There are a few possible causes, and some if not treated can be life threatening.

Yep, her teeth are in perfect condition, not too long and not too short. She's eating just fine, just eating way more than what she had been and not gaining weight from it. I'm wondering if it could be the pellet quality. The pellets my mom buys are cheap...timothy based, which is good, but I'm not sure on the nutrient levels because the company changes them a lot.

I would bring her to the vet except for the fact that our local vets are not rabbit savvy in the least, they let one of our rabbits die two years ago, and it would have been prevented with the right treatment. I can ask my mom about taking her to the vet's office farther away. Only problem is that it was extremely expensive to have my rats looked at, but since rabbits aren't "exotics" it might be less pricey.

Could you list some of the possible causes so I can check out symptoms myself until we can get her to a good vet?

Also I'm thinking of switching to the Oxbow Adult Rabbit diet, any comments on that feed?

@Baby bunnies!; No, our rabbits have never been given dewormer, which has always really annoyed me. I have been worried about worms, so I was looking into getting some dewormer for all three of them. I heard ivermectin can harm rabbits? I'm trying to find a wormer that is not so dang expensive or hard to measure out, since I don't have a scale sensitive enough to do more than estimate their weights.

I have some rolled oats I can try giving her. Just don't like seeing my baby girl so thin </3


EDIT: Does anyone know if revolution is safe for rabbits? I have one tube left meant for puppies and kittens, but I've used it with rats too, and it's supposed to take care of mites, fleas, heart worm, hook worm, and round worm.

EDIT 2: I also found something called Verm X that is actually meant for rabbits, any experience with this?

[Baby bunnies!]

Have you checked her teeth? Is she eating normally besides being extra hungry??
My suggestion would be to bring her to the vet and have her looked at. There are a few possible causes, and some if not treated can be life threatening.

Yep, her teeth are in perfect condition, not too long and not too short. She's eating just fine, just eating way more than what she had been and not gaining weight from it. I'm wondering if it could be the pellet quality. The pellets my mom buys are cheap...timothy based, which is good, but I'm not sure on the nutrient levels because the company changes them a lot.

I would bring her to the vet except for the fact that our local vets are not rabbit savvy in the least, they let one of our rabbits die two years ago, and it would have been prevented with the right treatment. I can ask my mom about taking her to the vet's office farther away. Only problem is that it was extremely expensive to have my rats looked at, but since rabbits aren't "exotics" it might be less pricey.

Could you list some of the possible causes so I can check out symptoms myself until we can get her to a good vet?

Also I'm thinking of switching to the Oxbow Adult Rabbit diet, any comments on that feed?

@Baby bunnies!; No, our rabbits have never been given dewormer, which has always really annoyed me. I have been worried about worms, so I was looking into getting some dewormer for all three of them. I heard ivermectin can harm rabbits? I'm trying to find a wormer that is not so dang expensive or hard to measure out, since I don't have a scale sensitive enough to do more than estimate their weights.

I have some rolled oats I can try giving her. Just don't like seeing my baby girl so thin </3

There are different types of ivermectin. The oral paste is an absolute NO for rabbits. However the subQ injectable liquid is safe for them as long as you administer it correctly.
I myself like to use the oral liquid version of Noromectin, and I use the pipperazine for pinworms. Most all dewormers also rid the rabbit of furmites if they have them.
If you wish to PM me for specific details and such you may. (ie, administering, amounts, weights, etc)
They are all around $20+ where I am, however they last a long time if kept in the right conditions. If you can, borrow a friend's scale to weigh the rabbits.

[PeachFuzz]

Have you checked her teeth? Is she eating normally besides being extra hungry??
My suggestion would be to bring her to the vet and have her looked at. There are a few possible causes, and some if not treated can be life threatening.

Could you list some of the possible causes so I can check out symptoms myself until we can get her to a good vet??

Here are some good webpages to read about weight loss and rabbits not gaining weight:
http://rabbit.org/overweight-and-underweight-rabbits/
http://www.coloradohrs.org/articles/die ... weight.asp
http://www.rabbitnetwork.org/articles/weightloss.shtml
I hope that helps!

[Baby bunnies!]

EDIT: Does anyone know if revolution is safe for rabbits? I have one tube left meant for puppies and kittens, but I've used it with rats too, and it's supposed to take care of mites, fleas, heart worm, hook worm, and round worm.

EDIT 2: I also found something called Verm X that is actually meant for rabbits, any experience with this?[/center]

Never give a rabbit cat or dog wormer because it often causes seizures and death.

And I have never used Verm X before, but I will research it and tell you what I find out.

[_breezy_star_]

EDIT: Does anyone know if revolution is safe for rabbits? I have one tube left meant for puppies and kittens, but I've used it with rats too, and it's supposed to take care of mites, fleas, heart worm, hook worm, and round worm.

EDIT 2: I also found something called Verm X that is actually meant for rabbits, any experience with this?[/center]

Never give a rabbit cat or dog wormer because it often causes seizures and death.

And I have never used Verm X before, but I will research it and tell you what I find out.

Yep, I had a friend who didn't know better and her rabbits had seizures and died from using a wormer for cats.

I've used the Safe-Guard paste (for horses), lots of people use it for rabbits... and it's apple flavored so most of them lick it right off the syringe thingy. lol

As for putting on weight, like others mentioned, oats work well. I always add oats to our feed in the winter for the rabbits. I was going to mention her maybe having woolblock... but you said she is eating lots but not gaining weight... and I'm pretty sure they lose their appetite if they have woolblock. lol

[Baby bunnies!]

EDIT: Does anyone know if revolution is safe for rabbits? I have one tube left meant for puppies and kittens, but I've used it with rats too, and it's supposed to take care of mites, fleas, heart worm, hook worm, and round worm.

EDIT 2: I also found something called Verm X that is actually meant for rabbits, any experience with this?[/center]

Never give a rabbit cat or dog wormer because it often causes seizures and death.

And I have never used Verm X before, but I will research it and tell you what I find out.

Yep, I had a friend who didn't know better and her rabbits had seizures and died from using a wormer for cats.

I've used the Safe-Guard paste (for horses), lots of people use it for rabbits... and it's apple flavored so most of them lick it right off the syringe thingy. lol

As for putting on weight, like others mentioned, oats work well. I always add oats to our feed in the winter for the rabbits. I was going to mention her maybe having woolblock... but you said she is eating lots but not gaining weight... and I'm pretty sure they lose their appetite if they have woolblock. lol

That is very unfortunate. I am sorry to hear that.

Yeah, safe-gaurd is fine (that is the paste version of ivermectin I believe.) The one issue that I have always had with it is that since it is a paste meant to be given in one dose to a 600+ pound animal, giving one or two 'clicks' is technically enough to kill a rabbit because they are not getting the mixture of all ingredients, but actually a lot of some ingredients that in excessive amounts, could hurt the rabbit. A friend of mine did a lot of research on this because she wanted to find the best dewormer. But I do know LOTS of people that have used it for years with no issues at all. I am not saying 'Stay away from it!' because I used in once and my rabbit was fine. My cavies get it to prevent mites and the a fine. But I prefer piperazine and noromectin when it comes to fast working dewormers and mite killers. My rabbits love Pig Swig (pipperazine) because it smells and tastes fruity!


As for wool block, yes they lose interest in all forms of food. They a often will not poop at all or have tiny poops due to the blockage. A good way to help wool bblock is prevention. But also if it dose accure and the rabbit is not pooping then Super Digestive Enzymes from Natural Brand will help break done the blockage and then feed lots of English Plantain (contains vitamins such as 'B' that help with appetites. Now this combo will often result in diarrhea but in this case that is good. The means the rabbit is getting the waste the pat was shut in, out! Feed lots of grass hay to help with the diarrhea.

Well the question wasn't about woolblock but now you know a little about woolblock, should the situation ever accure.

[King of Crows]

I did more research on Revolution, and though it's meant for cats and dogs, it is safe for rabbits. I know Frontline can cause seizing in rabbits, which is why I've never, ever, used it.

I know it's not wool block, she's had wool block before when she was shedding her winter coat, and adding some papaya to her diet cleared that up very quickly.

I'm going to give the Verm X a go and see if that helps. I'll also try adding oats to her diet, and will be trying to find a better feed, since I dislike the Agway brand pellets they're on right now.

[The Mean Kitty]

My blue polish doe, Gwen, had 6 babies today! SIX! I couldn't believe it, haha. 3 solids and 3 broken. One of the solids is a peanut though, sadly.