Urgent help with pellets. ANOTHER UPDATE

[AbbyGirl]

As some of you may know I have to use a pellet for Abby that has no wheat, barely or rye due to myself and my daughters having Celiac Disease.  Well, I ordered a new bag of American Pet Diner Timmy Pellets and the second ingredient is wheat now.  So I called this morning and found out that the labeling laws have change and it was always in there just not listed.  I’m so upset right now.  I’ve been letting my daughter who is highly wheat sensitive feed her everynight and she has been touching and breathing in wheat and not washing afterwards.  She has been having unexplained health problems as well lately.  At least I know what has cause some of her problems now.  Sorry for the rant.

Anyway, does anyone have any suggestions or know of another company that does not contain wheat?  I used ZuPreem before but it was not good for Abby.  She had a stomach blockage and was lethargic after switching to those pellets.  When we switched to APD she was a new spunky rabbit and even did her first binkies and zooms. 

[Sarita]

I think I researched this the last time and the APD was what I thought was wheat free. Heck for all we know the Zupreem has wheat too now that you’ve found that out.

[AbbyGirl]

I’m at a loss right now. I have no idea what to do to feed Abby correctly and keep my daughter healthy at the same time. Why do companies have to make things so difficult?

[Sarita]

I know, it’s frustrating. I’m wondering if you will find a wheat free pellet at all. It may not be something that is made. Although I just looked again at Zupreem and it’s not listed.

Did we check Kaytee last time?

[Sarita]

Just checked KT and they have wheat.

[AbbyGirl]

I just got off the phone with a wonderful lady at KT. The Forti-Diet Pro Health Adult Pellet does not have wheat in it. She actually talked to a manager who has access to everything. He said he’s going to check and see if it’s made on the same line as the other that have wheat to make sure there is no cross contamination. The protein and fiber look to be right at the ideal percentages for a healthy food but I’m wondering how good it will actually be fore her? It does have alfalfa as the second ingredient and it also has oats and rice in it?
I think this is going to require a call to her vet as well.

[Stickerbunny]

Sherwood forest pellets are grain and soy free, but I don’t know how good a quality food it is.

[BunnyDuck]

How about this one?
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=6067+10381+11257+16666&pcatid=16666

[Sarita]

That’s good about KT!

Sticker I’ve never heard of Sherwood Forest pellets – love the name though.

[AbbyGirl]

Thank you Stickerbunny. I hadn’t seen those before. I just sent them an email asking for their ingredient list and analysis as I would need to know those things before ordering them.

BunnyDuck: Thank you for the link but those pellets are not good for Abby. I wish they were though.

Sarita:KT said they should be able to get back to me today and my vet will call me either today after her surgeries of Monday.

Will it be OK for Abby to go a few days without pellets until I get this all sorted out?

[BunnyDuck]

Oh yeah sorry. I just noticed they were the ones that you said were no good. :/
I’m glad KT are helping you out.

[Sarita]

Can you just feed her the pellets – I think she needs those because she’s a big young rabbit. Might make her cranky not to get them too.

[AbbyGirl]

I guess I don’t think of her as young. She’ll be 4 in a few weeks.
I can feed her and make sure that I vacuum really good when she’s done eating and that the girls wash their hands every time they pet her.

[Stickerbunny]

Due to her size, would be kind of hard for her to get all she needs from veggies probably. If you wear gloves and a mask and feed her in a different room would that prevent it hurting your health?

[AbbyGirl]

It’s more for my daughter. She’s highly sensitive to cross contamination. So just the food touching Abby’s fur and then my daughter petting her can make her sick. It’s been a very difficult thing for us. I don’t even let my husband eat food that contains wheat, barley or rye at our house. He has to eat those things at work! lol
Thanks for all the help. I’m waiting to hear back from KT, Sherwood Forest and Abby’s vet.

[Stickerbunny]

Ahh. Hmm. If you used a damp wash cloth on her fur after she eats, would that help? It wouldn’t get abby soaked, so wouldn’t hurt her and might get a lot of the pellet dust off her.

[Sarita]

Let us know the outcome.

[Monkeybun]

Could you do a pelletless diet with her? More veggies to make up for no pellets?

[AbbyGirl]

Monkeybun: I’m considering a pellet free diet but not sure I could afford all of the veggies I would have to feed her to keep her healthy. I am waiting to hear back from her vet so I can discuss that with her.

I did hear back from KT. They said there is absolutely no wheat, barley or rye in the Pro Health Adult Pellets. They also found out for me that they power wash the lines in between batches of food so there would be no risk of cross contamination. I’m just not sure how I feel about giving her oats and rice everyday. Here are the ingredients for the Pro Health.
Sun-cured Timothy Grass Hay, Sun-cured Alfalfa Meal, Ground Oats, Ground Oat Hulls, Dried Cane Molasses, Ground Flax Seed, Dehulled Soybean Meal, Ground Rice, Salt, Algae Meal (source of Omega-3 DHA), Fructooligosaccharide, Dicalcium Phosphate, DL-Methionine, Yeast Extract, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Vitamin A Supplement, Choline Chloride, Mixed Tocopherols (a preservative), Copper Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Zinc Oxide, Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (source of vitamin K activity), Rosemary Extract, Citric Acid, Cholecalciferol (source of vitamin D3), Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine Mononitrate, Calcium Iodate, Biotin, Folic Acid, Dried A. oryzae Fermentation Extract (source of protease), Dried Bacillus licheniformis Fermentation Product, Dried Bacillus subtilis Fermentation Product, Cobalt Carbonate, Sodium Selenite, Artificial Color. Allergen information: Manufactured in a facility that processes peanuts and other tree nuts.
Guaranteed Analysis:

Crude Protein (min.)………….12.0%
Crude Fat (min.)………………..2.0%
Crude Fiber (min.)…………….20.0%
Crude Fiber (max.)……………..25.0%
Moisture (max.)………………..12.0%

Calcium (min.)………………….0.3%
Calcium (max.)………………….0.8%
Phosphorus (min.)……………….0.3%
Salt (min.)……………………0.25%
Salt (max.)………………….. 0.75%
Vitamin A (min.)…………..2500 IU/lb
Omega-3 Fatty Acids (min.)……….0.4%
Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) (min.)..0.03%
Total Bacillus Species (min.) ..100,000 CFU/gram

I also heard back from Sherwood Forest. They were more than helpful to give me all the information I needed. It was all on their website I just couldn’t find it. They are a grain free pellet. They do not use wheat, barely or rye in their warehouse so there is no concern about that.
Here are the ingredients.
Guaranteed Analysis
Crude Protein, minimum ………………………………………….………….14%
Crude Fat, minimum ………………………………………………..…………5%
Crude Fiber, minimum …………………………………………………….….24%
Crude Fiber, maximum ……………………………………………………….29%
Calcium, minimum …………………………………………………………..…0.7%
Calcium, maximum ………………………………………………………..….. 1.2%
Phosphorus, minimum ………………………………………………….……0.4%
Salt, minimum ……………………………………………………………….…0.25%
Salt, maximum ………………………………………………………………….0.75%

Ingredients:
Premium Sun-Cured Alfalfa, Premium Timothy Hay, Proprietary oil seed blend*, Mono dicalcium phosphate, Salt, Choline Chloride, Arginine**, DL- Methionine**, Chelated Copper, Lysine**, Chelated Zinc, Chelated Manganese, Niacin (vitamin B3), Threonine**, Chelated selenium, Chelated Iodine, Cobalt Carbonate.
*We only use high quality cleaned whole ingredients and grind them fresh just prior to pelleting.

Sorry for the long post. Does anyone have any opinions on these two pellets? I don’t like that they both contain alfalfa but I don’t have much of a choice. Part of me thinks the Sherwood pellets would be better since the oats and rice are not in them. They are a little higher in fat but I could always cut back the amount I give her. Thanks again for the help and any opinions are much appreciated! =)

[Sarita]

Well, the Sherwood is higher in fiber but a bit higher in protein as well – maybe ask your vet what they would recommend. They sound like both would be fine to me.

[Beka27]

Yikes! I don’t think I realized you had these issues with pellets. I might have missed it before. I would try the first pellet first, but I guess either one would be a good option. Maybe try feeding a reduced amount because of the alfalfa?

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Is it possible to don some PPE and then the pellets wouldn’t matter? Just a thought-gloves and a N95 mask for particulates, even safety glasses if eyes are sensitive to the wheat? These things can be bought in home depot and certainly can be reused-it might be easier than trying to find a wheat free pellet or going pellet free. Just a thought as some of our members who are really allergic to hay use these when handling hay. Pellets could be otherwise sealed in a bag that zips or a sterilte container so there is no contamination. Even kept outside, and you put ppe on and fill the bowl outside.

[AbbyGirl]

I would love to do that but it’s actually the gluten in the grains which is the protein that is the problem. It’s more than just an allergy, it’s an autoimmune disease and with constant exposure to gluten can cause many other health problems. It would be different if it were just me but it’s also 2 little girls. The gluten from her food gets in her fur and on her paws and then she carries it through the house and on our furniture. I’ve been afraid to let them pet her.

I talked to our vet last night and we are going to try the Sherwood Forest pellets since they are grain free and no risk of cross contamination. They should be here Monday. Thanks for all your opinions and helping me think through this process! =)

[Sarita]

Let us know about those pellets – I always like learning about them. I hope Abby likes them.

[BunnyDuck]

I’m glad you have found something. Hopefully Abby likes them.

[AbbyGirl]

My vet called me last night since she was at rabbit seminars all weekend where she got to talk to some top bunny people. We are going to try Abby on a pellet free diet for now. So I’ve been following the guidelines in the article above. She seems to be doing OK with it but she is still trying to figure out where her pellets are. Poor thing. Hopefully she gets use to the new routine.

I did receive the Sherwood Forest pellets yesterday. They are very green and smell wonderful like fresh hay. So if this diet doesn’t work for her I at least have a back up that our vet approves of. She said not to give her more than 1/4 cup per day since they are higher in fat than other pellets.

[Sarita]

LOL – yeah, it’s easy for them to get addicted to those pellets :~) Two of my seniors are on pellet free diets and I just started giving Toffee my other senior pellets again. Peppermint has had pellets available for awhile and never ate them so I just recently took them away. As long as their are plenty of greens hopefully that will work out.

[Sam and Lady's Human]

What kind of diet is she on now? You must have to give her like, min 6 cups of veggies daily?

[AbbyGirl]

Right now we are doing lots of hay. Thank goodness she’s a good hay eater. I give her 6-8 cups of veggies. Right now it’s a mixture of romaine, red leaf lettuce, cilantro, parsley, kale, celery leaves and a small amount of carrots. Before we were doing 4 cups of veggies a day. So it’s not that much different.

[LittlePuffyTail]

Wow! That’s a lot of salad!

[mocha200]

Wow! I didn’t know you and your girls had that! You will have to keep us updated on how Abby’s doing with no pellets. I recently had to take my bunnies off of pellets because of Lulu’s health and it took them awhile to get over not getting them.

[AbbyGirl]

I forgot you had to do that Mocha. Abby still chases us around the house looking for her pellets. She just sits there looking at us like, “get up and feed me you fools!”. Hopefully she gets use to it soon.

[AbbyGirl]

Well, Abby already lost a whole pound. So she will have to go back on limited pellets since she can’t maintain her weight with only hay and greens. So she will be getting 1/4 cup of the Sherwood pellets a day. She’s very happy to heave her pellets back! =)

[mocha200]

Thats to bad she lost whole pound! I am sure she is glad to get her pellets bqck though. I bet the whole thing with her losing weight was a scam so she can get her pellets back. LOL. Jk.

[AbbyGirl]

LOL! maybe she was running around like a mad bunny while we slept to lose the weight just to get her pellets back……. They are sneaky little things.

[Stickerbunny]

Haha I wouldn’t put it past her, buns are sneaky and smart, especially when it comes to food!

Glad you found a pellet that works though. Hopefully she can stay healthy and happy on those.

[RabbitPam]

Are you allergic to Oats too?
If not, I just checked out this Oat/parsley pellet that BB’s been selling in the store and they’re organic and say they only have oats and parsley for ingredients. Sammy really likes them. Here’s the link:

http://store.binkybunny.com/new-parsley-flavored-oat-pellet-treat-floppers-garden-p155.aspx

I know a bunny can go without pellets. Maybe you can stock up on hay varieties to give Abby instead along with the greens. Check out the ingredients on the natural cookie treats, too. There may be something that has some nutritional value and can be fed to her a couple a day instead.

[jerseygirl]

Sounds like you’re onto a winner with the Sherwood pellets.

With her having weight loss issues in the past and being a large breed bunny, I think the alfalfa base pellet wouldn’t be a bad thing for her. The fat pecentage is a little high but limiting her pellets, you should be able to maintain a consistant weight hopefully.  All the pellets made here in Australia are alfalfa (lucerne) based so mine have always had this type of pellet. They’ve maintained a steady weight.  It was only when I feed a hay pellet (like hay cubes) with 20% alfalfa that they gained too quick.

I noticed the KT ingredients had colouring in it. I don’t understand why companies do this!  To make it look better for the humans?

I just had a thought when reading K&Ks suggestions about handling hay. There is a possibility the gluten comes into the home via the hay, depending on what the last crop before the current one is. Often a little of the previous crop pops up in the new seasons one.  Something maybe to investigate?  Although I’m not sure the grains (if any) in this form would cause issues, not the same as in a processed pellet.

I hope you start to see an improvement in your daughter and that Abby adjusts well to her new diet.

[AbbyGirl]

Thanks Jersey. My daughter has been feeling SOOOO much better. Within a week of the pellets out of the house. It’s like it never happened now.

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