Is my bunny underweight??

[marinabunny]

 I recently posted a photo of my bunny asking about something under her ear & some other stuff. One person pointed out that she was underweight, is she really??? I dont know how many pounds she weighs but she is a 3 year old holland lop (smallest breed of the lops) i think the average size is 4 pounds so they are a small breed. I feed her 1/2 cup of kaytee gourmet pellets a day and unlimited timothy hay. She also gets to play in the backyard for most of the day where she eats plenty of grass. I sometimes feed her bits of apple but not too much or she gets squishy poop. I never considered her underweight and now its really starting to worry me, please help!!!!!!!!!!!!

[bpash89]

Here’s a chart that shows pictures to correspond with rabbit weight

 

 

But it’s not really something that can be easily determined just by looking at a picture of her bunnies are just sooooo fluffy ^^.  Does she eat any greens other than grass?  That can be a good way to round out her diet and get her some extra calories without loading up on the pellets.  In my uneducated opinion, if she spends most of the day outside it seems normal that she’s on the smaller end of the weight scale because she’s able to exercise more but you should get her weighed and make sure she is within a healthy range.  

 

If you are concerned about her then I would say take her to the vet for a check up.  That way you can get her weighed and your vet will be able to tell you if she’s under weight or perfectly healthy and what her idea weight should be as well as how best to help her gain or maintain her weight.     

[LittlePuffyTail]

I agree with bpash, you can’t really judge weight by looking at a picture on account of all the fluffiness. A vet is needed to determine whether she has a healthy body mass or not.

If you are concerned that she is losing weight, I suggest you get a kitchen scale to weigh her monthly. It’s a good idea for all bunny owners to do this. I weigh both my buns on the first Sunday of every month and then record it on the calendar. It’s good to keep track because many health problems can cause weight- loss.

Just have to add that she is really adorable.  

[Roberta]

I also didn’t say she WAS under weight, just looked it. I also said that I could be wrong based on the angle of the photo and the fact that my buns are fatties… You have a vet appointment already scheduled.. Get her weighed. Run your hands over her, if you can’t feel ribs and spine she is probably just fine.. The pic you put up was at an angle and she looked thin, I could be wrong in other photo’s she looks fuller. It’s very hard to tell.

[marinabunny]

Bpash she only eats sugary things like apples and carrots. I try giving her green veggies but she won’t even touch them. Can the grass compensate for her leafy greens?
And I don’t think there would be any way to get her to eat leafy greens she is very stubborn and picky

[Sarita]

Take away the apples and carrots to help encourage her to eat the greens.

[bpash89]

Feeding veggies is ideal but not absolutely necessary.  They get the needed vitamins and such from their pellets and the bulk of their diet should be hay to help gut function and teeth.  But greens are a much more natural way to give your bunny a balanced diet and give your bunny variety.  it must get boring to eat the same exact thing every single day right?  

So I would definitely encourage greens.  I won’t be much help since my bunny inhales anything and everything that is put in front of her but there are lots of materials on here about feeding greens and suggestions for picky eaters.  There are so many good veggies you can feed that I’m sure you will find something that she likes.  My bunny is partical to spinach, bok choi and kale but lots of people suggest mint and cilantro.

[MoveDiagonally]

Remember any diet changes should happen gradually.  

For a 4lb rabbit, over a year and generally speaking, the recommended diet would be:
2 1/2 tablespoons – 1/3 cup pellets
1 1/3 cup veggies
Unlimited hay

http://rabbit.org/faq-diet/
http://rabbit.org/suggested-vegetables-and-fruits-for-a-rabbit-diet/

It’s recommended that you read the entire article in the second link and not just the list. As bpash said fragrant herbs like cilantro, mint, basil, ect… can encourage green consumption.

As for weight the best way to tell whether or not a rabbit over or under weight is to talk to a vet. Different rabbits have different body types. For example, English Lops will often look like they’re on the thin side when they’re at their ideal weight. They just have longer, leaner, bodies.

[marinabunny]

Thanks for the article I will follow that I gave her cilantro and spinach and did not put the pellets there until she ate those first(sounds cruel I know lol) but hey it worked. She ate the greens and then got her fave pellets afterwards. To my surprise she actually liked the cilantro leaves and wanted more!

[MoveDiagonally]

Usually once you get them to taste them and realize how yummy veggies are it gets easier.

I just noticed in your original post you said you feed “Kaytee Gourmet”. Does it have seeds and other stuff in it? That stuff is pretty bad for bunny-folk so I would look into a plain timothy based pellet with no extras.

A couple decent ones:
Oxbow Bunny Basics – Adult
Kaytee Timothy Complete

Here’s an article about pellets:
http://www.rabbit.org/journal/3-4/pellets.html

[marinabunny]

Yeah it does have seeds and all that stuff. Unfortunately I didn’t realize those were bad until now and ive been feeding her these since the past two years. Once this pack finishes I will try to change her to the plain ones. But i’m afraid she wont like it because she absolutely LOVES these pellets, and I don’t want her to refuse to eat and then starve herself… how should I go about getting her used to plain pellets?

[marinabunny]

Oh and I forgot to mention I used to give her plain pellets when I first got her but she didn’t used to eat it very much (like I said before she is picky!!)

[MoveDiagonally]

You’ll want to switch over slowly by mixing pellets. Diet changes should never be sudden and I think the recommended amount of time for switching is around 3 weeks. The “mixed pellets” are like eating McDonald’s for every meal or feeding a someone nothing but candy. Bunnies LOVE junk food so I’m not surprised that she likes it. But it’s not any healthier for them then it would be for us to eat it constantly.

With a higher quality pellet and increased veggies/greens consumption she won’t need to eat as much pellet wise to get what she needs. For a 4lb adult rabbit the recommended HRS diet would look like this:
Daily –
2 1/2 tablespoons – 1/3 cup pellets
1 1/3 cup veggies
Unlimited hay & water

[bubyken]

It seems ok with your bunny. By the way, what the brand digital weight scale for you to use weigh the bunny?

[Azerane]

Hi bubyken. This thread is several years old and to avoid confusion we ask that members do not respond to old threads. Please feel free to start a new thread on this topic if you would like

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