help recovering malnourished bun?

[WonderToast]

I have a rabbit who I am fostering to adopt. She was rescued from an animal hoarder, so she’s pretty scruffy and malnourished (otherwise healthy, thankfully) and I want to get her back in top shape as fast as possible. I was wondering if there’s anything I should add to her diet besides just hay and pellets to help speed up the process and get some more meat on her bones. I know fruits and nuts could help fatten her up, but I’m not sure if that’s the best approach. I’ve never really dealt with malnourished animals before so any advice is welcome    

[guineapig724]

I’m definitely not an expert, but one of my rabbits was rescued from an abuse situation, and was very skinny when I got him. I gave him unlimited timothy and orchard hay, and about 1/2 a cup of oxbow pellets(he’s a flemish giant) he eventually fattened up, and is perfectly healthy now, other than being deaf and missing a leg. It could make your rabbit ill, to give her too much fattening food. I’d check with a more knowledgeable member or your vet, what foods will make her appear healthier. I know how it feels to look at your pet, and feel sick about how skinny they are though. Hope your bun is feeling better soon!?

[Bam]

Thank you for fostering this little one in need!

First of all you want to go somewhat slow even if you want her in shape as soon as possible. It’s of course like that with all animals and humans too, you don’t want to overload the GI system with lots of rich food all at once, but it’s especially important with grass-eaters like rabbits and horses.

You can give a little bit of oats. It’s not good in large amounts, but it’s traditionally used to fatten up under-weight buns, and for buns that live outdoors and need extra energy to keep warm. It’s easy on the tummy and buns seem to love oats.

Oxbow’s oat hay (the only brand of oat hay that I’ve tested, other brands may be availbale where you live) has seed-heads in it, so that’s another alternative. My buns go crazy over those so I use them as hay-topper (my buns are not underweight so I have to restrict the yummies).

Pumpkin seeds and also sunflower seeds are also often used to fatten up/keep weight on skinny bunnies. Fruit is less good because it has sugar, too much simple carbs mess with the bacterial flora in the cecum and can result in sticky poop (ISC).

A safe alternative that has all the nutrients + fiber that a bun needs is Oxbow Critical Care. It can be used as support feed. It’s a powder that you mix with water or baby fruit purée or canned plain pumpkin (or sth else that’s enticing to the bun) to a paste or slurry if you have to syringe-feed it. I don’t suggest you syringe-feed your bun since she is eating on her own, but some buns will eat the CC off a plate or a spoon. It’s in any case a good thing for bunny-owners to keep on hand for emergencies. Once the sachet is opened it should be stored in the freezer, then it’s good to use for a very long time.

[Gina.Jenny]

I adopted two undernourished rescue girl bunnies last summer, and along side rabbit pellets, unlimited hay and green leafy veg, the girls were given one barley ring each day, which I gradually increased to 3 barley rings each day. These are aimed to fatten up horses, and both girls loved crunching them up. As the weight went on, the barley rings got reduced back down, being given in halves, then quarters, as I didn’t want to go from under to over weight. I also fed something called nature’s touch, sold by pets at home in UK, which gave the girls a nice tasty mix of all kinds of good stuff. As the others said, it’s important to introduce anything new slowly, and gradual weight gain is healthier. With Jenny, it was more important to get the weight up, as she struggled to keep her body temperature up, and needed to be kept in warmed blankets, even though it was August.

Both girls are now a nice weight, which took around four months for them to reach.

[Bam]

GJ, you absolutely know how to get two feral bunny girls into pictures of health. (Guineapig 724, you can check out the pics of Gina and Jenny in the Feb picture-thread)

There’s been a new development in the case of Guineapig 724’s Molly: She’s expecting =) https://binkybunny.com/tabid/54/aft/144714/Default.aspx

[WonderToast]

Thanks everybody for your suggestions! I’ve ordered some of the oxbow critical care and have been alternating mixing it with a green veggie purée and a little bit of plain oatmeal every day. She’s been eating a ton of hay and a fair amount of pellets every day as well and, aside from a slightly low energy level, is doing pretty well. I’ll be sure to post some updates as soon as we have a visible improvement.

[Bam]

Glad to hear that your making progress! Lots of hay is just great, it gives her the GI flora she needs in order to thrive, so many buns won’t eat their hay like they should, so it’s a really good sign that she’s eating hers =)

You could perhaps start weighing her every week or so and keep a written journal of her weight, that way you can catch even the smallest fluctuations and adjust her diet accordingly. I weigh mine in a bowl on my kitchen scales, they didn’t like it at first but now they’ve gotten used to it.

We love updates here =)

[WonderToast]

She’s not too fond of being picked up or held-must’ve had a bad experience with it I think, she sort of panics whenever I try to pick her up (it’s pretty tough getting her in and out of her cage, let me tell ya haha) so keeping track of her weight that way would be difficult, at least until she settles down a bit. However she will have regular check ups every couple of weeks until she’s healthy, so a vet will be helping me keep track of her progress as well.

[Sr. Melangell]

Not all bunnies like being picked up, because they are prey animals, My Olly does not like me trying to pick him up, I have held him a couple of times but he was very ill at the time, vets seem to have no problem picking up bunnies that don’t like being picked up, so I wouldn’t worry if bunny has to go early to the vets, if bunny has decided ‘I’m not being picked up.’ well we just have to accept that, Olly is 3 years old, a rescue, but your bunny will show you love in other ways, she might kiss you, she might sit on your knee for a few seconds, but don’t grab, most bunnies kick because they see it as they have been taken to be eaten, we know we won’t but bunny does not know that, bunnies can kick their legs and break their backs, if bunny kicks gently put bunny on the ground, if anyone tells you to pick her up by the ears, don’t, it will hurt her, a lot of old people say they used to do this when they were little, it was also in the original film the first one, in black and white and no sound ‘Alice in Wonderland’ a bunny got picked up by his ears, so if bunny has to go to see a vet and you cannot pick her up, don’t worry, the vets and nurses are so clever at picking bunny up, even the most boisterous 3 year old Olly.

[Bam]

Pinky is very right, buns as a rule hate being picked up. It’s an instinct, not a choice. They can get used to getting picked up though, but if she hates it as much as she seems to do, it’s better to skip the weekly weighing =)

[WonderToast]

So, I’ve realized that I’ve neglected to update you guys, and I apologize.

Attila the Bun is doing great! It’s been determined that she is actually quite a bit older than we initially thought (originally they thought she was about 1 or 2, now they’ve decided she’s closer to about 7) which is causing her to gain muscle a bit slower than we’d hoped; however, she does now have a nice plump tummy, and a soft shiny coat. She did have some odd breathing habits when I first brought her home, but that has also improved as she’s gained more weight. She could still stand to gain a bit more muscle, but otherwise she is much more energetic and looks consoderably better.

Since she’s filled out a bit, and gotten more accustomed to being handled, they were able to shave her tummy to check for a tattoo, and turns out she’s actually already been spayed, which means I was able to officially adopt her today!

I sincerely thank you all for your help and suggestions. Now comes the fun part, of trying to get Sir Max to accept her as a roommate. It will be an ordeal, I’m sure, but I’m looking forward to it!

[Gina.Jenny]

All sounds great, and best of luck with the bonding

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