Underweight Mini Lop

[Snowshoe]

Hi there, I’m new to the forum. I promise I’ll make a separate post to introduce myself and my buns in more detail but in the meantime I’m looking for help with the newest bun, Reny. He’s an 11 month old mini lop, unneutered. I got him from the shelter about a week ago and after giving him a good feel I’d score him only a 1.5 or 2 out of 5 for body condition. He’s very bony and lacking fat and muscle condition. I believe he was living outside (it’s very cold here in Maine right now) before his surrender to the shelter. He was on cheap pellets with the dried tropical fruit mixed in. I have since gradually switched him over to Oxbow. He always has water and free choice timothy hay, but I’m curious how much he should be getting for pellets. My mini rex does (spayed) stay plump on 2-3 tablespoons a day, and so I’ve been giving him at least double that. He is larger than they are, probably should be at least 5-6 pounds but I don’t currently have a scale. Should he get free choice pellets or maybe something like 1/2 cup per day until he puts weight on? What other treats are safe to feed daily that might help him bulk up? Thankfully his coat is lovely and he seems healthy in every other way. I’ve also slowly introduced him to greens, which gave him a little gas on the first day so I cut back, and he is enjoying them quite a bit. I don’t want to overwhelm his system with too many changes all at once, but judging by his poop and his general demeanor he seems to be responding very well so far. I want to make sure he is healthy and robust before going ahead with any neuter surgery or intro to the ladies. Thanks in advance for any info you can throw my way! 

[tobyluv]

Hello and welcome to Binky Bunny! Thanks for adopting a bunny from a shelter.

Even though seeds and nuts are normally not to be given to rabbits, sometimes they are recommended as a way to give some extra fat or calories to rabbits who may need to gain weight. Hulled, plain sunflower seeds have one of the highest fat contents of foods that can be given to rabbits. Walnuts are even higher. You can read about foods and their fat content in Lucile Moore’s book, Rabbit Nutrition and Nutritional Healing. She disagrees that nuts, seeds and grains should never be given to rabbits and thinks that they are actually beneficial and can add valuable nutrients to a rabbit’s diet – in small amounts, and not if a rabbit is obese or has some medical condition that would contraindicate them. Although other rabbit “experts” think that nuts and seeds should never be given. You could ask your vet for his or her opinion on some higher fat nuts or foods and see what they think about it.

I did once give plain unshelled sunflower seeds to an elderly rabbit who was losing weight, with the approval of my vet. They didn’t help him to put on weight, but he was old and had health problems and probably nothing would have helped him to put on weight.

You can up the pellet amounts a little, but you need to be careful with that. Too many pellets can lead to GI issues and can cause a messy bottom. You could add in some other hays, and even add in small amounts of alfalfa hay on an occasional basis

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