Possibly underweight

[Dailymadness]

I feel that my 3 month old New Zeland, is underweight. Last I checked she was almost 4 pounds. When I took her to the vet this month she was 1.5 pounds. I’m feeding her Timothy hay and alfalfa pellets. Her veggies for now is Romanian hearts till I can get different types of veggies. For treats I give her wild harvest, without the nuts, corn, and raisins that it came with. What should I give her in order to gain some weight. Also have some alfalfa hay.

[Dailymadness]

Should I give young essentials rabbit pellets ? From oxbow. Or oat hay ?? Until she is 6 months old then feed strictly Timothy hay or mix high protein hay with Timothy hay. I also believe it’s because of the pellets I have due to the fibar/protein ratio.

[Deleted User]

4 pounds at 3 months seems excessive!!!! I’m not familiar with this breed so I can’t say how much she should weigh. The one thing I do know though, is that if she has lost over half of her body weight, you should bring her to a vet to see if there is an underlying issue, such as parasites, that are not allowing her retain nutrients from food. Is her appetite still normal or is she eating considerably less? This is just my best guess, others here might be able to better address this.

[Wick & Fable]

My understanding is from the period after 8wo to ~7mo, a rabbit should be on alfalfa pellets (as you have) to an ‘unlimited’ degree; but not unlimited to the literal extent. It could be perhaps have a dish that’s filled with pellets and feel free to re-fill it if it’s getting low. Wick had limited pellets very early on because of calcium concerns, so he’s never had the ‘unlimited’ amount. He did eventually become slightly underweight, but it was resolved after 1w of critical care. I assume if you let your rabbit consume a good amount of pellets, the weight will maintain healthily, in addition to a diet of unlimited hay and a smaller amount of veggies. I have seen it say that it should be alfalfa hay and timothy should be introduced later on.

Generally, alfalfa = young rabbit, timothy = adult rabbit. This is because alfalfa hay is more dense in protein and calcium, as compared to timothy hay. That dense nutrition helps young rabbits grow into great adult rabbits.

Even though you’ve been feeding timothy hay, don’t think you’ve made a terrible error or anything; I’d say start incorporating and raising the ratio of alfalfa hay to timothy hay. Again, I’m sorry I can’t give personal advice about this, so hopefully someone else will chime in to confirm what I’ve found out!

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[Dailymadness]

She seems to be eating normally as she has since day one. Maybe it’s because I am frequently around her everyday thus causing me to not see her differently in my eyes. @Wick I give her a dish of pellets a day, where I’m worried is if I keep refilling it she might completely ignore her hay. I have to hay racks should I remove one ? Also how much in a day does a rabbit eat hay ? At a younger age that is.

[Wick & Fable]

Hay consumption varies per rabbit, due to size and appetite for it. The more the better, so definitely do not take away hay racks that your rabbit currently uses. Maybe you could just set 1 time per day you’ll refill the pellet dish, rather than continuously refilling it. So, once in the early morning when you wake up, then once at dinner time/late evening. So 12hr difference between fillings, to maximize the time in between?

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[Dailymadness]

No worries. Should I replace Timothy hay to alfalfa hay up until she is of age to then start feeding Timothy ? Also what’s a good brand of alfalfa hay ? The one I but had barley any stems in it mostly has the appearance of saw dust. Unless correct me I’m wrong and that’s how alfalfa hay is by nature after being cut.

[Dailymadness]

woah my post sent 4 times weird. Wick thank you for your info once again you’re very helpful.

[Deleted User]

I buy alfalfa online from Small Pet Select. It’s really good quality stuff! Lots of leafy pieces in with the stems. Yummy stuff!

I will say though, that it is concerning if she’s losing that much weight and still eating normally. Are you sure that you weighed her properly at home and she was for sure 4lbs? Any chance the vet could have meant 1.5 kg not 1.5 lbs?

[Dailymadness]

Too be honest I weigh with my scale while holding her lol. Which is probably inaccurate. The time I took her to the vet was the first time she ever went. Vet said that her teeth are normal. No skin disease, also that the vet believed at the time of her visit she was about 11 weeks old and that she is a little under weight, I believe kg. Now remembering it was like 1.6kg that was on July 5th since then she has gone up in weight. But her breed being that it’s for meat, females are 10 pounds. Adult that is. I just want to know if she is progressing fine. Also I’ll look up that type of hay.

[LittlePuffyTail]

That’s how I have to weigh my big boy too. He’s about 11 lbs. A bit too big for my kitchen scale!

I noticed you have duplicate threads so I’m just going to delete the other thread but post the responses you got her:

sarahthegemini- So she’s dropped from 4 pounds to only 1.5?! That would qualify as a veterinary emergency. What did the vet say about her weight loss?
I may have misunderstood when I saw this post someplace else. It is important to clarify. Did you see the vet and he was 1.5lbs, and now you checked and he’s 4lbs, OR did you check and he was 4lbs, but recently the vet checked and he’s 1.5lbs?

If the last person to check his weight was your vet not you, I’m sure your vet would have told you he was under or overweight. If you’re the last to check and he was 4lbs as the vet and now only 1.5lbs when you checked more recently, that is worrying and you should call your vet.

Can you clarify order of events and who got what weight? Sorry I’m not getting that information clearly from your original post.
Wick-

[Deleted User]

Seems my response didn’t post! I’ve been having some technical issues with the site, not sure if it’s just me.

1.6 kg is about 3.5 pounds, so if she was 4 pounds weighed at home before the vet and 3.5 pounds at the vet, I wouldn’t be that concerned. It’s entirely possible that the method you used at home could give an inaccurate weight. But, those are still pretty close. Unless you’ve noticed that she really looks like she’s lost weight, I think it was just a difference in weighing methods.

Also, I would assume that the vet would have told you if she was underweight. I know it’s kind of tricky, especially for a new owner! I had no idea how much my bun should weigh! She eats very well but she is, in my opinion, pretty slim. My other bun is a mini lop, and he’s just soooo fuzzy that it’s hard to tell his shape lol He is really tiny under all that fur!!

I used this as a guide, because instead of giving an “ideal weight” as pounds it shows you their body shape as a reference. If this is inaccurate, by all means someone here should correct me! But this is what I go by.

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