Weight loss help

[sarahthegemini]

Hi guys, bit of a dilemma here. Took the buns in for a weigh-in. Peanut weighs 2kg, he’s up from 1.93kg back in July and according to the vet nurse he is a healthy weight Buttercup on the other hand is 2.4kg, she was 2.27kg back in July. She’s a little overweight according to the vet nurse and tbh she is more plump looking so I can’t say I disagree with the ‘diagnosis’ so to speak. 

The diet for both buns is the same and is as follows:

– Friendly Green Oat Readigrass. Here are the important figures: Crude Protein 11%, Total Oils 2% , Crude Fibre 28%, Calcium 0.41%, Phosphorus 0.26%

– Friendly Timothy Readigrass. Figures are: Crude Protein 10.5%, Total Oils 2.5% , Crude Fibre 25%,

This is their staple hay mix. It’s roughly 50:50. 

– Protexin Probiotic Pellets. They get 15 individual pellets per day. Hand fed so I know they are getting the same amount (otherwise Buttercup would try to eat them all!) These get given throughout the day as treats.

– Dried dandelion and plantain. They get a couple small handfuls throughout the day, at lunch and dinner time. At dinner time, most days I play ‘find the dandelion’ which really gets them up and running and excited.

– Romaine lettuce. As you guys may know, veggies were stopped completely after Buttercup’s tummy issues so we are slowly re-introducing them. 

Other than that they get one or two small pieces of dried chicory root as a treat. 

In terms of exercise, both buns have free roam so they can run about whenever the mood strikes them. I often hear them sprinting early morning and during their prime active hours, they are usually…well, active! They occasionally have lazy evenings but even on those days they’ve been up and moving about earlier in the day. 

I’ve been advised to cut down pellets from 15 to 10 so will do that. Have also been advised to try and get them to work for their pellets. The issue I have with this is ensuring both buns get equal amount, hence why I hand feed. Any tips? Other than seperating them at an alloted time for pellets, I’m at a loss. 

Any help would be much appreciated! 

[Wick & Fable]

Is there a health reason behind the dandelions and plantains? Unsure how much that affects weight, but a few handfuls a day may add up. If they’re getting some romaine everyday, that should suffice, along with the pellets.

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.

[sarahthegemini]

Posted By Wick on 9/18/2017 11:30 AM
Is there a health reason behind the dandelions and plantains? Unsure how much that affects weight, but a few handfuls a day may add up. If they’re getting some romaine everyday, that should suffice, along with the pellets.

Nope, no health reasoning. I discovered they loved it a while back and so continued to give it to them. I sort of used it to replace their pellets and veggies when Buttercup had all that tummy trouble. And then continued with it even with the pellets being added back and the romaine.

I’ve started cutting back on the amounts over the last couple of weeks but a couple of handfuls, especially my boyfriend’s ‘handfuls’ probably is adding up. I also mix a little of both in with their hay

[sarahthegemini]

Any other thoughts?

[ownedbybunnies315]

Honestly, when you think about it, you’ll be cutting back on the pellets by 1/3. That’s a significant difference, and my guess is, by itself, that will probably have the desired effect on Buttercup’s weight. I’m not really sure you need to do anything else different. Nothing else in there diet looks to be contributing to any type of weight issue that I can see. It all looks really healthy, especially since it sounds like you are already making them work for the dried herbs through foraging and playing find the dandelion. As long as they continue to be active, I think the pellet diet should do the trick.

[ownedbybunnies315]

And by “there diet,” I really mean “their diet…”

[sarahthegemini]

Posted By ownedbybunnies315 on 9/20/2017 12:12 PM

Honestly, when you think about it, you’ll be cutting back on the pellets by 1/3. That’s a significant difference, and my guess is, by itself, that will probably have the desired effect on Buttercup’s weight. I’m not really sure you need to do anything else different. Nothing else in there diet looks to be contributing to any type of weight issue that I can see. It all looks really healthy, especially since it sounds like you are already making them work for the dried herbs through foraging and playing find the dandelion. As long as they continue to be active, I think the pellet diet should do the trick.

Thank you for your input I really hope the decreased pellets has a big impact. I like giving them pellets throughout the day so would have been a bit disappointed if I had to completely change the way I offer them (seperating the buns, ‘playing find the pellet’ every day would be quite stressful and then what would I give them when they come begging for treats )

[Bam]

The hay is richer than Oxbow hay, which is around 7 crude protein and 32 crude fiber, so a decrease in pellets will probably work well. As for the dandelion and plantain, amount is key. My Bam actually got fat on too much leafy greens this summer. I’ve over-done it, I realize now of course – but I didn’t think dandelion, yarrow and plantain could make a bun fat. But then I came to think of horses being let out to graze over summer and how they absolutely can get fat. Anyway, my new wonderful rabbit-savvy vet ordered me to cut down to only a small salad every night. Like half a leaf of romaine and a few dandelion leaves. Very limited pellets (but he’s always had very limited pellets so he’s actually getting more now on this regimen) and for the rest, hay, hay, hay and fresh grasses and more hay.

[sarahthegemini]

Posted By bam on 9/20/2017 2:13 PM

The hay is richer than Oxbow hay, which is around 7 crude protein and 32 crude fiber, so a decrease in pellets will probably work well. As for the dandelion and plantain, amount is key. My Bam actually got fat on too much leafy greens this summer. I’ve over-done it, I realize now of course – but I didn’t think dandelion, yarrow and plantain could make a bun fat. But then I came to think of horses being let out to graze over summer and how they absolutely can get fat. Anyway, my new wonderful rabbit-savvy vet ordered me to cut down to only a small salad every night. Like half a leaf of romaine and a few dandelion leaves. Very limited pellets (but he’s always had very limited pellets so he’s actually getting more now on this regimen) and for the rest, hay, hay, hay and fresh grasses and more hay.

I have cut back massively on the dandelion and plantain. They are still getting it mixed in with their hay and a small amount for our dinner time game (until they are on a sufficient variety of veggies) No more at breakfast, lunch or as a before bed treat. They’re having romaine for their breakfast, at the moment nothing at lunch time (although when they have plenty of veggies for dinner,  I’ll probably play the dandelion game at lunch – basically they’ll have it as one of their meals and only a small portion ) I’ll be re-introducing dill over the weekend which will be their bed time treat. A complete overhaul!

[Bam]

Dill is crazy popular here! Bam had too high levels of calcium so I’ve had to cut out all kale. He isn’t over-joyed. But it has to be done, he’s getting on in years and needs to be careful with his health.

[sarahthegemini]

Posted By bam on 9/20/2017 2:55 PM

Dill is crazy popular here! Bam had too high levels of calcium so I’ve had to cut out all kale. He isn’t over-joyed. But it has to be done, he’s getting on in years and needs to be careful with his health.

Poor Bam, I’m sure he still gets plenty of other tasty foods  Dill was a huge favourite with both of mine before so I’m very excited to be able to give it to them again 

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