My rabbit is overweight?

[CuteKowaiCookie]

I have a 7 year old Netherland Dwarf, and everything I’ve seen on google is that they’re supposed to be 1-2.5 pounds, and he is 3.4ish pounds, can anyone tell me if he is overweight or if I’m just being paranoid?

[Asriel and Bombur]

He could be a false dwarf, which would be in that weight area of 3-4 pounds. They have more pointed heads than a true dwarf, and would be pretty underweight and sickly looking at 1-2.5 pounds.

[Wick & Fable]

My first question is if he is actually a full Netherland Dwarf. It’s common for people to have rabbits who are only part dwarf, false dwarves, or not dwarves at all but are advertised as such because dwarves are a more attractive breed to customers. Do you have a photo to share?

As someone with a Netherland Dwarf who is 2lbs max, I’ll say a 3.5lb dwarf seems over ideal weight. Going by numbers is not ideal though — sometimes it’s simply looking at the rabbit, which is why a photo is best.

You can also ask your rabbit experienced vet, who’ll be able to tell you as well. If you have any concerns about your rabbit, a rabbit-experienced vet is the best route to go.

What is the rabbit’s diet?

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.

[CuteKowaiCookie]

He has an Instagram you can look through cause I can’t figure out how to post pictures on here eek Mr_Cuddle_Buns
And his diet is currently Timothy pellets, lettuce and lots of Timothy hay, were trying to improve his diet, does anyone have any suggestions about what we should add to his diet?

[Wick & Fable]

Thanks for providing the instagram name.

He definitely is a Netherland dwarf, or majority is one. Very characteristic large eyes, short ears, and a two-ball snowman body shape…. Very nethie-like!

It’s difficult to tell because of lighting and posture, but some photos do make him seem a bit chubbier. The photo from Sept. 25th, 2017 shows a good amount of belly in the flop — but the angle from Dec. 13th, 2017 looks pretty healthy. He does seem a bit girth-y in the Jan. 1st, 2018 photo though. Also, I do need to acknowledge that I’m going in with a bias that he may be overweight, so that could be skewing it too….

This is a helpful chart to reference to: http://rrrscotland.files.wordpress.com/2016/03/body-condition-score-rabbit_zps57b74acb.jpg
— Based on your perspective, do you have confidence in what category he may fall into?

HRS also provides some information about signs of non-normative weights: http://rabbit.org/overweight-and-underweight-rabbits/

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.

[CuteKowaiCookie]

Thanks for sending the chart! I’ll have to look through those later/tomorrow as I am on mobile mode, I’ll send another response as soon as possible!

[CuteKowaiCookie]

It seems he’s somewhere between 3 and 4, I can feel his spine without have to apply pressure, but his ribs are a little harder to feel, and I can feel his hip bones rather easily, he’s also had bad posture as long as we’ve had him, so I don’t know what to think about that, he is also not super active but that could be me just not seeing him running around, we had him at the vet on the 7th for a follow-up from his surgery and they didn’t mention anything about him being overweight, but I just want to make sure that everything is a-okay

He also has some saggy skin on his stomach, and its been there since we got him treated for G.I. stasis back in november, and I was wondering if thats anything to worry about?

[Asriel and Bombur]

To me he looks characteristic of a false dwarf. Here’s an article. If you scroll down you’ll see a false dwarf Nethie that looks quite similar to yours. https://www.raising-rabbits.com/dwarf-rabbits.html
I have two Holland lops that are false dwarves. They are considered overweight by breed standards. They should weigh between 2.5-3.5 pounds fulll grown and both weigh 5 pounds, and would look pretty sickly under 4 pounds.

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