While you may feel that a chubby bunny is adorable, an overweight bun faces many health challenges. A toll on joints, the inability to eat their healthy Cecotropes, and cleanliness are some of the health issues, along with stress put on their hearts and lungs. Overweight bunnies may not want to move around as much and can develop arthritis. They may not jump into the litter box, causing their feces to collect on their underside, an overweight bunny will have difficulty grooming themselves leading to Cecotropes build up and matted fur, smell and the possibility of fly strike even indoors. If they lay in their urine, it can scald them causing pain and damage the skin. Being overweight can cause a heart attack or respiratory distress which could be a death sentence. Chubby bunnies are not cute! How to determine if your bunny is overweight? A few things come into play here including the breed of your bunny. Here is a chart to help you determine if your bun is overweight.
The first thing you should do if you think your bunny needs to do a Bunny Weight loss program is consult your veterinarian. Make sure they are healthy before you change anything and follow your vet’s advice.
Tips & Hints for Weight Loss First check to make sure you are feeding a pellet without any “fun” additives. Plain pellets are best. Hay, hay, hay. We use several different types (excluding alfalfa) to keep interest in eating hay, and sprinkle in dried greens, herbs, or ready-made dry mixes you can buy. Pellets can be scatter fed or put in food control toys. Foraging will help your bun move more helping with weight loss.
Orion pre-diet at 14.9 lbs/6.8 kgs.
Check back next week for Part 2 of the Overweight Bunny.