House Rabbit Diet

We recommend feeding the house rabbit a diet that is high in fiber and relatively low in calories (especially fats and starches). Unfortunately, over the years, we have seen pelleted diets become a problem in the maintenance of the house rabbit. Pelleted diets were originally formulated for the rapid growth and ease of care of the meat or fur production rabbit, and for laboratory rabbits. Most of these rabbits were not meant to live out their full life span. The pellets perform an excellent function in these situations, as they produce rapid growth, good weight gain, are efficient, economical and easy to feed. The problem comes when we have a house rabbit that is usually neutered, is expected to live out its full life potential, and unfortunately may not get all the exercise it needs. Pelleted diets are typically made up of chopped, compressed alfalfa hay, various grains and other added nutrients. Grains can be quite high in calories (starches and fats) and usually lower in fiber than straight hay. The alfalfa hay in pellets is chopped and compressed and heated and may lose some of its fiber quality.

The problems that we and other practitioners have seen over the years when pets are fed an unlimited primary pelleted diet are obesity, chronic soft stools (mixed with normal stools) and periodic bouts of anorexia (commonly know as “hairballs”, but what I feel is more likely a GI motility problem.)  We have also seen less frequently calcification of blood vessels (some pellets are quite high in calcium), and bladder and kidney stones. I am not going to say that all of these problems are entirely caused by the diet, but my observation is that diet plays a very big role. If we correct the diet, then we can attend to other factors that may still be present. Some manufacturers of pellets have been sensitive to the needs of the house rabbit and are producing higher fiber and lower calorie pellets. Unfortunately other manufacturers have gone the opposite direction and have decided to add all kinds of dangerous things to the pellet mix such as seeds, nuts and additional grains in the name of marketing without sufficient knowledge of what the consequences can be. Regardless, I think that those of us who deal with house rabbits should not depend on pellets as the total food source for our house rabbits.

The diet that we recommend for the adult, nonreproductive house rabbit (and we did not “originate” this, there are plenty of practitioners around who have done this for years) is no more than 1/8 cup per 5lbs of body weight of a high fiber maintenance type pellet (18% or higher fiber) per day. In young growing animals the pellets may be given free choice until they are about 6-8 months of age, then cut back to the maintenance amount. Fresh hay should be offered free choice throughout the pet’s life.  This is the most important part of this diet and must be available all the time. Young bunnies should be exposed to hay as soon as they can eat on their own. Mixed grass hay or timothy gay is the preferred type because it is lower in calcium and calories than alfalfa hay. Try contacting a horse barn or feed store for your source. If you have three or more bunnies, just buy a bale and store it in a cool, dry place, because you will use it up quickly. If you cannot get the grass hay, then use alfalfa, but be cautioned that it is much higher in calories, and calcium. I prefer that rabbits on 100% alfalfa gay not get pellets at all, because it is somewhat redundant.

We also like for our bunnies to get greens and lots of them. We pick the tough fibrous greens which are rich in a variety of nutrients. We suggest feeding a minimum of 3 types daily in a total minimum amount (of all types of greens together) of 1 heaping cup per 5lbs of body weight. Note, that I said minimum, because as the bunny adjusts to it you can feed more. By feeding several types of greens daily, you will provide a variety of nutrients as well as not creating a finicky rabbit. Some of the excellent greens are kale, collards, beet tops, carrot tops, parsley, dandelion greens, mustard greens, romaine lettuce, broccoli leaves, Brussels sprouts, outer cabbage leaves, raspberry leaves, peppermint leaves, escarole, endive, radicchio, wheat grass, alfalfa sprouts, ect. Don’t feed those wimpy light colored greens (i.e. iceberg and Bibb lettuce) or the mixed gourmet greens in a bag as the only source. You can also feed some other vegetables such as carrots, pea pods (not the peas), green peppers, squash, ect. Stay away from starchy foods such as legumes (beans and peas) and corn. Fruit can also be fed with some restrictions. Stay with high fiber fruits such as apples, pears, peaches, papaya, pineapple and strawberries, but stay away from sugary fruits such as bananas and grapes (yes, my rabbits too would kill for these items, but watch it!)  The fruit and vegetables we feed in the amounts of 1-2 tablespoon per 5 lbs of body weight daily.

Do not feed grains such as oats, corn, wheat, crackers, cheerios, bread, pasta, ect. There is research to suggest that high starch and low fiber diets may be two of the contributing factors to often fatal causes of enterotoxemia.  Enterotoxemia can be caused by the overgrowth of certain bacteria that produce dangerous endotoxins that can ultimately lead to death. I know the bunnies love this stuff and in small amounts and in adult rabbits it wouldn’t normally be a problem, but often clients overdo and it may result in serious GI disease. I have seen rabbits that continued to have periodic soft stools when all else was corrected about the diet, yet they still got two crackers a day. When the crackers were removed, the stools returned to normal.

For obese rabbits and those that have that chronic intermittent soft stool mixed with normal stool, I take them entirely off of pellets and feed only hay free choice for two weeks. Then I will add back in some greens and then eventually try them on small amounts of pellets. Obviously you must make sure that the rabbit is eating hay before embarking this diet or else it might starve. In addition the bunny should have a thorough physical examination and diagnostic tests, if appropriate, to rule out other disorders prior to starting this diet. Removing all the pellets from the diet sounds drastic, but it works well and the bunnies seem happier and more lively as their GI tracts start to work more normally again. I have had clients tell me about complete personality changes (for the better usually) when we got the weight off their pets or got rid of those soft stools that stick all over the fur and make the rabbits and the owner miserable. Some rabbits can never go back on pellets again, because the soft stools may return or the weight goes back up. In addition rabbits that have renal or bladder stones will also be taken off pellets and alfalfa hay for life to help reduce the calcium intake.

I feel that it is a mistake to “fast” rabbits for long periods each day to reduce weight, as in the cases where rabbits may be given pellets for only a certain amount of time a day. This leaves the pet with nothing to do physiologically and mentally for long hours. In an animal that was designed to eat large amounts of food frequently it can be frustrating and stressful. In addition, I fear that it may lead to a sluggish GI tract due to lack of stimulation. These pets will frequently start eating paper, wood and anything else they can get their teeth on the stave off their cravings.  How often have you seen the pet that has stopped eating pellets, but eating all the newspaper in the cage? These pets are usually not on unlimited (or usually any) hay or greens and are craving fiber.

Practitioners worry that if we take the rabbits off the pellets, they will not get all the nutrients, vitamins and minerals that they are supposed to get. Remember, that the rabbit manufactures its own rich supply of nutrients in the cecum in the form of the cecotropes because they were designed to be able to live off of “poor” quality diet in the wild.  I have not yet been able to detect nutritional deficiencies of the diet we recommend and we have been recommending it for at least 4 years. In addition, I rarely see a case of “hairball” on this diet. The cases of “hairball” that we see in the practice are on a primary pellet diet with little or no hay or greens.

As far as other supplements, there has been a lot of talk about using enzymes, and bacteria. I think that these things do no harm, but are not necessary when the pet is put on a more “natural” diet. I used to recommend some of these items myself, but no longer because I do not see the need to do so. I would like to see those people who are using these products to first make the diet changes as suggested in this article and then be able to quantitatively document that the addition of the other “supplements” made any difference in the appearance or behavior of their pet. I certainly have been proven wrong before, but I feel more scientific research needs to be done on these various supplements to really determine if they are making a difference.

I will stress that there are a wide variety of diseases that can affect the rabbit and certainly they are not all going to be cured by a diet change. There must be a thorough physical examination and appropriate diagnostic testing performed prior to any drastic life style change for the pet.

Let’s feed our pets the way they were designed to eat, lots of food with high fiber content. When they can fill up on hay and greens, many of them lose interest in chewing up paper and furniture (although they never lose interest in electrical cords). Let them out to exercise also, to get the weight off, keep it off and keep all the body’s systems in good working order.

Reference:

Cheeke P. Rabbit Feeding and Nutrition. Orlando, FL. 1989

Jenkins JR, Brown SA.  A Practitioners Guide to Rabbits and Ferrets. American Animal Hospital Association, 1993. (Part of the Professional Library Series).