Keeping your rabbit healthy via diet
With Spring well under way rabbits that have been ‘cooped up’ all winter will be looking forward to the warmer days ahead and a chance to stretch their legs on owners’ lawns. But just as they can charge around on our lawns they also each the growing grass - which isn’t necessarily the best diet for them. Essentially it can be just too rich when it’s fed along with commercial diets. So at this time of year it’s worth just weighing up how much access to a rapidly growing lawn a rabbit should get.
Rabbits are designed to eat a hard, tough, low quality diet. It’s a survival strategy. Sitting out in the middle of an open field with free access to grass might sound ideal but it’s also a sure way of drawing a preditor’s attention to you. It’s for this reason that early morning driver’s up the Warwick Road will notice most of the rabbits close to the hedgerows and not that many in the middle of the golf course! In the hedgerow they’re closer to the burrow and safety should there be a problem. Of course there will always be the odd ones that decide to risk it in the open, but it’s a risk being so exposed.
So if you’re designed to feed off the hardest food types then why does a pet rabbit eat all manner of succulent offerings from their owners with such gusto ? Well that’s a feature of the short period of time that rabbit’s have been domesticated. For them the call of the wild is not that far away. So when there’s a bountiful supply of rich food around they stock up. For them they don’t know whether the next months ahead are going to be periods of starvation. As owners we of course know that isn’t going to be the case. But a rabbit doesn’t.
Keep up with the fibre
In terms of their natural eating habits rabbits can be described as ‘fibrevores’, they require extremely high levels of fibre in their diet in order to stay healthy and happy.
Fibre really is key to their good health and well-being. Approximately four out of five rabbits treated by vets are suffering from problems related to poor diet, which are often so far advanced by the time the rabbit is brought in, they are difficult to treat.
When compared to other herbivores, a rabbit’s ability to digest fibre is relatively low which at first makes the claim that fibre is so important to a rabbit somewhat perplexing. In rabbits, dietary fibre has a crucial role in maintaining gut health. This is achieved in a number of ways. In particular, the indigestible fibre is responsible for stimulating gut motility. The indigestible fibre helps to prevent gut stasis and, in turn, reduces fur chewing as well as carpet chewing in indoor rabbits. Fibre is also important in the prevention of gut infections.
Rabbits need a minimum dietary fibre level of 20-25% to maintain gut health. Fibre is also important in calorie control. Rabbits will consume 5% of their body weight in dry matter per day, together with 10% of their body weight in water. Where a high quality pelleted diet is fed, the consumption of 5% of this diet will result in excess calories and so, eventually, obesity.
An ideal diet should be high in fibre and low in simple carbohydrates. Good quality grass hay, such as Timothy, orchard grass or ryegrass, should always be freely available, as it contains all the nutrients necessary to sustain a rabbit. Timothy hay is often suggested to be the best for rabbits. It is lower in protein and calcium than legume hay and as such is recommended for mature rabbits. Alfalfa hay is a major feed source in commercial rabbitries, where it is suitable for growing rabbits. Alfalfa hay may not be suitable for obese and geriatric pet rabbits though.
Rabbits are selective feeders and, therefore, mixed or museli foods are not suitable, as these often contain corn, seeds, nuts or grains. These will be eaten preferentially by a rabbit.
Greens should be introduced gradually over a two-week period and should not form more than a quarter of the rabbit’s diet. High-fibre greens, such as broccoli, carrot tops, parsley, mustard, dandelions, watercress and turnip greens, are recommended.
Fruit such as apples, melons, pears and peaches should be regarded as a treat and only fed in limited amounts. This is because, in rabbit terms, it is high in simple sugars and can lead to belly upsets as well as acquired dental disease.
© copywrite Dai Gittins MRCVS.
