How do I feed my thin dwarf lop rabbit to help her gain weight?

Question

Hello, I just rescued a dwarf lop rabbit from its previous iwner because it was clearyl underfed. This morning her brother died and I brought the her back home to care for it. She is at least 4 months old, but even though it doesn't look like it because she has a lot of fur, I can clearly feel every vertabrae and rib, even the pelvic bone! I was wondering how I should feed her to help her gain a normal weight? She is now 2,5lbs... I don't know if that's enough? I read they should weight around 5. Pet's info: Small Animal | Rabbit | Female | unspayed | 5 months old | 2.5 lbs

Kevin Sanada, DVM · Accepted Answer

It's actually quite normal to feel some bones on a rabbit with a normal body condition, so I would check the body condition using the link below as a guide: https://research.unc.edu/files/2012/11/Body-Condition-Scoring-Rabbit.pdf If she is a body condition of one, then it's best to have Lulu evaluated by a vet, because it's possible that she has a medical condition that is causing her to be thin. If it's in-fact due to a lack of nutrition, then I recommend feeding a diet of free-choice Oxbow pellets, high-quality hay and grass. It will also be good to feed fruits and vegetables about twice a day. When she gets to a more normal body condition, the fruits and vegetables should be no more than 10% of her diet and the diet should be mostly grass and hay. Diet changes with Rabbits should be gradual. Changing the diet too quickly can alter the normal gut flora significantly and cause major problems. If she has a lack of appetite or loose stools at any time, then I recommend taking her to the vet for an evaluation. I hope that helps and Lulu gets better soon.

How do I feed my thin dwarf lop rabbit to help her gain weight?

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