The new advertising campaign by smoothie brand Innocent featuring rabbits, wrongly associates rabbits with eating fruit says leading figures in the pet rabbit industry.

The new advertising campaign by smoothie brand Innocent featuring rabbits, wrongly associates rabbits with eating fruit says leading pet food manufacturer, Burgess Pet Care.The new ads, which launched last week, feature rabbits expressing their cravings for different fruits that give them two of their ‘five a day habit’. However, the family-owned pet care company has serious concerns that this message could lead to pet rabbits being incorrectly fed with fatal consequences.Explains Matt Brash, TV Zoo Vet“This campaign highlights a common misconception that rabbits should be fed fruit. Fruit is actually very dangerous for rabbits because it changes the acidity in their gut, which leads to gastric bloat and gut statis which can ultimately lead to death.  There are very confusing messages out there about the dietary habits of rabbits. Vets, animal welfare charities and pet food manufacturers such as Burgess Pet Care, spend a great deal of  time educating the trade and rabbit owners about how to feed and care for their furry friends and the Innocent campaign is in danger of undoing a lot of this essential work.” Sean Wensley, Senior Veterinary Advisor for the PDSA adds:“Many of the health and welfare problems seen in pet rabbits are attributed to poor nutrition, and it is regrettable that a message reaching a large audience may be creating or perpetuating a belief that rabbits should be fed fruit. “For their dental and digestive health, rabbits need a constant supply of fibre, in the form of hay or grass. Due to its high sugar and acid content, fruit should only be fed occasionally and in small quantities. “Aside from fruit, many rabbit owners are unwittingly feeding their pets the wrong diet, which does create serious problems. Clear advice on rabbit nutrition can be found on the PDSA website or by asking at your local veterinary practice.”Since the launch of The Excel feeding plan, Burgess Pet Care has been on a mission to educate people about the message of proper feeding and responsible care for rabbits which are part of a group of small animals known as ‘fibrevores’. Explains Paul Miley, Managing Director of Burgess Pet Care“While five a day fruit and vegetable habit is no bad thing for humans, rabbits need a very different type of five a day which must be high in Beneficial Fibre. Beneficial Fibre consists of digestible and indigestible fibre each of which play an important part towards the function of a rabbits extremely delicate and complex digestive system.  To help rabbit owners feed their pets correctly we created a simple five step programme called The Excel Feeding Plan.  The Excel Feeding Plan promotes grass and hay (Excel Forage and Herbage) first and foremost, followed by Excel Tasty Nuggets, Excel Snacks, a small amount of greens (such as a few leaves of spinach) and fresh water. There’s no doubt that the Innocent smoothie campaign is a very fun and creative campaign that is widely supported, we just have concerns that the wrong message might be heard and have expressed that to Innocent. We would urge that they put something on their website advising rabbit owners to take care and follow a proper feeding plan for their pets.”