Feeding

Feeding

What is often not understood is that rabbits need to keep their digestive systems busy with a mix of two kinds of fibre – digestible and indigestible –moving through the gut at all times.

Rabbits can’t get enough nutrition from fibre as it first passes through the gut. So they pass it through the gut again. Indigestible fibre is moved through their digestive system and excreted as separate, round, hard droppings. This acts to keep the digestive system moving and stimulate appetite.

Digestible fibre is moved up into an organ called the caecum – this is like a giant appendix. Good bacteria in the caecum ferment the fibre (making it easy to digest) which then emerges in the form of clumps of sticky droppings – called caecotrophs. Rabbits then re-eat the caecotrophs and their systems extract essential nutrition as the digestible fibre passes through for the second time.

Failing to provide adequate portions of the right kind of fibre can rapidly lead to illness or death. At Burgess Excel, we call the correct ratio of these two types of fibre ‘Beneficial Fibre’.

That’s why muesli-style foods are such a problem. Rabbits can become fussy eaters, and will eat sweet foods as an easy way to get a glucose fix. As a result, they can pick out unhealthy elements of muesli-style foods and leave the rest. This is called selective feeding and will inevitably lead to an imbalanced diet, lacking in calcium, phosphorus and vitamin D. Above all, this behaviour can lead to a lack of fibre with potentially fatal consequences. When taken with the fact that muesli-style foods are commonly low in fibre to begin with, the problem is compounded.

And finally, the unhealthy ingredients in muesli-style foods are high in sugar and starch. These are difficult for rabbits to digest and can lead to health problems and obesity. Rabbits eat caecotrophs directly from their bottoms –obese rabbits often cannot reach the caecotrophs which can lead to malnutrition and death.

The problem can be avoided by sticking to The Excel Feeding Plan and giving your rabbits Excel food. Both were developed by Burgess with one of the world's leading small-animal vets to provide a perfect daily balance of fibre and nutrition.
Click here to view products in the Excel Feeding Plan for Rabbits
 

STEP 1 – Excel Herbage and Forage
These premium quality hay and grass foods should form most of your pets’ diet. They are especially good for dental health as they contain high levels of Beneficial Fibre that help to wear down teeth. The teeth of rabbits are constantly growing and overgrown teeth can be the cause of potentially fatal problems.

STEP 2 – Excel Tasty Nuggets
These contain 100% natural, wholesome ingredients, are naturally high in Beneficial Fibre for digestive health and have added vitamins, minerals and prebiotics. Because they’re not a muesli-style mix, they prevent selective feeding.

STEP 3 – Excel Nature Snacks
These healthy, nutritious natural snacks are ideal for rabbits as they promote emotional health - preventing boredom and encouraging bonding and interaction between you and your pet. They can be fed daily because they're packed with goodness, and are all made with pure, natural ingredients. Some are specially designed to be fed by hand which helps pets to get comfortable with human attention.

STEP 4
Rabbits can be fed fresh greens to give additional fresh nutrients and to provide some variety. But you need to be careful about what you feed them, and how much – please see below for more information

STEP 5
A plentiful supply of fresh, clean water must always be available.

You can feed fresh fruit and vegetables too, but keep quantities small – about a teacup a day of fresh greens is enough for adult rabbits. Their digestive systems are not able to digest large quantities of these rich foods, the result being diarrhoea.

Not all fruit, vegetables and greenery are good for rabbits – here's a brief guide.

GOOD - apple (pip-less), asparagus, banana, basil, broccoli, Brussel sprouts, cabbage, carrots - especially carrot tops, cauliflower leaves and stalks, celery, chicory, cucumber, dill, fennel, grapes, green pepper, kale, mint, orange (peeled), oregano, parsley, red leaf lettuce, red cabbage, romaine lettuce, Savoy cabbage, spinach, tomato, turnip, watercress.

BAD - apple pips, potato and potato tops, rhubarb (leaves and stalks), tomato leaves, locust pods and beans, avacados.

Pet Obesity is fast becoming an epidemic and can lead to serious health issues in pets. To find out if your pet is the correct weight please click here