Hi, I just discovered this forum and I'm glad that there are so many avid rabbit lovers in Malaysia.

But just a word of warning, be careful when mixing rabbits and guinea pigs together. Rabbits are a carrier of a disease (Bordatella bronchiseptica) which can cause a fatal respiratory disease to guinea pigs. And after reading through the forum, I realized that many of you all like to keep your rabbits in wire cages. Personally, I do not like wire cages very much for rabbits especially big sized rabbits that are fed large amount of pellets. They do develop sores at their hock known as pododermatitis/sore hock which can get very serious if not prevented. And the other thing I would like to comment that some of the owners do like to feed high sugar content fruits (apples, bananas and baby carrots) to their rabbits. I seriously do not recommend feeding these food items in large or frequent amounts. I do not have the time to explain why, but I shall when I have more free time Remember rabbits are hind gut fermentors and fibers are essential to their diet and even timothy hay pellets are no replacement to the actual timothy hay itself. Remember that if you get their diet right the first time, your rabbit may live up to 10-12 years.

A final word, remember that rabbits are prey species and they do very well to hide signs that they are sick. So a single day of inappetance and inactivity can be quite significant for a rabbit. Many times when you notice the signs, it can be the terminal stage of a chronic disease that you just noticed.

That's all from me. Feel free to ask if there are any other questions.

Sorry for the long delayed reply. Have been really really busy lately. Anyway yuen, I’ve nothing against big sized rabbit lol. I once treated a giant chinchilla and a Giant Flemish and I think they are the most adorable rabbit. But of course, nothing can beat my favourite which is the Mini Rex Rabbits. Super cute

Anyway, to answer your question, I have to briefly describe the digestive system of the rabbit. Many people are still unsure of what to feed their rabbits and the type of food items. This can be a little technical but feel free to ask any questions if you don’t understand. Anyway, the rabbit is a hind gut fermentor. A lot of their diet consists of indigestible fiber like cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin. When they consume these fibers, the fibers remained mainly unchanged until it reaches the cecum (appendix in humans) where in the cecum lies a population of microorganism (both bad and good microorganism) in perfect balance. These fibers will be digested by these microorganisms and is converted to a form that can be digested by the rabbit. These partially digested fibers (known as cecotrophs or night stool) is then pushed back into the large intestine and eventually ends up at the rectum where the rabbit will then bend over and reconsume the cecotrophs. This process usually occurs at night and the cecotrophs is usually wet and moist and has a strong smell to it. Some people do mistaken the cecotrophs as diarrhea. The cecotrophs will then be digested in the stomach and small intestine and is then defecated as the hard fecal pellets that you find in the morning. This process occurs 24 hours a day and it never stops. The constant movement of food material in the intestine and the production of cecotrophs actually help to maintain the population of bad and good bacteria in the cecum and prevent either population from being overloaded. Non digestible fibers actually help with this motility of the intestines and the major source of this is actually from hay. You may argue that many of the timothy hay pellets consist mostly of fiber too. But it is actually the long stem fibers in the hay that help assist with the gut motility. The short stem fibers in the timothy hay pellets to some extend do help with the gut motility but not as effective as long stem fibers. Long stem fibers also help with preventing dental malocclusions and diseases. But that is another discussion for another day.

The major problem with the digestive system of a rabbit is gut stasis (also known as gastric shutdown, ileus, colic). It is a condition where the digestive tract stops moving and there is a build up of gasses in the intestines. It usually starts when the owner begins to feed the rabbit with all kinds of junk food and crap and not enough hay. This is because when you feed too much high carbohydrate food items (pellets especially, high sugar fruits, yogurt treat etc etc), these items will be fermented quickly in the cecum. This actually provides extra calorie to the bad bacteria and you will soon see an overpopulation of bad bacteria. These bad bacteria will start producing toxins and the toxins will travel to the bloodstream and cause a condition known as endotoxemia which can be fatal to the rabbit.
Another situation is when the rabbit is administered with the wrong kind of antibiotics (notably the penicillin and cephalosporin group) which kills most of the good bacteria in the gut. So make sure when your vet prescribes an antibiotic to your rabbit, ensure that he has given that drug to a rabbit before or know that it’s not contraindicated. Other situations that can cause gut stasis are pain (usually related to dental disease). Rabbits are pretty wimpy. They stop eating if they feel pain, stress (car rides, addition of other pets or children in the family, loud noises) can also cause them to stop eating and experience gut stasis.

So its important that you all recognize the signs of gut stasis. Usually the animal becomes more reclusive, refuses to eat, may have increase drinking, tenderness and discomfort in the abdomen (esp when picked up) and most importantly NO FECAL PELLET PRODUCTION. So remember that gut stasis is fatal to the rabbit and you should rush to the vet as soon as you can. The key point to managing gut stasis is actually pretty simple.

1. Rehydration
2. Pain control
3. Assist feeding
4. Gut modifying drug (optional)

It is actually recommended that you keep a bag of Oxbow Critical Care Diet around the house (I have no idea who sells this in Malaysia but I’ve seen it here before). Using a catheter tip syringe (you can purchase this from your local pharmacy), you can actually assist feed your rabbit and help to jump start the intestines.

So in a nutshell, to those still confused what to feed your rabbit, use this ratio as a guideline; 60-70% hay, 20-30% vegetables and some fruits, 10% pellets. So since the pellets consist of such as small portion of the diet, it is not that crucial what brand to use actually. And many of these manufacturers uses gimmicks like added vitamins and minerals and probiotics and stuff like that .But what you need to know is how much of these are added to these food items. And many of these vitamins and probiotics do get oxidized if not stored properly, so this is a factor to be considered. And feeding too much pellets can cause your rabbit to be obese (unless your rearing it for meat), and obese rabbits tend to have more foot problems (pododermatitis) cause of bearing too much weight on their tiny little legs. And many times they produce too much cecotrophs and because they’re too fat, they can’t bend over very well to lick their rectum (didn’t sound quite right lol). And as a result you see a lot of fecal staining around their bottoms.

Whew! I’m sorry for the long post but I just hope that every rabbit owner reading this will be well educated so that they can keep a healthy and long living rabbit.

This post has been edited by Polaris13: Mar 18 2010, 09:58 PM

yuenyi good catch on the hypersalivation.......that is one of the signs of overgrown tooth. Usually if it's saliva it will cause the fur to be matted together and its usually most obvious under the chin. And if you run your fingers of both hand along the margin of the bottow jaw (use your thumbs while holding the head steady with both your forefingers....i hope this make sense) ...try to feel the symmetry and feel for any lumps and bumps. With overgrown molars you can usually feel one part of the jaw that is more thickened in the others. In extensive cases, you will feel that the roots of the jaw is trying to grow outwards. But the most definitive way to diagnose that would be to examine the mouth under sedation/anesthesia and skull radiographs.

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Added on April 5, 2010, 10:31 pmhow to know your bunny is pregnant?.....go to a vet with ultrasound to try and detect fetal heartbeat. Some vets might be happy to do it for free or for minimal fees. Call them before going there. However, be careful when holding the animal for the procedure as the animal has to be on its back. On nervous rabbits, they may struggle too much and may break its back. Also warn the vet about shaving the hair on the belly and tell them how thin the skin in. Finally, i think the minimal time before you can detect heartbeat is 14-18 days minimal post copulation.

And before i end, if you do not plan to breed your animal, please please spay them. If not they will die a horrible death from uterine cancer (adenocarcinoma) that will spread to the lungs. It is very horrible and please do not subject your rabbit to such suffering.

This post has been edited by Polaris13: Apr 5 2010, 10:31 PM