Introduction of rabbits to other Worldwide distribution of ... · What is in probiotics for rabbits •? Lactobacillus •? Enterococcus faecium •Saccharomyces cerevisiae Not always

Dietary advice for healthy and sick rabbits 27th October 2017

Frances Harcourt-Brown BVSc FRCVS 1

Frances Harcourt-Brown BVSc FRCVS www.harcourt-brown.co.uk

Dietary advice for healthy and sick rabbits


Origin of the domestic rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus)

• Originated in Iberian peninsula – hot, dry and arid for some of year

• Rabbits can exist in these conditions


Introduction of rabbits to other countries

• Domesticated and kept in captivity for meat and fur

• Spread around the world by settlers who took and released them in new countries

• ‘Wild’ rabbits in Europe are descended from introduced rabbits


Worldwide distribution of Oryctolagus cuniculus


Effects of rabbits on landscape

• Eat virtually everything

• Destroy natural habitat

• Happened in UK

• Even worse in Australia


In Australia

• Killed all rabbits on

one side

• Trapped, shot,

poisoned




Or biological control


Chemical poisons

• Dropped by helicopters or

planes in baited food


Did they use poisonous plants?

• Lots of plants are meant to be toxic for rabbits

• None were used to kill rabbits in Australia


Is plant toxicity a problem?

Cannabis

• No- they are either resistant to

toxin or they don’t eat the plant

• Correlation between plants that

rabbis leave alone and

poisonous plants


What rabbits like to eat

?? Ground Elder

• Grass

• Leaves and

shoots

• Wild plants

• Herbs

• Dried leaves

• Tulips (meant to

be poisonous)


Do wild rabbits eat hay?

Or would they prefer grass




Food for pet rabbits

• Lots of brands of commercial rabbit foods for pet rabbits

• Lots of claims

• Big variation in quality and suitability for pet rabbits

• Competition between companies


Commercial rabbit foods

Information about nutritional requirements is taken

from data about growth and reproductive

performance of farmed rabbits


Muesli mixes

• Many brands• Cheap, convenient and

available• Palatable• Store well• Well marketed and

advertised• Formulated from data

tables• Analysis of whole mix is

balanced


Nutritional value of each ingredient

Many ingredients are unbalanced. For example:

• High in carbohydrate• Low in fibre• Low in calcium• Low in Vitamin A• Low in Vitamin D• Inverse Ca:P ratioUsing calcium as an example-

dietary requirement is 0.6-1%


Calcium content of ingredients

Food Calcium (Dry matter analysis)

Alfalfa 1.5%

Barley 0.07%

Beans 0.14%`

Pellets/ extrusions ???? (0.5-1%)

Maize (sweetcorn) 0.04%

Oats 0.03%

Peas 0.12%

Wheat 0.16%Vitamin and mineral supplement

added to pellet or extrusions


Selective feeding

• Rabbits will pick out favourite ingredients

• Leave most unpalatable behind

• Often part with vitamin and mineral supplement in it

• Caring owner throws it away and replenishes bowl




Weaning rabbits on to muesli mixes

• Selective feeding is a problem when weaning a litter of babies

• Dominant rabbits will pick out low calcium palatable ingredients

• Calcium requirement is high because they are growing

• Go on to develop dental disease


Muesli mixes are never a good idea

Burgess have stopped making them

Supreme haven’t


Pellets

• Easy to change analysis for life stages

• Give control of cost and efficiency of production

• Easy to store

• Convenient

• Can be medicated

• Are the way that most commercial rabbits are fed

• May get hay as well if they are lucky


Nuggets

• Really started in UK by Burgess

• In response to problems with selective feeding

• Cooked, palatable biscuit

• Stores well

• Can incorporate long fibre strands- partially denatured by cooking

• Meant to be fed alongside hayHarcourt-Brown F.M.(1996) Calcium

deficiency, diet and dental disease in

pet rabbits. Veterinary Record 139

567-571


Hay for rabbits

• Lots of choice

• If the rabbit eats it, then it is Ok


Grass

• Grazing outside is perfect for rabbits

• Expensive to provide secure space

• Have to sacrifice any idea of growing flowers or veg

• Not an option for most people




Alternative option

• Lots of free food, including grass on verges and alongside foot paths

• Won’t have been sprayed

• May be mowed, which is inconvenient


Some examples of plants that rabbits enjoy:

• More details about foraging and illustrations on

website


Plants from veg garden


Books

Available from RWAF shop


What about probiotics?


What are probiotics

Probiotics are defined as live micro organisms which, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host

A successful probiotic strain is expected to

• Tolerate gastric acid and bile tolerance

• Adhere to the intestinal epithelium and colonise

• Produce antimicrobial substances




What is in probiotics for rabbits

• ? Lactobacillus

• ? Enterococcus faecium

• Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Not always easy to find out


Any evidence of efficacy

• Some evidence that they improve performance (i.e. growth) in farmed rabbits

• One study showed a 50% reduction in losses from enteritis in farmed rabbits fed on yeast probiotic

• Inconclusive about effect on gut flora

No hard evidence that they make a difference to pet rabbits, but many people find them beneficial


Prebiotics

• Definition: A non-digestible food ingredient that promotes the growth of beneficial microorganisms in the intestines.

• Example- Fructo-oligosaccharides

• Should increase the number or activity of beneficial bacteria.

• In a variety of foods


According to Wikipaedia

Top 10 Foods Containing Prebiotics

Food Prebiotic Fiber Content by Weight

Gum Arabic 85%

Raw, Dry Chicory Root 64.6%

Raw, Dry Jerusalem Artichoke 31.5%

Raw, Dry Dandelion Greens 24.3%

Raw, Dry Garlic 17.5%

Raw, Dry Leek 11.7%

Raw, Dry Onion 8.6%

Raw Asparagus 5%

Raw Wheat bran 5%

Whole Wheat flour, Cooked 4.8%

Raw Banana 1%


Vitamin and mineral supplements and blocks

• Not necessary if rabbit is on a good diet

• Caecal microflora synthesise many vitamins

• Amount of calcium that is in them could be a problem for rabbits with urinary tract disease


Recommended diet for healthy rabbits

NO MUESLI MIXES

Wild plants

Grass

Hay

Leaves

Branches

Tiny amount pellets or

nuggets

Small amount fruit &

root vegetables

Leafy greens

Herbs

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gum_Arabic

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicory

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerusalem_Artichoke

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dandelion

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garlic

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leek

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onion

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asparagus

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheat_bran

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheat_flour

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana




Diet for rabbits with no incisors-

NO MUESLI MIXES

Shred or grate food

Tiny amount pellets or

no nuggets


root vegetables

Leafy greens

HerbsWild plants

Grass

Hay

Leaves

Branches Frances Harcourt-Brown BVSc FRCVS www.harcourt-brown.co.uk

Diet for rabbits with early dental disease (apical elongation)

NO MUESLI MIXESTiny amount pellets or

no nuggets


root vegetables

Leafy greens

HerbsWild plants

Grass

Hay

Leaves

Branches

Rabbits with apical elongation may not be

able to, or won’t, eat hay


Corrective dentistry or dietary modification for early dental disease?

“Coronal reduction is limited to selected cases in which malocclusion is

minimal, has been diagnosed early, and proper occlusion of both incisor and

cheek teeth can be restored”

Capello. V. (2016) Vet Clin Exot Anim 19 783–798


Case Example- early stages of PSADD

My rabbit- Earl


Earl- 2 years later after dietary modification only


Effects of dietary modification on incisors

Ridges grown out




Diet for rabbits with advanced dental disease

NO MUESLI MIXES

Rabbits with deformed crowns

can’t chew fibrous foods- could

shred it

Rabbits with apical elongation can’t won’t

eat hay

Pellets or nuggets

Fruit & root

vegetables

Leafy greens

Herbs

Wild plants

Grass

Hay

Leaves

Branches


Diet for rabbits with advanced dental disease

NO MUESLI MIXES



shred it


eat hay

Pellets or nuggets

Fruit & root

vegetables

Leafy greens

Herbs

Wild plants

Grass

Hay

Leaves

Branches


End stage

NO MUESLI MIXES

Rabbits with no

crowns struggle to eat at all



shred it


eat hay

Pellets or nuggets

Fruit & root

vegetables

Leafy greens

Herbs

Wild plants

Grass

Hay

Leaves

Branches


Obesity

• Have to convince owners that there is a problem

• Try to get the to feel about feeding the rabbit instead of not feeding it

• If it has good teeth, it won’t starve on a diet of hay/grass and leafy greens

• If it has bad teeth, it might Situation even worse if

they don’t eat caecotrophs


Diet for weight loss

Wild plants

Grass

Hay

Leaves

Branches

NO MUESLI MIXES

Pellets or nuggets

Fruit & root vegetables

Leafy greens

Herbs


Diet for to improve caecotroph ingestion

Wild plants

Grass

Hay

Leaves

Branches

NO MUESLI MIXES

Pellets or nuggets

Fruit & root vegetables

Leafy greens

Herbs




Rabbits with endstage dental disease

• Very difficult

• Can be obese

• Struggle to eat fibre- can choke

• Live on soft foods

• Toast, banana, nuggets, muesli, biscuits


Obese rabbits with end stage dental disease

NO MUESLI MIXESRabbits with no

crowns struggle to eat at all



shred it


eat hay

Pellets or nuggets

Fruit & root

vegetables

Leafy greens

Herbs

Wild plants

Grass

Hay

Leaves

Branches


Outcome for rabbits with endstage dental disease

• Accept they will be obese

• Can try Low Calorie foods

• Shred greens etc.


Diet and urinary tract disease

• Too much calcium in diet is blamed for too much calcium in urine

• Hypercalciuria is cited as a cause of urinary tract problems

• Extrapolated that too much dietary calcium causes urinary tract disease

Not so simple


Large amounts of sedimentare in urine of:

• Rabbits on a high calcium diet

• Rabbits with adequate amount of dietary calcium but a low demand

• Rabbits with concentrated urine


Urine concentration

• Natural diet is leafy green plants that are mostly water

• High water intake dilutes urine

• So sediment is diluted if rabbit eats lots of leafy green veg

• Sediment not diluted if rabbit eats lots of dry food-including hay




Dietary advice for rabbits with urinary tract disease

• ‘Low calcium diets’ are often recommended to prevent or treat urinary tract disease

• Recommendation to avoid ‘high calcium veggies’

• It is sensible to restrict calcium but how?


Influence of water content on dietary calculations

• Recommended dietary calcium is 0.6-1%

• But actual calcium intake depends on how much food is eaten and how much water is in it.

• Concentrated foods- pellets/nuggets have 5-10% water

• Hay is 15% water

• Grass is 80% water

• Lettuce is 95% water


Recommended daily allowance (RDA) of

calcium

• Rather than judging calcium content by its % dry matter (0.6-1%)

• Think about it as how much calcium a rabbit eats to meet its requirements

• RDA ‘Recommended Daily Allowance

• Requirement will depend on whether rabbit is growing, lactating, pregnant or has teeth that are growing

• In region of 500mg/day


Calculating amount of food that provides 500mg calcium

Food Calcium (Dry matter analysis)

Apples 0.12%

Bananas 0.03% (0.06%)

Broccoli 0.48%

Cabbage 0.43%

Carrot tops 1.94%

Carrots 0.37%

Dandelions 1.87%

Lettuce 0.86%

Maize (sweetcorn)

0.04%

Oats 0.03%

Watercress 1.2%

• Took figures from a variety of books and websites.

• Figures are on a dry matter basis

• Found values for dry matter content of food

• Set up Excel spreadsheet and calculated how much of a food item a rabbit would have to eat to ingest 500mg calcium


Amount of food to provides 500mg calcium

• 63g Burgess

Suparabbit Excel

(0.9%Ca)

• 65-159g Oxbow

Bunny Basics (0.35-

0.85% Ca)

63g nuggets


Amount of food item that provides 500mg calcium

1.6kg of lettuce 5.63kg of maize

i.e. 3 lettuces ~10 cereal packets




Amount of food item that provides 500mg calcium

2 large pieces broccoli 15 apples


Amount of food to provides 500mg calcium

529g spring 631g spinach 1.13kg carrots

cabbage

~2 cabbages ~2.5 bags ~10-15 carrots


Amount of food item that provides 500g calcium

• 20 bananas


‘High calcium veggies’

152g carrot tops 245g dandelions 256g kale

( 1+ bag)


Mineral blocks

• Weighs 55g

• Contains 19% calcium and no

water

• Calcium content 55X 19% =

10.45g

• 1/20 block supplies RDA

(500mg) of for calcium


Grass

• Calcium content variable

• Depends on species of grass and soil type

• Usually around 0.5-0.6%

• 463g of grass if calcium content is 0.54%

Seems a lot…




But if you dry it out and separate it..

• Rabbits produce lots of hard faeces (180-200 per day)

• Have a large caecum that needs to be filled


Water content of grass that provides 500mg calcium

• 463g grass contains 350mls water


‘Low calcium’ nuggets

63g nuggets

Could easily eat two bowlfuls

and eat twice RDA of calcium


Amount of hay that provides 500mg calcium

• 143g grass hay (85% DM)- contains 21mls water• 41g alfalfa hay (1-2.07% calcium)- 6mls water

May not be a good idea if rabbit has urinary

tract problems. Urine will be concentrated


Sipper bottles

Tschudin, A., Clauss, M., Codron, D., Hatt, J.M. (2011). Preference of rabbits for

drinking from open dishes versus nipple drinkers. Veterinary Record, 168, 190

Rabbits drink less from

sipper bottles.

More concentrated

urine. More sediment


Dietary modification for rabbits with urinary tract disease

Most useful part of treatment

• Fluid intake should be increased

• Water from a bowl not sipper

• Offer food with high water content

• Oxalates should be restricted

• Calcium and phosphorus content should not be high or low

• Ca: P ratio should be balanced <2:1

• Additional vitamin C may be helpful

• No vitamin or mineral supplements




Hay

SMALL

AMOUNTS

ONLY:

• Pelleted or

extruded food

•Salad

•Fruit

• Care with hay- not a lot of fluid and may not provide sufficient nutrients for rabbits with CRF that are struggling to maintain body weight

• Alfalfa should be avoided altogether- low in water, high in calcium, protein and oxalate


Diet for rabbits with urinary tract disease

Pellets or nuggets


root vegetables

Leafy greens

Herbs

Wild plants

Grass

Hay

Leaves

Branches

Limited or no dry food

Limited or no dry

food

NO MUESLI

MIXES


Plenty of leafy green plants and grass

• Prevents and treats urinary tract disorders

• Prevents and treats dental disease

Access to good quality hay is mandatory

Colony v. pet rabbitsTHE END

Documents

Introduction of rabbits to other Worldwide distribution of ... · What is in probiotics for rabbits •? Lactobacillus •? Enterococcus faecium •Saccharomyces cerevisiae Not always