Excess fat?

[Luvmykiddos]

When we were butchering our rabbits today, we noticed one had a ton of excess fat and the meat itself had a tinge of yellow. We have never seen this before and couldn't find any information online, so I was wondering if anyone here may have some insight into why our rabbit had excess fat?

When I say, "excess fat", I mean that the fat was overwhelmingly covering almost all the intestines, the kidneys were completely covered, but seemed to stop just short of the liver. The liver and everything else looked normal.

We are new to rabbits, so this may seem obvious to someone else, but we are having a hard time finding any information on it. Would anyone here kindly point us in the right direction? Thank you!

 

[MaggieJ]

Usually this is a result of overfeeding and/or feeding too rich a feed. How old was the rabbit and what did you feed it? Were others the same age also fatty or just that one?

 

[Luvmykiddos]

Thank you for responding, MaggieJ! To answer your questions, the doe was 6 months old and since it's winter, she had eaten mostly all alfalfa pellets (Countryside Organics) with a some carrots/kale/pear bits here and there. She freely ate hay, as well.

The other ones were her siblings and they all looked normal. Since we couldn't find any information, we just discarded everything for worm/garden food.

Maybe she overate out of boredom? I could see that happening, because it seems we've ran out of pellets fast lately.

Do you still believe it was just overeating? Is there something I should or shouldn't be doing to prevent that?

Thank you, again, for any insight to help this newbie!

 

[MaggieJ]

It's hard to say for sure, but it sounds to me as though she was just overindulging. If her siblings were normal, I would just consider it "one of those things" and forget it. She may have had metabolic issues but I'm willing to bet she was just a piggy, overeating out of boredom or for some other reason. If the problem crops up in future, you may want to post again, but I expect it will be a long time before you see that again. A little fat around the kidneys is a good thing, especially in winter, but too much fat is a health problem.

Take a look at this thread:
topic10378.html

One page two, there are some pertinent comments on this problem from DevonW.

I had a MR doe that killed and ate her first litter when they were 2 weeks old. For a 3lb doe a litter of 4 is normal she had no problems catching the buck only caught her once. After she became a complete psycho.

When I processed her she was LOADED with fat. So much I couldn't even believe she conceived in the first place. I called the vets asking what would cause it and she said it can be attributed to a thyroid condition or hormone imbalance. It would only be a feed issue if more than one of my rabbits presented with excessive internal fat.

So perhaps she did have metabolic issues after all.

 

[Luvmykiddos]

YES!!! That's what it basically looked like, except she didn't have all the fat marbles in the skin layer like that rabbit does. My doe's fat was mostly all in her intestines with just a tad bit more in the skin layer around the hind legs. The liver was engulfed in the fat and had to be fished out, but that's where the fat stopped.

I am glad you posted what DevonW said, because I could see that happening. It happens to humans, so why not rabbits? It's certainly possible. I'm not experienced enough to tell the difference between a "fat" rabbit and a lean one, but I'll definitely keep this in mind for the future.

Well, shucks, I wish I had found that post earlier, because she would have gone to freezer camp, or raw dog food, not fertilizer. Oh well, you live and learn.

Thank you so much, MaggieJ! I appreciate your help so much!

 

[Miss M]

I'm not experienced enough to tell the difference between a "fat" rabbit and a lean one

Generally, you can slowly run your fingertips down the spine.

If the spine feels spiky, the rabbit is too thin.

If you can't feel the spine, the rabbit is too fat.

If you feel gentle, rolling bumps, the rabbit is just right.

It's a bit different with Californians, OneAcreFarm told me. They have well-developed loins along either side of the spine. You have to feel in between, maybe press a little to see if you can feel the spine. It may be similar for some lines of New Zealands, or other meat breeds. I don't know. I have one Cali doe, and I have to really feel to find her backbone. I have a New Zealand doe, and she's not like that.

 

[Luvmykiddos]

Thank you so much, Miss M, for that bit of excellent information! I will start feeling their spines to get a better idea of what is underneath. That's interesting about the different breeds having a different feel. NZ and Cali's seem so similar, but I have noticed that my NZ's seem boney in comparison to my one half Cali/half NZ. So that would certainly make sense.

Thanks, again, for helping this newbie!

 

[MaggieJ]

Another time, if you have a rabbit that doesn't seem quite right, you could freeze it separately, with a warning label, while you check it out here on RabbitTalk. If the consensus is that there is a possible health risk from consuming it, you can always compost it later.

Cooking would kill most things, but be a little careful if you feed raw to your pets. From what I understand, certain diseases could be passed along from an infected raw rabbit. Sorry I don't remember the details... I think it concerned Pasteurella and cats.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I think it concerned Pasteurella and cats.

Pasteurella and everything. Dogs, chickens, cats, people...

I discard the head and lungs of infected rabbits, but the rest I consider to be safe.

 

[Luvmykiddos]

I had read that freezing the meat first would kill any bacteria/virus', so that I could grind it up for my dogs after dethawing the meat. Is that not true for Pasteurella?

Edited to add: And yes, Maggie J, I will certainly freeze it next time and come here to ask first!

 

[Happy]

That's not true at all. They simply go dormant. This is the reason that you can't re-freeze food, the bacteria that is awakening will have time to reproduce and colony can double in size in a very short period of time when it first becomes active again. Viruses don't reproduce like that, but once you ingest them, if they make it past your stomach fluids, it will reproduce like mad in your cells. One virus can turn one cell into thousands of copies of itself.

 

[Luvmykiddos]

You're right, Happy! I just looked it up and realized where I had become confused, as it appears it is several parasites and other bugs/eggs that can be killed through freezing. Now I know what freezing will and won't do!

 

[CloeysRabbitRanch]

I had a little bit of excess fat attached to kidney of one of my last slaughter day. I had someone experienced with me and told me its just because the cold, added on with them being a bit too old and this certain rabbit was a pig (haha).

 

[Luvmykiddos]

CloeysRabbitRanch, that's good to know! Makes me feel a bit better! I haven't seen as much fat on any of my rabbits since then, so she must have been a hungry, hungry hippo! I don't think "pig" would have described her. Lol! :lol:

Seems some rabbits just enjoy a bit more chow than the rest, but I'm glad to know mine aren't the only ones.