How do i diet my fat doe?

[golden rabbitry]

She has had 8 litters, is part meat rabbit, and was starved a a baby before i rescued her, so her getting fat was really fast. I want to diet her but i don't know how and if. At first, she ate herself sick because she was scared she wouldn't get food ever again. She piled the pounds on and looks like a log with ears. Her litters are very large and kinda stretched her out. She also has a small nose for her body time so she snorts when she breathes hard. Any idea how I can safely diet her without giving her the stress from starvation? When I cut back her food, she freaked out thinking she was going to go hungry again.

 

[shazza]

i would cut back on her pellets and give her a TON of hay so that she doesn't think she's starving, but she isn't gaining any more significant calories. you could also maybe try a lower-percentage pellet but still feed her a bit less than usual + more hay.

or you could just not let her get to you ;p what does she do when she 'thinks she's hungry'? i am heartless and unless they're hurting themselves or seeming particularly over-stressed i just make animals deal with it lol. i've found that eventually they learn that pitching a fit won't work, and even though it's less food they won't starve. i've fostered lots of baby kittens over the years and almost all of them go through a period of food insecurity and you just stick to your guns and they get over it eventually.

 

[michaels4gardens]

like mentioned above...
cut the pellets to a minimum ,
I feed fat does half a tuna fish can of pellets, and a lot of grass hay.
If they don't begin to lose weight, I cut the pellets out completely for a week or two... then, give them just a little bit of pellets, to make sure they get their mineral/ vitamin needs met.

 

[GBov]

All of the above is great advice and the only thing I would add is, is there any way to increase her exercise?

I had a very fat older doe that would not lose weight so I put her in a super-sized cage with a step stool in one corner, three steps high. Her food was at the top and her water was on the other side of the cage at floor level.

With lots of hay, not many pellets and the activity needed to go between food and water, she lost weight at last.

Sounds like your girl is perfect though as a meat rabbit if she can kindle while fat, care for her kits without losing weight and rebreed quickly, my first thought is foundation doe. :lol: