Diet
There are many types of "senior" dog and cat food on the market these days. Until recently, it was difficult to find any kind of quality feed specifically designed for the needs of long living, non-breeding house rabbits, let alone senior rabbits. As more and more people bring rabbits into their homes, and as they live longer, perhaps pellet manufacturers will begin to develop special feeds for older rabbits. In the meantime, there are two things you should consider in your older rabbit's diet: calories and calcium.
It is important to watch your rabbit's calorie intake and try to prevent obesity, no matter what their age. Get to know your rabbit's food pellets by reading the label. To find out the caloric content, contact the manufacturer and ask how many calories their pellets contain per pound. Then weigh your pellets to find out how many cups there are in one pound of that brand. Next, divide the number of cups by the calories to give you the number of calories per cup. Finally, divide your rabbit's daily energy needs by the calories to know how much pellet to feed. The House Rabbit Handbook (www.rabbit.org) has an excellent chapter on diets with tables of calories and foods, and instructions on how to find your rabbit's energy requirements.
Pellets should contain no more than 0.6% calcium. Many popular feeds contain more than 0.6%, so to reduce calcium intake you must reduce the amount of pellets fed or make them a smaller portion of the diet. An excellent pellet for rabbits of all ages is Bunny Basics/T made by Oxbow Hay (www.oxbowhay.com). BB/T is timothy-based rather than alfalfa-based, so it naturally contains fewer calories and less calcium. Older rabbits generally need fewer pellets and more hay and vegetables. However, frail, older rabbits may need unrestricted pellets to keep weight up. Alfalfa can be given to underweight rabbits, only if calcium levels are normal. Annual blood workups are highly recommended for geriatric rabbits.
