What is the effect of diet on rabbit health and welfare?
18 June 2024
The theme of this year’s Rabbit Awareness Week is ‘Healthy Diet, Happy Bunnies’, with the aim of highlighting how the lives of pet rabbits can be improved by feeding the correct, balanced diet.
In the latest PAW Report, 42% of veterinary professionals identified inappropriate diet as one of the most important rabbit welfare issues that needs addressing1. The report also showed that 13% of owners feed muesli mix as one of the main types of food their rabbits eat and only 73% of owners feed hay as one of their rabbits’ main foods1. This is of particular concern, given the evidence showing the negative effect of poor diet on rabbit health and welfare and the link between muesli-type diets and a variety of health problems.
What does the science say?
A long-term study at the University of Edinburgh found that muesli-type diets have multiple adverse effects on rabbit health and may play a role in many disease processes. This study explored the impact of four diets (hay only, extruded diet with hay, muesli with hay, and muesli only) on various rabbit health and welfare conditions, through a controlled feeding trial on 32 Dutch rabbits.
One element of the study, published in the Journal of Small Animal Practice, found that diet has a significant impact on faecal pellet weight and size, total faecal output and caecotrophy2. Rabbits fed muesli only produced smaller, lighter pellets and had the greatest number of uneaten caecotrophs, which might indicate that muesli-based diets contribute to the development of digestive disorders. Rabbits fed hay produced heavier, larger faecal pellets and fewer uneaten caecotrophs, suggesting that higher hay intake may assist in preventing gastrointestinal stasis2.
A second part of the study, also published in the Journal of Small Animal Practice, found that diet has a significant effect on weight and body condition score (BCS) in growing pet rabbits3. Rabbits fed ad lib muesli, with no hay, were significantly heavier by the end of the study, with a median body score of obese – this was higher than the BCS in both the extruded diet with ad lib hay and muesli with ad lib hay. Both the extruded diet with ad lib hay and muesli with ad lib hay groups had above-ideal BCS, despite their bodyweights being within the breed standard range. In contrast, rabbits fed with a hay-only diet were lighter and had a median BCS of 3 (considered ideal)3.
The third element of the study, published in Applied Animal Behaviour Science, assessed the effect of diet on rabbit behaviour4. Rabbits fed muesli only spent significantly less time feeding and more time inactive, indicating an impact on welfare through the inability to express normal foraging behaviour. Rabbits fed hay only spent significantly more time feeding and had increased activity levels, confirming that forage should form a significant portion of the diet.
Take home message
These studies show that diet composition has a significant effect on rabbit bodyweight, body condition score, faecal pellet weight and size, faecal output, caecotrophy and behaviour. To prevent the development of health problems, a rabbit’s diet should be dominated by hay or fresh growing grass and feeding of muesli without hay should be avoided.
References
1PDSA Animal Wellbeing Report 2023 (2023). PDSA. Available at: https://www.pdsa.org.uk/media/13976/pdsa-paw-report-2023.pdf
2Prebble JL, Shaw DJ & Meredith AL (2015) Bodyweight and body condition score in rabbits on four different feeding regimes. Journal of Small Animal Practice. 56(3), 207-212.
3Meredith AL & Prebble JL (2017) Impact of diet on faecal output and caecotroph consumption in rabbits. Journal of Small Animal Practice. 58(3), 139-145.
4Prebble JL, Langford FM, Shaw DJ & Meredith AL (2015) The effect of four different feeding regimes on rabbit behaviour. Applied Animal Behaviour Science. 169, 86-92.