Opinions? Rabbit food for chins

[CritterLover86]

I just wanted to ask a question, and get opinions on advice I was given.

When I took Pola to the vets a few weeks ago, I mentioned I was considering a food switch, switching my 2 chins that are on Oxbow to PRCS. Since Sandi can no longer sell Oxbow, I had considered switching to another food I can order from the feed store that I buy my Mazuri from (2 chins eat Mazuri, 2 eat Oxbow. I've tried getting them all on one feed, but that didn't go over well, and they were barely eating)

When I mentioned this to the vet, who is, as far as I can tell, a very good, knowledgeable exotics vet, he strongly advised against switching to a pellet intended for rabbits. He said it would be a disservice to my animals to switch them to Purina rabbit food, because it is not the same caliber as Oxbow and Mazuri (though, isn't Mazuri a Purina food?) The two places I've ordered Mazuri from were able to get it because of being Purina dealers. But I know we can't always go 100% with what a vet thinks, I've heard of vets recommending feeding fresh fruits and veggies, or people having to tell their vets what to prescribe medication wise because of certain drugs (or the way they are given, oral vs. injections) causing loss of appetite, or being bad in general. So I know advice in general can be "take it with a grain of salt". But so far, as far as the teeth, and other things I've gone to this vet for, I've been happy with.

Basically, I just want opinions on that advice. I did find I can order from Foster & Smith, and have it autoshipped every 3 months and get a slight discount, so I am fine with staying on Oxbow if that's the best solution. I just figured if I could order bigger bags of both feeds from the feed store I go to, that might be more convenient.

Also, for curiosity's sake, what is regarded as the -best- food you can feed? I know Oxbow and Mazuri are up there on the list, but what do the chin experts regard as the best you can give?

Hopefully this sort of post hasn't been answered 1000 times before, if so, I'm sorry for being repetitive!

 

[Brittany]

I have found that vets in my area are very brand loyal. They rave about Oxbow, and try to get all their customers to switch to it. They wouldn't even look at comparing EFL to CC whe I brought some in. I think both are good syringe feeds, but my chins prefer EFL.

I know that many ranchers have had great success on rabbit pellets. I switched to Tradition when Sandi had to stop selling Oxbow. At the time a breeder friend mentioned that I check out PSRC as well.

 

[tunes]

I've been using Nutrena Naturewise rabbit pellets for 4 years and my chins are doing just fine on it. Of the 2 your vet seems to think are "the" pellets, I can't afford to feed a herd my size Oxbow even if I wanted to, and a lot of us won't use Mazuri because of soft poops.

There are a LOT of people who feed their chins rabbit pellets and they do great on it. I always tell people use a good pellet that you can afford and get easily locally. If you can get the Purina locally at a good price, go for it. You might also want to check out the Nutrena. Places like TSC stock it normally, no special ordering.

PS - Britt, my chins prefer the Essentials For Life over the Critical Care as well.

 

[Cat75]

I have been using PRCS for the last 5 years in most of my herd. I also use Tradition on some of my older females and have not seen a "disservice" to the chins getting PRCS vs the Tradition.

 

[Vyxxin]

I agree with Brittany, probably just a case of "brand loyalty" but who knows. I also agree with Peggy...Mazuri is considered crap by a lot of people myself included. I never recommend it to anyone and if someone is buying their second...third...whatever chin from me and already feeding their first Mazuri I caution switching the animal they're buying from me to it. Had aweful results on that crap.

Oxbow I hear is good, but there's nothing wrong with a GOOD rabbit feed mentioned on here. I use MannaPro Pro...love it, have used it for years due to availability. Doesn't matter how good a feed is...if you cannot get it in regularly when you need it it doesn't do you any good.

 

[ticklechin]

I used PRSC and my chins didn not like it, I used Nutrena naturewise and they liked it and did fine on it, I switched back to Oxbow though since I don't have enough chins to use up the 50lbs anymore and I can get the oxbow at the Mom and Pop pet store along with APD hay. I have used Mazuri and also got the loose poo, loved APD until they changed the formula.

One of my dumb-a$$ vets who is a "chinchilla expert" tried to tell me that manna was used for calcium, we went round and round and round I finally had a tantrum and faxed over the nutritional analysis that showed it had no more calcium than chinchilla pellets and enough protein to blow out the liver long term.

 

[CritterLover86]

As far as Mazuri, I tried getting Raider on Oxbow and he would barely eat pellets, he'd eat some hay, and would eat just enough to keep from starving. I tried for a while, with no change, so we went back to Mazuri. I might be able to get Rigel to switch.. I'll have to try, but Raider does well, and has never had soft poops from it, that's why I've kept him on it.

I figured it was a case of "take this with a grain of salt" since I've seen many people feed high quality rabbit pellets and have not seen negative effects. Dr. Ness is very big on Oxbow, and sells the feeds, hays, and critical care at his office, so that may indeed be it.

I know I brought in the Lifeline I was using, back when I was taking care of Speedy. (A client of the vets I work for, a poor chin who got stepped on --but he recovered and is doing well! ) But he advised not to give Lifeline because of the bee pollen? Something about how it's like how you shouldn't give babies honey because it isn't pasteurized or something..?

I haven't brought anything up about using supplements from Fuzzies Kingdom, but I will say, I got the appetite stimulant supplement mix and I have noticed it helped Pola get his appetite back after all the eye ointment and stress of vet visits. I won't argue with results!


I think I will see about getting some samples of Manna, there wasn't much interest in the PRCS, but maybe they'll take to the Manna Pro. I guess when you think about it, if I don't like how they do on it, I can always switch them back!

I just wanted to see what people thought, but I had figured, there wouldn't be a base of people both breeder and pet owner who would recommend feeding something that isn't good for the chins.

 

[caiti]

I feed Chloe PRCS and have been for about a year and a half. She's steadily gained weight on it and is doing well. She did not do well on Mazuri and I've never tried Oxbow, but I like the nutritional analysis. That's what I try to go by, the nutritional analysis and ingredient list, not brand name or intended target.

Also, Chloe refuses to eat Critical Care (the flavored kind at that) and loves Essentials For Life.

 

[designer chins]

I love Manna Pro, and as others stated: I won't argue with results! Love the Fuzzies Kingdom products also, and LifeLine. Consistent availability is critical. That is why I switched from Shoots almost 5 years ago (can it be that long?!) when shipping got too costly, etc.

 

[CritterLover86]

I just ordered a pound of Manna Pro Sho to see what the chins think I found out my feed store does sell that food, and I see the price is $17-20 for 50lbs?? Wow! If they do well on this, that would be great, as opposed to $23 for 10lbs. It's all about what they'll do best on, but I sure wouldn't complain about saving some money as an added bonus

 

[arf2184]

Most vets (and doctors) know very little about diet and are either just 'playing it safe', repeating what the food manufacturers have told them, trying to sell the products they carry, or all of the above. That doesn't make them bad vets (drs). It just means they don't know everything. I absolutely love my vets, but would not take advice from them on diet for any of my animals.

I've been feeding PRSC (formerly Advanced Nutrition Show Rabbit) for a long time. My chins don't want to eat anything but PRSC. I've had trouble with mill dates in the past (the mill is about 1 hour from my house, yet they were sending the local feed stores stuff that is 4-5 months old, but people that live 3-5 hours away can get stuff that's just a few weeks old???). Anyway, in an effort to get fresh feed I tried Nutrena for a few months. The chins had soft poo for several weeks, then finally most of the chins just quit eating it altogether. I also tried Manna Pro Show when I ended up with a bag by mistake. They liked it better than the Nutrena, but about half of them lost weight on it. You just have to find what works for you and your chins.

 

[CritterLover86]

Most vets (and doctors) know very little about diet and are either just 'playing it safe', repeating what the food manufacturers have told them, trying to sell the products they carry, or all of the above. That doesn't make them bad vets (drs). It just means they don't know everything. I absolutely love my vets, but would not take advice from them on diet for any of my animals.

You know, that is a VERY good point, Why hadn't I thought of it that way? I work for a vet part time (he doesn't work with exotics though, thus why I go to a different one for my chins. But he does care for our dogs). We feed all of our clinic cats, and sell Science Diet. Which after doing research on food, I will never feed to my own animals again. We fed our dachshund Science Diet for years, he ended up with cancer. We have lost our clinic dog, and 2 of our clinic cats to cancer as well. The more I looked into in, the corn, artificial dyes.. all sorts of bad stuff that can be carcinogenic in the food. But he recommends it to our clients and sells the basic foods as well as all of the prescription diets. (As well as feeding it to all of his animals).

I'm not sure why I thought the exotic vet's opinion on diet would be any more valid, then my small animal vet's opinion of canine/feline diet. I do wish vets would be more educated on diets, especially in small animal practice because holistic/grain free diets are SOOO much better for them! I sincerely believe that we'd see far fewer issues in our dogs/cats if we fed them high quality food with no fillers from the start (or raw if you can do it).

Thank you for bringing that up forgive me for the ramble, just that comment definitely made the lightbulb go on!

This is why I love this forum, there are so many people with real world knowledge, and you get your questions answered quickly and honestly

 

[schaefera]

I work in a feed mill, and yes purina rabbit and mazuri are both products of parina mills. I feed my chins mazuri and they do great, my boyfriend accidentally bought the wrong feed once so i tried mixing it with the mazuri and my chins picked out the mazuri and wouldn't eat the other stuff. I know a local breeder with a huge herd uses it and the local zoo uses so in my opinion i love mazuri and wont switch at all. As far as using rabbit pellets I guess i would just make sure to check the ingredient list and nutrition levels to make sure its similar to a chinchilla pellet that you would feed.

 

[JessiLynnCVT]

Veterinarians don't look into the actual nutritional content of every diet out there, and unless handed the info will automatically say to stick with the diet formulated for chinchillas. No disservice to your pet and really no fault of the veterinarian for not knowing that that particular rabbit food still meets the nutritional requirements of a chinchilla. Why would they know that? I say if they really give you a hassle print out the nutrition facts and lay it next to the oxbow for them to see. But in general it is just that in the veterinary field there are a million food products and none of us are going to look into every option for a client <3

 

[CritterLover86]

JessiLynn- Thank you for the response =) That does make a lot of sense, and it really clicked for me a while back when I realized vets are not all nutritionists. Also, there are so many diets out there, it's hard to research and analyze each one, especially if their field is not nutrition.

I actually have 3 out of my 4 boys on Manna Pro Sho (Rigel wouldn't eat it, the only thing he'll eat is Mazuri!) but the other boys are doing wonderfully on the Manna Pro Sho! I'm glad I switched, they're doing great, love the food, and I'm very happy

 

[JessiLynnCVT]

You're welcome it is no problem. When I switched from exotics medicine to ER, I went back for dentals and one of the vets I worked with in Exotics couldn't believe I would switch mine off oxbow to Purina Pro Show until I talked to her. She knew I wouldn't do something without research and then she chilled her socks once seeing the formulation.

 

[voxleo]

Good to hear this, as I was concerned about the fact that Mom has a tendency to think anything similar is close enough that its all the same.

Taking this one step further then, which rabbit foods (brands) are known quality foods vs choices that would be a poor choice for sure and should be avoided? Is it like the commercial dog food where pretty much anything mainstream you can find without going to a niche supplier is garbage or is it possible to get decent feed in someplace like Petsmart?

(Mom buys something in large blue bag from Petsmart that looks pretty generic and says something like "premium rabbit pellets" in white lettering. I do know that are rabbit pellets with a very occasional brown Heart or X-shaped brown piece which looks similar to a cheerio or cat kibble thrown in so sparsely that it maybe ends up with ONE or TWO pieces of it every couple of days or so, if any. Anyone know if these will suffice or if they are notoriously bad or what?

I know that Mom doesn't do a lot research on anything and tends to buy whatever is cheapest, so I worry about the chins since I don't see them all the time... At least until I steal them away, which is bound to be soon as I a enthralled by these creatures to no end ...=D

 

[Chinmama]

Good rabbit foods include Manna Pro Sho, Purina Rabbit Chow Show and Nutrena Naturewise. You can get any of these at Tractor Supply. If they don't carry them in stock, they can order them for you. They can also get Mazuri Chinchilla food.

 

[mishellyshel]

i had mine on PRSC and Mazuri and oxbow all at the same time plus Beaphar plus. I got sick of buying 3 different foods plus the specialty. they all seem to like the oxbow but it is very expensive. but now i just buy one 50lb bag and all but one or two gobble it down. the other 2 i think eat it because they know that is all there is!

as for vets. i rarely ask them advice on nutrition. although just for entertainment every now and again i will ask. I had to take one of my chins a couple weeks ago and i was already handfeeding him. I asked the tech for syringes and he only recommended the 3ml ones because with the bigger ones i might aspirate them. i just nodded & smiled. i asked him what they use for supplement. of course it was the Oxbow (mine much prefer the EFL) and they mix it with baby food. i just nodded & smiled and told him i make my own by mixing crushed pellets & and herbal mix (lifeline and EFL). and then he just nodded and smiled.........which made me laugh inside!!!

 

[Spirit Chaser]

My vet reacted the same way when I told him that I fed mine PRCS about two and a half years ago. I think 1 they tend to be very loyal to the brands, 2, they don't really know much about what we should be feeding our pets in the first place, otherwise they wouldn't recommend some of the brands they push for our carnivores to eat with the better ones on the market, (Constantly pushing me to buy inferior food for my cats, and it's not happening) and 3 all they hear is the word rabbit in the food name. I ignored him and kept feeding the PRCS till recently. The breeder I got my boys from was feeding her entire heard said food and they were doing great, and mine certainly weren't suffering for it. Mine are on Purina Rabbit Chow Fiber Three now do to a slight stomach issue one of mine seems to have, which the boosted fiber helps with, and they are both doing great.
Neither of my boys like Mazuri, and I can't even get Oxbow in this location, the only store that carried it, was only here for about six months, and now they are gone.