Pineapple

I had a very stressful night with Pom on Saturday. Pom is the bun in my avatar. At around 4.00pm I found her lying on her side in her hutch. She was obviously very unwell and was refusing to eat anything. I rushed her off to the emergency vet who was fantastic, but then spent most of Saturday night and early Sunday morning syringe feeding her Critical Care until around 2.00am when she decided she was going to start eating on her own.

She has now completely recovered although, obviously, hates me with a vengeance because of the trip to the vet and the force feeding.

Anyway, I am anxious to avoid this happening again and wondered whether she might have had some sort of fur blockage as she is a very fluffy rabbit who seems to moult permanently. We do brush her, but she is so moulty that she must still ingest fur when she cleans herself. I seem to recall having read somewhere that pineapple can be given to rabbits to prevent fur blockages and wondered whether anyone on here had used pineapple. If so, can you give me some tips, i.e. do you give if fresh, or dried; if dried, is there a brand or supplier that you would recommend; can you use juice? Any ideas or suggestions would be very gratefully received.

I give my bunnies pineapple juice (make sure theres nothing added to it though) every 2 weeks in a small bowl. It helps them to digest and does prevent fur blockage.
My vet told me to do this for my angora bunny
Also, I don't think dried pineapple would be usefull, it's the juice that affects the digestion.

This is supposed to work because the Pineapple contains an enzyme known as Bromelain which is thought to break down the mucus that binds the fur into a mass. It is also found in Papaya and some owners give Papaya tablets.

The important thing to remember is if the pineapple has been processed in anyway (dried out, frozen, tinned) the enzyme is destroyed and looses it's blockage relieving properties. Therefor the pineapple should always be given fresh to receive the benefits.

I will point out that there is no proven evidence it really works but used in moderation (due to a high sugar content) and introduced carefully into the diet, as with any new food, it will not do any harm either. Pineapple is also high in fiber but sadly not the type that rabbits tend to need (long fiber). In a normal, healthy rabbit there is no reason why trichobezoars (blockages) would form but in a rabbit with an underlying condition that causes slowed gastro-intestinal motility a backlog of foreign objects can occur, which may form a mass if they begin to dry out and clump together.

Urgh, Bunny-Mums nightmare! I'd give papaya tablets a go too, I think they are supposed to help things keep moving along

Lottie wrote:I give my bunnies pineapple juice (make sure theres nothing added to it though) every 2 weeks in a small bowl. It helps them to digest and does prevent fur blockage.
My vet told me to do this for my angora bunny
Also, I don't think dried pineapple would be usefull, it's the juice that affects the digestion.

This might be an obvious question, but I just wanted to make sure.....Do your buns just lap up the pineapple juice from the bowl? Is it something they just do themselves, or do they need to be persuaded in some way?

Thanks for all your advice folks, it is really appreciated.

I bet as soon as the buns realise it is sweet they would be in there like rockets. Just a guess as I have never used it myself

Agoutibunny wrote:

Lottie wrote:I give my bunnies pineapple juice (make sure theres nothing added to it though) every 2 weeks in a small bowl. It helps them to digest and does prevent fur blockage.
My vet told me to do this for my angora bunny
Also, I don't think dried pineapple would be usefull, it's the juice that affects the digestion.

This might be an obvious question, but I just wanted to make sure.....Do your buns just lap up the pineapple juice from the bowl? Is it something they just do themselves, or do they need to be persuaded in some way?

Thanks for all your advice folks, it is really appreciated.

My buns LOVE the pineapple juice! Just like NickieM said, its got a sugary taste, they don't need to be persuaded at all, they love the taste of it (at least mine do...). They lap it all up until the bowl is clean and shiny!

I give it to my buns on occasion as a treat. As was said above, I figure it might not actually help them but at least it wont hurt them. I actually give them a couple chunks of fresh pineapple (not the canned stuff).

Hippo devours it immediatly. Brynn takes one sniff, shakes her head like, stomps and runs away. Usually though she'll come back and reluctantly take a nibble (as if she's being forced to), but once she's had a little she starts devouring it too!

If you give them some make sure you're avoiding other sugary foods that day.

ElleyMay wrote:I give it to my buns on occasion as a treat. As was said above, I figure it might not actually help them but at least it wont hurt them. I actually give them a couple chunks of fresh pineapple (not the canned stuff).

Hippo devours it immediatly. Brynn takes one sniff, shakes her head like, stomps and runs away. Usually though she'll come back and reluctantly take a nibble (as if she's being forced to), but once she's had a little she starts devouring it too!

If you give them some make sure you're avoiding other sugary foods that day.

I thought mine didn't like fresh pineapple but i forgot to remove it and left it in the hutch and it was gone the next day.I've found that mine like it when it has dried out a little

It has to be the pineapple juice that is NOT made from concentrate, you can feed it from a syringe and then add it to their water and it has helped quite a few of my poorly bunnies in the past

You can get inexpensive pure Pineapple juice from Somerfields.
Bertie doesn't like it, we were told to give him it when he was having all those tummy troubles. I do give him 1 bromelain tablet a week, (sugar free) and he loves that

Vibes for pom