What is the mainstay of a rabbit’s diet?  Carrots? Nope!  Rabbit pellets? Wrong!  The right answer is hay.  The RSPCA is spreading the word with a new campaign called Hay Fever!, which educates the public on the right foods to give to their pet rabbits.

According to the RSPCA:

In fact hay and grass are the key components [of a bunny's diet], and a new study commissioned by the RSPCA shows a lack of hay and grass in rabbits’ diets is one of the most important welfare issues affecting them today. Indeed, in a recent poll only 8% of rabbit owners knew hay and grass are the most important parts of a rabbit’s diet.

It is vital that rabbits are given a hay-based diet to provide fiber for good digestive health and roughage for good dental health.  A hay-based diet helps prevent potentially deadly conditions such as GI stasis, in which the digestive system comes to a halt, or poopy butt, which can lead to fly strike.

For more information about the Hay Fever! campaign, see the RSPCA website.

You can also read about the importance of a hay-based diet in our articles:

• Hay: The Basis for a Healthy Rabbit Diet
• A Correct Diet is Vital for Rabbits
• GI Stasis: A Deadly Condition in Rabbits
• Poopy Butt in Rabbits: Causes and Treatment

Tags: hay, hay fever, Rabbit Care, rspca

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 28th, 2012 at 9:16 pm and is filed under Rabbit Care, Rabbit Rescues. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.