HOW DID THUMPER GET FAT?

Once you notice that Thumper needs to shed some weight, play detective and find those hidden calories that you hadn't noticed before. The most common culprits are too many treats, the failure to measure food-serving sizes and the failure to adjust diet to a rabbit's special digestive needs. Let's ta1k about this last problem first, because if you understand how Thumper obtains her calories, it will be easier for you to make healthy dietary changes.

YOUR RABBIT'S AMAZING DIGESTION

Your rabbit has a secret weapon that boosts the nutrients she can obtain from the diet. This weapon is called the cecum. It is a specialized digestive structure that is positioned roughIy where our appendix is located and is larger than the rabbit's stomach. It forms a link in the digestive tract so that foods leaving the small intestine must first travel through the cecum before entering the large intestine.

This cecum is essential for Thumper's health because it boosts her ability to extract nutri

ents ttom the diet. This amazing ability comes ttom a complex and specialized microflora that inhabits the cecum. These microorganisms can extract nutrients from the rabbit's natural diet of grasses, tree bark and dried plant stems. Although the rabbit's digestive enzymes cannot break down these foods, the cecal microorganisms can digest these high-fiber foods. These extra nutrients are passed along to your rabbit, who then uses them for energy.

This "secret weapon" lets Thumper get energy from foods that we humans could never eat, like hay, grass and leaves. The cecum is so powerful at extracting nutrients that it provides one-third of a rabbit's daily calories! For comparison, a similar process in the human large intestine only provides 10 percent of our daily calories.

T wice a day, usually three hours after a meal, the cecum also expels a specialized mass of material, called the cecal pellet. As the cecal material exits the body it triggers a nerve signal to Thumper's brain. This signal stimulates Thumper to reach down to eat the cecal material.

Although it sounds unappealing, this cecal material is a second nutritional weapon, because it is jam-packed with vitamins and essential amino acids that are vital for maintainingThumper's health. You may have seen Thumper eat her cecals: she reaches down as if to clean herself, then looks up and chews while seeming to stare into the distance. You may have seen the cecal material: it looks like a dark cluster of small grapes, and it is quite moist and shiny (from its special mucus covering) compared with the hard, dry appear ance of normal feces. ~ite literally, the cecal microflora naturally boosts the nutrient and calorie content of your rabbit's diet.

Thanks to the cecum's nutrient-boosting activity, rabbits do not need a rich, calorie-Iaden diet. Your most etfective means to reduce Thumper's weight is to feed her low-calorie foods and to skip the high-calorie ones. This means lots ofhay, increased vegetables, reduced pellets and no human food (except fresh vegetables and fruit). Remember that Thumper didn't gain weight overnight, it will take time to lose those extra ounces and pounds.

A good rule is to lose no more than 5 percent of Thumper's bodyweight each month (no more than 3 or 4 ounces ofbodyweight each month). Immediate changes you can make include restricting treats, reducing the pellet portion size and offering unlimited hay. Never put Thumper on a "crash diet" because it will disrupt the cecal microflora, which can cause serious health complications.