Rule #1 No more human food.

We underestimate how many calories are in human food. Three or four Cheerios@ for a rabbit is like eating a bowlful for you! Two or three Trisctiits@ are the equivalent of a meal to a rabbit. Raisins and dried fruits are crammed with rabbit calories. Bread scraps offer pure sugar to a rabbit because of the cecum's powerful digestion.

If you must give Thumper a treat, give her a fresh lettuce leaf, a baby carrot or a slice of fresh fruit such as a 1-inch thick banana slice or a l/l-inch thick apple slice. (1 like baby carrots because they are purchased pre-washed in sealable plastic bags. You can slice an apple or pear and store it in a sealed tub for freshness.)

Rule #2 Choose a smart penet.

Pellet mixes that contain seeds, nuts or dried fruit and vegetable pieces generally offer too many calories. A "smart" pellet, one that contains less than 15-percent protein and more than 20-percent fiber, will give your rabbit adequate nutrition without the extra sugar content and calories.

Pellets made from timothy hay instead of alfalfa hay are smarter choices because they have a lower calorie contento Avoid "kibbles" forweight loss because they have a poor fiber content and a higher calorie contento However, even an alfalfa-based pellet can be a diet pellet if you measure the serving size and reduce the portions to meet your rabbit's weight loss goals.

If you are changÍng pellet brands, make this change gradually. In week one, offer the new food in a SO/50 mix with the old food. In week two, ifThumper is now eating all the pellets inr meal, you can switch 100 percent to the n~ foad. Bunnies can be stubhom, and it may take two or three weeks for

your rabbit to adjust to the new pellets.

Rule #3 Feed more fresh vegetables. This can sometimes be inconvenient because it means visiting the grocery store at least once a week. If your rabbit isn't used to eating vegetables, it will take time to adjust. I introduce one newvegetable each week, which gives the cecal rnicroflora time to adjust.

I offer each new vegetable several times because it may take Thumper multiple introductions to become familiar with this new food. Don't be discouraged; offer the

How Much Does Your Rabbit Really Eat?

Nutritionists know that people have trouble estimating how much food they really eat. Nearly overyone underestimates this amount. This is especiallly trrue when it comes to how much we actually feed our pets. Many of us, in fact, have a tendency to feed humann-sized proportions, when a fraction of that is more than adquate. so how much does your rabbit really eat?

Try this test:

Pour a typical seving into Thumper’s food dish, and measure it. Does your serving size coprrespond with the recommended guidelines (2-to 4-pounds body weight-1/4-cup pellets daily; 4-to 7-pounds body weight-1/2-cup pellets daily; 7-to 10-ond test: pour out five servings, and weight each one. How much do these differ? A measuring cup will help your control the serving size to support weight loss.

A good way to monitor habits is to create a food log. Write down every scrap and morsel of food that Thumper eats for a weel. Make everyone in the family add to this list. Include wekdays and wekends. Examine the log after one weel.