# Warning: Rabbit muesli-based products



## CRL (Jan 3, 2012)

i dont own rabbits, but i just recieved an email from Pet-Supermarket which i thought people on here might like to see.

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Dear Customer,

This is a special notice regarding Rabbit muesli-based products and the potential health issues for rabbits with these type of products recently highlighted at the Rabbit Awareness Week.
Rabbit Muesli Awareness

We will stop selling rabbit muesli-based products from the 31st May 2013 on Pet-Supermarket.co.uk - the main reason for this are there are potential health issues for your rabbits with these types of products.

If you are currently feeding your rabbits these products, we recommend to gradually phase them out replacing them with nuggets as part of their regular diet. Please read further for more details.

Health Issues

Recently, a large scale study performed at Edinburgh University confirmed suspicions that rabbit muesli-based diets are actually detrimental to our rabbits health.

Feeding a muesli-style diet can lead to dental problems, gut problems, faecal soiling, obesity and nutritional deficiencies. The risk remains high even if muesli makes up only a small part of the diet. See the results of the study here.

The PDSA and the RSPCA are both fully supporting the results of this study and recommend that muesli-style diets should never be fed to rabbits.

Therefore, at Pet-Supermarket.co.uk we believe the responsible path to take is to discontinue rabbit muesli on our website from the 31st May 2013.

Recommended Diet

According to the study, the best diet you can feed your rabbit is a mix of 80% good quality hay/grass, and 20% nuggets/pellets. Rabbit nuggets or pellets contain all of the vitamins and minerals your rabbit needs in a safe format, with long fibre strands for good teeth and gut health. You can make the change from muesli to rabbit nuggets/pellets by gradually phasing the nuggets in and the muesli out. This should be done slowly over 14-28 days, to ensure your rabbit accepts the new diet, and to give the rabbits gut a chance to adapt.

Introduce the nuggets or pellets at a ratio of 10% nuggets to 90% muesli to start with. Every two days, increase the amount of nuggets by 5-10%, so by 2-4 weeks later, the muesli will have been replaced completely. If you have any concerns, or problems with the transition, please see your vet for advice.

Products Available

For a selection of suitable rabbit nugget products, click here.
For a selection of suitable hay/grass products, click here.

Kind regards,

Pet Supermarket_


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## JordanRose (Mar 10, 2012)

Fantastic that they're raising awareness of the dangers! :thumbsup:

Thanks for posting, CRL! I hope other big retailers follow in their footsteps!


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## Summersky (Aug 11, 2012)

Good on 'em. 

Muesli is nothing more that junk food, that encourages a rabbit to be over selective.


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## fesixunderground (Apr 14, 2013)

I inherited a rabbit last month and i am having no end of grief trying to get him off muesli. My 2 are on a near all hay diet and yet he is refusing to budge. I've tried everything its starting to really get me down.

i swear its the most disgusting thing on the planet and shops should be banned from selling it. Sometimes people are genuinely unaware its bad for their rabbit and get it because its cheap and then its so difficult to wean a rabbit off it when they've been on it for 2+ years


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## petitsfilous (Jan 25, 2013)

Just to add, Pet At Home have discontinued all their rabbit muesli.


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## happysaz133 (Jun 5, 2008)

Really getting quite sad for some people about all this muesli bashing. 

I'm really glad the supermarkets aren't going to stop selling it, because some rabbits just don't do well on pellets at all, and if you do adopt an older rabbit it can be impossible to stop them eating it and make them eat pellets.


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## gem88 (Jun 2, 2012)

i saw something about this the other day. im glad that they are becoming more aware of how bad muesli is for them. pepper was on muesli to start with but i realised very quickly it was a mistake and put him on pellets.


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## jo-pop (May 27, 2011)

Great to see the big shops take note of the facts for once


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