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29 Mar 2015

Rapid Decline of Muesli Dry Foods

Posted By : Guest

For the last four years the PDSA in UK has published the PDSA Annual Well-being Report (PAW Report for short). It covers cats, dogs and rabbits and looks at welfare issues by asking pet owners and vets questions about care and welfare. It’s great to have these stats on things like how many rabbits are neutered and whether they get an appropriate diet because it helps welfare campaigners monitor how successful they are at implementing changes and also where to target change.

So, on to this years report. Here is a handy graphically summary (feel free to share):

One of the biggest changes is the rapid decline in muesli based dry foods. In the last four years it’s dropped from being eaten by 49% to 25% of rabbits in UK. Interestingly it’s been a sustained change, continuing this year, not just a short term reaction to media coverage.

On the other hand in the last year there hasn’t been much progress on hay eating; the percentage not eating a good portion of hay has gone up very slightly. That might be an area that needs a little more focus. It can be tough to get rabbits not used to eating hay to make the change, it can take quite a bit more effort than picking up a different dry food brand.

One of the focuses in this years report is obesity, whilst they don’t delve into too much details specifically for rabbits, I do think it’s something that needs monitoring. It’s easy for rabbits to put on weight when eating too many pellets.

This year the PDSA asked owners about where they got their rabbits in UK: 39% came from pet shops, 21% from family and friends and 15% were rescues. Whilst 15% of rabbits being adopted from rescue isn’t bad, 24% of cats and 35% of dogs came from rescues.

One of the reasons for getting a rabbit, ie 26% got a rabbit because ‘children wanted a pet’. That’s 1 in 4 rabbits being bought for children and couple that with that fact that ‘children getting bored’ is one of the most common reasons rabbits are given up to rescues – I think that’s a statistic that would benefit from some work to change it.

When vets were asked their main concerns they were:

1. Inappropriate Diet
2. Complete lack of care
3. Dental disease

I think the main problem is getting the information out there. If you research, particularly online, there are plenty of resources on good care. But, it’s very hard to reach the people that aren’t looking for advice or don’t know they need it.

What do you think the biggest welfare issues facing rabbits are? And do you have any ideas for tackling them?