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My rabbit is overweight with neck fat. How can I help him lose weight?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Small Animal | Rabbit | Male | neutered | 3 years old

Hi I need urgent help! Flopsy is looking extremely obese and there is fat sagging under his neck, he lives with a rabbit friend (peter) , peter is in great shape. I have checked flopsy for signs of GI stasis and it he is fine, I give 1/2 cup pellets and unlimited hay and water. Please help me make flopsy a good healthy rabbit.

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

Answered By Linda G, MS, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on January 20th, 2018

Hello, I would completely stop the pellets for Flopsy, hay & water only. Increasing exercise is very important, too. This may mean feeding the 2 rabbits separately, but there can be so many health problems associated with an obese rabbit, that it is important to try & get some weight off of him. Make sure that you are very careful with the treats he gets. He should only receive good greens, no fruit or high-calorie rabbit treats. Get a good food scale where you can weigh Flopsy weekly & monitor his progress. As he reaches a more normal weight, you can begin to add a few pellets back into his diet. Good luck & thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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