Rabbits are vegetarian and they can eat almost all the different kinds of vegetables. But there are several other things that they should not eat, their digestive system is quite fragile and they are unable to digest anything and everything.
Yogurt is not something that the rabbit should eat. There are severe consequences for the rabbit eating yogurt. We will discuss the situations in detail below.
Contents
What happens if a rabbit eats yogurt?
There are no dairy products that a rabbit should eat. They are not genetically formed to digest dairy products and thus, they often face digestive issues when they eat these products. It can be bloating of the stomach caused by the formation of gas. Other than the formation of gas, the rabbits may also suffer from gastrointestinal issues. It is called GI stasis and is often found among rabbits. When affected by the GI stasis the rabbits end up producing a runny stool.
Should you give rabbit yogurt?
No healthy matured rabbit should eat yogurt. Yogurt is not a healthy food for rabbits and it will not do well for the pets. In fact, it can make the pet sick when the pet will consume curd. Not even the yogurt drops that you see in the pet shops are actually good for the rabbits. So do not buy these drops as the rabbit will try to eat them but will fall sick and you will not be happy with the result.
Rabbits are ever curious creatures and they often try to taste anything and everything that is given to them. It does not mean that they actually understand what is good for them and what is not. They are not accustomed to dairy products like yogurt, cheese, cream or so on. If you give them curd then you will be running the risk of making the rabbit sick very soon.
Why you should not give rabbit yogurt?
Rabbits should not be given yogurt by any chance. There are several reasons behind this. When we are unable to digest anything or the food becomes toxic for us, then we automatically start vomiting so the product gets out of our system. But this is not the case with the rabbits. They are not able to vomit and thus, they will suffer terrible pain but will not be able to vomit it out.
The poor creature needs to wait till it starts defecating and then the runny stool will take the yogurt out of its body. This is not an easy situation and you should never make the rabbit fall this sick.
Why does curd create gas on the body of the rabbits?
A rabbit has a well-built gastrointestinal system with a stomach, small and large intestine along with cecum. The stomach contains acids and air. Lactobacillus which is the bacteria found in dairy products like yogurt will pass through the stomach and large and big intestine but it will not be able to pass within the cecum where there is no aerobic condition or air formation. This is when the rabbit will feel pain in the stomach and later it may suffer from the runny stool.
Is rabbit lactose intolerant?
The creatures, and even quite a few humans are called lactose intolerant as they are unable to digest any milk-related product or the milk itself. The mammals are not supposed to be lactose intolerant, though it is not applied to some humans. But in the case of rabbits, they use to drink milk when they are newborns.
However, after they are matured, they lose their ability to digest the milk or milk-related products and become incapable to digest curd or any such dairy product. The enzyme present in milk is not suited to the stomach of the rabbits as the gut health of the rabbits usually loses their gut bacteria when they get aged.
How yogurt is helpful for rabbits?
Yogurt is sometimes helpful for the rabbits as it can be given in the diluted form to them. Though you always need the vet’s suggestion and permission before giving the water diluted curd to your rabbit. If the rabbit is suffering from runny stool and it has pain in the stomach then you can give the diluted curd which will kill the bacteria disturbing the digestive system of the rabbit as it has the good bacteria to make the stomach well.
Why yogurt drops are not recommended for rabbits?
Yogurt drops are often found in the stores where the essentials for pets are found. All the other sweet things like candy, ice cream, chocolate, or nuts are not allowed to be fed to the rabbit and in the same way, the yogurt is not recommended for the rabbit’s consumption.
Not only these items contain sugar which will make the rabbit obese, but also it contains some dairy element. If you check the yogurt drop, then you will find that the prior content of this drop is sugar.
Even if your rabbit comes with an iron-like strong gut system and you are quite assured that it will not fall sick after eating the drops, then also, there can be other different kinds of problems.
If your rabbit eats yogurt drops too often then it may suffer from enterotoxemia. The intestinal tract of the rabbit gets affected by the overgrowth of bad bacteria which affects when the sweet is digested too often. This will also lead to tooth decay in the rabbits.
Some owners are aware of the probiotic effect of curd and thus, they try to give yogurt in diluted form or in drop form to their rabbits. But it is totally unnecessary and will lead to further complications. There are other thousands of things that will take care of the core health of your rabbit and will cause it to have a runny stool.
Is yogurt good for baby rabbits?
As baby rabbits have the milk of their mothers, it may be thought that they can digest yogurt too, which is yet another dairy product. But the reality is only milk is good for the baby rabbits and not yogurt. They can tolerate lactose but are not ready to digest yogurt, cheese or other dairy products.
Only milk, if not from the mother then from the KMR can be given to the baby rabbits. Sometimes the probiotic is added with the milk to make it more beneficial for the baby rabbit.
Which food can be used to replace the dairy products for the rabbits?
All the dairy products contain a good amount of calcium which is a necessary ingredient for the rabbits. Also, milk and yogurt contain protein and some very important vitamins, but still, you cannot give them to the pet rabbits.
Thus you need to provide them with the calcium and other nutrients in form of other foods. Along with the hay, which is the main food of the rabbits you need to provide leafy vegetables and some seasonal fruits which does not contain much sugar.
Fruits are good source of vitamins and minerals and that is necessary for the health of the pet rabbits. Your pet rabbit will get necessary nutrients like vitamin and minerals that it is not getting from milk, yogurt, or any other dairy products.
More:
