Common health problems for small pets … and how to solve them.
Better Nutrition. Healthier Pets.
Since small pets instinctively hide that they don’t feel well, many health problems go unnoticed even by the most loving care-takers… until the problems get worse. Sherwood Pet Health helps you prevent these with Worry-Free foods and supplements. Join the thousands of pet parents who have seen their furry friends transform into vibrant, healthy and happy members of their families.
Step 1 – For better urinary health: FLUSH THE BLADDER… NATURALLY
Temporary grass-hay-only diet increases urine volume by over 400% and flushes the bladder.
Over the period of a few days slowly transition your pet into the temporary grass hay-only diet by reducing the amount of other foods and treats you give them. This will encourage them to eat more hay and drink a lot more water. After you see them doing this then continue transitioning them to the temporary grass-hay only diet.
Step 2 – For better urinary health: PREVENTION
TIP: Calcium does not cause urinary sludge or stones by itself!
Don’t let sludge slow your pet down. We’ll help you prevent sludge buildup in your pet by balancing their diet to minimize the renal bicarbonate levels that cause sludge…. and reduce litter box odor! They will feel better and reward you with a brighter personality.
Excellent food!
Posted by Carmen Paxton
“We have had house rabbits for over 25 years. Sherwood Forest pellets are the best quality we have ever. Within a month of transitioning our rabbits to Sherwood their fur is much softer, has less tendency to mat. It also reduces the smell of their urine. They have maintained healthy weight and have had no sludge issues. We highly recommend Sherwood Rabbit food!”
Step 3 – For better urinary health: ACTIVELY DISSOLVE SLUDGE
If your pet struggles with sludge or stones the urinary support tablet helps to actively dissolve it and clears the way for them to pee easier. It will improve their life.
The tablet works best when paired with a balanced diet like Sherwood Foods that prevent sludge buildup (see picture of the BEFORE & AFTER case study above)
“We were giving Mikey treatment for the sludge with metacam, subq fluids, and trying to express the bladder. The followup X-rays showed no improvements, even after vigorous fluid therapy. Then I stopped all that treatment and started giving him the tablets and within 10 days it cleared up.”
“Our senior rabbit just suffered a bout of bladder sludge, plus subsequent incontinence and urine scald. Luckily we caught it fairly early. I started giving him the Urinary Support and noticed an improvment the next day. We brought him to our vet and she also thinks he is improving.”
Step 1 – For better digestive health: FEED MORE HAY & REMOVE GRAIN & SOY
Encourage your pet to eat more hay by reducing the amount of fruits, veggies, treats, and even greens you feed your pet. What foods stop your pet from eating more hay?
The typical timothy pellet contains grain & soy by-products that can cause digestive problems. Sherwood’s hay-based pellets (grain/soy-free that is an alfalfa/timothy blend) help you improve your pets digestive health by supporting the growth of healthy microflora that improve fermentation in the ceacum and help your pet make healthier poop (see poop in picture below). They’ll feel better and seem happier.
“My bun was having issues with “poopy butt.” He also needed to eat more hay so I knew I needed a food that was hay based not soy based. As soon as we got steady on Sherwood we didn’t have “poopy butt” anymore and noticed softer fur! I noticed a change in personality. He was more energetic and playful! My bun seems much happier and I know he is getting the healthiest nutrition possible. Thank you again!”
Step 2 – For better digestive health: REDUCE FRUITS, VEGGIES, … & EVEN GREENS
Too many greens can cause digestive problems
Depending upon how much hay your pet is eating they may be more or less sensitive to things that can cause digestive upset… including greens.
This 4.5 pound rabbit was eating about 85 grams of hay a day but eating more greens slightly reduced hay consumption to about 65 grams a day.
Step 3 – For better digestive health: IMPROVE MOTILITY
If you have removed grain, soy, fruits, veggies, & greens from your pets diet and they are still suffering from mushy poop, foul smelling uneaten ceacotrophes, or require daily butt baths then they probably have a motility problem. You can help them improve motility (the mixing of ceacal contents to support the growth of beneficial microflora) by feeding them the digestive support tablet. They will think it is a treat and you’ll know it is working because it helps your pet feel better, have more energy, and to be more active…. and they will make better poop!
“I have had 4 Lionhead bunnies which needed butt baths everyday due to large foul mushy stools. That also made them sore. For months, they have been eating the digestive Support supplements and their stools are dry and SO much easier to clean. No more baths needed!! Thank you for a great product!”
“I recently became a foster for a Hotot with Megacolon. After just a few days on the Digestive Support, I noticed my bunny had much more energy. She had been passing fecal pellets in the evening and during the night only. After about 10 days on the Digestive Support, she started passing fecal pellets in the mornings and throughout the day. This shows that her motility is improving. This morning, some of her fecal pellets looked almost normal. UPDATE: My Hotot has been on the digestive enzymes for approximately 6 weeks. Since taking the enzymes, she has become vibrant and is gaining weight. Her fecal pellets have improved greatly. UPDATE: My bunny has been on these enzymes for just under a year. It really helps manage the megacolon. She is so energetic and healthy because of the enzymes – it keeps her regular. She has no symptoms from the megacolon except misshapen fecal pellets. I like that there are B vitamins in it as when a bunny has megacolon, they don’t always produce normal cecotropes and cecotropes are one of the ways bunnies get B vitamins.”
Arthritis can reduce your pets ability to get around and lead to secondary health problems like incontinence (not making it to the litter-box). The joint support tablet helps improve your pets joint health by reducing inflammation and re-growing cartilage. You can restore a level of youthfulness to your pet that will get them moving again.
“Our 7-year old, 10-lb Chechered Giant started showing signs of discomfort this past year. He would loose his balance while running and his back legs would not cooperate with the rest of his body. X-rays confirmed arthritis and some lower back problems… These tablets worked wonders. Even our vet agreed. His gait was much better and he is much more stable when he runs. He’s not showing any signs of pain. And he loves the tablets. They definitely work.!”
MAINTAINING A HEALTHY WEIGHT (not too fat or too thin)
Overcoming obesity (overweight) and muscle loss (underweight) can be challenging. Both of these problems are caused by an unbalanced diet that is often deficient in protein and/or wasting most of it. Sherwood foods help you easily balance their diet so they can shed excess body fat and gain back their muscle and strength. Let me explain.
What causes your pet to get fat and lose muscle?
Better protein nutrition is evidenced by softer fur and the ability to maintain a healthy weight…
Better than other brands!
Posted by Hilary Stern DVM
“As a bunny vet I am very careful about what I feed my own rabbit, and what I recommend that my clients feed their pets. This food is really different from the other brands out there, and is better. My own rabbit has a much sleeker and shinier coat on Sherwood Forest, and is healthier than ever. My rabbit-owning clients tell me the same thing. Thank you Sherwood Forest!!”
“My two bunnies adore this food! I’ve always tried to feed them the highest quality foods and healthiest ingredients but this is the best rabbit food I’ve used, ever! They absolutely love their food now and eat everything they’re given. One of my boys has had digestion issues for most of his life and as he’s gotten older he’s started having severe, reoccurring stasis problems. I switched foods after a horrible bout of stasis last winter that very nearly killed him and since then he’s had no more issues for the first time in his life. Both rabbits have gained healthy weight and muscle mass as well as having beautiful, soft coats. I cannot recommend this food enough. If you’re feeding pellets this is the one to choose.”
“I started giving these to both my bunnies in preparation for an upcoming dental, I wanted them to be in the best possible condition before the dreaded anesthesia and proedure especially riskier for my senior rescue bunny. It does exactly what it says, you will notice a spike of energy and general good health, you can just see how good there feeling. I used it before their dental and afterward, they recovered from the dental procedure by the next day and never skipped a beat or binky. They think its just a tasty treat and have no idea how good for them it is. I would definitely recommend this product.”
TIP: Appetite, digestive health, G.I. tract motility, and energy levels are all closely related to each other. If one declines, the others will decline too.
Be Prepared with an Emergency Kit.
Your pet may need assistance feeding during times of digestive stasis, poor appetite, poor health, illness or surgery. Sherwood’s SARx (pronounced SAR-ex) recovery food is a hay-based formula that is easy to syringe feed and tastes great (to your pet). It will help you to activate their digestive motility, restore their appetite, and get them feeling great again.
TIP: SARx is used in an emergency to restore the appetite. The digestive tablet helps prevent the problems that lead to a poor appetite.
“SARx Rescue literally saved my little bunny when he fell into the throws of GI Stasis. He didn’t want to eat or drink, was losing weight and had no interest in anything, including bananas. Rescue saved his life by helping to hydrate him and quickly helped him gain interest in food and water again. Rescue was easily mixed with metoclopramide from his vet and coupled with the Recovery food was just what he needed to beat GI Stasis. I keep a full packet on hand just in case he starts to not feel well. I can’t say enough good things about it!”
Dental health in small herbivores (rabbits, guinea pigs, and chinchillas) is widely miss-understood. Popular belief suggests that teeth grow at a defined rate and therefore must be worn down before they overgrow and cause dental problems. This simply isn’t true. The growth rate of each individual tooth responds to the rate of wear (some teeth grow faster than others and it also varies by diet and many other factors). Then what causes dental disease? The pamphlet below outlines some current published research and makes clear that not maintaining proper tooth alignment is a leading cause. The Solution: a balanced diet helps keep the teeth aligned so that they wear properly which prevents dental disease.
Is Alfalfa Bad for Adult Rabbits, Guinea Pigs and Chinchillas?
You may have read on-line or heard your vet and others say that adult rabbits (and other small herbivore pets) should not eat alfalfa. You may have even taught this yourself. The idea of feeding foods containing alfalfa may scare or anger you.
Why is Alfalfa Thought to be Bad?
Alfalfa is high in calcium.
The fear is that calcium may cause urinary sludge…a common problem!
Alfalfa is higher in calories.
The fear is that it may make your pet fat…a common problem!
Many Pets Suffer from Urinary Sludge and Struggle with Weight Control
What most people do to try and solve these 2 problems is to feed a low calcium diet and cut calories (less pellets). Despite these efforts many still struggle with weight control and may still suffer from urinary sludge issues.
Caretakers try to get their pet to consume more water by buying and preparing fresh lettuce, greens, and other wet foods for them to eat.
Yet these pets respond by drinking less water and still urinary sludge builds up in the bladder making it difficult to pee. Often this forces an emergency vet visit where SubQ fluids are injected with a needle to increase urine output and the bladder is squeezed to manually express the mixture of urine and sludge.
Although this procedure temporarily removes sludge from the bladder and helps your pet to pee again, sadly it is often required time and time again for the remainder of their life. Don’t let this happen to you.
The Solution
Choose Hay: Encourage MORE hay consumption by reducing the amount of fruits, veggies, treats…. and even greens that you give your pet. If you feed less of these favorite items your pet will eat more hay. This will increase the amount of water they drink and improve their urinary health. In fact, a temporary grass-hay-only fast can increase the amount of water they drink and their urine volume by over 400% and it will naturally flush their bladder.
The picture of hay and pellets below is an example of the ideal balanced diet for a 4 pound rabbit (this is the minimum amount that should be eaten within a 24 hour period – you can add a small amount of treats and greens).
For those bunnies who don’t eat enough hay this complete formula contains the right ratios of hay and nutrients so it can be fed free-choice allowing them to graze on the pellets like they do hay – way different than the typical ‘timothy’ pellet that is mostly grain/soy.
Since small pets instinctively hide that they don’t feel well, many health problems go unnoticed even by the most loving care-takers… until the problems get worse. Sherwood Pet Health helps you prevent these with Worry-Free foods and supplements. Join the thousands of pet parents who have seen their furry friends transform into vibrant, healthy and happy members of their families.
