what do you feed your elderly rabbits?

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We have 2 small rabbits who we got as adult rescues in 2006 - not sure of their exact age but at least 11 years old now, the male possibly a little bit older (the rescue had him down around 2 years old back in 2006).

I know that they are unlikely to live an awful lot longer, but they are suddenly both not thriving the way they were until a few months ago - vet says there is nothing wrong specifically, they are just very old, and suggested switching them to junior rabbit food as they have got a bit scrawny over the last few months and weren't bothering much with eating their dry food (though still eagerly eating fruit and vegetables).

They like the junior food a bit better but haven't put the weight back on really.

What do you feed elderly rabbits to keep them in the best condition as long as possible?

Mine are nearly 10. I feed them a bowl of excel rabbit food. Plus they have a plate of veggies daily - kale, carrot, spring greens. Plus hay and whatever grass they eat (they are free range)

Is the logic behind a junior food that it's higher in calories? Or just tastier for them?
Mine always went mad for the science selective food, you could maybe try a different brand of dry food?

Or mix some nice treats in their dry food like dried dandelion and plantain leaves.

This is naughty but mine also get a couple of bran flakes when they go in at night. Bran flakes are like crack cocaine to rabbits.

Thanks squiz the female died yesterday, I think maybe they are just too old!

The logic behind the junior food was higher calories as they have lost condition, but it must also be tastier as they were more eager to eat it.

They do get dry dandelion scattered throughout their hay, but have stopped really bothering with the hay or the dandelion in the last few weeks, only fresh apples, carrots, cucumber etc were getting them eating eagerly.

They didn't really show their age at all until a couple of months ago - the female who died yesterday was still staging great escapes from the run in the garden this summer! She was an enthusiastic digger...

I'll take the old boy to the vet on Tuesday and see if he'd be better off being put down

Very but a good age for your rabbits.
It is a difficult decision regarding your remaining rabbit but its his quality of life that is the number one priority.
He'll miss his long-term cagemate to be sure.

Though if they're both the same age and age-related decline your male rabbit might just slip quietly away like his female.

Thanks 70 The male is actually older than the female, or at least so we were told... The male had been in the rescue centre 7 months and was an adult when they got him, they said he was about 2 years old then (2006) then a few months later the female was being got rid of by a colleague who had her as a house rabbit with an incompatible cat and was supposedly about a year old, so we took her in and luckily they bonded really well...

He's actually looking a bit better today, and eating pretty well (DD has been hand feeding him) but he's sleeping a lot. Guess he's like an old man in his 90s snoozing in his chair, not very rabbity behaviour but I suppose not many live this long.

Not junior, get a mature food.junior could cause excess ceacothrophs, but you could give them a few oats sprinkled through. 11 is a great age, you are obviously doing something right :)