# Does dining on obese rabbits cause rabbit starvation?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-dining-on-obese-rabbits-cause-rabbit-starvation/349143>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 20, 2006, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-dining-on-obese-rabbits-cause-rabbit-starvation/349143 "2006-03-20T15:46:25Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![The\_Controvert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@The\_Controvert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Controvert)\
**Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-dining-on-obese-rabbits-cause-rabbit-starvation/349143/1 "2006-03-20T15:46:25Z")

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This question struck me shortly after waking up.

Rabbit meat is supposed to be so lean as to cause [rabbit starvation.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit_starvation) The other day, I saw a really fat bunny at the pet store. Does an obese rabbit have lean meat, just more of it?

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**Author:** ![sweeteviljesus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@sweeteviljesus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweeteviljesus)\
**Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-dining-on-obese-rabbits-cause-rabbit-starvation/349143/2 "2006-03-20T16:06:48Z")

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> [@The Controvert](#):
>
> This question struck me shortly after waking up.
> 
> Rabbit meat is supposed to be so lean as to cause [rabbit starvation.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit_starvation) The other day, I saw a really fat bunny at the pet store. Does an obese rabbit have lean meat, just more of it?

You should definitely buy it and slaughter it to further the cause of Science. 🙂

Rob

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**Author:** ![rpinrd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b3f665/32.png) [@rpinrd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rpinrd)\
**Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-dining-on-obese-rabbits-cause-rabbit-starvation/349143/3 "2006-03-20T17:30:10Z")

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No idea as to the answer to your question, but on [Survivorman](http://science.discovery.com/convergence/survivorman/survivorman.html) the other night, he mentioned rabbit starvation and said that it does not happen if you eat ALL (intestines, eyeballs, etc) of the rabbit.

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**Author:** ![easy\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb8c5e/32.png) [@easy\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/easy_e)\
**Post date:** [March 21, 2006, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-dining-on-obese-rabbits-cause-rabbit-starvation/349143/4 "2006-03-21T01:51:21Z")

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[Here’s](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=353888) a thread we had on the topic a couple months ago.

But, to answer your question, if the rabbit had a lot of fat on it, I wouldn’t imagine you would have “rabbit starvation.”

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**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\
**Post date:** [March 21, 2006, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-dining-on-obese-rabbits-cause-rabbit-starvation/349143/5 "2006-03-21T23:54:26Z")

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Here is a good [paper](http://www.nutrition.org/cgi/content/full/131/9/2556S) on the subject of high protein intake risks.

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**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\
**Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-dining-on-obese-rabbits-cause-rabbit-starvation/349143/6 "2006-03-22T23:54:35Z")

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On a sign:  
“Easter bunnies, live or dressed”

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**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\
**Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-dining-on-obese-rabbits-cause-rabbit-starvation/349143/7 "2006-03-23T22:19:38Z")

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As stated in the other thread, the problem in rabbit starvation is that humans can’t get enough calories from only protein. If the rabbits are fat, then there’s no problem.

And I guess that the rabbit you saw was actually fat, and not some kind of bodybuilder rabbit. 🙂