Trying to stay calm...
- Thread starter northernbelle33
- Start date
Northernbelle, I hope your bunny is feeling better.
I've had bunnies since I was little, and I have had a bunny with a hocksore. It went away with treatment, and never came back. It developed really suddenly--Autumn (that was her name) was out a lot, so I would have noticed if it were there a long time. Vets sometimes see this problem on rabbits that are neglected (usually due to dirty cage bottoms--their skin is so sensitive) but they can develop it for no apparent reason, or from stress. (Bunnies are so sensitive to stress, as you know.)
We got ointment for it, and put clean towels on her cage bottom (ours was plastic too) and we changed the towels a few times a day. (She loved that!) In fact, she loved the towels so much, we always gave them to her after that. Anyway, her foot healed within about a week, and it was fine after that.
This same bunny could not eat pellets either--apparently many rabbits are allergic/sensitive to alfalfa! You can sometimes find pellets made of Timothy hay or other grains. I gave Autumn a lot of Timothy hay. She had a bladder condition, and pellets made it worse. I've been told it's a good idea not to give adult rabbits pellets unless they are not made of alfalfa. More of them cannot eat them than we realize.
I really, really hope your bunny is okay!!! Please, please do not hesitate to pm me if you want to "talk" to someone who understands. Take care of yourself!
I've had bunnies since I was little, and I have had a bunny with a hocksore. It went away with treatment, and never came back. It developed really suddenly--Autumn (that was her name) was out a lot, so I would have noticed if it were there a long time. Vets sometimes see this problem on rabbits that are neglected (usually due to dirty cage bottoms--their skin is so sensitive) but they can develop it for no apparent reason, or from stress. (Bunnies are so sensitive to stress, as you know.)
We got ointment for it, and put clean towels on her cage bottom (ours was plastic too) and we changed the towels a few times a day. (She loved that!) In fact, she loved the towels so much, we always gave them to her after that. Anyway, her foot healed within about a week, and it was fine after that.
This same bunny could not eat pellets either--apparently many rabbits are allergic/sensitive to alfalfa! You can sometimes find pellets made of Timothy hay or other grains. I gave Autumn a lot of Timothy hay. She had a bladder condition, and pellets made it worse. I've been told it's a good idea not to give adult rabbits pellets unless they are not made of alfalfa. More of them cannot eat them than we realize.
I really, really hope your bunny is okay!!! Please, please do not hesitate to pm me if you want to "talk" to someone who understands. Take care of yourself!
One of our bunnies had crystals in their urine and that can create traces of blood. We cut back on the pellets and it all cleared up. We set up their cages where one side was a blanket or linen and the other side was cedar/pine shavings. They would sleep on their blankets and when they were in their cages they would do their business in the shavings. Everyday sometimes twice if necessary we would change the bedding if it was too wet. Keeping the bedding dry really eliminates extra problems. Please keep us posted, I'm sure your little will be just great as soon as it's home.
Lynne
Lynne
sorry to hear about her temp. don't worry too much though. a rabbits normal temp is 103. and it sounds like her condition (foot problem, weight and arthritis) is very treatable/manageable. she'll be home soon. send photos when she's home!
My baby is home! Her fever went away, so they vet said it was okay for her to come home today.
We have to put a special cream on her sore twice a day. The vet said that she may have gotten it from sliding her foor along the plastic bottom to get up and stuff. She told us to get some carpet squares for the bottom of her cage so she can't slide around. Only problem with that is that Dinah likes to chew on carpet, so I'll have to talk to the vet about that (I was in school when my mom had to pick her up, so I couldn't be there to ask questions).
We also have to sprinkle glucosamine & condroiton (probably spelled that wrong) on her pellets to deal with the arthritis.
Dinah will probably enjoy the last bit of the doctor's instructions
. We have to fatten her up with fruits, pellets, and alfalfa(or alfalfa-based pellets). I gave her a few nice chunks of banana today. That made her happy and sticky .
My dad had to cut two of the sides of her litterbox shorter, because she was having trouble hopping in and out with the bad foot. It's like the bunny version of a handicapped bathroom .
She seems happy to be home and is in pretty good spirits. Her ears are perked up, and she hobbles around her cage pretty well. She's also enjoying all the extra "lovin's" and attention .
I'm just so happy to have her back.
Thanks for your concern, guys
We have to put a special cream on her sore twice a day. The vet said that she may have gotten it from sliding her foor along the plastic bottom to get up and stuff. She told us to get some carpet squares for the bottom of her cage so she can't slide around. Only problem with that is that Dinah likes to chew on carpet, so I'll have to talk to the vet about that (I was in school when my mom had to pick her up, so I couldn't be there to ask questions).
We also have to sprinkle glucosamine & condroiton (probably spelled that wrong) on her pellets to deal with the arthritis.
Dinah will probably enjoy the last bit of the doctor's instructions
. We have to fatten her up with fruits, pellets, and alfalfa(or alfalfa-based pellets). I gave her a few nice chunks of banana today. That made her happy and sticky .My dad had to cut two of the sides of her litterbox shorter, because she was having trouble hopping in and out with the bad foot. It's like the bunny version of a handicapped bathroom
.She seems happy to be home and is in pretty good spirits. Her ears are perked up, and she hobbles around her cage pretty well. She's also enjoying all the extra "lovin's" and attention
.I'm just so happy to have her back.
Thanks for your concern, guys
Hooray! Just being back home I'm sure makes her feel 100% better. I'll ask the keeper in our nursery at the zoo what they recommend for substrate.
snowwhite said:
Thanks
.It seems that Dinah had the sore for a while, but managed to hide it really well. She never showed that it was bothering her, and I think her fur made it hard to see that something was wrong (Flemmies are so furry, it's hard to see if anything is going on under there). Plus, Dinah hates to have her feet touched, so I could never really inspect them like I inspected the rest of her body. I just had to sneak glimpses of her feet.
I hope Dinah heals as well as your bunny did. She's a tough little bunny, and I think she wants to get better as fast as possible.
Dinah has been on timothy-based pellets since she was 7 months old. The vet wants her to have alfalfa pellets or alfalfa until she gains the weight she needs. Alfalfa and alfalfa-based pellets are bad for rabbits unless they are a)6 months old or younger, b)a gestating/lactating mother, or c) underweight due to illness, age, etc. Alfalfa has a lot of calcium and protein, I think, which makes bunnies fat and causes bladder/kidney/pee issues.
Just an odd little bit of info...Dinah's mother's name was Autumn, like your bunny:shame:
Bunnytimesfour said:
Yeah, for the most part, the less pellets, the better, because bunnies are supposed to mostly eat hay and veggies. Apparently, this doesn't apply to Flemmies as much (as we learned with Dinah. The vet doesn't see very many Flemish Giants, so she kind of overestimated things a bit back when Dinah had to lose weight.)
Dinah's bedding stays pretty dry. We change it once a day, and we use Carefresh, which is considered by many to be the best bedding. (I looooove Carefresh
).Just so you (and anyone else with small critters) know, pine and cedar shavings should never be used. They emit toxic gases called phenols, which damage the animal's liver over time
. Pine and cedar may also cause respiratory problems. The best and safest bedding/litter is Carefresh (I'm not a Carefresh spokesgirl, I promise! ), which is made from wood pulp. The animal can safely ingest small quantities of it, it's biodegradable, it's soft, and it can be flushed in small clumps. The second best choice is "Yesterday's News," a pelleted form of litter made from recycled newspapers. It is generally considered to be safe, but there have been rumors of people finding staples in it (how true those stories are, I have no idea).Sorry I went all bunny-nerd on you:shame: . I tend to spread the word about phenols wherever I go:shame:
Thanks for your concern, I really appreciate it
So glad she is home and is on the mend. I would suggest using a towel in the cage instead of carpet. We used that for all our bunnies. It gives them the bit of traction they need when they are getting up from a lying position and it goes right in the washing machine and dryer to be cleaned daily. If you don't have old towels around you can always pick up a few at a Walmart. If she urinates on carpet you can never get it cleaned properly, the towels are the best, we used them for 12 years with ours.
Lynne
Lynne
Bunnytimesfour said:
Yeah, I'm gonna have to figure something out. Fortunately, she is litterbox-trained, so I don't think I'll have to worry too much about cleaning. I think chewing will be the only issue.
Phew I just read this thread and couldn't wait to get to the end to see how she was doing.. So glad to hear the happy update. Don't you wish they could talk so they could tell you what is wrong. Good thing we keep an eye on our pets to know what 'normal' is so that we can pick up quickly and react when we see them acting otherwise (just like you did).
Goldensx5 said:
Aww, I can't believe you read through the thread to see how it ended
.Yeah, it would be great if they could talk. I'm glad that she finally showed signs that there was a problem. Now I can make her "all better."