Bunny Woes

Cappuccino - Trinity's chocolate mini-rex rabbit, suddenly displayed some alarming symptoms.

In under a week she had dropped significant weight and overnight had become quite lethargic.

Still eating and drinking, I wasn't sure what could be wrong.

How could she be losing all this weight and be eating all her food daily?

A text to my 'expert' rabbit friends and it was obvious a trip to the vet was in order.

Once the vet saw her, she determined it was most likely a very mild respiratory infection along with dehydration and not enough nourishment.

What?  How can THAT be?  She eats all. her. food. daily.

We feed 16% protein pellets and usually hay.

However, we had run out of good hay and what we did have had gotten wet and I didn't want to risk giving it to the rabbits for fear of mold growth.

Apparently, hay should be the majority of all our buns' diet.

Some rabbits just don't tolerate and gain as they should on pellets alone.  'Cappy' appears to be such a rabbit.

So.... many dollars later -- like triple the cost of said rabbit -- she is home; getting oral antibiotics twice a day via a syringe directly into the back cheeks of her little mouth;  a whole slew of hay; along with her pellets; and of course fresh water; and she is doing SO.  MUCH.  BETTER!

Since she is inside - separated from the other rabbits - to avoid spreading any infections, the other two girls wanted to bring their bunnies in for me to 'check'.

Mocha is doing well.  Her fur is growing back nicely and she is gaining weight well.

Wrinkles looks great.  He's curious, a good size, and his fur is so soft and supple.  However, upon flipping him to check his nose and teeth, one of the girls noted the fur on one of his back paws was worn off and he had a small red sore.

This happens sometimes when rabbits live in wire cages.  Boo!
We will be making small wooden 'pads' for our new rabbits to sit on in their cages.

Sore Hocks.

Geesh -- when it rains it pours, I guess.

Fortunately, the girls made first aid kits for both our rabbits and our chickens this past year for 4H fair.

They have both been quite handy.

We washed the foot with warm soapy water to remove germs; rinsed the soap off; applied antibiotic ointment; then a coat of aquaphor to protect the area.

Adding antibiotic ointment to Wrinkles poor sore hock.
(forgive the blurry pic, Trinity was in charge of the phone.)

We added extra hay into his cage for him to 'rest' on until I can cut out some boards for him to sit on in his cage.

THIS is why it's so important to 'examine' your rabbits regularly to be sure all is well.

We caught both of these instances early.  Quickly.

In so doing, we were able to treat them before either ailment became life threatening.

Having our mini-mountain-menagerie is definitely a learning experience that keeps us on our toes.