What is best for both buns? – Really Upset

[Emmie]

So as most of you know I adopted Siha about three weeks ago now. She’s a sweet girl and was neutered about a week ago.

On Sunday she split her stitches and has been recovering slowly after a visit to the emergency vet.

Here are a list of problems I’m struggling to deal with:

She’s recovering well eating and drinking okay, but I’ve noticed she is incredibly nervous now. Before her spay she was very sweet and adventurous but now she flinches when I go near her or when she hears any noises. 

She will not touch her pellets. She absolutely refuses to eat pellets. She nibbles hay and a few veggies here and there, but will not touch her hay.

Her litter habits are difficult to manage. She will not use the litter tray. She’d rather pee anywhere on the floor instead. And pooping? She goes wherever she wants. There’s no one spot where she will go. I guess this could be marking and should stop soon, but I’m concerned what will happen when I re-bond her with Thane.

Her poops are so so odd compared to Thane. They’re teeeeeny tiny. They’ve been this way since I’ve had her but I have no idea if it’s normal. Vet didn’t comment on it, so I’m not sure.

Bonding. I have to rebond them and I’m worried they won’t ever get along. Thane is losing his litter habits too now, and I am just frustrated. 

I’ve been obsessing with the rabbits and not really spending any time with my husband. He’s frustrated, I’m frustrated and I don’t know what to do anymore.

Any advice for me?

[Beka27]

She needs to be allowed to continue healing. She won’t be ready to be bonded to Thane for at least 3 more weeks. Her “healing clock” restarted when she had to have her incision fixed on Sunday. Don’t do anything with bonding during this time. Give her a rest.

Are they caged in the same space? The poor litter habits are normal, especially if they can see/smell each other. This HOPEFULLY will resolve itself after bonding, but they may never be perfect. The goal of course is 100% pee in box, 90-95% poop in box… but it’s hard to say right now what will happen long-term.

Bonding is a marathon with starts and stops, it’s not a sprint. While she’s healing fully, you can take a “break” from obsessing so you’re fresh for when you do start the process.

As far as her poops being tiny, is she a smaller bun? If her poops have always been small, I would guess that is normal for her. My mini rex is 4 pounds, my lop is about 5.5 pounds, and his are a good bit bigger, almost double the size.

[Deleted User]

While I’m absolutely no expert on rabbits I’ve certainly been through many surgical procedures, people’s and animal’s, my own and others. The first thing that occurs to me is it hasn’t been long (particularly since she split her stitches) she may still be feeling very sore, and getting in and out of the litter box might not be her favourite motion at the moment.

According to the link one of the forum leaders posted in answer to another question yesterday (about gut mobility) eating pellits really isn’t vital as long as hay and fresh vegetables are being eaten. She is probably eating what her body is telling her she needs. Healing takes time, and with her return trip and added work I’d think she’ll need a little extra.

I know how hard it is to watch someone you love having health problems, even worse when the someone can’t tell you what is happening, … try to hang in there, and I’m sure you’ll get more and better advice from those with experience in the coming hours.

[Emmie]

Thanks guys, some solid advice there. Siha is in the kitchen and Thane can see and smell her, does explain why he’s peeing near her.

Siha is twice Thane’s size. Her poops are peppercorn sized, sometimes smaller.

Would it be best to put them in seperate rooms for now while she’s healing? 

[Beka27]

Hmmm. That’s really strange about the poops then. I don’t know why they’d be that much smaller because poop size usually correlates to rabbit size. Maybe someone else can shed some light on that?

It’s up to you if you want to put them in different rooms. If they are both calm, you don’t really have to. The litter habits might not resolve until later regardless of where they are. But if you want to try, you can.

[RabbitPam]

I agree with Grey Dove that she is still just recovering from the injury, which really stems from Sunday and not before. It’s hard for a little bunny to do things and learn things when they don’t feel well. She needs another week to recover fully. Then she will be more secure with her home, you, her litter habits, etc.

I’ve been sick for the past week and only now am getting back to doing things I usually do automatically. You just don’t behave the same way, and it’s true for them as well. She will stop being so skittish around you when she interacts more and it doesn’t result in a trip to the nasty vet – home of the ouchies.
{{{{{{{{{{{{Healing vibes}}}}}}}}

[Emmie]

Thanks guys, I tend to panic when things go wrong with the buns.

Hopefully things will get better as time goes on.

[DallasDelight]

Does she not eat very much hay in general?? I’ve always noticed that if my buns eat more pellets and not hay, their poops are FAR smaller, and darker. More concentrated, it looks.. so, that could be part of the reason why her poop is so small!

I certainly hope things start going smoother for all of you! <3

Andrea

[Emmie]

She’s odd. She does not eat pellets at all! She flat out refuses them. She does nibble some hay and I will give her a small piece of carrot and a piece of apple but that’s about it. Thane is a dwarf bun and his poops are easily 3-4 times the size of hers!

[Stickerbunny]

With all the stress she’s been in, I can’t blame her for being skittish. And yeah loss of litter habits is going to happen with two unbonded buns that can see /smell each other, especially since she isn’t done with her hormones yet after the spay (takes about a month). Expect poop wars when you start bonding them as well. It’s normal.

As for the smaller droppings, hrm. Not sure. I know when my Stickers was spayed her droppings were tiny from not eating, but when she got back to normal they did too. Maybe her lack of pellet and small hay habits cause it? The droppings are mostly fiber and there is a fair amount of noticeable hay waste in my buns droppings, so might be the cause of the smallness.

[Emmie]

I think they have always been small. I’m hoping as she settles down she’ll increase her intake of food

[jerseygirl]

I agree with DallasDelight. The poo could be a low fibre intake. Does she go through much hay? You may see her “eating” it when she could be just nibbling and letting most if it drop. Jersey was like this for the longest time. It wasn’t until some molar spurs were trimmed off that her hay consumption improved.
Before that, I was giving her largish hay pellets to keep her gut moving and get her poos looking healthier.
I’d try some different hays also, if her intake isn’t great. Oat hay is a good one to try.

I wonder if her old owners fed a pellet/grain mix? Where she may have picked out her favourite parts but left the pellets. Or perhaps alfalfa as opposed to a Timothy pellet?

[Emmie]

Exactly, she was fed a musli mix where she picked out the bad bits. I’ve gotten timothy hay with dandelion in it and her previous owners fed her some dried grass stuff that she likes. There’s not much of a pellet selection here unfortunately. I’m beeding them both: http://www.burgesspetcare.co.uk/products/rabbit/burgess-excel—junior-and-dwarf-rabbit.html. I also have the adult version for her, which I am yet to try with her.

If I’m to order something online, I wouldn’t really know what to look for. I would obviously like both the buns on the same pellets.

[jerseygirl]

I’ve read Burgess is a popular choice for those in the UK. The other I’ve heard is good is Supreme Science Selective.

[Stickerbunny]

Are there other hay options available? My two won’t eat much timothy hay at all, they don’t like it. Oat hay, brome hay or orchard grass hay they’ll take, but timothy they just nibble a bite or two.

[Emmie]

There isn’t really. The other hay options aren’t really that good quality and I do like my buns to have the best

I’ll keep an eye on some Irish pet store websites for different pellet options

[Author]

Messages