tips for keeping a bunny quiet?

[BunnyKiddo]

So I had my little guy in to be neutered on Wednesday  and he was really perky and eating right afterwards. No problems for a couple of days, but this morning (it’s Friday now) I checked and he’d completely pulled out his stitches. I took him in and they put some glue and staples in, and gave him an e-collar so he wouldn’t pull them out.

Now, I know that e-collars are not ideal for rabbits, but this is needed: I can’t take the thing off him for thirty seconds without him tearing at his incision. He’s on pain meds and antibiotics, but he’s just so upset, and I’d love a way to calm him down and keep him quiet for a few days. Or at least not jumping around too much. They didn’t tell me when to have his staples out, but I assume after a few days the danger of him nibbling goes way down and I can bring him back in.

Any ideas to keep him quiet? I know it sucks for him, but he’d be so much happier if he would just hang out for a little while and let the spot heal up.

[Valkyrie]

I think I can be of some help here because I recently went through something similar. Here is a quick timeline of what happened:
July 18: He was neutered and given pain meds (Metacam), $125. He was groggy for a couple hours, but he was golden other than that. No loss in appetite and he wanted to play. I took all his toys out of his cage before the surgery so that he wouldn’t overdo it. Vet also said not to let him run free for 3 or 4 days to be safe.
July 20: He ripped his stitches out. There was no vets in my bunny vet office. Called 4 other vets and the last one finally agreed to see him. Cost me $145 to have them glue it and get antibiotics. I moved him to a tiny cage to stop his activity.
July 23: Took him to his bunny vet because I noticed at 11 pm the night before that the glue did not hold. The vet stapled him. No charge, but I did miss a full day of work. As soon as I got home he started trying to rip the staples out non-stop! None of the 3 vets I saw thought that bunnies should be coned because of the dangers of them becoming depressed, stressed, and stop eating. My sister and I spent 4 hours trying out a bunch of different ways to keep him away from the incision, but he escaped every one of them. This included making him a bunny shirt, diaper, thong (yes, we went there), wrapping him in bandage, and spraying him when he touched it. He always got out of it and he started growling at me whenever I put my hands in his cage. I gave up. Finally I thought that maybe if I distract him, he will leave it alone. I put him back in his big cage and put all of his toys in. Also filled his litterbox with shredded paper (vet didn’t want me using Carefresh until he healed because it could stick to the incision) and let him dig away.
July 25: What do you know, the non-bunny vet didn’t give me a full 7 days of antibiotics! Called my bunny vet for more, but they said not to worry about it since he had been on it for 5 days and there was no signs of infection. He also put a credit on my account because of all the trouble I had.
August 2: Staples removed (10 days after they were put in) and the incision has healed beautifully.

I honestly think that the main reason that he was picking at his incision after the first 2 days was boredom. Once I put his toys back in and let him have free run time again, he stopped. I also think my stress was rubbing off on him because a couple times I would give him crap for going after his incision and then see that nope, he was just reaching down to eat some poop. My bad!

It is VERY hard for bunnies to pull out staples (Brom didn’t even manage to get one out and he wasn’t coned at all) so if you are supervising, I would let him have a little run around. Limit him to one room if possible, but try to interact with him to keep him more interested in playing then his incision. The 4 hours of dress up sure kept Brom occupied! And starting the next day I would bring him out of his cage and put him on the couch with me. He would race along the back of it, play tag with me, chase the cat along the windowsill (the couch is against it), and try to climb my dog like Mt. Everest. He would tucker out pretty quick and curl up on the cushion for a nap. You may even be able to take his e-collar off for a bit and distact him with veggies and your favorite game.

[Beka27]

Any update on how your rabbit is doing? It’s been a few days…

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Would love an update

I would try toys if your able-of the shredding variety, maybe phone books or toilet paper rolls that can be tossed. Also maybe more attention if your able. I agree it might be boredom, a rabbit that’s used to running around is going to be unhappy locked up but it’s a short thing while they heal. Please let us know how he’s doing!

[BunnyKiddo]

Update: he’s still in the e-collar, since he continues to nip at himself (he did pull one staple out), but he’s definitely getting better about it, and hopefully I can leave it off soon. A lot of the misery was definitely boredom, so thanks to Valkyrie for suggesting I try to distract him. With enough toys and things to nibble on, and some supervised playtime in the kitchen, he’s a lot happier now. Also, I think he was a little “off” from the pain meds, if that makes sense. So, things are definitely looking up for him! I bet he just wants the stupid collar off so he can groom himself, at this point…

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