do you think this would be ok:

http://www.petplanet.co.uk/product.asp?dept_id=440&pf_id=3258

could be the answer to the itching and potential buggy itchingy things!

Dougal is only 7 weeks so can’t be fixed yet! He is down at the vets today as his ear got a lot worse and he got slightly watery eyes. The vet needs to take some cultures. Hopefully he will be ok It saved me catching the tube in at primetime today anyway after my parents rang me telling me to walk all the way to work today!

The rabbits used to live in the backgarden of our house in the countryside. My parents haven’t had rabbits for about 4 years now, only Dougal who lives in my flat in London as a house bunny. The bunnies loved the garden, were bigger than cats, and lived long, healthy and fun lives outside. We never felt the need to bring them in at all – and when we went out we would call to them and they would come and sit and play with us. They had a little home to live in when they wanted… It was just preference for us. Our house didn’t have loads of predators nearby. However, our last two died on the same night with one getting eaten and one dying from shock. This had quite an effect on us and we didn’t get anymore after that… I know some would be against us having done this. But our rabbits all had long healthy lives, that were much more fun for them outside when they were bigger than cats, than in little hutches (that fifteen years ago, were all that was available)… I don’t think any of us would have changed the way we kept them!

I can certainly see where you are coming from, but my childhood memories of our flower named babies were all good! We only every vaccinated one rabbit as well, and none were spayed… The one we vaccinated died from it and my mum wouldn’t do it again. None of them caught anything at all. Despite Dougal being a house rabbit, I expect he’ll get some vaccinations though. But I do worry…

Gosh. I’m getting so many grey hairs from all of this, and I’ve only had Dougal for two weeks!

Today he was a little pet though and did exactly as he was told and sat quietly on the vet table. I was very proud of him!

Feel free to rant back at me about how we kept our pets – it’s actually very interesting how people do things differently! Our pet policy has always been, they may have shorter lives, but they’ll be very fun! (Of course, our dog is now 14 and doesn’t have any ailments at all! She’s crazy!)

I bought my own flat which is why I have to have an inside bunny! i have no outside! he just had a few minutes out front on his lead though. but doesn’t like it at all. he hates being touched really our other bunnies were a lot nicer! but that’s what you get with a wild coloured bunny! they’ve all been little monsters! it does make for amusing companionship and a challenge though!

our guinea pigs live in an outside run – they have the door open during the day and get to run around our orchard… they get shut in at night and have little hidey holes everywhere though. no evil deaths to guinea pigs in this way!

sooooo – two weeks in and i’ve spent £200 (that is about $400) at the vets. i don’t have pet insurance. i hadn’t bought it yet! i live in a zone 1 area which equals rich vets for sure. and he’s done all the cultures and said “i know you’ve paid for the fungal tests” but i think it’s bacterial. i was a bit like “glad i could give you the extra £60. my mum has never had to spend more than 75 pound on our other bunnies, so from now on i’ll drive him home! however, he does have a check up next week…

his other ear is starting to look iffy to me, and the vet noticed crustiness on the inside. the outside stuff popped and pus came out. this happened at vets. he thinks it may be a wound. i’m not sure. he also itches his ears a lot. but the vet did a test for mites and he doesn’t have them, even though the signs are there. i will mention it all on thursday…

now his ear is just a big blobby bloody mess. it worries me. he also keeps sneezing still, and is on eye drops as his ear thing may have moved to eye. he’s on antibiotics too. the poor thing HATES me now because i keep shoving stuff at him morning and night! and it doesn’t seem to be dong much either… i have to wash my hands a lot too because if it is fungal then i can catch it!

so he has a lot wrong with him right now and it’s all a bit worrisome, but then it could just be a wound and an allergy. i just don’t think my vet has a lot of experience with them… i can’t keep affording this anyway. it’s a joke those sort of costs…

tabby – your vet should have tested for mites first, that way he’d know whether he needs a shot or not. i would get him mite tested, it sounds like it is. and then you can treat it accordingly… mites are pretty common and i’m surprised your vet didn’t. and as rabbit savy as vets seem, they often aren’t with rabbits. cats and dogs yes, rabbits, they are still learning as they go along! it could also be inner ear things that make him scratch his ears. crustiness usually does suggest mites (but then look at mine), and if it isn’t then it could be waxy build up or such stuff. mine is continuously itching and scratching at the moment which i’ll be telling my vet about on thursday. but it’s unlikely to be head tilt so don’t panic! it could just be that your bun is a baldy bun naturally! if you’re worried, get another appointment sooner rather than later!

ps. just to add. inside of my rabbits ears are now cut and bleeding. ARGH! sounds like ear mites to me. why did my vet not get this! just making me panic this!

thanks for the links and good thoughts. i had a bit of a tearful time with him the other day because he bit me as he’s not enjoying the oral antibiotics at all. it appears the inside of his ears are just where he is scratching! it’s very strange. i’ve decided to ignore the vet a bit and have been putting on tea tree cream and it seems to be soothing it a bit. i think he may just be over zealous. and it might have been an abcess but he suggested it was a bacterial infection, which i’m starting to believe. i think he scratched to hard and caused a lump to grow or something. now the lumps are just big scabs. the big scabs are at the top of the left ear on the outside. he has eyedrop for left eye because he’s been moving the infection across with cleaning. he still seems very happy though and not bothered too much!

my daily routine (i’ve only had him two and half weeks mind!) is to open is cube palace when i wake up in the morning. he then gets to hop around for an hour in the morning before i “urge” him back in to go to work. i get home at 6ish and then he is out til 1am. he is less than friendly right now because when he hops on me at all that is when i go for it and grab him to antibiotic him up! still. he does seem to still hop on my ocassionally despite this and yesterday he ate his first bit of broccoli!

with the lead, he has no problem with this and loves it actually. he especially loved it in the front garden of my parents. now at mine i’ve been letting him out on the concrete balcony (all bricked in – it’s a london georgian front balcony with the front doors leading out onto it) and he just ducks and hides. i’m not sure if it’s the concrete or what! i’m going to do it a few more times just to get him more used to it then carry him downstairs to the courtyard and put him on some mud. maybe he will prefer that!

unfortunately i think dougal bun is just a bit independent and hateful of humans! some of our rabbits have been like that, and if truth be told, i knew it when i bought him as a white bunny with blue eyes was lovely and then he looked at me scornfully and i just thought “ah! attitude! i’ll take him!”

i quite like the challenge

hi – as noted in my first few threads here, he has gone to the vet, and has his check up tomorrow. he doesn’t have discharge, and he doesnt have mites as he was checked for it! tomorrow he will be looking at his ear again, and also give him some mite jabs.

mini lops and dwarf lops are two different breeds of rabbits with different face shapes and different weights. mini lops are usually half the size of a dwarf lop. my dwarf lop has a flatter face than pure breed dwarf and this is why i believe he has a mini lop parent as well.

dwarf lops are USUALLY over 4lbs, not over. minis are almost always under. they are definitely two different breeds, and it’s like mistaking a french for a german lop!

i also have a single rabbit on his own, and my neigbourhood doesn’t seem to have a massive exodus of house rabbits for him to mingle with

i actually think today he is doing much better! inside his ears have got better with tea tree cream, and on the outside only the big scab is still the problem.

the vet should ok him i hope, if not, he has a specialist he will bring in.

i used to use rescue remedy on me i think!

well, i have been given surolan cream for dougal at the vets this morning. he looks like he’s doing much better, and also seems to be sneezing less. i don’t think it was ever an abcess. i think he scratched too hard and it was a wound. anyway, the ear is now just a pink colour and most of the scabbing is going! i told the vet, that from what i could see he was scratching his ears more than necessary etc and that i think it was something in the ears. he checked inside and said they were a bit red, so i’m continuing with antibiotics and will swap to the surolan cream (though it’s for dogs, it should be ok, after all he’s a vet and hopefully knows what he’s up to!). he also doesn’t need eyedrops now.

so i’m happy

i will keep letting you know what happens and how well certain stuff works on him in case any of you have similar wound issues!

will try and get a picture of his ear as well to show how it is improving

he’s off on holiday tomorrow to my mummy’s where he’s going to get to live in a mean horribe outside hutch for a couple of days (when he’s not hopping about inside of course) – which will be good in this weather and he can get started on more grass! i myself am off to bristol, then wales, to celebrate my grandpa’s 90th! yay! go grandpa!

mr. dougal got the all clear from the vet today

he still is getting the ear cream, i keep finding he is itching and still cutting it a bit. i’m not sure he secretly isn’t doing it on purpose, cos though he doesn’t like being held, once i’m massaging inside those little ears, his eyes shut with such a look of contentment! but he is so happy to have stopped having antibiotics now!

well i wouldn’t say he considers me a “friend.”

it’s very strange. i mean, it’s just the two of us, but he seems to be very happy in his own company. he’ll ocassionally hop up to me, and he does give me nose nudges on my foot if i’m on the ground, but apart from this he will run if i’m even in the vicinity! maybe he doesn’t like the ear creams as much as i thought, but i’m getting rid of it all or it might come back badly again… better safe than sorry.

i don’t really mind him not liking me, and i’ll take him to a rescue home once he’s been snipped so he can choose himself a lady friend that is, unless he prefers his own company!

it might just take some time though, fingers crossed!