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The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.
- This topic has 12sd replies, 8 voices, and was last updated 16 years, 11 months ago by
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Hello!
This is my first time posting on this forum, and while I’d prefer my first post to be something… well, nicer I guess, I’m at a loss for what to do and figured I’d turn to real people.
I bought a very small bunny (she’s about the size of a DVD case) about two weeks ago from a terribly awful pet store (I know I shouldn’t support bad business, but she was so tiny and was going to end up snatched up by some impulse buyer who wouldn’t know what to do with her…!). Her name is Winnie, and she’s my second bunny, so I’m not completely inexperienced at rabbits, but I’m still not exactly sure of her age/exact breed/etc– the terrible pet store didn’t even know if she was a boy or a girl. I’m reasonably sure she’s a mini rex (as is my other bunny; I’m allergic to anything else), if anyone could guess her age from that and the size, but she’s colored differently than any other rex I’ve ever seen (kind of like a Dutch, but with 5 black spots down her spine), so I’m not sure if she’s a purebred.
So anyway, she’s been 100% fine until today, but I noticed that she isn’t eating her cecotropes and that they’re really pretty loose and smooshy, and I’m kind of worried. She’s eating, drinking, active, seeking attention (even binkying), and is otherwise fine, but I know stool is sort of a rabbit yard stick, so I’m a little worried, particularly since she might have been weaned too early, depending on how old she actually is. I’ve taken the pellets out of her cage for now and switched her to just timothy hay to see if that clears it up, but my vet is closed right now and while I could drive in to Boston and go to Angell, I’ve heard that they’re ungodly expensive (and I’m a, um, monetarily-constrained, shall we say, college student) and if it’s nothing I don’t want to have to drag her out in the freezing cold, particularly since other than the poop she seems fine.
Thank you so much!
Hannah
(P.S.– picture attached to show size– knowing an approximat age would be great!)
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WELCOME!
She (or he) is beautiful! I am glad you were able to get her out of a bad situation. Sounds like she has a wonderful caring human now to care for her.
Regarding what type is she and her age. Well, if your bunny has the notable velvety rex fur, then your bunny is probably a rex with English Spot or some other spotted color markings. So your bunny might have a white rex parent/grandparent, and spotted breed rex (dalmation, etc) parent/grandparent. Here are some pics of different rex breeds. http://lapinrex.free.fr/tachete1.html
As far as figuring out her age based on her size right now, it really depends on whether she is a mini rex or a standard rex. (there are even "teacup" sizes, but they aren’t as readily available) You are right that if bunnies are weaned to early it can cause problems since they don’t have all the goodies from the mother’s immune system to fight off illness.
It is also normal that when bunnies change to a healthier situation, they can still have digestive upsets due to diet change. It sounds like she is having an overgrowth of the cecals. What is her diet right now? (this is not to judge, just to help you figure this all out) Also, has anything at all changed in her diet? Could she have gotten hold of anything? If she is still a baby it is okay to feed her alfalfa based pellets, unless you see more of this mushy poo.
I know you are strapped for cash, and rabbits sure can be expensive, but if you are able, it would be a good idea to save a couple of hundred bucks for any future emergencies. Rabbits can decline so fast and within hours can become fatal, so hesitating due to finances can be scary. So start saving your pennies.
Also, many pet stores will offer a coupon for a free vet exam that needs to be used with in the 10 – 14 days.
But it really is a good idea to get a new bunny checked out by a vet anyway. Just to make sure everything is okay.
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Thank you very much! (Rexes are always show-stopper anyway– the most oft heard comment for both her and my bigger bunny is "That is a beautiful rabbit!"
Also, I am reasonably sure she’s a mini rex– she does have the velvety, curly-behind-ears fur, and she has more or less the same body type as my other bunny, who is a mini rex (albeit a biggish mini rex…) and I’m thinking she’ll probably be the same.
As far as her diet goes, she probably wasn’t getting a lot of nutrition at the pet store I got her from, since all the other bunnies she was with were full grown, and she probably didn’t get much a turn at the food bowl. Here, her diet was (up until last night): timothy hay, Kaytee Timothy Complete Rabbit pellets, and the occaisional healthy treat. Since I took away the pellets last night she seems to be fine, but I’m going to keep watching her throughout the day.
To answer your next question, It’s not very likely that she got a hold of something. She lives in my dorm room, so for her own safety she’s not a free-roaming rabbit, and when I let her out for her daily/two times daily/etc run, I supervise so she doesn’t decide to get under my desk and chew my copious wires. However, other environmental factors could be an issue; it has gotten very cold the past week or so, and snowed for the first time, so the weather’s changing. Also, in order to prevent her from waking me up at 5 or 6am, the past two days I’ve been closing the blinds at night so "morning" is a little later. Perhaps she’s a little stressed by these environmental changes?
And to assuage any fears you might have about Winnie receiving adequate medical care, don’t worry– I was mostly joking about the financial situation. I do technically have the money for even an emergency vet visit on me, and my mom (also a bunny person– she stole my first bunny!) would certainly reimburse me. I just didn’t want to spend money needlessly; she wasn’t looking sick other than the poo so I figured I could at least wait until daylight and I could go to a normal vet. She does seem much better as of this morning (no more squishy poo, seems to be licking around down there, still happy and bouncy and wanting attention), and so as long as that keeps up I’m going home for winter break in a week or so and was planning on bringing her to the vet for a physical then anyway. If she had seemed in pain/not eating/bloated/etc. she would have had an immediate vet trip, whatever the cost.
As long as she’s fine, though, I’d prefer to bring her to my real vet, as he’s an excellent bunny-doctor.Thank you so much! (and pardon the long-windedness, but I figured the more info the better.)
~Hannah
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Welcome HJ Soulma!
How nice of you to save such a teeny sweet bunny
I think the poops might be due to the change in diet from probably unlhealthy at the pet store, to much more healthy now that you have her, she may also be suffering from coccidia as Sarita mentioned – I’ve heard thats really common for pet store bunnies, so you’ll probably want to get her treated for that because bunny’s GI tracts are so sensitive that it is probably the most important part of a bunny to make sure to take good care of. You sounds like a great bunny mom – your new lil’ bunny is lucky to have you! I hope she is feeling better soon!
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[s]he’s so beautiful! welcome here…
some pics of my mini rex, Meadow… about 9 months old now…
the last two are the classic, "put the darn camera down and GROOM ME!!!" poses…
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Lactobacilus acidophilus and bifidus.
While it isn’t the "native" natural flora present in a bunny, for some reason it seems to help. I know it does with my two. While I can sing its praises there are others it has not worked for and do not believe that it is effective at all. So really, you might want to consult with your vet, but I haven’t seen where it has hurt them either (neither has my vet) and the chewable ones in flavors like banana, strawberry and blueberry make a tasty treat given sparingly (once every two weeks).I liken it to the papaya tablets. While they do not prevent hairballs, I believe as others do that it breaks up the mucous that binds the fur together that causes a hairball which can lead to impaction and GI stasis. And really, if it doesn’t it sure seems to help pass along the fur in their tract when I see the strings of pearls with the bunny poo. Like the acidophilus it makes a yummy treat too, 1-2 tablets a day.
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