Thanks, I’ll take them both then!  Hmm….I think we have the biggest we could get for them   It’s a rubbermaid (for cats) about 14 wide by 17 long. 

This is the one we have.  We got it from Petsmart.  They both fit in it pretty good.  I liked the high sides because it gets all the hay if it falls out and when they dug it kept everything in. 

Posted By Sarita on 06/08/2009 12:56 PM
I have to wonder if he is peeing outside the litter box because it’s so high and harder to get in – sometimes rabbits can be lazy :~)

Possibly.  Sometimes he’d do it right in front; it’s like “you’re a inch away from it, why can’t you make the extra hop??”   He used to actually jump the wall because he was too lazy to go around to the front haha!

Well I guess I was wrong about the peeing!  I went in to check on them right after we changed their litter and there was pee on the floor.  I scoulded Archie, cleaned it up and shushed him into his litter box (in case he didn’t know it was clean).  As soon as he did that Gracie peed all over the place!  Her pee has been orangish but we have changed hay (since we’re waiting for our bale and are getting hay from the store), so her pee is clearish yellow now!  I feel so bad because all that time I thought it was Archie but it was her!  She hopped off and saw poo all over her butt.  I cleaned up all the pee but didn’t clean her up because I wanted the dr. to see her like that if there was any problems.  I’ve noticed today that her poo is more greenish.  That might also be from the hay but they’ve been on that for a few weeks now and I just noticed it now.  I had an extra fecal tube and put some of hers in it for the dr. to look at.  So we’ll see what they have to say later on today.

Ugh, I just came back from the vet.  We got there at 4; waited about 10 min. to get in the room and waited 45 min. for a dr.!  I know there aren’t many rabbit dr’s around here and there was only one at the vet but that was ridiculous.  The room next to us had 3 people go in and out with their dogs while I waited.  I brought both of them in their carrier which is a bit snug for both of them but usually they’re not in there that long.  They both peed all over themselves, Archie thumped several times and boht looked very disapproving at me.  The dr. finally came in; this tall old man.  Asked me what their living conditions are, I told them and about her past owners having her in a wire cage pen.  He asked about their diet and he said that it looks like I take very well care of them.  He checked her over, said she looks really healthy and I told him about her feet.  He said that they should be better now that she’s on a flat surface…we’ve had her since March, really?  I told him about her peeing out of her litter box.  He said something about when another rabbit is by, they’ll do that sometimes.  But they’ve been bonded for awhile and she just started doing that.  I said her pee was rusty colored but now it’s clearer but that probably has to do with the changing of hay.  He said when a rabbit eats alfalfa hay that will happen….I just told him they’re on timothy though.  He said her hair was pretty thick down there and they could trim her so her poo doesn’t stick to her as much, they did that (cost me an extra $10! I probably could have done that myself).  All in all I wasn’t too impressed with the guy and am going to call the other vet I went to before just to ask if I should be concerned about her feet.  I don’t want to pay for another vet visit.  Anyone have any take on this?  I just felt so bad for having them wait that long.  And the guy seemed kind of bother by us, like he wanted to clock out and go home.

Posted By MooBunnay on 06/09/2009 04:04 PM
I agree with your decision to see if you can find a new vet. I have to feel good about my vet’s personality or else I never trust their diagnosis….I guess that is probably judgmental of me, but I only trust the vets that seem as excited about my bunnies as I am! And for some reason, I only like vets that talk to my bunnies while they are examining them, it makes me feel like they are more personally invested in them and more likely to make sure that they get the best treatment.

I agree that the foot issues are probably from them being on a cage, but I’m concerned that he didn’t really recommend anything for you to do, or anything for you to use to make your bun more comfortable. I am also concerned that he just recommended trimming the fur as a solution to the poops, he should have been more concerned about the texture of the poops. If your bun is now on a good hay, her poops should be dry and firm. Is she eating plenty of hay? If so, you might want to cut down on her veggies and pellets because those can sometimes cause mushy poops. I know its a problem to look for a new vet, but could you contact your local House Rabbit Society chapter to see what vets they recommend so you don’t have to waste your time again? You probably already have it, but the website is http://www.rabbit.org .

I am also wondering if maybe there is something about the high sides of the litterbox causing the pee issue? I wouldn’t think so because none of my bunnies have had a problem with that, but if you want to try a new one, a good trick is to go to the storage bin section of walmart or target. We got a nice large litterbox for about $5 because it was actually just a long “under the bed” rubbermaid storage bin!

Yeah he just wasn’t very personable.  I don’t believe we have a local HRS around here…nearest one looks like the Buckeye Chapter out of Columbus I think.  I looked on the website but there wasn’t anything listed near me.  I live in northeast Ohio (Warren, OH to be exact).  I was going to the Niles Vet before but thought since this was 10 seconds away from me that I would start going to that one…lucky me the vet that’s the closest to me I don’t care to much for   I guess for emergencies I can go to that one…

He just asked what flooring we use for their cage and I said linolium and a few pieces of tile (since someone tried to chew a hole in it before ).  I forgot to tell him that we have some carpeting on the other floors.  He just said “Ok, she should be better on that kind of flooring” or heal or something like that.  I did show him a sample of her poo because I noticed it was more greenish today but thought it was just from her diet.  He said it looks like normal day poops.  I didn’t know there was a difference between day and night poops??  They don’t seem mushy at all.  I remember there was a member on here that mentioned they had their rabbit shaved down there but I don’t know if they had the same problem or not.    Seems like she’s eating plenty of hay….not as much as she would with the hay we had before (the bale we got from a farm which we should be getting pretty soon).  I doubt it’s the high sides either since she does pretty well.  But I’m going to monitor her and try to keep track at when she pees out of her litter box.  If it’s when we just clean it or if it looks like it’s getting dirty then it might be something with the litter box but if not then it might be her body. 

That’s a neat idea about the under the bed storage bin!  If it looks like the litter box is causing the problems then I might switch it. 

Oh, nope as far as I know they weren’t mushy but they were probably there for a bit. 

I did have fleece blankets on part of the floor but replaced it with tile (it was blocking a hole in the linolium), but they were peeing on it all the time, as soon as I would put it down Archie would go and pee on it.  So I’d wash it every few days and switch it out with another one.  I could try putting it down again.

Ok, I called up the Niles Vet and asked to speak with the rabbit dr.  She didn’t have any appt. and was kind enough to talk to me and answer my questions.  She asked what kind of bedding we were using and how often we change it.  She said sometimes if they sit in urine for a bit it causes the urine scalding (?) that affects their feet.  She said if Gracie will let me, try to bath her feet every so often.  I told her about her peeing out of her litter box but said it might be because her litter was dirty or she was too lazy.  The dr. said to keep an eye on her and if she contines to do this or does it more often and if her feet get worse too; to bring her in and they’ll check her feet and do tests to see if she has any bladder infections or diabetes.  SOOO much more helpful than the other vet!  And I didn’t have to pay $32 for answers!  I should have just called the other vet in the first place….but I have a feeling that he wouldn’t have time to talk to me and would just want me to come in anyways.  Oh well, live and learn.

Yeah but oh well, I tried some where different and it didn’t work out   I’ve had experiences with several vets for Mickey.  One place (I don’t think they were rabbit savy?) but they did do x-rays on his teeth and they were a bit expensive I think, but when it came back we tried a different vet; he was foriegn and kept him over night and did blood work and when we got him back his eye brows were shaved   So we did not go back to them.  The other vet we took him to when he was older was Niles and that’s where I’ve taken Archie and Gracie.  They are very nice there and she seems to know a lot about rabbits and actually gives informative papers to explain stuff in detail.  There’s not to many others around here (at least not closer than Niles).  I would definately recommend Niles Veterinary Clinic to anyone near me.  I was just hoping that I could find a closer one but ah I’ll drive a little extra for them  

Posted By skunklionshow on 06/11/2009 05:40 PM

At first you made me think of the bird client at the vet when I brought CoCo in.  She kept waiting in her exam room doorway.  I heard her told twice by the techs that the exotics vet had several emergencies and that she was running way behind.  I felt really bad since I was one of the emergencies.  I walked by her several times over the evening just thinking that that made it all even worse that I was cutting into her time.  She finally went back into her exam room after she saw me leaving in tears……

Anyway, that’s ashame that he was completely lacking a personality.  I never trust a vet that can’t get along w/ people…..after all we make poor judgement all the time, and animals are so much more discerning, I bet all animals dislike him

I did hear a nurse say in the hallway “there’s a lot of rabbits here today” so I just kept telling myself just wait a little more, he’s probably busy with other people.  I wasn’t in the best of moods that day too   I think he was actually more impressed with my knowledge of feeding them and everything. 

I don’t think I posted yet, but I am so sorry about CoCo!    Such a shame!  He was a lucky bun to have a great home even if it wasn’t for a long time, at least he was loved!

Posted By BinkyBunny on 06/12/2009 10:32 PM

Posted By skibunny8503 on 06/10/2009 07:23 PM

  I’ve had experiences with several vets for Mickey. ….when it came back we tried a different vet; he was foriegn and kept him over night and did blood work and when we got him back his eye brows were shaved  

 

HAHA..what?  The indignity!  Did you ever find out why they did that?  

Haha nope I didn’t.  We actually didn’t notice until the next day or so.  We’re like “didn’t he have like eye brows or something before??”  Poor guy. 

Oh another update on Gracie, we recently woke up to find smeared poo in 3 spots on their floor   Lifted her up and saw there was poo all over her!  I called the Niles Vet and said to bring a sample of her poo for a fecal check since she had coccidia (sp?) before.  I don’t think she has that since she was a lot worse when she had that but I took all the poo off of her fur and brought it over.  Still waiting on the results.  She said they’ll call no matter what and will update the dr. on her condition. 

EDIT: Dr. called back and said everything was fine from her fecal test.  Said to keep an eye on her and that sometimes when they eat too much greens it will give them soft poo…she was outside and had grass after she at her greens.

Posted By BinkyBunny on 06/17/2009 10:37 PM
What does her diet consist of right now. Some bunnies are very sensitive to certain foods, even though they are normally perfectly fine for most. My Bailey had an extremely sensitive system. Full blown trial and error,and she couldn’t tolerate ANY treats.

Right now we have store bought timothy hay which they’re ok with but we’re still waiting for big bale from a farm (any day now hopefully).  They like that a lot more, especially since it’s not as dusty.  Archie shoves his nose into the store bought hay and ends up sneezing more because he sniffs it in   They also have about a 1/2 cup of the oxbow timothy based pellets in the morning and for lunch and before we go to bed we give them about 2 cups of greens (I’m guessing, we just fill up the bowl to the top).  Right now they’re eating Endive (all we have right now) but we have to go buy some romaine this weekend.  And they’ve been getting a red grape (mom gave us a few of the white grapes the past few days).  They were outside the other day and had just ate their greens.  We were working in the garden and I took a piece of little gem romaine lettuce and gave them a piece.  I also gave them that, kale, parsley and a piece of mint one day last week from the garden.  That’s the only thing I can think of that might have upset her stomach was that they were fresh….who knows.  She does eat like a pig so she might have ate too much greens that day if Archie was eating slow. 

I know if I don’t clean out her glands then she gets poo stuck on her but I just cleaned them a few weeks ago; I might have to check it again.  She’s been pretty good this week.  Still having trouble with them urinating outside the litter.  I caught Archie doing it yesterday!  He was in the litter and hoped out and just peed there   Maybe because she was sitting in his spot in the litter box or something?  It’s a pretty big litter box and they both fit in it.  At least it’s in the cage and not outside…Gracie did pee in the dining room the other day but I think it was because she was trying to chew on a cord (with cord protector over it) and I went to move her so she’d stop and she got startled and peed.  I’m pretty sure she has a nervous bladder because when she’s scared she goes to the bathroom.  I have a little journal I’ve been writing in to keep track of when they go to the bathroom outside the litter.  I feel kind of silly but at least when I talk to the dr. I can tell them exactly when they went and if the litter was completely cleaned or if she was scared.