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BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

This topic has 8sd replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 13 years, 1 month ago by HappyHopperz.

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- 02/23/2013 at 12:05 PM
  HappyHopperz
  Participant
  59 posts
  Hi everyone,
  
  Its been awhile since I was on this forum, and I am happy to be back. Life commitments and issues with the bunnies has been a bit stressful, but I do have a few questions I’d like you advice from. If you wouldn’t mind reading a longer post, I’d apprieciate it so much. I really need some good ideas now, from other bunny lovers.
  
  Okay – so right now I have two bunnies. Skippy & Snicker. Skippy I got in April 2011 three days after my first bunny ever died of GI Stasis. I loved him so much, but it left me heartbroken. I was later three days blessed with Skippy, who strangely looked just like Nibbles and helped relive my pain. Skippy was a great addition but lived in a pet store cage for a few months because I did not yet know about the joys of NIC condos. Thankfully, I gave him lots of playtime and he was a happy, healthy boy.
  
  Three days before Christmas 2011, I came across a CraigsList ad that was listed for a small lop. The lady who had him said she found him in an alleyway in one of the busiest cities in our state. He wasnt that old also, but she took pity on him and took him home. She did investigate if he was a lost pet – but got no reply. He was definitley not a wild rabbit. She suspected a house that had thrown out a few animals to fend for themselves before. She had to rehome him because she already had a large dog and was moving. She said if he was not rehomed by that evening, she would have to give him to the local humane society. It was three days before christmas, and I felt really bad for the poor guy. I went out there and got him, and have had him ever since. He proved to be fun and a jumper – he jumped right out of the box and was very energetic when we brought him home. He is not very shy and LOVES attention.
  
  In May 2011 I built them a huge C&C condo. They each had their own cage and were stacked. Each cage was 3 grids wide, 4 grids long, and 2 grids high. They were both in our living room. A couple months later, Snicker started showing sign of snuffles. We though it was a cold at first, but it still was around. He has had it ever since. A couple months later, I had to downsize the C&C to only 2 grids wide instead of 3. It took up ALOT of room and was really hard to clean – I had to climb inside it myself! I also moved them around and into a different corner of the room.
  
  The bunnies are living separated, they are both male, and are not neutered. I haven’t found a vet that is willing to do it for under $200, and yet I am not eligible for MN SNAP or other low-cost programs. They are still living in their stacked condo. I have done ALOT of reading about snuffles ever since he had it, and I’ve gotten many opinions … Some say if you treat it it will only reduce it, and the rabbit will have to live with it all of its life. Others say it is easily treated within 14 days. I don’t really know if it is life long or not, but I really don’t want the healthy bunny with the cage under the sick one to get snuffles also. Although he has a much stronger immune system, he still could catch it. Also, please note : although snicker has not yet visited a vet, we have been looking for the right one who will treat him well. He is going to have an exam in the near future. He has not stopped eating, he has a good appetite, goes to the litterbox fine, and loves to jump into his hayrack. He has definitley not given up on jumping – he loves it!
  
  I just needed to get advice to what to do with snicker, and how to reconfigure the cage so that it works and they are away from each other. I have two rooms available – a bathroom we no longer use, (I have put a wooden board over the bathtub area and it works great as a cage stand) and our living room. I do also have two guinea pigs that are currently living in the bathroom, but there is alot of space to build above them. I have two options – either move both the bunnies into the bathroom – but they will still be together. I was thinking keeping Snicker (the sick one) downstairs and move the healthy one upstairs and build him a cage ontop of the guinea pigs. I didn’t want to move the sick one with the pigs because I don’t want them getting sick. Any ideas? Thanks so much for reading this – it means alot to me because I dearly love all my animals and only want the best for them. Any suggestions are much appreciated. Thanks again! Sorry for any typos – as I was writing this a BB ad was covering the end part. xD oh well
  
  Thanks!
- 02/23/2013 at 10:30 PM
  BinkyBunny
  Moderator
  8776 posts
  When reading about snuffles from the net, it is commonly labeled incorrectly or misunderstood. Many people will use the term Snuffles in direct relation to a chronic illness/disease in rabbits. That is not always the case. Be careful of information on the net, it can send you down a rabbit hole!
  
  Snuffles is a catch-all term for an upper respiratory infection. It is a symptom, but it is not a disease or illness in and of itself. It is not necessarily a chronic illness either. It’s like if you had a persistent stuffed up nose — could be allergies, could be a cold, could be a polyps, etc etc.. You wouldn’t be able to label your illness as “The Sniffles” — it’s just the symptom of many possibilities. The same goes for “Snuffles”. So until you find the cause, you won’t know what it is or how to treat it. For a rabbit, snuffles could be an infection that could be taken care of with a couple of weeks worth of antibiotics, OR it could be a tooth issue that’s causing some infection that affects the upper respiration, or any number of other reasons.
  
  This is an excellent article that explains this correctly. http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/sneezing.html
  
  I definitely think the first priority is finding out what it is. Once he has had a vet visit with a rabbit-savvy vet, you will have a better idea of how the living situation will need to be. Just make sure you wash your hands between visits with other animals. Other than that , it really sounds like they are separated anyway. However, since they are not bonded anyway and you feel better having them completely separated, then that’s fine too. You would have to do the same hand washing routine regardless.
  
  Do you need help finding a rabbit-savvy vet?
- 02/24/2013 at 6:27 AM
  HappyHopperz
  Participant
  59 posts
  Thanks for the informative post, BB!
  
  Even though it sounds a bit less worrying, it still scares me. I don’t think he has a lower respiratory infection, but he does make a small snort when he breathes. There is nothing else wrong with him though, it’s just the nose discharge. It certainly hasn’t stopped him from jumping! :p Thankfully he has a stable appetite and LOVES his hay.
  
  Ive already started looking at vets and getting price estimates. The average price for an exam is $50-$60 and then additional medication would be from anywhere from $20-$40. If its easy to treat, itll only cost between $100-$125. That can fit my budget, and i could afford another treatment or whatever needed, but I really can’t go over $200.
  
  Ive looked at some vets myself, but it’s always good to go to different sources. I live in MN btw.
  
  Thanks!
  
  Oh as for the stacked condo – is it okay they still live on top or each other? I was thinking of moving my healthy bun above my guinea pigs, but I’m not sure if they could catch an URI or not from him.
- 02/24/2013 at 1:08 PM
  BinkyBunny
  Moderator
  8776 posts
  EDITED TO ADD some info:
  
  I do not know about what guinea pigs can catch from rabbits — There are a few members here that may have better experience with that, who I hope will answer.
  
  I know vet care can be expensive, and your bunny is just fine right now behavior wise, but if the infection, tooth problem or another issue is allowed to worsen, you could end up dealing with an emergency –being prey animals, rabbits are great at hiding illness. They usually won’t show something is really wrong until it is actually life threatening. And when that does happen, it can take less than 24 hours for it to turn critical, and emergency care to help save a bunny can really be expensive. I’m not trying to scare you but caution you about relying on his current behavior as a sign of okay health. He is exhibiting symptoms though that show something health wise physically is not right. I know you said you would be taking him to a vet soon, and you are looking to find the right one. I just don’t want you to wait tooo long.
  
  For things that come up that are over my budget, I have been aided by a couple of things. I have a Carecredit Card – it’s a card that can only be used for health care and vet care. (And it offers 3 month, 6 month and 12 month deferred interest plans). Not all vets take carecredit — so you’d have to make sure yours does before you apply for the card in the first place.
  
  A credit card can come in handy for this kind of thing as well. I know it’s not ideal because you have to pay extra in interest, but at least you are not stuck in a situation that could get worse both emotionally and financially.
  
  I have been able to work out payment arrangements with my vet. Of course, my current vet knows me and I’ve been seeing for awhile, but one time we had to take our cat in for emergency surgery, and it was well over $1,000! This is a vet I had never been to before and they allowed us to make payments. They didn’t even do a credit check. So it doesn’t hurt to ask. So you can get an appointment, find out what’s wrong and if it ends up being over your budget for some sort of ongoing treatment, then discuss payment plan options. If within the appointment you find out it may be something that needs to be treated soon (tooth issues), but isn’t urgent at the moment, you would at least know what needs to be done and what you need to start saving for.
  
  When I was much younger, I was able to get a loan from my folks, which I paid back, so I don’t know if you have family members that would be able to give you a loan if it got over your budget.
  
  And, you might find it’s just an infection that can be fixed up with a couple of weeks worth of antibiotics.
  
  I know it’s a very difficult situation to be in with finances being limited. Believe me I do get that. We have seen some tough times ourselves. Which is partly why after my bunny and cat passed away, we chose to only have a single bunny for now — until we can build back a decent savings for vet care– the last vet savings had been wiped out from tooth issues, cancer, E.C from previous animal health issues over the years. And my current bunny is a senior and I am preparing for the financial things that come with that — so far knock on wood, she is doing great. But just from my own experience, it is really rare that within your animal’s lifetime that you will only spend $200 for just one animal, and you have two bunnies, so if there is any way you can begin saving a bit more over time, it will help with the care your animals may need and it may certainly offer you more peace of mind.
- 02/24/2013 at 1:16 PM
  BinkyBunny
  Moderator
  8776 posts
  I forgot to add the a link to vets that may be helpful for you – It’s a list provided by the MN Companion Rabbit Society
  
  http://mnhouserabbit.org/resources/veterinarians.html
  
  You can also check out Bunspace’s vet search — you add your location and it will bring up vet listings, many time with members from bunspace commenting with their experiences. http://www.bunspace.com/vets/search
- 02/24/2013 at 3:26 PM
  HappyHopperz
  Participant
  59 posts
  Thanks again!
  I let him out for floortime today and he did some amazingly BIG binkies! Like 10! It’s the most I’ve ever seen him do ever since he has been sick this last year! I’m still taking him to the vet though.
  
  I think I may go with Valley View Vet … they have carecredit, sounds nice via email, and offer discounts and whatnot. ???
- 02/25/2013 at 4:46 PM
  HappyHopperz
  Participant
  59 posts
  HELP!
  
  I just got home from basketball. It’s almost dinner for the buns, and snicker did not come greet me. He was hunched in the corner of his cage. I set him out for floor time and he isn’t playing. He is kind of arching his back then laying down.
  His breathing is still the same.
  Please help? I’m so worried!!!!!!
- 02/25/2013 at 8:11 PM
  Roberta
  Participant
  4355 posts
  Can you get him to an emergency vet immediately. Also is he still pooping and peeing ?
- 03/05/2013 at 1:44 PM
  HappyHopperz
  Participant
  59 posts
  It’s official.
  BOTH the bunnies have snuffles. I’m just so upset and stressed. I can’t really afford to take both of them to the vet now. This is awful ?
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