Any Ideas or Advice Would Be Greatly Appreciated! :)

[Malp_15]

So I posted before about my new bunny… This is his third day with me and he STILL has zero interest in eating. He will eat a little bit of romaine and cilantro, but I can’t give him too many veggies if he is not eating anything else. He ate about a tablespoon of pellets total in this time and maybe 3 stalks of hay? He has FIVE types of hay available at all times. I am giving him baytril twice a day for his snuffles, SQ fluids once a day, and syringe feeding critical care 3 times a day. He won’t eat the critical care out of a dish. He ate a little bit of canned pumpkin at first and now he won’t touch it, won’t touch apple sauce, won’t touch any kind of fruit. He is passing ok poops, good consistency, but much much too small. He gets a belly massage after every feeding. He has been having runny decals, but they are formed now, just soft. His bottom molars are a bit long, but vet says not nearly long enough to need a dental at this point. No visible signs of abscess/ulcers/spurs etc. If this doesn’t improve by Monday I’m thinking x-rays. Me and the vet are running out of ideas. When he is out of the cage he is running around and binkying and acting like there is nothing wrong. This is so much more difficult because we have no history and I don’t know what he likes?

I hope I remembered everything and sorry it’s pretty disjointed, but any ideas of anything I could try?

[Sarita]

When did he start the baytril for his URI?

I wouldn’t rule out filing down the bottom molars either. Dental problems can cause poopy butt and a great many other problems. That is what I would do before I do x-rays and see if that helps. Recovery from a trim can take a few days as well.

[Malp_15]

Tomorrow will be 2 weeks on the Baytril. X-rays are free for me so that’s why I was thinking of taking some. My vet doesn’t want to put him under anesthetic unless absolutely necessary because he is much more of an anesthetic risk with the infection. She is off all weekend, so we will reassess on Monday.

[Sarita]

Oh well, if it’s free :~) I wouldn’t rule out the molar spurs though if you don’t see anything on the x-rays. Hopefully the baytril has cleared up his URI too.

[Malp_15]

He hasn’t been sneezing for a few days, but he is still really wheezy

[Sarita]

You may have to treat him a bit longer then or you may want to do a culture which unfortunately would also require light anesthesia like the tooth trim.

[Malp_15]

Yeah, I have another 4 days worth at home and we will look at the dosage etc. on Monday as well.

[jerseygirl]

He might need something more hardcore if still wheezing after being on baytril 2 weeks. If it’s a little hard for him to breathe then that could effect his eating.

I wonder if your vet would think it is worth trying him on low dose of a pain med? They don’t always show it but if he’s got any pain that might cause him to not want to eat either.

My other thought is the hays. I realise that you’re trying varieties to get him to eat but wondering if one of them might be causing or irritating resp.?

I’m curious, are the molar spurs on the cheek side or tongue side? I know rabbits naturally have points on their teeth but they are upwards rather then poking out sideways if that makes sense.

 

[Malp_15]

Sorry I haven’t answered you guys or given an update in a while, but it’s been a stressful few weeks. His culture and sensitivity FINALLY came back. He has a pasteurella and Bordetella (kennel cough) infection. His sensitivity came back as only intermediate success with Baytril (wasn’t surprised though because it had been 5 weeks on Baytril with zero improvement) and that Tetracycline was his best bet. So he got his first dose of that yesterday morning and there already seems to be less discharge so I’m hopeful. The thing with this is that he will be a carrier for the rest of his life and we can treat the symptoms, but it can flare up again whenever. Right now he is contagious to everyone in the house, including myself (before I thought it was just Tait). So I have the cat Bordetella vaccine on order, dogs are already vaccinated. They are working on a rabbit Bordetella vaccine, but it’s nowhere near being released. And he will never be able to be neutered. So basically Merry Christmas to me… I’m just bummed right now and I don’t see bonding the boys ever happening now.

[SirThumpsey]

Oh no! Honey, I’m so sorry to hear that. Well atleast now you know what it is and how to treat it. I don’t know about the bonding or neutering but maybe someone else on here does… ((((hugs))))
Feel better soon, little guy!

[Sarita]

I knew that about bortadella – that rabbits are carriers. Pasturella, most rabbits are carriers of this but aren’t always symptomatic.

Hopefully the tetracycaline will help with the symptoms. Don’t be bummed, it can be treated and that is a good thing.

[RabbitPam]

The poor little guy. It’s a lot to go through with a brand new bunny. Sarita is right, he will be treated and better soon.

I don’t know where you got him, but I suggest you get in touch with them and tell them they gave you a very sick bunny. With contagious illnesses, they may have other animals that have the same issues, and it wouldn’t be fair to the animals or their new owners to be spreading it. They need to know. (It’s kind of too late for them to be responsible for your bunny’s treatment, although after 3 days and an initial checkup it might have been possible to have given him back or have them share the costs. He is undoubtedly much, much luckier to have you caring for him, so that probably wasn’t in his best interest, as hard as it has been on you.)

With a chronic condition that can flare up, well, often it is easier than not knowing. This way you will see signs very early, treat immediately, and he will be well most of the time.

Sending you {{{{{{{Healing vibes}}}}}}}} for his speedy recovery.

[Malp_15]

Sorry RP, I forgot that I explained his history in another thread. He was surrendered at my work (veterinary clinic), the old owners wouldn’t treat him. We thought it was just pasteurella so we were going to just treat with antibiotics and then adopt him out. After 2 weeks of only getting worse my boss was planning on euthanizing him, so I said I would take him. He has way to awesome of a personality to be euthanized. I have done all the tests since I adopted him.

Thanks guys! I just needed to talk with someone who understands. Have you heard any successful boy bondings with one altered and one not bunny? Or should I just give up on that right now?

[Sam and Lady's Human]

Right now I have 1 altered and 1 unaltered, female bunnies. Theres no way I could bond them, the scent and territory poop wars are awful. I can only image in they sprayed too. But thats just my experience so far, I know I’ve read of 1 that was a successful bond,but that may have been nuetered boy unaltered girl…hmm.

[Monkeybun]

Hormones are tricky, they could cause numerous problems when bonding. With an unaltered bun, all that would be on their mind is wanting to mate. Add in territorial issues, and it’s a scary combination.

[RabbitPam]

I apologize, Malp. I did read that from you but I didn’t put this together with being the same bunny.
As BB will agree, I have been bad in the memory department lately, which is why I keep showing up on different days.
My mind. I miss it sometimes….

[Monkeybun]

Maybe you’ll get one for Christmas Pam

[longhairmike]

Posted By Monkeybun on 12/25/2011 12:06 AM
Hormones are tricky, they could cause numerous problems when bonding.

hormones can also cause a serious long-term aggrivating disease known as teenagers

 

[jerseygirl]

Have you heard any successful boy bondings with one altered and one not bunny? Or should I just give up on that right now?

As MB said, hormones can cause some issues when bonding…..but a lot does depend on the personalities of the rabbits also. I’m normally one to caution about bonding un-neutered boys but IRL, I have seen many successful pairings. Also, Tait is done and Mr Bun is 3 so you’re not dealing with teen buns here.

Since you’re taking measure to treat the pets to keep infections at bay I wonder if you have anything to lose by trying to bond Tait and Mr Bun? (Sorry, I’m not sure on what you’ve named him – :p )

[RabbitPam]

“hormones can also cause a serious long-term aggrivating disease known as teenagers” Gfaw, snort LOL.

MB, I didn’t. I’m Jewish. I forgot. Santa skipped me. got tush singed on Hanukkah candles and ran off with reindeer, taking mind with him. So sad.

My apologies, Malp. I am not being very helpful to your topic. I think individuality between the bunnies plays a larger role in the bonding than the gender factor. So observe them together and keep in mind that all bonds can be steadily improved (with occasional setbacks) over time.

[RabbitPam]

“hormones can also cause a serious long-term aggrivating disease known as teenagers” Gfaw, snort LOL.

MB, I didn’t. I’m Jewish. I forgot. Santa skipped me. got tush singed on Hanukkah candles and ran off with reindeer, taking mind with him. So sad.

My apologies, Malp. I am not being very helpful to your topic. I think individuality between the bunnies plays a larger role in the bonding than the gender factor. So observe them together and keep in mind that all bonds can be steadily improved (with occasional setbacks) over time.

[Malp_15]

Thanks everyone!!

Jersey, I decided to name him “Nate” , in the hopes of there being a Nate & Tait pair haha. Maybe I jinxed myself… . haha

Tait is still kind of a turd with meeting new people, but he has never been humpy -with them  Nate is a gigantic sweetheart, he is more dog than rabbit. He flops like its his job, preferably right next to you in the perfect petting position He is as willing to groom you as to be groomed. If you pet him and he cant reach you then he grooms the carpet. He is also completely unfazed by the dogs/cat. I didn’t realize that he ran out of the room behind me once and he just hops down the hallway past the animals like no big deal. The dogs were completely stunned. They’ve met Tait, but we’re still working on that because Tait runs from the dogs so they want to chase him. The only bad thing is that Nate is a humper . It’s not all the time, but he likes to hump my feet and my ball of yarn. Oh and his litter habits are horrid, well they are getting better… verrryyyyy slowly He looks like such a goof right now. His antibiotic is tangerine flavoured, so it has been dying his white fur, orange, on his face and feet haha.

There is a couple of girls at work that said they want to help with bonding sessions, we are going to borrow the giant gloves we use for psycho cats in case there is any fighting. I’m going to wait until we are done the antibiotics though. Nate is still much too snotty.

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