Does Muffin need to go to the Vet??

[Muffinxo]

Last week i noticed Muffin wasn’t eating as much veg as she usually would within a few days she was only eating her favourite veg and leaving the rest. She was still eating treats, herbs, hay and slowly eating her nuggets. Over the weekend i also spotted a drop of blood in her cage but have no idea why it was there! Last night i bought her new veg and gave her a small bowl – she ate the lot of it! I have already made an appointment for tomorrow with our local vet (with a consultation fee of £28). She has been lying about her cage a bit more than usual but apart from that and her loss of appetite for veg she is her normal self. I am wondering if I need to take her to the Vet as now she seems to be eating fine (the trip to the vet stresses her out and she will hide away in her house for the remainder of the day). Any advice would be great! Thank you

[Bam]

Could the blood come from a broken nail? Since she is spayed, she won’t of course have a uterine problem, that’d otherwise be the first thing to suspect. Is she peeing and pooping like she should now?
If she is eating, peeing and pooping like she should be and not exhibiting any outward signs of pain but acting her normal self, you could perhaps hold off on the vet visit for now. Obviously make a new one if her eating-problems return or sth else happens. It’s very difficult for a vet to do anything if the bunny doesn’t have any symptoms. Intermittent tummy trouble can occur in bunnies and sometimes resolves itself without intervention -that’s often the case with gas.
You will need to keep a very close eye though and take her in if symptoms return.
The blood is puzzling :/

[Muffinxo]

I didnt even think to check her nails! i will have a look at them tonight – thank you. She is peeing and pooping as normal and all healthy! thanks for your advice. She seems totally fine and now she has started eating her veggies again i’m not so worried but i am still worried about the spot of blood in her cage! I just dont want to stress her by taking her to the vet for them to say she’s ok! My partner thinks we should cancel her appointment for tomorrow but i am worried in case the problem hasn’t gone away and has only moved.. why cant bunnies talk

[Muffinxo]

One thing i have noticed the past month or two is that she is losing fur (not in patches). I had a soft brush for her fur which didn’t help at all so i bought a slicker brush but after a few minutes it was as if all the loose fur had been picked up by the brush but when i went to pet her afterwards i got a handful of hair and it was floating about the room, i have a rubber brush for her and the hair really sticks to that but no matter how much i brush her there’s always more hair! It seems like a lot of hair for a bun her size. Dont know if this is at all related?

[Vienna Blue in France]

Pretty much all our buns seem to be in mega-moult period at the moment, so it could simply be Muffin’s moult. I could line my quilt with Zou’s fur!

I’m with your partner on this one, it sounds as if it’s safe to cancel the appt, tell the receptionist that she is back eating and seems her normal self…. and if you keep a close eye on her, the vet should always take a sick bunny in immediately anyway.

[Muffinxo]

Thank you Vienna! I will give her a thorough check over tonight to make sure all is ok and to check for any more blood or even where it came from. If i’m happy with the amount she has eaten today I think I will cancel the appointment and save her the stress and just keep a close eye on her. What brush do you use for Zou? Nothing seems to work
Thank you for your help

[Bam]

As Vienna says, there is a connection between mounting and tummy trouble.
It is normal for buns to molt like crazy. And it’s unbelievable how much hair there is on a bunny. Both mine are molting right now. I use a self-cleaning slicker and a lint-roller.

[Vienna Blue in France]

I’m sure bam meant molting… not mounting…. lol (though mounting could lead to pregnancy!!!)

Zou’s not letting me near her bum at the moment and when I go for a vigorous hand stroke / picking of tufts session she gives her ears a big & annoying shake. I wonder how the two are connected? She gets her bum scratched and her ears need shaking…?!.. a weird kind of reflexology?

[Bam]

My goodness, thank you Vienna! Now I can’t change it either so it will just have to be there 

Muffinxo, i really did mean moulting! My Iphone needs a good talking-to.

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

Same here, Breintje has tummy troubles during moult as well. The only thing that helps is to make sure that they ingest as few hairs as possible. I comb him 3 times a day now.

I use a barbers’ comb for Breintje, he won’t tolerate anything else. If I use a regular soft brush or a metal brush with plastic tips he just runs off. But when I use the comb he sits like a king waiting for his daily beauty routine.

[Muffinxo]

UPDATE: i cancelled the Vet appointment as she began eating again (seems to be a fussy bun) BUT now she has an appointment with the vet tomorrow! Last week when i got home she was eating fine like nothing had happened! On saturday night i noticed a strange looking poop in her cage, it had some fur stuck to it! I didnt think much of it just decided to keep an eye on her. On Sunday and Monday night while cleaning her cage i noticed there was one strand of Hay covered in blood (just one strand each night) this did worry me but she has been eating/playing/peeing/drinking as normal! Yesterday when i got home from work i checked her cage and there was 5 poops all strung together connected with hair! I called the vet for advice this morning to see if there was anything i could give her to help her get it all out but they advised an appointment tomorrow to check her over and suggested the blood could be from a urine infection.
I have Carrs Entracare and have gave her some of that this morning to see if that helps at all (fingers crossed) I’m also on the hunt for a better brush and comb for her.
How long does the moult usually last?
Thanks for your help!

[Vienna Blue in France]

I dont know about the blood but a “pearl necklace” of poops is fine… It’s usually the fur she’s licked and swallowed during her moulting that joins them all together.. this is why its important to brush our buns particularly through moulting season ( ; ) ).. as long as the poops are normal.
But the blood is surely concerning and needs to be checked…

[Muffinxo]

I read that it isn’t really anything to worry about but she isn’t pooping anywhere near as much as normal – I’m a worried mother I have three brushes one which i thought worked brilliant but it is just constant! I am looking at self cleaning slicker brushes and i have found one but its stainless steel bristles which i think might hurt her? i already have a slicker brush but it barely catches anything! I bought the one in the link below and it works really well but its so small, I’m thinking of getting her a bigger one and a comb too. When I am brushing her she tends to run away as soon as i brush down to her fluffy little tail, she doesnt let me do her legs or underneath her! The blood is concerning and very very strange! If she is bleeding i would expect it to be on more than one piece of hay every other night.. We will see what happens tomorrow

http://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/small-pet/hamster/hamster-healthcare/finger-groomer-for-small-animals

[Bam]

Are you certain it was blood on the strand of hay, not just very red pee? Their pee can become blood red after having been exposed to air for a while.
I lint roll my bunnies after brushing. This last molt I’ve pulled hair off them with my fingers, both have been molting like crazy lately.
A molt can go on for 6 weeks. Some bunnies molt continuously, esp those that live in warm climates.

[Muffinxo]

Not long after i got Muffin i had a scare thinking she was bleeding but it was just pee this time the colour is more ‘bloody’ if that makes sense? it really looks like blood Does the lint roller not really stick to the buns? 😮 Hopefully it ends soon, her cage is in my bedroom and i always see her hair floating about the room

[Bam]

I use a generic brand lint roller, name brands have stickier glue but that’s not what you want when you lint roll a bunny. My buns are “normal-haired”, ie not lionheads.

My bunnies have never ever let me brush their bellies. I’m quite convinced they’d be outraged if I tried to.
It’s really difficult to tell blood from red urine. You can drip hydrogen peroxide on it, if it foams a lot, it’s blood. But since you are worrying a lot, it’s of course best to ask your vet.

[Vienna Blue in France]

Posted By bam on 8/10/2016 8:12 AM

. I’m quite convinced they’d be outraged if I tried to.  

rofl !!!   I agree !! 

[Author]

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