Does My Bunny Sound Healthy?

[ZooLady]

Since coming to interact on these forums, a flood of questions have been coming to my mind.  I start reading in the forums and worry about all the bunny illnesses I read–!   I guess I would like to give a run down of my three year old rabbits health and eating habits and see if some of you experienced bun-keepers can give me an idea on how he sounds.

Mischi, a neutered male, came to me at a very young age—only a few weeks old.   Not wanting to give him pellets all his life, I started him on lavish vegetable diets.   From what I’ve read….and runny poops from time to time, I have curbed his diet to a small portion of veggies in the morning, than pellets and unlimited hay afterwards to keep his digestion moving properly.  Runny poops are now rarely present.   This transition from all veggies rarely pellets to more pellets less veggies has only taken affect the last couple of months.   I used to give him a carrot everyday–and I know now this was a no-no…high sugar.  

Still, he’s a fat little fellow.  At least he feels fat.  He is a medium bun, weights 1.5 kg, but his belly feels very hard and round.  It’s been like this for at least two years, and never having another rabbit before I assumed this was normal.   Now that I have a new rabbit (under  a year old) I notice that his belly is nothing like Mischis.  It isn’t hard and round at all.   Is this maybe to do with the different breeds they appear to be, or perhaps indicative of something else?

Poor little Mischi also seems prone to parasite infection…moreso than my two cats or other rabbit.  Even with the treatments I provide (revolution, advantage—drops) he has to be regularly brought to the vet for treatment such as Ivermectin injections.

Still, he seems very normal, bright-eyed and healthy.       I just would like to know if any of this sounds suspect to you or if you might have any recommendations for me.

Pictures included…

 He’s very round….

[BinkyBunny]

Jack was getting chubby until he started exercising more. Since Vivian came into his life, he’s been doing alot of chasing. He might just need some exercise to lean him up, but really, he doesn’t look obese or anything. Also, some rabbits are just a bit thicker.

As far as his tummy being hard all the time, that is not normal–at least in my experience. So i am not sure what would be making it hard. hmmmm.

As far as the parasites go is it fleas or mites? or both? Revolution should take care of the mites and fleas, though I have heard Advantage is better at taking care of fleas (it doesn’t help with mites). If it is something that may just be constantly coming into your house via other animals or your feet, you may have to just keep up with the treatments. If you do, and the treatments aren’t working then you may need to discuss the dosage with your vet.

There shouldn’t be any reason that he would still be getting bugged by bugs.

Other than that though, it’s obvious he is well-loved, and I know it sure would be nice to get to the bottom of the bugs and the hard tummy. (ask your vet about that too. S/he may be able to confirm that that is part of his stature or if it is something to look further into.

[Sage Cat]

I always thought those little tuffs of fur were just normal shedding.
My little Winston is also kind of round when he is siting – but is a great weight for his size.

Does Mischi get regular check ups?

[BinkyBunny]

Those little tuffs are very normal with molting. Absolutely!

[Author]

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