Hardwood Floors – Two Vets Disagree

[oatmealpie]

 Last night during playtime Oliver got excited and tried to run too fast on our hardwood floor. He jumped up and twisted in the air, then laid down flat on the floor like a sphinx and kept kicking his legs out behind him. After doing this several times, he leaned his head back like he was looking up at the ceiling. I thought it might be a seizure or some neurological issue, and since he was refusing to eat we took him to the emergency vet. The vet said it wasn’t neurological; he had hurt his back running on the hardwood. She recommended putting down carpet runners and said he shouldn’t be allowed on the hardwood. She also said he should see his regular vet, since he’s still sneezing after a round of antibiotics.

I took him to his regular vet this morning. He prescribed a different antibiotic for the sneezing, but he said Oliver should be OK on the hardwood. He said that if we put down runners he’d just avoid them.

What do you say? Will he be OK on the hardwood floor? Most of our house is hardwood, except for tile in the kitchen and bathrooms and carpet in the bedrooms. We don’t want to keep both bunnies cooped up in the second bedroom, because our other bunny Benedict is fine on the hardwood, and the living room is where all the action is.

[Deleted User]

It sounds like Oliver is having an issue with traction. I suggest what the emergency vet suggests. I would get some carpet runners or even a large rug for Oliver to play on. He may avoid the carpet/rug or he may not. From my own personal experience with hardwood is that my buns avoid it unless they want to cool down. They save the hardcore playing for on carpets. I would get the carpet just in case. Buns have delicate skeletal structures so it’s always better to err on the side of caution.

[Isabel]

I would also go with the emergency vet. If your bun doesn’t do well on hardwood, getting him his own rug is a really great way to compromise. I did that with my bun for a bit, but he kept marking it with pee (ugh), so I had to remove it. He doesn’t mind the hardwood, as he grew up on it, so it’s not a big deal. But he definitely really liked his little rug while he had it. It just got too gross lol.

[bpash89]

 I have mostly wood flooring in my apartment and my bunny does fine on it but she definitely prefers carpet.  I have a floor mat/blanket thing I lay in the middle of the floor (it’s got rubber thingies on the bottom so it doesn’t slide too much) and that’s where she always goes to binky.  I’d definitely get an area rug or some runners for your bunny.  It’s much easier for them to run on and i’m sure you bun will take to it right away. 

[Stickerbunny]

My buns live on hardwood and they do fine. But, the traction on it is a little slippery for binkies and such, they prefer carpet for running around like wild things.

[Valkyrie]

My rabbits have all been ok on hardwood/laminate/lino/tile, but it does vary from bunny to bunny. Merlin started having mobility problems the last few months of his life so I bought a carpet runner for him. Up here Wal-mart has 5’x2′ low pile carpet runners for $10 and you can always check your local flooring store for discounted ends from their rolls. The runner is so cheap that I don’t mind if he had an accident or destroyed it after a month or so (but that didn’t happen). Bromley still prefers to race around the laminate, but he does go to the carpet to snuggle with the cats. I swear that carpet is a cat attractent!

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