October Chat!

[Azerane]

White rabbit, white rabbit, white rabbit!

I couldn’t see an Oct chat thread yet, hoping I didn’t miss it.

I just wanted to share that Apollo, who has been overweight for about the last 1-2 years has finally started losing weight again. I buckled down on their diet and have increased leafy greens on an actual set schedule rather than once in a while when I think of it.  He’s lost 100g in a month! Down from 3.45kg to 3.35kg. Ideally I’ll get him down to 3kg where he was a couple years ago.

Luna is coping well with the increased greens, I was worried she would lose weight too but she’s been relatively stable which is good. She even weighed in just over 2kg one day (she should be 2.4kg), which is the most she’s weighed since last year. She’s been doing well in her Kidney medication too. Been on it for almost 5 months now, another month and we repeat the ultrasound.

[LBJ10]

Nope, no thread yet.

I’m glad to hear the new diet is working out. I know it can be hard to stick to diets, including pet diets. LOL

[Wick & Fable]

Also very happy to hear these updates!! Really glad you started the chat thread too 🙂

I have come to realize, anecdotally, that weight management can just be harder for some buns then others, in both gaining and losing weight… And also sticking to diets is hard, haha.

I didn’t remember Luna was having kidney troubles, but how great that treatment seems to be going well! Hoping for a really positive update next month from the ultrasound.

For my pair, Fable is pretty much the same— head over heels for Wick and loving destruction of cardboard and fleece. Her territorial poo aroma has lessened somewhat, but still pretty much daily. I do think Selective Science House Rabbit sits with her stomach better than Oxbow, which is great.

Wick is in month 5 of essentially no free roam to ensure his left front paw sorts itself out. He broke his middle finger in April, then in the process of it healing pointed upwards, adjacent fingers became swollen and injured so restriction is needed to ensure everything heals up solid and he can safely learn how to walk on a paw with less weight bearing toes.

It’s been about 2 months since the last vet visit and x-ray and only just two days ago did we give him a short amount of free roam time. No swelling today as a result, so we will likely continue some intermittent free roam at night when Fable is out away. It may be placebo, but he poops much more and much bigger after that free roam spell. I was resigned to him having really small poops and barely any poops as a consequence of not really doing much in restriction, so I’m glad that exercise is indeed the culprit to help him out.

 

 

 

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[Azerane]

Yes Apollo has always been a little more difficult with his weight, I’ve always just assumed that as part New Zealand White he was just more inclined to put on weight being a meat breed and all that.

Luna’s kidney troubles started with E.c earlier this year, she has a heart problem too but the kidney medication fortunately works for both.

They’re technically overdue for their vaccination but I think at this point I’m going to wait until we repeat her ultrasound to make sure there’s not more issues and I can discuss it more with the vet then.

I’m glad to hear that Wick is on the mend too, it can be so tough restricting them like that.

[jerseygirl]

Well done, Apollo! I found this older photo from back when he had defined abs. Might inspire him further?

If increasing greens helps with weight loss, I’m going on this diet too. Do I have give up chocolate though?

[jerseygirl]

@Wick I’m so surprised it’s taken a while for his paw to heal. It goes to show how much they can weight bear on those front feet at times. I was thinking this recently when watching TimTim jump off the bed. He does it with ease but I wonder what strain it puts on those bones. I do have a low thing at end of bed he could go down half a level first but he tends to opt for the full jump.

Speaking of TimTim , i got to see some cool xrays a few days back of his bladder. Looks so big when full! It was also opportunity for vet to check hips & knees which I’m pleased to say are looking good.

[Hazel]

@jerseygirl : The abs! 😆

@Azerane : Glad things are going well with the bunny dieting! I know it’s hard. I just started my newest diet attempt yesterday.

 

An update on our stray cat problem: We did contact animal control, never heared back fom them and as far as we can tell they haven’t done anything about it. The cats are still there doing their thing. The only new development is a new litter plus the neighbors have build a cat house in the yard for them, so I’m guessing they aren’t planning to get rid of them anytime soon. I’ve tried fortifying my backyard defenses, but they still get in. One of the cats for whatever reason keeps throwing up right infront of my back door, three times in the past week or so. The other day I found a dead and mangled bird in the yard, feathers and guts everywhere. That was the first time in a while I was about to let Otis play out there but I scratched that after finding the mess. He hasn’t been out there lately because we were waiting for the cat’s and his flea meds to kick in. That turned out to be a neccessaty after Mosby became ill. We took him to the vet and he tuned out to be anemic, almost bad enough to need a blood transfusion. Turns out both he and Lily contracted a bacteria that’s transmitted through fleas so I know it came from those cats. Costs us Over $700 to treat them both. Otis also got attacked by one of them, I walked him past our trash can and it went for him, now he’s got a scar on his nose. I also sadly ran over one of the kittens that was sleeping under my car. At this point I guess I just have to trap them and take them to the pound. I hate doing that but things have gone far enough.

[Azerane]

That sounds like a really difficult problem Hazel. I hope you can get it sorted somehow. Maybe the rabbits temporarily need a secure run for the yard so they can at least get some time out?

Boy do I have a story for you guys! I had an interesting day yesterday. We have a nice big park super close by so I’ve been walking there a lot with either my camera or binoculars to record birds etc. First I had a huge highlight when a White-bellied Sea-eagle flew over (a bird that should not be over a suburban area but was probably flying from a reservoir back to the coast). I was having a great walk, lots of birds, some great photos. Not long after the eagle I stuffed up when I took a few steps off the path without checking the ground first. I was looking at something for only about a second when I thought I felt something on my boot, I ignored it but felt it again. I looked down but there wasn’t anything there, and when I moved my foot the sound of movement didn’t match my foot. I looked behind me to see not one, but two Eastern Brown Snakes. (For a bit of context, these are one of the most common snakes but also I think second most venomous in the world). I will admit, panic did overtake me a little bit. Normally I’m pretty calm, I’ve seen a lot of snakes, but not only did they catch me by surprise but they were sort of flailing around a bit in a weird way which made it tough to tell which way they were going. I do wonder if I’d interrupted them mating which would explain the unusual movement. Needless to say, I then flailed around a little bit to get away from them back to the path and I watched them both bolt into a tiny hole less than a foot away from the walking track. At first I thought that it was lucky they didn’t strike me, until I remembered I’d felt something on my boot. I did a thorough check of both legs, no bites, before quickly continuing on. Fortunately I was somewhat near the end of my walk because after that my nerves were completely shot and every single stick looked like a snake. Today I went out and bought a pair of gaiters, which are protective leg wear that covers the top of the boot and stops just below the knee. I always wear boots, long thick socks and long pants regardless, but the extra protection will be worth it. I was also mad at myself, I’m normally very careful, I’m very aware that I’m looking up for birds so I’m constantly checking the ground for hazards, rocks, ant nests, snakes etc. All it took was to not check that one time and I nearly ended up in hospital.

So that’s my near death experience, I hope you are all fairing a bit better than me, lol. Moral of the story, always watch where you’re walking 🙂

[DanaNM]

Oh my gosh AZ, that’s a crazy story!

 

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Wick & Fable]

Oh my goodness @Azerane! I’m so glad you’re OK and are simply reporting your experience. Definitely a good reminder to dress appropriately for the outdoors.. I can imagine birds are a wonderful distraction and can make us put our guard down, haha.

At this point, literally starting last week, we started letting Wick out free-roam for about 1hr every other day. So far (in my daily checks), no paw swelling, which is positive. We think we’ll continue this staggering, limited free-roam until we get a new x-ray in December. If all looks good, we’ll transition to more heavily switching Fable and Wick’s free-roam time (as opposed to Fable getting all of it, haha).

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[Bam]

@Hazel, that’s just awful. Could you put Mosby on maintenance Revolution until you can get rid of the cats? (Maybe you already have). Poor cats, its so sad. Lots of stray cats here, I hate finding their dead victims in the garden. I know the strays must eat, but people really ought to spay and neuter their outdoors cats. There is a new law here that says fertile cats must be kept indoors, I hope it will make a difference. But people still get “summer kittens” and leave them to die or go feral when they go back home in the fall 🤬

@Az 😱😱😱 Thank goodness you werent bit!!! We have vipers here but they’re mostly dangerous for dogs.

@Wick & Fable How lovely for Wick!! Fingers so crossed for him!

[LBJ10]

@Hazel – What kind of fence do you have? If it’s a wooden privacy fence, can you put one of those anti-cat measures along the top? Like a cat fence roller? I’m just thinking that if you can at least keep them out of your yard, it would help some. I know I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m still wondering if a local cat rescue could help capture some of the cats. Catch-neuter-release programs have proved successful where I live.

@Azerane – Wow… I knew a lot of things can kill you in Australia, but this makes it feel a lot more real. To think you can just be casually walking along in a city park and accidentally step on a venomous snake. 😮  I’m glad you’re OK!

@Wick – Aww, I hope Wick continues to improve. The poor thing has been cooped up for so long because of this injury.

[ParsleyBun]

Ahhh! @Azerane!  I’m terrified of snakes so I probably would have fainted or something. Even if the snakes weren’t poisonous! I seem prone to crazy experiences like that… I guess I’m just accident prone! Like the time I laid my phone face down on a rock and sat on it. 🙄 I guess thats just more me being a dummie though… And yes, it broke the screen. And mostly killed the phone.

[Azerane]

Thanks guys, it was certainly a wake up call, lol.

I’m glad to hear that Wick is doing well resuming his free roam time in short stints. That’s very positive and I’m sure he’s glad to be getting out and about again for a bit.

So I rang our rabbit specialist who dealt with Luna’s E.C. issues etc to try and book in for a vaccination for her and Apollo. I was going to wait until she had her ultrasound next month but I’d heard rumour of a vaccine shortage. As it turns out I’m already too late, they have a waiting list and the earliest they expect to get more Cylap vaccine is December but I’ve also heard it might not be until January. Our other vet that I normally go to for their vaccines is out as well. I can ring around to have Apollo vaccinated but I need to discuss Luna’s kidney issues with her vet before I have her vaccinated.

Editing to add. I rang around some other clinics. I had wondered whether a clinic that isn’t as well known for rabbits would be more likely to have the vaccine. Turns out they do. I booked both rabbits in and can discuss with the vet on the day regarding her kidney issues and do some more research before then. If I’m uncomfortable with it I just won’t get Luna jabbed on the day but at least Apollo will be covered.

[ParsleyBun]

It’s kind of been a crazy week….. I’ve been trying to decide about spaying my buns. They are almost 18 months and bonded from birth. They have never really hurt each other, but I know the cancer risk is very big. This is the chat thread: https://binkybunny.com/forums/forum/house-rabbit-q-a/ I have been talking to my family about it and my dad (I still live with my parents, and he is sorta co-owner of the bunnies) thinks spaying would be good.

[Azerane]

ParsleyBun, I think spaying is the right call, especially for females. Their cancer risk gets so high, it’s just the sensible thing to do. You just need to be sure to go through an exotic vet so they get the very best care 🙂

Apollo and Luna go in for their vax tomorrow. I’m just going to pretend I’m not nervous, lol. Usually they’ve just been a bit flat for the following 24 hours, hoping it’s nothing worse this time.

[ParsleyBun]

Would it change their personalities? Also, would it mean a vet is better if they have a better facebook page, free coffee, and separate dog and cat waiting rooms?

[LBJ10]

It won’t change their true personalities. But you will notice less hormonal behavior. Sometimes people mistake hormonal behavior for personality, so they think spaying/neutering changes their personality because those hormonal behaviors are no longer there.

And no, I wouldn’t rely on appearances when choosing a vet. Separate waiting rooms aren’t a bad thing if the vet also sees dogs and cats… but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are better when it comes to rabbits either. Do they see rabbits there? Is there an exotics vet on staff?

[ParsleyBun]

I am deciding between 2 vets, but I know pricing for one vet is $52 for a checkup and $106 for a spay. I don’t know pricing for the other but I know that they both treat/spay exotics.

[DanaNM]

That sounds like a very reasonable price for an exam and spay. I would just ask some questions about how many spays they do, what their “success” rates are, and what after-care they provide.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[ParsleyBun]

Yes, I will call both vets on Monday and ask those questions!

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