Urine scald? hutch burn? ??

[EmmaJaaynee]

So me and my boyfriend took in a rabbit yesterday, i say took in a it’s one of the bf’s nephew’s rabbit, and his mother(recently seperated from the fater) was looking after. Rabbit arrived at my house around 5:20pm yesterday, and by 5:20:01pm i was heartbroken. The poor little thing had NO hay, NO food, half a bottle of greenish water and the bottom of the cage is what’s best described as what i imagine a bunny sewer system would look like? The poor thing is so shy and reluctant to come near you it’s difficult to see if there’s anything wrong with him. Obviously within minutes i had his cage disinfected, cleaned out, litter tray (which was overflowing) empty and new litter in it, fresh water, a scoop of food and OBVIOUSLY hay. (I have previously had MANY conversatiins with the nephew saying that the rabbit needs hay in his cage daily, not once for it to last weeks, he always needs it, mum’s reasoning for not putting it in.. “he’s allergic” ? what.. recently found out it was because she didn’t want the ‘mess’ from hay..?) so back to my point, the rabbit was hopping around my living room (indoor rabbit) and i noticed his legs looking preeeetty skinny.. bf also noticed and on closer inspection he has NO fur on either of his hind legs.. heartbroken times 10000? skin looks a little red, not sure if this is what rabbit skin looks like normally?? can’t really say if it’s sore or not, rabbit doesn’t stay close to inspect properly. Bathed him in lukewarm water yesterday also within an hour and the water was pure filth? tried a little shampoo on his fur, didn’t really want to get any on legs? as he was just coated in pee and poop. so, again, back to my original point, any advice on what to do, what it could be, how i can stop the mother from ever getting another rabbit? any advice will be greatly appreciated! i’ve had rabbits before, i was the child at school with aaalll the animals, but i’ve never had to deal with a rabbit in such a bad condition and living state as this one?

[Wick & Fable]

You need to bring the rabbit to an exotic vet so the proper tools and tests are available to formally assess all maladies.

To dissuade another purchase, let the mother know that with new information about rabbit care, many people believe rabbits are equally or more work than dogs, and are more expensive if they are not given the optimal care. You can also just be upfront and say it’s obvious that the rabbit is in bad condition, and one needs to realize the idea of owning a pet is not important; the effort is.

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.

[Sirius&Luna]

Thank you for taking him in!

It sounds like urine scald to me – I would hold off bathing him until you’ve been to the vet, it might just make it more sore. I think it is important to get him to a vet though – urine scald can be indicative of other problems (one of my rabbits got it when he had a kidney infection that made him pee much more than usual), although in this case its likely his horrible hutch conditions. I’d also be worried about his teeth if he hasn’t been eating hay, and he probably has nails that need trimming too.

My rabbit savvy vet has told me that you can put sudocrem (in the UK this is a cream for baby’s bums! I’m not sure what equivalents would be in other countries) on sore hocks and legs, so you could try that until you can get him to vet.

Is he eating hay? It might take a while to get him eating it if he’s been used to eating junk.

I would point out to the owners that there is no reason why getting another rabbit would end any differently to this poor creature! If you want to sever the relationship you could point out that you could report them for animal cruelty with the state the original bunny was in…. But that’s probably not wise if they’re family you want to stay in touch with.

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