Delete: Poor Bun! Need Advice

I believe I posted this in the wrong section. I copied what was there.


Hello,

I've been to this site many times in the past but haven't needed it for a long while. Now I have a problem, and I'm wondering whether this is the right choice. My mother and father know this lady at work and she told my parents that her close friend is moving away and they have a house rabbit they need to 'get rid of'. They were leaving in a day or two and needed an answer. I was unsure, because at this point I'm not looking for a rabbit. BUT I changed my mind when my mom said they might kill it if they can't find a home for it. Now, I'm getting a male rabbit thay is possibly neutered. I doubt it though, since she said "They got him from a petstore so he might be fixed." Most petstores around here aren't that caring about they rabbits welfare. I'm planning on phoning the local rescue and tellin them what happened and offer to foster him till he gets a permanent home. Does this sound proper? The rescue is building an actual center but for now they only foster.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reply from Anitgone

Poor bunny! I bet he is not neutered; I have never heard of pet shops getting the animals they sell neutered. Definitely call the rescue centre before you take him on. Bear in mind that he may not be in good condition and you may end up dealing with huge vet bills. I am quite sure that what the owners are doing is illegal (in addition to being immoral). I am sorry I am not familiar with the animal welfare laws in Canada.
__________________.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------My Reply

I feel a little foolish, but I already have him. The lady my mother works with said that if they didn't find him a home today or tomorrow then they'd euthanize him.

I'm aware of how bad he could've been, and he is bad. I can't take him to the vet as to the fact that it's a holiday and nothing is open, and because our vet's aren't too rabbit savy. I really need some advice, though. He had no hay whatsoever. Just some cheap uknown brand of feed with sunflower seeds and coloured shapes and corn. Should I give him half of that (without coloured pieces, corn, etc) with half of my mix?

He has a poor looking water bottle. I don't have an extra atm but I'll keep a sharp eye on it to see if it gets low. Should I give him a full bed of hay, a little hay, or just leave his cage empty with the full littertray? He MIGHT have fleas, since he was scratching a little. I haven't checked him too much, but he might just be scratching like any animal or human would. We have flea powder incase he does. It might be his dried urine and poo, but he has a bit of crusties on his ears. Ear mites? It's all over him, though. He def. isn't neutered. And he has sore hocks. Is there anything I could give him thats a househeld item to help him with the sore hocks? I'll check his ears more closely once he's in his clean cage but if he does have mites should I use mineral oil? If so, how much? I own an inside dog and an outside rabbit. Besides the flea's, should I be worried about my other two animals? Can dogs catch ear mites? If my rabbit's not in contact with this rabbit should she be okay, or will they be transfered from the new rabbit to Morgan? And he has liquidy poo. His rear end has a large hunk of poo clumped on. Should I cut it off with scissors or give him a bath?

Sorry to ask sooo many questions, but I really want this bunny to get better. By the way, he's an agouti and looks like some type of Dwarf. His name is Oscar. I feel for the poor guy..

1) A bun's diet should compose of 90% hay. So you should give him unlimited amount of hay, preferably timothy hay

2) don't use water bottle, it can become defective and the rabbit can't drink anything. Use a clay bowl, they drink more water that way

3) take a photo of his ear so we can decide what's happening w/ his ear

4) don't let your 2 pets come in contact w/ this new bun for the time being

5) Do not use scissor, their skin is very thin, you can easily cut him if you use scissor. Just use warm water to wash off the sticky poo. The reason he has sticky liquid poo is because he doesn't have enough hay.

6) Use Aloe Vera natural gel on his feet for now for the sore hock. You can buy that at Co-Op or other grocery store. I don't know much about sore hock, some1 else has to answer that question.

A bun only need a few teaspoon of pellet.

Hi there - I just posted to you on your original thread. Did you ask the moderators if they can move the original thread over here?

I'm going to see if I can move my other thread and delete this one, if possible.

havent seen original thread but firstly the skin this is flakey i imagine? that is mites. you will need ivermetican via injection or drops do nto use cat verisons they can kil lbunnies make sure it is for rabbits. he may also get bold patches of fur with the mites.
clean his ears in case its a build up of wax as well as mites with a cotten wool ball dipped in warm water.

next his bum. if poop is sticky use corn flour to slide off the poop if its dried on snip off with scissors or gently soften with warm water adn dry off afterwards if you see any signs of maggots or maggot eggs get to vet asap fly strike wil lkill if not treated.

next bedding. a deep layer of hay about 1ft deep wil lhelp with sore hocks and will provide ample eating material use dust free hay. whatever food he is on dried or veg only change slowly else u will upset his gut more. give him a water bowl and bottle to drink from as different rabbits prefer different types.. try and keep him away form any existing rabbits i dont think that mites are transferable to a dog(tho are to rabbits as secies specific) but if fleas then it would be. for future i would get myxi and vhd vaccs given 2 weeks apart and get a neuter done i nthe future. if the rescue can help then great. get his claws trimmed if long and his teeth looked at and heart listened to by a vet. ensure there are no other ehalth problems. then try and gradually change his food over to a comercial pellet high fibre mix such as science sleective..wagg optimum etc. obviosuly ocntinue with unlimetd hay as 85% of diet should compose of hay. let him have space to hop around if has sore hocks grass (not wet) deep hay layers of posisbly soft douvets would help. soudo creme often helps sore hocks but i wouldnt put it if they are open sores. seek vetinary adviec but i thinki ts a creme called flamazine for that. best of luck we are all here to help if you need us xxx