Unbalanced Bunny

Hi all,

My fella was doing some gardening today and our neighbour popped his head over the fence to ask him about one of his new bunnies. They recently bought 2 dwarf lops from Pets at Home :roll: and one of them (who is apparently 2 weeks younger) isn't putting on weight and seems to have a bit of a balance issue.

Apparently he is having trouble controlling his back legs on lino and concrete. However I have seen the poor thing when its on the grass from my bedroom window and it just lies there and does nothing.

Please bear in mind that they have 3 dogs (2 Jack Russels and a Springer) and the puppy J/R is fixated on them, will run round the run and even jump on top of it and scratch at the mesh to try and get at them.

I plan on going round after work tomorrow to offer some advice, by first saying the dog won't be helping him at all!! Also find out what diet they have their bun's on, though the other rabbit is fine and putting on weight so I don't think its a diet problem.

My fella suggested a trip to the vets which is obvious, but I'd like to try and help them out also as they are new to rabbit keeping so any advise you guys have to offer will be greatly appreciated.

My area is more in guinea pigs, though we have a couple of rabbits, I have never come across this problem before.

Thanks in advance,
Cozmo
-x-

I would suggest giving a link to this forum. I would also think a vet check is vitally important with a rabbit savvy vet, for sure.

Well I went round my neighbours after work yesterday to check out their bunnies. They had already taken the ill one to the vet to get checked out, the vet doesn't think its got EC, ear problems of anything like that. Its eating and pooping as normal just not putting on any weight.

Its completely bizarre! The poor little thing was trying to hop around but would seem to get tired and stretch itself out to have a rest. I wonder if its had a lower spinal injury at some point or has like a calcium deficiency? The poor little thing has only put on an ounce in a week and is sooo tiny and skinny. I honestly wonder if the poor lil thing was taken away from mum too early and hasn't got all the nutrience it needed.

I wondered if she should/could supplement anything to the lil thing, like goats milk soaked in brown bread or something? I have some Lactol for when one of my pigs was poorly so maybe I could give her that to try?

I'm a bit peeved at the vets (is the same one I use) because he didn't even suggest getting blood from the bun or even an x-ray. I told my neighbour to go back and insist on a blood test first and if nothing shows up, then proceed for an x-ray.

What I'm concerned is this little bunny is too weak for its vaccinations, so I want to try and find a way to start bulking this lil fella up.

Oh and another thing, they didn't get them from P@H they got them from a random pet shop in town who told them not to feed them veg until they are at least 2 months and not to feed hay AT ALL!!!! I said of course thats rubbish and they need it as part of a healthy diet and hay is THEY MOST important thing to their diet! I couldn't believe it when they told me.

Any advise you guys have I would greatly appreciate, he is an absolutely gorgeous lil bun and such a lovely nature. Thanks

If you suspect there could be a skeletal issue or calcium deficiency checking the urine for calcium expulsion might be helpful.

Perhaps the vet could perform a faecal float and check for parasites. Eating but not gaining weight does sometimes suggest parasites.

Lobo said:

If you suspect there could be a skeletal issue or calcium deficiency checking the urine for calcium expulsion might be helpful.

Perhaps the vet could perform a faecal float and check for parasites. Eating but not gaining weight does sometimes suggest parasites.

Click to expand...

Yes EC was the first thing I thought of when I read the original post. I think a blood test is definatly the way forward.

I just CANT BELIEVE that theres a pet shop out there advising people not to feed their buns hay :shock: Do you know the name of the place or have an email address?? Id happily send them loads of links to educate them more. Thats so dangerous, I dread to think of the poor buns out there that dont have hay to eat :shock::shock: