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Some reassuring vibes for Morrigan 1981 please...
- Thread starter Sooz
- Start date
Not sure what's happened but do remember that animal care is a very personal thing. We can learn from places like RU and rabbit-savvy vets but day-to-day care is done differently by everyone and there's no definate 'right' way.
Animals are just that - living things so even if we do things by the book there will be things that go wrong or people that don't agree with the way things are done but it doesn't make you a bad owner.
I felt like such a bad owner losing 5 bunnies in a matter of months, and really struggled to bond with Ben - I even considered rehoming him at the beginning as it was heartbreaking, I felt like I'd replaced all my buns with him. The PM results hit me hard too - apparently coccodia was the cause of death and the vet said they would've had severe diarreah, I felt like he was telling me I was a rubbish owner who couldn't spot an ill rabbit! However, every bun had been perfectly fine, eating normally and running around like normal and then found dead or dying hours later. I mean, I cycled (til the police stopped me and gave me a lift
) to the vets at midnight to rush Squishy to the vets, and to be told I'd missed something as obvious as severe diarreah just broke my heart.
However, given time to get over the huge hurdle I'm now very much back into buns
Animals are just that - living things so even if we do things by the book there will be things that go wrong or people that don't agree with the way things are done but it doesn't make you a bad owner.
I felt like such a bad owner losing 5 bunnies in a matter of months, and really struggled to bond with Ben - I even considered rehoming him at the beginning as it was heartbreaking, I felt like I'd replaced all my buns with him. The PM results hit me hard too - apparently coccodia was the cause of death and the vet said they would've had severe diarreah, I felt like he was telling me I was a rubbish owner who couldn't spot an ill rabbit! However, every bun had been perfectly fine, eating normally and running around like normal and then found dead or dying hours later. I mean, I cycled (til the police stopped me and gave me a lift
) to the vets at midnight to rush Squishy to the vets, and to be told I'd missed something as obvious as severe diarreah just broke my heart.However, given time to get over the huge hurdle I'm now very much back into buns
Frankie went into stasis last night and was a bit bloated, she took him straight to the vets and got gut stimulant and pain meds for him and he was eating again by about 9pm.
He went for his check up today and although recovered the vet said it was her fault for feeding him greens :shock: and that rabbits should only have hay, water and pellets.
When I fostered Frankie he was on a hay and veg diet and thrived on it :?
So she is a bit upset but shouldnt be because she is fab
He went for his check up today and although recovered the vet said it was her fault for feeding him greens :shock: and that rabbits should only have hay, water and pellets.
When I fostered Frankie he was on a hay and veg diet and thrived on it :?
So she is a bit upset but shouldnt be because she is fab
Ah so that must've been what caused the severe (invisible) diarreah with mine then :roll: :lol:
Even small animal savvy vets say the strangest things at times! Mine are generally great but there's been the odd time I've thought it wiser to ignore what they've said and come back to see a different vet!
Like in my case, I knew my rabbits hadn't had severe diarreah! The vet in question wanted me to go in to discuss it but if he didn't believe me (I'd told him all the symptoms of each bun as they died/got ill) then I wasn't going to waste my time :roll:
Even small animal savvy vets say the strangest things at times! Mine are generally great but there's been the odd time I've thought it wiser to ignore what they've said and come back to see a different vet!
Like in my case, I knew my rabbits hadn't had severe diarreah! The vet in question wanted me to go in to discuss it but if he didn't believe me (I'd told him all the symptoms of each bun as they died/got ill) then I wasn't going to waste my time :roll:
Morrigan1981
Mama Doe
Thanks Sooz and Ben's mum, I really appreciate your posts. Last night was probably the worst night I've ever had with the rabbits
We really suffered with the floods on Monday and we had Navy helicopters over our house most of Monday night, so with that noise and the weather I brought the rabbits in for the night. They seemed quite settled once inside and they ate their breakfast with their normal gusto yesterday morning. I usually give them veg in the morning (a leaf of spring greens, plus a cherry tomato cut into two, two slices of cucumber and two inch long pieces of celery and some celery leaves), then fresh hay to munch all day. When I got home though, Frankie just didn't look 'right'. He took a raspberry leaf (something he loves) when it was offered to him but refused a second and just sat huddled up, so I decided to take him straight to the vets. They looked at him, heard some gurgling noises in his tummy and gave him metacam, a gut stimulant and baytril. I brought him home, kept them both in and finally at about 9pm he started to eat. After that he ate everything offered including hay and started to poo.
The vet said yesterday to bring him back in this morning so I did, and they were pleased with his progress. However when I started to leave the vet said he was going to give a lecture now and then went on to say that if I continued to feed them 'treats' like vegetables then they would get GI again :shock: He feels that rabbits should only have hay and pellets (mostly hay) and that veggies are just treat foods. I couldn't get a word in edge-ways and I felt that he had really misjudged how I care for my animals.. Frankie and Jen have a diet that is at least 80% hay and they are both excellent hay eaters. I don't know what set off Frankie's statis (stress from the floods and the surrounding panic?) and to be told that I had caused it by feeding them an 'unnatural diet' really upset me. I was actually crying in the vets TBH, I've offered fretted that I don't give mine enough veg when I see some of the photos of bunnies with their veg on here, but now it seems that it should be none at all :? I don't feed cabbage (just spring greens) and limit broccoli. My vet is usually very good with the rabbits (he certainly knows his stuff) but the no-veg thing is totally new to me I just wish he'd taken the time to find out what I knew about rabbits and what diet they currently have rather than just lecturing me.
Does anyone else feed no veg at all? He also suggested that grass was fine, but when I said that we didn't have any grass that I could use for a regular daily supply he said 'well, a run would be nice for them'. I do have a run (it's nearly 8ft!) but it's on concrete. Again, just an assumption that I thought was unfair
It was a nightmare night: I set my phone to go off every hour to check on Frankie and Jen so I was knackered from that, plus it was all by torchlight because we hadn't had electricity since 2pm on Monday! Then the power finally came back at 11pm and our burglar alarm went mental and wouldn't stop: the battery had died and it had reset and as we have only been here for a year and don't use it, we didn't know the default code :shock: Eventually we stumbled across it by chance but by then I was almost sobbing with exhaustion and worry What a week I can only assume that the vet was short with me because he lives locally and suffered the same...
We really suffered with the floods on Monday and we had Navy helicopters over our house most of Monday night, so with that noise and the weather I brought the rabbits in for the night. They seemed quite settled once inside and they ate their breakfast with their normal gusto yesterday morning. I usually give them veg in the morning (a leaf of spring greens, plus a cherry tomato cut into two, two slices of cucumber and two inch long pieces of celery and some celery leaves), then fresh hay to munch all day. When I got home though, Frankie just didn't look 'right'. He took a raspberry leaf (something he loves) when it was offered to him but refused a second and just sat huddled up, so I decided to take him straight to the vets. They looked at him, heard some gurgling noises in his tummy and gave him metacam, a gut stimulant and baytril. I brought him home, kept them both in and finally at about 9pm he started to eat. After that he ate everything offered including hay and started to poo.
The vet said yesterday to bring him back in this morning so I did, and they were pleased with his progress. However when I started to leave the vet said he was going to give a lecture now and then went on to say that if I continued to feed them 'treats' like vegetables then they would get GI again :shock: He feels that rabbits should only have hay and pellets (mostly hay) and that veggies are just treat foods. I couldn't get a word in edge-ways and I felt that he had really misjudged how I care for my animals.. Frankie and Jen have a diet that is at least 80% hay and they are both excellent hay eaters. I don't know what set off Frankie's statis (stress from the floods and the surrounding panic?) and to be told that I had caused it by feeding them an 'unnatural diet' really upset me. I was actually crying in the vets
TBH, I've offered fretted that I don't give mine enough veg when I see some of the photos of bunnies with their veg on here, but now it seems that it should be none at all :? I don't feed cabbage (just spring greens) and limit broccoli. My vet is usually very good with the rabbits (he certainly knows his stuff) but the no-veg thing is totally new to me I just wish he'd taken the time to find out what I knew about rabbits and what diet they currently have rather than just lecturing me.Does anyone else feed no veg at all? He also suggested that grass was fine, but when I said that we didn't have any grass that I could use for a regular daily supply he said 'well, a run would be nice for them'. I do have a run (it's nearly 8ft!) but it's on concrete. Again, just an assumption that I thought was unfair
It was a nightmare night: I set my phone to go off every hour to check on Frankie and Jen so I was knackered from that, plus it was all by torchlight because we hadn't had electricity since 2pm on Monday! Then the power finally came back at 11pm and our burglar alarm went mental and wouldn't stop: the battery had died and it had reset and as we have only been here for a year and don't use it, we didn't know the default code :shock: Eventually we stumbled across it by chance but by then I was almost sobbing with exhaustion and worry
What a week I can only assume that the vet was short with me because he lives locally and suffered the same... Morrigan1981
Mama Doe
I'm pretty mortified that I was really upset and quite short with the vet nurse too when we left... I'm going to have to pop in over the next few days to buy some SS and I think I owe her an apology Pretty out of character for me to snap at anyone, but I was just very tired and my emotions were all mixed up
Pretty out of character for me to snap at anyone, but I was just very tired and my emotions were all mixed up Morrigan1981
Mama Doe
Thanks everyone. Tree, I didn't realise that you had gone through a similar thing with Kovu this week (I just looked up the thread). Today's the first day since the power cut I've been able to get on line properly! I'd be really interested to hear what your vet said, I'm really confused about GI / bloat and now the veggie issue too :?
carasblanco
Mama Doe
I'm so glad your bunny is ok, you did a great job of getting him to the vet right away!
My vet who is very well respected over a large region told me the same thing that yours said, about my China. He said that greens and vegetables should be treats, and that I was feeding my bun too "rich" of a diet with vegetables. I told him I don't feed starchy ones like carrots much, but he said that its the protein even tho not much to us, its a lot to rabbits. People on RU seemed to disagree, so I really didn't change the rest of my buns diets. Maybe your vet and mine went to the same conference. :?
My vet who is very well respected over a large region told me the same thing that yours said, about my China. He said that greens and vegetables should be treats, and that I was feeding my bun too "rich" of a diet with vegetables. I told him I don't feed starchy ones like carrots much, but he said that its the protein even tho not much to us, its a lot to rabbits. People on RU seemed to disagree, so I really didn't change the rest of my buns diets. Maybe your vet and mine went to the same conference. :?
Morrigan1981
Mama Doe
That's exactly what my vet said Carasblanco: that the diet I'm currently feeding is too rich, even if I'm not giving loads of veggies. It's very confusing, but I guess the advice as to rabbit care does change all the time... (I remember when I was kid the accepted wisdom was only to feed rabbit mix and no veggies at all! And hay was for bedding) :?
I think certainly for the next few days I will lay off the veggies and let Frankie get 100% back to normal, especially as they are both putting plenty of hay. But after that... I can't imagine not feeding any veg except grass :? (and I'll need to find a patch of garden I can grow grass on anyway!)
I think certainly for the next few days I will lay off the veggies and let Frankie get 100% back to normal, especially as they are both putting plenty of hay. But after that... I can't imagine not feeding any veg except grass :? (and I'll need to find a patch of garden I can grow grass on anyway!)
glad he's ok I can only reiterate what's been said already. I give each pair of rabbits two spring green leaves nightly and sometimes they get celery or carrot but that is a 'treat'. I'm scared to overdo the veg but they love it so much. Just do what you have been doing and don't worry - I bet it was the stress that set him off
I can only reiterate what's been said already. I give each pair of rabbits two spring green leaves nightly and sometimes they get celery or carrot but that is a 'treat'. I'm scared to overdo the veg but they love it so much. Just do what you have been doing and don't worry - I bet it was the stress that set him off
SOAD
Wise Old Thumper
I've posted this http://194.79.31.142/showthread.php?t=95112
bunnymadhouse
Wise Old Thumper
well ....everyone is allowed their opinion ...but ....
ive never heard of veg causeing stasis unless fed in outrageous amounts .
:? :? :? or in very young buns or elderly buns not used to it .
ALL our buns get veg and we have never had a case of stasis brought on by it :shock:
ive never heard of veg causeing stasis unless fed in outrageous amounts .
:? :? :? or in very young buns or elderly buns not used to it .
ALL our buns get veg and we have never had a case of stasis brought on by it :shock:
