LilacBunbun
Warren Scout
Hello everyone!! Last August, I adopted a 3-year old girl and named her Milka, as she easily passes as a miniature cow.
Milka came with a lot of issues, since she was severely neglected, living in her own excrements, being fed with muesly & drinking from a bottle, the known situation a bunny has to endure when she is being offered as a present.:roll: From the first day I was sure she was abused, as she was screaming like a pig every time we tried to touch her & was very afraid of hands. Her previous owner gave her away because she was too aggressive and nobody could touch her. This changed drastically, as two days later she became the cuddliest bun I've ever seen.:roll:
She was spayed shortly after she settled and the vet said that uterine cancer was starting to grow. I also had to trim most of her fur because she was too dirty, had mites that were treated immediatelly, long story short, she was in great shape...
Despite all these issues, she is always happy & cuddly, a great hay eater (and pooper) and the only problem that was not completely treated was that the area around her mouth was always wet & slightly dirty. This led us to check her teeth which are in great condition and check the oral bacteria. At first, we found some bacteria that were treated with the antibiotics dictated by the culture, but then the problem reoccured. As a result, the vet asked to keep her in the clinic for monitoring. So, after staying in the clinic for 3 days and having her x-rayed top to toe, we found out that her spine was fractured in the past. The injury is located at the level of the thoracic vertebrae & it seems to be done by pressure from the top (like someone hit her/stepped on her or grabbed her). This explains a lot to me as why she was so terrified of hands & people in general. Due to the fracture, her spine lacks elasticity, so she is not able to wipe her face after drinking from the bowl, and thus stays wet and she is not that great with eating her cecals. The vet prespribed gabapentin (low dose) to see if it helps.
I need your advice on the following:
- I plan to purchase a infrared lamp to help her feel better. Does anyone have experience with IR lamps & rabbits or rabbit physiotherapy in general?
-I read that Symphytum (Comfrey) is great for fractures. Has anyone used it for that reason?
-Milka has to put on some weight, as she lost quite some after coming home. This happened because of the diet change (from muesly to meadow hay, veggies & bunny nature pellets), excercising (from cage to free roam) and as a consequence to not eating her cecals all the time, which is very worrying. She is now 950gr and should be at least 1,2kg. I read that adding a tsp of rolled oats daily helps with weight gain. Is there anything else i can do?
Thanks in advance, and to anyone who has the patience to read all the story!
Milka came with a lot of issues, since she was severely neglected, living in her own excrements, being fed with muesly & drinking from a bottle, the known situation a bunny has to endure when she is being offered as a present.:roll: From the first day I was sure she was abused, as she was screaming like a pig every time we tried to touch her & was very afraid of hands. Her previous owner gave her away because she was too aggressive and nobody could touch her. This changed drastically, as two days later she became the cuddliest bun I've ever seen.:roll:
She was spayed shortly after she settled and the vet said that uterine cancer was starting to grow. I also had to trim most of her fur because she was too dirty, had mites that were treated immediatelly, long story short, she was in great shape...
Despite all these issues, she is always happy & cuddly, a great hay eater (and pooper) and the only problem that was not completely treated was that the area around her mouth was always wet & slightly dirty. This led us to check her teeth which are in great condition and check the oral bacteria. At first, we found some bacteria that were treated with the antibiotics dictated by the culture, but then the problem reoccured. As a result, the vet asked to keep her in the clinic for monitoring. So, after staying in the clinic for 3 days and having her x-rayed top to toe, we found out that her spine was fractured in the past. The injury is located at the level of the thoracic vertebrae & it seems to be done by pressure from the top (like someone hit her/stepped on her or grabbed her). This explains a lot to me as why she was so terrified of hands & people in general. Due to the fracture, her spine lacks elasticity, so she is not able to wipe her face after drinking from the bowl, and thus stays wet and she is not that great with eating her cecals. The vet prespribed gabapentin (low dose) to see if it helps.
I need your advice on the following:
- I plan to purchase a infrared lamp to help her feel better. Does anyone have experience with IR lamps & rabbits or rabbit physiotherapy in general?
-I read that Symphytum (Comfrey) is great for fractures. Has anyone used it for that reason?
-Milka has to put on some weight, as she lost quite some after coming home. This happened because of the diet change (from muesly to meadow hay, veggies & bunny nature pellets), excercising (from cage to free roam) and as a consequence to not eating her cecals all the time, which is very worrying. She is now 950gr and should be at least 1,2kg. I read that adding a tsp of rolled oats daily helps with weight gain. Is there anything else i can do?
Thanks in advance, and to anyone who has the patience to read all the story!
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