Outdoor-Indoor (Temporarily)

Hey guys!

(If you want to skip the backstory go to paragraph 3)

So today I woke up and saw that my poor Toffee has huge chunks of fur missing and some really inflamed skin with spots of blood here and there, there was fur all alongside the hutch/run and Pebbles was all ok (They were both happy with each other so it wasn’t a fight) but then we took Toffee to the vets! We assumed it was from where she keeps going behind the hutch, they bite there so there must be some sharp bits and they aren’t meant to go behind there so it is quite a small space so we think she got stuck and ripped a ton of fur out and scratched herself on it...

When we got there she said that we should keep Toffee inside because we didn’t want it to get infected, she told us sudocreme (because it was almost like a nappy rash for a baby), salt water to clean it and she gave us an anti-inflammatory/ Pain-killer medicine to feed her through her mouth. We were ok with everything but we needed to buy a small temporary thing for her to live in, inside. We thought that if we bought that and then let her go in the run on the slabs in the day then she would get enough exercise but we definitely didn’t want to keep her outside because then when the hot weather comes and flys come too, she could get a fly related infection/illness. This is what we got:
As you can see, I have put a toy bunny to hopefully stop her missing her mate Pebbles!

I was wondering what I could do to make sure that moving from the outdoors to indoors (which was done quite quickly and immediately) as least stressful as it can be. Her movement is like her normally self but her eating is a lot less enthusiastic and her going to the toilet is a lot different and a lot less, the main difference is her poo is darker and smaller. At the start when she had come home from the vets, her breathing was very rapid but that is quite normal. I have kept her out of a different room than the cat when we aren’t there to supervise and I have tried to make sure that there isn’t any loud or scary noises!

Some pictures of Toffee (If you guys would like some then I will add some of her injury’s):


P.S I did try to get one of her grooming the toy rabbits but failed sadly [emoji23]

Thank you


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personally I wouldn't want to split them as she's probably very lonely and missing her bunny friend, plus you don't want to break their bond. how bad is her wound? as she'll likely be much happier back outside in her hutch with her friend, plus if being inside is all new to her this will likely scare her and might make the heeling process longer.

When I was younger we had a bunny who had a bad wound and we left her outside but checked on her constantly, plus all her bedding was throws so she didn't get any swadust in it. She was a nightmare anytime she came in the house and hated it so was much better outside and found her wound heeled really quickly.

I’m also wondering if separating is the best thing if they definitely aren’t fighting - it does sound like she’s really missing Pebbles. If you want her indoors as the vet recommended could they not both stay in - perhaps with puppy panels to make a little enclosure round the cage?

Sending vibes for a quick recovery xx

Another vote for keeping them together from me.

Hope she recovers quickly and that they comfort each other.

Toffee is a beauty isnt she? Love how you got her a dutch rabbit toy!

Another vote for keeping them together.

I don't want to advise against your vet - However I will say if the enclosure is kept clean and she has access to warm & dry areas the risk of infection shouldn't be any higher keeping her outside.

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I wouldn't separate them, can make things worse

I'd bring them both in, and make a larger area for them to be in together x

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Ruthyjones89 said:

personally I wouldn't want to split them as she's probably very lonely and missing her bunny friend, plus you don't want to break their bond. how bad is her wound? as she'll likely be much happier back outside in her hutch with her friend, plus if being inside is all new to her this will likely scare her and might make the heeling process longer.

When I was younger we had a bunny who had a bad wound and we left her outside but checked on her constantly, plus all her bedding was throws so she didn't get any swadust in it. She was a nightmare anytime she came in the house and hated it so was much better outside and found her wound heeled really quickly.

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These are some very bad pictures of some of the skin:
, I am constantly checking on her and where she would be outside isn’t exactly the driest and cleanest place at this time of year so I thought that it would be nicer to keep her indoors when we can, I will try to get her out in the run as much as I can because that would help probably. Thank you


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orangediva said:

I’m also wondering if separating is the best thing if they definitely aren’t fighting - it does sound like she’s really missing Pebbles. If you want her indoors as the vet recommended could they not both stay in - perhaps with puppy panels to make a little enclosure round the cage?

Sending vibes for a quick recovery xx

Click to expand...

Thank you, I’m hoping she will recover quick too xx


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Hi

You guys have all said about keeping my two buns together but the only thing I’m worried about is if Pebbles and Toffee are licking it, that can’t make it any better. And I would be worried about space for both of them. I do agree that they probably are missing each other and I definitely do not want to break their bond, do you guys think it would be a good idea to maybe when Toffee goes in the run, put Pebbles with her too? So they do get to see each other but not 24/7? Thank you all again!


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tulsi said:

Another vote for keeping them together from me.

Hope she recovers quickly and that they comfort each other.

Toffee is a beauty isnt she? Love how you got her a dutch rabbit toy!

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Thank you, I do think she is quite pretty too! I am quite happy I matched the breed too! I wasn’t even sure if I had a rabbit cuddly toy from my childhood collection until I looked!


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daphnephoebe said:

Another vote for keeping them together.

I don't want to advise against your vet - However I will say if the enclosure is kept clean and she has access to warm & dry areas the risk of infection shouldn't be any higher keeping her outside.

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Thank you! As I have mentioned just recently, at this time of year it can get quite dirty in there and the sawdust probably won’t make it any better, I might consider putting her outside towards the end of her recovery so it is on the way to healing.


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Graciee said:

I wouldn't separate them, can make things worse

I'd bring them both in, and make a larger area for them to be in together x

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Thank you, I will talk to my mum and see what we can do to make the area she is in currently a bit bigger.


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Toffs and Pebbs said:

Hi

You guys have all said about keeping my two buns together but the only thing I’m worried about is if Pebbles and Toffee are licking it, that can’t make it any better. And I would be worried about space for both of them. I do agree that they probably are missing each other and I definitely do not want to break their bond, do you guys think it would be a good idea to maybe when Toffee goes in the run, put Pebbles with her too? So they do get to see each other but not 24/7? Thank you all again!


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The licking shouldn't be too much of an issue in all honest as Pebbles will be able to lick it herself anyway.

You can try in the run, however they may become confused as to why they keep being separated x

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I definately wouldn't split them.

If you decide to keep them inside, then they will need a much larger area.

daphnephoebe said:

The licking shouldn't be too much of an issue in all honest as Pebbles will be able to lick it herself anyway.

You can try in the run, however they may become confused as to why they keep being separated x

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Well she does lick it and we try to tell her not too especially because of the sudocreme and we think that because of her licking it or something else that she is losing a lot more fur around the area, there is much less fur then there was yesterday and she hasn’t caught it on anything, we think she has licked it and that has made it fall out even more.


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*lily* said:

I definately wouldn't split them.

If you decide to keep them inside, then they will need a much larger area.

Click to expand...

Well at the moment we physically can’t make the area any bigger without buying a load of stuff, which my mum wouldn’t like to do.


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Toffs and Pebbs said:

Well at the moment we physically can’t make the area any bigger without buying a load of stuff, which my mum wouldn’t like to do.


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Click to expand...

I would put her back outside then.

Also, the rabbits will be missing each other and shouldn't be split.

*lily* said:

I would put her back outside then.

Also, the rabbits will be missing each other and shouldn't be split.

Click to expand...

Well her skin is getting better and she does seem less stressed when she is inside, we have been putting them out in the run together and when they are together they look so happy, once her skin is recovered enough and fur is starting to grow back I will probably put her back outside as then they can be together 24/7. However for now she seems to be getting on fine when she is inside for the night and evening and outside for the day. Thank you.


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Hi,

It's great they are getting on great outside together, so how it her wound looking now? it can take a little while for the fur to grow back, so providing the wound is looking okay, I personally would be putting her back outside with her mate as it's obvious she is missing them.

I had a bunny who had x2 broken legs with a frame on the outside of each leg, although he was confined to cage rest he loved trying to hop around again. As soon as we we're certain his bones we're strong enough he was outside in his run hopping about. During this time, he still had the frame for a week or so, which was always slightly prone to infection but he was absolutely fine. Even though his fur took a good 5-6 weeks before it started to grow back. Throughout this time, he was caged for the majority of it but he had his sister round him all the time and would constantly lie down next to him. I actually found that the fresh air did him the world of good..