katbun
Young Bun
Hi all, I'm new to the forum but not to rabbits, I've had my 2, Piper (female) and Joey (male) for nearly 8 years now! We've had our ups and downs but generally they've been very healthy. I left them with my parents (in France) when I went to Uni but a few weeks ago we brought them over to live with me in Yorkshire (that was a big journey for them!). They're adjusting to the new environment and the reduced space (they used to free roam in a big room but now they have an x-pen because I'm renting at the moment).
On to the problem - over the last 6 months, my parents were complaining that Joey was losing his litter training. I attributed that to 1) him getting older and 2) them not necessarily reinforcing litter training or removing the smell of urine from were he was weeing. Now that I have a closer eye on him I can see that he's drinking a lot more that he used to and weeing where ever he happens to be. He had some small matts on his bottom from the urine which is very unlike him as he's always been extremely clean. I've cleaned those as much as he'll tolerate so at least there's no moisture or dirt against his skin at all and I check the area multiple types a day. Thankfully no irritation or sore hocks!
He's also lost some weight - throughout his life he's been around 900g - 1kg but now he's 800g and seems thin - this was the most concerning to me. Piper has a huge appetite and we've had problems with her eating his food before (she would get fat). We usually separate them for pellet meals, but in the new house they are still very anxious when apart and Joey doesn't seem to want to eat without his friend. But if she's with him she'll gobble all her food then eat his when he wanders off from it.
In terms of food - they've eaten Versele-Laga Complete Cuni Adult pellets for most of their life but I'm moving them to Selective Naturals due to availability here and they are accepting it (phew!). Unlimited Timothy hay with some herbal forage to encourage them. Handful of veggies daily (kale is the favourite but also cabbage, rocket, spinach, carrot tops, and endives).
I'm trying too get an appointment with a new vet this week (if anyone has a good experience with one in York please let me know - I've just picked one based on reviews) but I've been reading a lot of scary stuff about problems with kidneys/liver/UTIs - what are the points I need to make sure the vet isn't missing? Questions I need to ask? Medications to avoid/encourage? It's hard to trust a new vet especially with a condition I'm not familiar with.
Also, he has chronic (for the past 3 or 4 years) sneezing and clear snot which we've had thoroughly tested over the years by specialists in France - now we just treat the symptoms with steam therapy. I feel like the new vet will blame that and not believe me in the order of events - should I just let them test it anyway? Joey really hates the swab up the nose...
Any suggestions/comments welcome, also recommendations of diet to help him gain some weight? Am I overreacting? He is eating/pooping/moving around and begging for treats, so fairly normal!
(sorry this is probably longer than it needs to be, I'm thinking about all the things to tell the new vet about)
On to the problem - over the last 6 months, my parents were complaining that Joey was losing his litter training. I attributed that to 1) him getting older and 2) them not necessarily reinforcing litter training or removing the smell of urine from were he was weeing. Now that I have a closer eye on him I can see that he's drinking a lot more that he used to and weeing where ever he happens to be. He had some small matts on his bottom from the urine which is very unlike him as he's always been extremely clean. I've cleaned those as much as he'll tolerate so at least there's no moisture or dirt against his skin at all and I check the area multiple types a day. Thankfully no irritation or sore hocks!
He's also lost some weight - throughout his life he's been around 900g - 1kg but now he's 800g and seems thin - this was the most concerning to me. Piper has a huge appetite and we've had problems with her eating his food before (she would get fat). We usually separate them for pellet meals, but in the new house they are still very anxious when apart and Joey doesn't seem to want to eat without his friend. But if she's with him she'll gobble all her food then eat his when he wanders off from it.
In terms of food - they've eaten Versele-Laga Complete Cuni Adult pellets for most of their life but I'm moving them to Selective Naturals due to availability here and they are accepting it (phew!). Unlimited Timothy hay with some herbal forage to encourage them. Handful of veggies daily (kale is the favourite but also cabbage, rocket, spinach, carrot tops, and endives).
I'm trying too get an appointment with a new vet this week (if anyone has a good experience with one in York please let me know - I've just picked one based on reviews) but I've been reading a lot of scary stuff about problems with kidneys/liver/UTIs - what are the points I need to make sure the vet isn't missing? Questions I need to ask? Medications to avoid/encourage? It's hard to trust a new vet especially with a condition I'm not familiar with.
Also, he has chronic (for the past 3 or 4 years) sneezing and clear snot which we've had thoroughly tested over the years by specialists in France - now we just treat the symptoms with steam therapy. I feel like the new vet will blame that and not believe me in the order of events - should I just let them test it anyway? Joey really hates the swab up the nose...
Any suggestions/comments welcome, also recommendations of diet to help him gain some weight? Am I overreacting? He is eating/pooping/moving around and begging for treats, so fairly normal!
(sorry this is probably longer than it needs to be, I'm thinking about all the things to tell the new vet about)
what a brave boy. I think its perfectly possible he has hurt himself trying to chew with a sore mouth. Is the excess pee continuing post dental? I know some rabbits drink more when they need a dental (my bun stopped drinking altogether when she needed one though).
