Ear infection - surgery?

[Shimmer]

I'm quite worried about RVHD2 as there's lots of rabbits in the area and she hasn't had the Yurvac vaccination yet. So I've stopped all outside food foraging for her.

I was thinking of finding some of that stuff grown for cats cause i figure that's grown in a polytunnel or something

Cat 'grass' tends to be wheat grown from seed. It's still fine for rabbits.

You could grow your own grass from seed in trays or pots on a windowsill, and rotate them as they get eaten / allow to grow again. Just make sure that the seed hasn't been coated with anything (eg fertiliser or fungicide) - it will say on the packet. You could also collect your own seeds locally eg fresh from a friend's garden.

 

[katbun]

Have you considered or tried Readigrass for Piper?

Yes I'm mixing it into her hay atm and she does eat some but not lots, she usually likes big bits of hay and its all small fragments which may be why?

 

[katbun]

Cat 'grass' tends to be wheat grown from seed. It's still fine for rabbits.

You could grow your own grass from seed in trays or pots on a windowsill, and rotate them as they get eaten / allow to grow again. Just make sure that the seed hasn't been coated with anything (eg fertiliser or fungicide) - it will say on the packet. You could also collect your own seeds locally eg fresh from a friend's garden.

Good to know, i suppose i could collect some seeds to grow, I'm doing that with dandelions currently

 

[katbun]

I'm thinking of foraging some tree leaves after reading some threads, so try to keep her teeth worn down, she always loved apple and grape leaves/stems when we had them in the garden. And I feel better about foraging those cause what wild rabbit could pee up a tree, right? Also I saw hawthorn and blackberry on the list - would they not be too spiky for a bunny's little mouth?

 

[Shimmer]

The main issue with spikey forage is protecting your fingers, and finding something suitable to carry it back in (ie. a box rather than bag). Rabbits don't seem to have an issue with it.

Willow is plentiful at this time of year and easy to pick. It dries well, so you could store for later.

I don't pick anything below knee height in a public place, especially from the side of a road or path. Dogs will have been on it and general grot gets splashed up on to it. Anything higher up, further in or on a wall is likely to be generally cleaner. Tree branches have the advantage that wild rabbits won't have been there.

 

[katbun]

The main issue with spikey forage is protecting your fingers, and finding something suitable to carry it back in (ie. a box rather than bag). Rabbits don't seem to have an issue with it.

Willow is plentiful at this time of year and easy to pick. It dries well, so you could store for later.

I don't pick anything below knee height in a public place, especially from the side of a road or path. Dogs will have been on it and general grot gets splashed up on to it. Anything higher up, further in or on a wall is likely to be generally cleaner. Tree branches have the advantage that wild rabbits won't have been there.

There's so much willow everywhere, but she's on a high dose of Metacam everyday so I'm not feeding that unfortunately. I know a good nature reserve near the shops that is full of apple and hawthorn so I'll go and pick some of the high up branches later (and watch her very carefully with the spiky thorns). She'll be delighted!

 

[Omi]

There's so much willow everywhere, but she's on a high dose of Metacam everyday so I'm not feeding that unfortunately. I know a good nature reserve near the shops that is full of apple and hawthorn so I'll go and pick some of the high up branches later (and watch her very carefully with the spiky thorns). She'll be delighted!

If you look carefully at the Hawthorn, you'll see that any newish growth hasn't got thorns. It's easily identified by the fact that all of the old growth has probably still got some remains of last year's berries. The stems are also softer.

 

[redmal]

Prince seems to have no problem with hawthorn, bramble, raspberry, nor even gooseberry. He loves the leaves, and the flowers. Also has a go at the twigs, although he carefully eats around the worst of the thorns, especially gooseberry. I never give twigs with fruit on though, worried about pips and seeds.

 

[katbun]

We're very much enjoying apple over here

 

[redmal]

Piper seems to be smiling a satisfied smile in this pic. Gorgeous!

 

[Sally&PabloBunny]

Few pics of piper this morning, her sneezing has definitely cleared up and in the last few days she's been hopping onto the sofa! Mostly to dig up the quilt not hangout, but I'm glad she's having fun either way.

Only think now really is her hay consumption, I'm going to pets at home later to pick up some other types that look nice and soft, unless anyone has any ideas? Her current hay is hayshed timothy, and she's been sort of off it since the last box arrived, so not sure if its pain or this batch (probably both)
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Ur bunnies are so cute!

 

[Omi]

Gorgeous photo of Piper and the apple Was it easy to get?

 

[katbun]

Gorgeous photo of Piper and the apple Was it easy to get?

Was pretty easy given the abundance in the park near us, but I'm glad she likes hawthorn cause i feel better about hacking branches off that in a woods than taking apple branches from the community nature reserve!

 

[katbun]

Piper seems to be very much on the recovery, we're nearly at the end of 2 weeks of antibiotics (and increased painkillers) and she's stopped sneezing and is back to eating some hay! Still bounding around asking for treats as per usual, and making a huge mess digging her tray out. She's been sitting like this more lately- anyone know what that's about?

 

[bunny momma]

Piper seems to be very much on the recovery, we're nearly at the end of 2 weeks of antibiotics (and increased painkillers) and she's stopped sneezing and is back to eating some hay! Still bounding around asking for treats as per usual, and making a huge mess digging her tray out. She's been sitting like this more lately- anyone know what that's about?

I cannot explain her posture, yet was glad to read her sneezing has responded to the abx and increased pain meds. I hope she remain sneeze free and happy for a long time.

 

[InspectorMorse]

Piper seems to be very much on the recovery, we're nearly at the end of 2 weeks of antibiotics (and increased painkillers) and she's stopped sneezing and is back to eating some hay! Still bounding around asking for treats as per usual, and making a huge mess digging her tray out. She's been sitting like this more lately- anyone know what that's about?

Have you checked her bum area ? If she has a mucky bum she could be very sore, hence the way she is laying down

 

[katbun]

Have you checked her bum area ? If she has a mucky bum she could be very sore, hence the way she is laying down

She's keeping herself nice and clean down there, she just keeps pressing her head down onto the floor or her foot. Maybe her jaw hurts? I'll ask the vet next time I go.

 

[katbun]

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1838816066/soft-hocksocks-1-pair-of-socks-for?ref=user_profile&bes=1&logging_key=6011d94578cd2dc4d4b5840165e8df15fb3c467c%3A1838816066

These are the ones I bought. I bought one pair first to see if she tolerated them and then another pair as they would need regular washing.

Re the metacam/meds, have you tried "hiding" it? I'd put a tiny bit on different foods and hand feed them, or mix into a combination of baby food and critical care. Sometimes it just helps to take some of the stress out of it, but it depends how smart Piper is!

This shop seems to be on a break so i had a go at making one and i though it was pretty good but piper did NOT. How long did it take Lilac to not bite them, or was she fine from the start? I don't want Piper to eat the velcro/thread!

 

[Orenoko]

This shop seems to be on a break so i had a go at making one and i though it was pretty good but piper did NOT. How long did it take Lilac to not bite them, or was she fine from the start? I don't want Piper to eat the velcro/thread!

I was lucky, she never tried to nibble them or anything. I only put them on her when I was home though just in case, although I wfh a lot so she wore them most of the time. Some of them just won't have it!

 

[katbun]

I was lucky, she never tried to nibble them or anything. I only put them on her when I was home though just in case, although I wfh a lot so she wore them most of the time. Some of them just won't have it!

What a good rabbit! I got nervous about my DIY attempt not being safe so I took it off her . I think she was antagonised by all the catching and measuring (it took 3 attempts to make one she couldn't just flick off), so I may try again today.

Her hocks are still looking sore, although we wrestled around with her yesterday getting all her back nails trimmed so maybe that will help? I think the main issue is I put fleece blankets over the carpet in her favourite areas, but she just wants to dig them up so as the sit on the scratchy carpet. And she has more time than me

In other news I have had to be very insistent with the vet about them seeing her again to get more antibiotics, they kept saying they would call me and then not. Yesterday morning she was all droolly and wheezy after nearly 2 weeks of no symptoms, and then half an hour after I'd made a frantic call to the vet she cleaned herself up and was fine! But either way we're going to see the other rabbit savvy vet at the practice on Monday for (hopefully) more antibiotics for the ear infections, a look at her teeth, and something for her hocks. Do you guys recommend anything in particular for sore hocks? They're not oozy or broken skin, just look rubbed raw really, and the hair is thinning. I've been putting Sudocrem on occasionally.