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  #1 (permalink)  
Old March 30th, 2008, 03:50 AM
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Default bunny health problems . please read (the docs...

...too)? i have an american fuzzy lop and he always seems to have problems with ileus or something that might lead to ileus. unfortunately, i am not from the states (i got him as a gift from my pal in usa) and the vets here don't have a clue about rabbits. i keep his cage super clean, i clean it with baby wipes. he also has a litterbox and i clean it immeadiately when i see he has produced stool. i feed him pellets of Genesis brand and also some parsley and apple every day. he can eat hay whenever he wants to but i've noticed he doesn't do it often. why is that. is that causing the problem with his stomach and sth that might eb ileus related. the thing is, his stool is not soft. a lot of times i can see he struggles as if he had cramps. i can see this causes him pain. i have a syrup to speed up his metabolism but he can get addicted to it. i dont want to use it often. so i just give him a piece of apple instead.

how do i make him eat more hay and stop the pain. thanks
i dont know. his belly looks large, yes, when this happens and it looks like it causes him a lot of pain
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Old March 30th, 2008, 12:07 PM
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Don't you mean large intestine or ileum?
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Old March 31st, 2008, 12:00 PM
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Hi

No idea wher eyou live that the VETS do not know rabbits??!

Here is a good link to find advice

http://www.rabbit.org/links/index.html

First Giving a lot of apple is not good as its so high in sugar.

Feed a quality Rabbit chow and offer alfalfa as a treat... Maybe try a different rabbit feed.. Purina makes a basic rabbit chow t hat is outstanding. I avoid Hartz.
ou can give parsely, cauliflower, spinach weekly as well but do not give leaf lettuce like Iceberg

If your bunny is outside offering an areas of non treated grass is great..if it is an indoors bunny only you can grow your own grass in a shallow pot for him.. but do not use fertilizer or other chemicals to grow it. You can also pick it from outside yourself and bring it in.... again make sure its clean and no chemicals on it.

Make sure he is getting plenty of water as well.. and exercise...

Also do you know its normal for bunnies to eat thier own poop?

They get vital bacteria for thier digestion doing this... they dont eat it all only some...

Good Luck.. I also urge you to stop using whatever meds you talked about until you can see a vet or even confirm they are ok to use.. they could make it ll worse.

Wismom
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Old April 1st, 2008, 12:03 PM
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Depending on just where you live, I can't say that I'm all that suprised to hear that the vets in your area don't know a thing about rabbits. Rabbit medicine is only now becoming a fairly well-known branch here in the states (there are still some places here that have that same problem). There are a few things that you can try to see if you can fix the problem. First off, I would stop using the baby wipes to clean the cage. He could be having a reaction to something in the wipes solution. Second, when you're cleaning out his cage, make sure to not clean out the cecotrophes from his bedding (these are the stools that almost resemble a really small, wet bunch of grapes)...these stools are actually not stools at all. They are a by-product of the cecum (a part of the intestinal tract) that are packed with vitamins, minerals, and the good healthy bacteria that rabbits need to ingest in order to maintain a healthy intestinal tract. The Genesis pellets are a good quality pellet, so there's no worry there. Parsley is good, but you want to make sure to provide a good variety of greens. Different greens offer different vitamins and minerals. Some good choices are: romaine lettuce, bok choy, watercress, kale, escarole, celery (cut into small pieces so that bunny can't choke on any strings), basil, cilantro, thyme, dandylion greens and flowers, etc. You can also offer red and yellow bell peppers. Carrots are one thing that need to be offered more as a treat than anything else due to their sweetness. If he's having trouble passing stools, then he's definitely not getting enough fiber or roughage in his diet, which definitely means he needs more hay. What kind of hay are you feeding him? The number one recommended type of hay for a rabbit over the age of 6 months old, is timothy hay (always free-feed hay). If you're trying timothy, and he's just not taking it, you can try an orchard grass blend. A lot of rabbits prefer the orchard grass because it gives them the same fiber and protein of the timothy hay, and also provides them more seeds and grain than timothy. As a result of the extra seed, it's a little sweeter to them. If you absolutely cannot get him to eat either, then I'd try alfalfa (even though it's not recommended, hay is too critical to a healthy bunny...I'd much rather feed a bunny alfalfa hay around the clock than not have him eating any hay). Also, how much are you feeding him with the pellets? It could be that he's just getting too much of the pelleted feed during the day, and so he just isn't hungry for the hay. Before you do anything else, I would start by cutting back on the pellets to see if that gets him to eat more hay. I hope it helps.
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Old April 2nd, 2008, 12:13 PM
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Have you gotten a diagnosis of ileus from a vet? From your post it seems as if it is difficult to find a rabbit savvy vet and sometimes you have to educate the vets yourself. Here is a good link to information that you can print out and show your vet:
www.medirabbit.com

regarding ileus here is a terrific article and there is a link there for a version to show your vet:
http://fig.cox.miami.edu/Faculty/Dana/ileus.htm

It sounds like he might have gas and there is advice on treating gas in the above article. Again, a vet is the best choice for giving you advice on pain medicine and the link to medirabbit should help.

It sounds as if you are taking good care of your bunny, alhtough a few suggestions. You don't need to clean his litterbox all the time once a day or even every other day is ok. We line the litterboxes with newspaper and top with hay and that gets ours in to use the box and eat the hay. Some bunnies don't seem to like hay or he could have a tooth problem...probably not since he eats his pellets. We have luck getting ours to eat hay by providing a choice...they like timothy, broome, oat blend, and orchard grass. There are plenty of places in the states that ship hay, but not sure how economical that would be for you. All of our bunnies LOVE the hay from www.bunnyluv.com so you might try a shipment to see if that gets his appetite for hay going.

You also want to be sure that you aren't giving him too many pellets. If he is over 1 yr you should be limiting the pellets so he doesn't get overweight and to encourage him to eat the hay.Here is a good link to suggestions about diet:
www.carrotcafe.com

Good luck with your bunny
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