Lesson(s) I've Learned While Trying to Take Care of a Sick Bunny

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BunnyMommy

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Lesson #1: How long does it take to give a bunny his medication?

ANSWER: 15 seconds to pull the liquid medication up into the dropper.

2 hours to chase the bunny around the room.

1-1/2 to wrestle the bunny down.

20 minutes to force feed the medication into the bunny's mouth with the syringe.

TOTAL TIME SPENT: 3 hours 50 minutes and 15 seconds :X

Lesson #2: How long does it take a bunny to forgive you once you take him to the doctor?

ANSWER: AT LEAST two days.

Lesson #3: How long does it take a bunny to forgive you once you force him to take his medication?

ANSWER: AT LEAST two days.

Dear friends, I'll continue to fill you in as we struggle through the next trying nine days of Sherman's treatment plan.
 
Oh bless him!! Whats wrong with sherman? When my last bunny had to have medication because i didn't want him to hate me i got my mum to give it to him!!;)

Do do do(!) keep us informed!!
Luv 4rm loz n ebs n fudge
xoxoxo:D
 


Dear Bunny Mommy,

They sure don't lack for attitude, do they?! You're little Sherman's going to teach you a thing or two.

Keep a close eye on him. He's a sick little guy with that mucus problem. I'm very concerned about him.

-Carolyn
 
Hi, Loz 'n Ebony! He has a respiratory infection.

Carolyn, thanks so much for your concern. I still can't get over how wella bunny can pout! :(
 

Ya ain't been ignored 'til ya been ignored by a bunny!

-Carolyn
 
Bunny mommy,

Right behind the front teeth, on the left or the right, and before their molars there is an "empty spot" along their jaw bone, an ideal location to insert the nozzle of the syringe, even though Sherman may"gum" it because he's registering his anger.

Once the nozzle is inserted into this location, push ever so slowly on the syringe plunger, allowing him time to "eat" or "drink" the medication, as the case may be. Once the med is in his mouth and on his tongue, if is difficult for him to get rid of itany other way, but swallowing. Not impossible, mind you, but difficult for him to find some way to circumvent your medicating him.

They are little buggers, aren't they? When I used to try and give a papaya enzyme tablet hidden in some other food, like banana for example, to one of my does, she would accept the banana, chew away contentedly, then spit out the tablet when she was finished with the banana!

Figured I'd fix her, so I ground the pill up, dug a hole in the piece of banana, inserted the powder into the hole, plugged the hole with banana, and fed it to her. She ate all around the hole and plug, leaving the ground up powder intact, and walked away!

Now, she gets papaya and pineapple enzymes in her drinking water. She has no choice but to drink it, the silly little twit!

Hope Sherman will take his medicine like the little man that he is, what with being so angry, and tough and all. LOL


Buck
 
Thanks, Buck! This info is very helpful!

This whole experience has been a real eye opener for me. When you think of bunnies, you think of sweet, meek, passive little "angels"who are always happy and joyful. To find out that I have a little bugger who pouts has just really thrown me for a loop! And he's so very SMART too! You wouldn't believe (well, yeah you can :? ) how fast he was thinking on his feet on how to avoid taking this medicine! My husband and I were worn out when we finally got it down him ... and he was too!

Next dosing is at 11:00 ... and I'm not looking forward to it!
 
P.S. What really makes this all so surprising is that when we got him he was so meek and timid.When we picked him up he was cowering almost, he was so afraid of the new environment and all, and although he's been wary of us during his time here he's been just so SWEET! Why, he's my little baby!!!

What a transformation is made when a bunny gets angry. He has really hurt my feelings!
 

He's very sick, Sweetie, and he's not himself. He knows you're trying to help him.

The medicine is gross, and it's just not right how he has to have it forced down his throat in his little brain. It's just unnatural to him.

My whole heart goes out to you, Bunny mommy. I can't stop thinking about you and Sherman.

God Bless your Loving Heart.

-Carolyn
 
Bunnymommy,

Your rabbit is acting like a child. Think about when a kid is being forced to take medicine or eat brussel sprouts, they hate it and "hate" their parents! It's normal and I'm sure he still loves you very much, he will get over it with time, just keep showering out love and treating him so he gets better. :)
 
Sometimes it helps if you wrapa recalcitrant bunnyup ina towel, like a bunny burrito, with just their head sticking out, and thus not able to kick and scramble as much. One of you can hold the "burrito" while the other works at administering the medication.

Try not to lose your temper or your cool with him. Carolyn is a proponent of the belief that buns can "sense" all kinds of things from us that we are unaware they are capable of. If you were to see her interact with her Tucker, itoften appears uncanny the way he seems to understand what she is saying, so the more I keep that in mind when I interact with my own rabbits, the more I'm finding that they respond favorably toward me.

With that concept in mind, talk to him in a reassuring, cooing, high pitched, womanly manner, as if reassuring an infant, for it is known that rabbits respond well to that tone of voice. He's scared and angry. His life has been rift with changelately and bunnies crave stability. Try not to think of it as a "personal" thing. It usually takes bunnies a week or two to begin adjusting to a new home, sometimes longer, and he's not feeling well on top of that.

Thank goodness, he found you guys, just in time to take care of him! Can you imagine what would have happened to him if he was left at the shelter? :(

Buck


 
Some people claim rabbits are telepathic. But perhaps they cannot see our thoughts, but rather can sense our thoughts. It's well known that animals can sense emotions, maybe rabbits are capable of sensing emotions we are not aware of when we think of things.

Laura
 


Dearest BunnyMommy,

Buck points out something that I tend to almost keep hidden for fear of appearing 'loony'.

He's absolutely right. Thank you, Buck, for believing in me.

I do strongly believe that for every action there is a reaction, animals or human.

Whether you're a rabbit or a human, we all feel and express happiness, stress, sadness, anxiety, joy, play, concern, shyness, guilt,depression, affection, love, fear, confusion...and anything else you folks can think of.

Having the capability of such emotions, we know when someone's trying to help us. People don't have to speak the same language to know when someone's trying to help them. They can see it in their eyes and feel it in their touch.

Talk to the animals as though they understand. You'll be surprised by their body language and eye contact how much they do understand.

-Carolyn
 
Rabbits indeed have senses that we as humans cannot understand. Perhaps the human nature of being insensitive has taken it's toll on us, but animal people indeed seem to be more compassionate and understanding, maybe animals help us find a part of ourselves we lost a long time ago. I know that sounds almost corny but that's what I believe. As we get older, we lose the compassion and caring we have as children (you notice how children are always trying to "save the world" or the animals in it) but animals indeed help us to preserve that or regain it in some cases. Okay now I will stop in case I sound like a total nut to anyone.

Laura

P.S.- Carolyn, I don't think you're "loony" by any means. :)
 


I, too, think that the purest of souls and hearts are those of children and animals, Laura.

-Carolyn
 
Thanks, again, Buck! :) We did indeed do the "bunny burrito" thing and it did help somewhat.The big challenge though was in catching him. :(

I've tried to be very patient and loving with him, and I do talk "baby talk" to him while we're trying to give him the medication.I've just been so surprised to see my sweet, loving, little "baby"begin to pout and get angry with me.

I thank you all for your words of encouragement and actually I totally agree with you all on the pet psychic/telepathic/empathic thing. My only hope has been that underneath all of his anger and pouting that Sherman knows that we love him and are trying to do the best we can to just make him feel better. I've told him this quite a few times too. ;)

You all are such a wonderful group of people! I don't know how I would have gotten through all of this without you!


 


BunnyMommy,

He knows you're helping him. He just hates the process.

You know he loves you. He watches you like a hawk.

I'm praying that the medication takes effect Now.

He knows he'd loved. He's waited for that.

-Carolyn
 
Bunnymommy,

Here's a tip that goes along with the whole rabbits being telepathic and able to feel emotions. When you go to catch him, you're probably thinking about catching him, try not to do this, instead think of petting him or giving him a treat, it works with my rabbits when I try to get them out of their cage. I used to spend hours trying to pick them up because I was concentrating on catching them and not trying to fool them as to what I wanted. It may or may not work, but it's worth a shot!

Laura
 
BunnyMommy,

If you can get to your Sherman and pet him before you give him the medication, take a few moments and tell him what's going to happen and why you have to do this. Just pet him quietly until his eyes start to relax. I do believe they understand our feelings or our words completely. I'm probably nuts, but if nothing else, it develops trust and calms them down so you can pick them up.

If you can't, when you catch him, and put him in the burrito, hold him as a baby and keep his head tucked into your folded elbow with his back feet slightly elevated, pet between his eyes and coo him. Tell him everything's okay and that you've got to give him his medication and why. He'll fuss when you administer it most likely, but when it's done,relax him again by the cooing and the pets, keep him tucked into you and slowly loosen up.

-Carolyn
 

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