Diet problems, drooling and fur pulling

[ParsleyParselby]

Hi,

I'm British living in France and my French isn't very good (my fiancé is French however) this makes trips to vets somewhat complicated as I can't ask all the questions I want to or explain things as well as I would like. I have been combing the internet for the last month trying to work out if there is something wrong with Parsley and if so what.

We bought him from a garden center just over a month ago and he was sneezing a lot and his nose was wet. We read that it could be the snuffles so we took him to the vet who confirmed this and gave him antibiotics but said otherwise was in perfect health. We gave him the meds but the snuffles didn't go and continued with a further two sets of antibiotics and another trip to the vet. We decided to stop after the third set as they didn't seem to be making any difference and a vitamin powder we add to his water (recommended by the vet) seem to help him more. He has been off the meds for over 2 weeks now and still sneezes every day but not as often and he doesn't seem to be deteriorating.

However, for the last month he has been pulling his fur out with his teeth and eating it. I read that if he were female this could be a sign of pregnancy but he is definitely male so the other apparent cause (according to the internet) is stress. We really try to keep his stress levels to a minimum he has his own bedroom (he's an indoor bunny) which he can come and go from as he pleases he has a cage and a hidey-hole box which he will spend several hours in a day but usually he choose to come and watch us watching tv in an evening. We don't pick him up or pet him overly much but we do make sure he knows he's loved.

Two weeks ago we adopted two kittens (both girls) and Parsley has taken to them exceptionally well (we thought having some non-human company may reduce his stress levels). Parsley plays with them, follows them, sleeps with them and participates in communal grooming. The fur pulling has lessened a little but is still prominent.

Next is his dietary quirks. Since we have had him he won't eat much. He will eat carrots and sometimes the tops of broccoli and sometimes some apple but no other veg. He won't touch hay or grass and he's even picky on what bits of his dried food he'll eat (he does like the grass pellets so I just bought a box of solely grass pellets but I don't want him to be on them for too long as they're alfalfa and everyone says you shouldn't give it to bunnys after they're babies). Now this is where it gets really weird he keeps eating the cat biscuits which I guess won't do him much harm but it doesn't seem right to me nor does the tuna he keeps eating off the cats' plate! A rabbit that won't eat hay but he will eat tuna?! (We decided to remove all hay from his cage and hidey hole too see if maybe he had an allergy to it and the sneezing has lessened since).

All the time we've had him he's been drooling as well it's always from his left side both times the vet has looked, the second time he was, given anesthesia so the vet could look deeper into his mouth. The vet said that everything looked fine just the molars we're a little longer than usual but nothing to be alarmed about.

I'm getting really worried about him, whilst his drooling had eased off over the last couple of weeks the last few days it's been worse than ever. He's going off carrots and eating no fresh food at all. On top of all this he became sexually active yesterday and has started honking his little love songs and humping anything from the kittens to my foot for the last two days. He has lost his litter training the last few days as well but I have read that this happens when they become sexually active.

I don't know if I'm making something out of nothing as he is a perfectly active and social rabbit which suggests he's ok. I hate to sound like one of these people who looks to the internet for everything, I know a lot of what is on the net is wrong and that's why I am so confused now. Sorry it's so long but I just want to get to the bottom of some if not all of this. I just want a healthy happy bunny

Thank you to anyone who can help me.

Bex

P.S. The kittens both had a version of the cat snuffles (choriza) when we got them but they have had antibiotics for this and recovered. One also had fleas and one had lice which have been treated and both had ear parasites which have been treated and are dying off. I don't think Parsley has caught any of these problems as I have checked his ears and fur regularly and there is no sign of any parasites and the fur pulling began long before the kittens arrived.

 

[funnybunnymummy]

I think you'll get more responses to this in the Infirmary. I'll move it for you.

Hope that helps!

Rue

 

[ParsleyParselby]

Thank you very much first time on here

 

[Pipp]

Can you check the filed that's 'pinned' to the Infirmary and make sure you've answered the questions there? Knowing his age, breed, etc, will help.

Knowing the specific antibiotics may help as well.

It sounds like he could have a dental issue, which is hard to detect. X-Rays would probably have been required. But a lot depends on his age, etc.

Are his eyes watering? The eyes, nose and ears are very connected in rabbits.

Where is he pulling the fur from?

Will he eat fresh grass? I'd try and convince him to eat whatever grass, weeds, etc, you can. (Just make sure they're not pulled from any areas where wildlife, other pets have defecated or peed and make sure they haven't been sprayed with any chemicals or anything). A wide variety of vegetation will help.

Alfalfa pellets are fine but you don't want to give him so many that he won't eat the grass and veggies. Can you find 'extruded' pellets there? THey have longer fibers and are better for their teeth.

I have several bunnies here who go after the cat food, my stunted Flemish 'Midget' was a great fan of tuna. But of course they shouldn't have it.

He definitely has 'issues', might be a bit complex trying to diagnose him, but you're on the right track with treating him holistically. Keep his stress down and his nutrients up.

Good job so far.


sas :clover:

 

[Pipp]

Here's the general questions file, although you may have answered most of them already.

http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=44529&forum_id=16

 

[David.]

I would be careful about antibiotics because it can disrupt the delicate balance of good/bad bacteria in the caecum where rabbits "ferment" their food. For the same reason I would also avoid letting him eat the cat food or tuna because these high protein foods can also throw the caecal bacterial populations out of balance. Furthermore if his appetite is low he may need more lignin (a plant fiber found in mature grass or alfalfa stems... but make sure it isn't ground to a fine powder before being pelletized) that will stimulate or speed up the digestive process. If your rabbit is eating those other foods and not getting enough fiber then the whole digestive system slows and stagnates.. causing further problems with the bacterial balance in the caecum. In the meantime if he isn't digesting food well it may be important to supplement with a vitamin powder as your vet suggested. However be very careful about what vitamins you feed him! The water soluble vitamins such as the B-vitamins are important and hard to overdose on. Vitmain A and D3 can be toxic and under normal circumstances supplementing the natural diet with them is totally unnecessary. Can you give more detail about the quantity of food he is eating? what foods they are? How much water is he drinking? Does he have a salt lick? What was the antibiotic and what is his age, size, breed? What was in the vitamin powder (concentrations and chemical names)?
sincerely,
David
http://www.naturalrabbitfood.com/crude-fiber/
http://www.naturalrabbitfood.com/rabbit-vitamin/

 

[ParsleyParselby]

IMMEDIATE INFORMATION:

Location - Obernai, France (indoor bunny with his own room, cage and hidey-hole box.

Description (Breed, color, weight) - Not sure what breed he's beige with darker ears and nose, lop ears and is about 15-20cm long (when sat not stretched) about 10cm tall. He weighs I guess between 1 and 1.5kgs (2-3.5lbs)

Age - We're not sure we think he was about 6 months old when we bought him at the beginning of July so about 7 now, no older than 8 though.

Sex - Male (not neutered)


ADDITIONAL INFORMATION / CHECK LIST:

Fecal and Urinary Output

- are the bunny's poops and pees normal? His pee has been a bit thicker and more pungent than normal but I put that down to the hormones that kicked in this week. His poops the last week have been softer and blacker and the last few days getting smaller too. The vet gave us Virbac Rongeur Digest when he was on antibiotics to help his digestion but Parsley didn't have any problems then so we stopped giving it to him. We started giving it to him every other day this week though when his poops were becoming softer.

- when did they last use their litterbox? He uses his litter box every day to pee and he poops in it everyday too he just also poops in the cats bed, in the corners and in other places he spends time in now. Again though this sudden lack of regard for previous good litter box habits I put down to his hormones.

- any unusual behavior? straining to pee? unusual litter habits? Only those covered above, I haven't noticed him straining to pee but if I do I will add it later.

- what litter and/or bedding do you use? We originally used saw dust with some hay in his cage and then hay in his hidey hole however as the antibiotics were having no effect on his sneezing we replaced all of it with shredded paper (which we can compost after unlike wood shavings ) his sneezing has not stopped but it has decreased a lot. He didn't start pulling his fur out immediately when we brought him home from the shop it was about two weeks after but before we changed his bedding to shredded paper. Since the change he is pulling his fur out less (in fact yesterday and today barely at all) but we got the kittens at the same time so I don't know which is the cause.

Medical History

- spayed/neutered? - Not yet.

- has s/he been to the vet or been sick before? - He has visited the vet twice, we have been to the vet 3 times for antibiotics for him, we didn't actually take him the second time as it stresses him so much to go in the car. As for sick before I don't know where one thing ends and another begins whether symptoms are connected or separate.

- is s/he on any medications? - We are giving him Virbac (company name) Rongeur Digest: Régulateur de la flore intestinale at the moment (rough translation intestinal/digestive regulator). He has taken three courses of anitbiotics I can't quite make the name out on the syringe I will ask Ben if he knows the name of it when he get's home from work. During his last course of antibiotics he was given Virbac Vita Rongeur Vitamines everyday in his water as the vet said that he need to boost his immune system to fight of the rest of the infection (or whatever it is).

Diet

- what specifically does your bunny eat? - Originally he would eat carrot (we were trying not to give him too much despite it being one of the few fresh veg he would eat as it is apparently high in sugar but after discussing it with the vet they said we could give him a carrot a day - we had been doing every other day) he would eat broccoli and if I cut cucumber into chunks and pierced the water bits he would eat that but he didn't seem keen on it. He wasn't keen on tomato he tried it and gave up. He won't touch hay, dried grass, fresh grass, dandelion leaves. He sometimes eats a little bit of apple but said no to strawberry, melon, pear. WE started off with Vitakraft Vita special Best for Kids (-6 months) biscuits and the shop said that was what they had been feeding the rabbits with hay (the type they sold in the shop which is where we bought our hay - however I don't know if he has been eating hay at the shop either and whether they would have noticed or not) These biscuits are small beige pellets they say on the box they contain vegetable, cereal and mineral extracts with added Vitamin A, D3, and some metal minerals (i.e. iron). Parsley would eat these. we then bought a mix biscuit bag to mix with it which contained cereal flakes, grass pellets, big red and green ring biscuits, straw and lots of seeds. Parsley would eat most of the little biscuits, and grass pellets but not the cereal flakes, straw flakes, seeds or the big colourful biscuits. (I have finished this bag so I don't know the brand or names). The next mix bag we bought was very similar but from the vets, it had less seeds in it but some dried sliced fruit and veg such as banana and no grass pellets. He would eat the same bits from this bag leaving the sliced fruit and veg as well as the big biscuits. This bag is Verselle-Laga: Cuni Nature Odor control and no pellets. Lastly we have bought some Vitakraft: Pellets + Malt. These we are mixing with the Vita special and the Cuni Nature as we we're noticing he was eating less of his biscuits now there were no pellets (he had always eaten all the grass pellets first out of the first bag). He likes these and eats them however they are 40% alfalfa, 5% malt and 10% cereals and designed for dwarf rabbits according to the packaging. It also says they contain vitamins A, B1, B2, D3 and E. We have been feeding him one bowl of biscuits in a morning (approx 100g) and then fresh veg in an evening or throughout the day (again about 1 bowls worth - if he gets through it) He used to eat nearly a whole bowls worth, well over half but now he's barely eating half a bowl. This has decreased since he keeps eating cat biscuits but we're stopping this as soon as we see him, same with the tuna and chicken cat food he has been trying to eat. HE won't eat any kind of veg, fruit or grass now for the last 5 days at least. Before he would normally eat veg if you held it for him or secured it in his bars as otherwise it would just slide around and he didn't seem to get any where but even if you didn't hold it for him he would give it ago. Now if you leave a carrot for him he won't touch it and if you try to feed it to him he just runs away like you're trying to poison him or something.

- when and what did s/he eat last? - Biscuits last night as far as I am aware.
- any changes in the way s/he eats? (ie: not eating a particular food, odd chewing motions, etc) see above


Other

- movement - any unusual movements? Is s/he hopping normally? - Yeah normal motions, he hops, periscopes, tip toes occasionally, flops down when he's happy in the sun, lies out in the cat bed, sits huddle near walls or on the rug.
- is the rabbit molting? - He is not malting excessively but as I have discussed he started pulling his fur out occasionally after a week of living with us then after 2 weeks it was nearly all the time until this last week-2 weeks it has been lessening and in the last day or two very rarely. When he pulls his fur out he eats and swallows it and it is clearly visible in his poops as they are often strung together. Perhaps this is why his poops have seen softer and sometimes a little runny lately as his fur was giving him the 'fiber' needed to hold his poops together as he has not been eating hay. One last thing about his poops, I read that rabbits are suppose to deposit moist pellets which they then eat again for second digestion. On the first day he arrived he did a couple of these and ate them but since then I have only found dry pellets and never seen him eating his poop.

- any weight loss? - He has put weight on since he moved in with us and he has grown. I have not noticed any dramatic weight loss the last few days.

- any sign of drooling? wet face? - Since a week-2 weeks after getting him he has been drooling from the left side of his mouth. He often sits grinding his teeth in a circular motion making squelchy noises. The last week - week and a half I have noticed deep rubbling noises when he does this, like hard deep breathing but almost fluidy in the lungs. All the fur under his mouth looks, well, manky it seems wet all the time and clumped together.

- runny eyes? - He eyes have always been fine.

- wet nose? coughing? sneezing? - His nose has been a little wet, particularly near the beginning but never running. He's never coughed but he does sneeze several times a day, generally when he does he has a little sneezing fit, they sound like wet sneezes like there's a little bit of moisture just managing to hold on inside. Sometimes when he sneezes when he's sat up he will kick his front paws alternately so they like flick against one another.

- is s/he breathing normally - Sometimes as described above it seems almost wet, heavy and hard but he never seems to be struggling to be active, he doesn't wheeze when running about or playing with the kittens, it happens when he's been stationary for a while.

Additional

- any plants, chocolate or other substances within reach? - No, we have bunny proofed the flat so there are no cables, plants or other substances within reach. Although he does sometimes sniff and maybe lick the wet floor when I've been mopping, but I haven't noticed a correlation with this and his symptoms.

- has the rabbit been outdoors? - No, apart from in his box to go to the vets, we don't let him on the balcony as we have tomato plants and apparently the leaves can be toxic to bunnies.

- any other pets? if so, have they been ill? - We have had 2 kittens for nearly 2 weeks. Both are girls and neither have been spayed. They both had the cat snuffles choriza(??? it was in my first post) Daisy was worse than Ivy as the lady who we got the from had been giving Ivy homeopathic medicine for 2 days. We continued this (I don't know the name, I shall ask Ben when he gets back) until we saw the vet two days later (for both kittens). At the vets they both got shots for it and Ivy was diagnosed as having lice and Daisy as having fleas. Both had parasites in their ears. We were given flea and lice medicine to put on them which is an overnight cure, they were given a shot for the ear parasites and antibiotics to continue treatment for the snuffles (Daisy for 10 days, Ivy for 2). Within two days both of them were almost completely healthy with only slightly gunky eyes and noses and itchy ears whilst the parasites die off. I have checked Parsley's fur carefully and they are no lice or fleas and I have checked the kittens to make sure they have fully gone and all are clear. I have also checked Parsley's ears for parasites and they are clear (the vet also said they are non transferable to rabbits).

-- Overall his dislike/allergy to hay has been since we've got him, his confidence has increased since the kittens arrived and his stress reduced. They have been here for 2 weeks whilst his appetite for veg has disappeared in the last 5-7 days. His fur eating has stopped in the last 2-5 days.


Sorry if I have been over detailed I just want to make sure you have the information you need and I really hope you can help me, I'm getting so worried. I don't want him to eat things like cat food but as he's not eating much of anything else I guess part of me thinks it's better to eat something than nothing. I know that changes to rabbit diets need to be gradual and I'm willing to confine him to his cage for a few days with limited food possibilities if someone thinks it will actually help him.

Thank you for taking the time to read all this and thank you for trying to help us,

Bex and Ben
and Parsley of course!

P.S. Few extra points it seems Parsley has forgotten his litter training for peeing as well today and has decided one corner of the cat bed will do nicely too. He also ate some of his shredded paper bedding yesterday. After 2 weeks of living with us we gave him a seeded treat stick which he ate in one go once he realised it was food, and 2 weeks ago when we got the kittens to make sure he knew he was loved we gave him a biscuit treat stick which again once he had realised it was food ate in one go. He drinks between 100-200ml of water a day, hard to tell exactly as we seem to have a leaky water bottle. We have run out of the vitamin powder, Vita Rongeur, do you think we should get some more from the vet? We were giving him 6 of the tiny measuring spoons in 125ml of water as instructed by the vet. the box says it contains Vits A, D3, E, B1, K, B2, B3, B5, B6, B12, folic acid, amino acids and biotine. We don't give him a salt lick as we were told they were unnecessary and he's drinking plenty without one. As for whether the alfalfa has been ground into a powder before being made into pellets I don't know they look fiberous but I'm not sure.

Thank you for helping and I shall have a read of those websites you linked now

 

[ParsleyParselby]

IMMEDIATE INFORMATION:

Location - Obernai, France (indoor bunny with his own room, cage and hidey-hole box.

Description (Breed, color, weight) - Not sure what breed he's beige with darker ears and nose, lop ears and is about 15-20cm long (when sat not stretched) about 10cm tall. He weighs I guess between 1 and 1.5kgs (2-3.5lbs)

Age - We're not sure we think he was about 6 months old when we bought him at the beginning of July so about 7 now, no older than 8 though.

Sex - Male (not neutered)


ADDITIONAL INFORMATION / CHECK LIST:

Fecal and Urinary Output

- are the bunny's poops and pees normal? His pee has been a bit thicker and more pungent than normal but I put that down to the hormones that kicked in this week. His poops the last week have been softer and blacker and the last few days getting smaller too. The vet gave us Virbac Rongeur Digest when he was on antibiotics to help his digestion but Parsley didn't have any problems then so we stopped giving it to him. We started giving it to him every other day this week though when his poops were becoming softer.

- when did they last use their litterbox? He uses his litter box every day to pee and he poops in it everyday too he just also poops in the cats bed, in the corners and in other places he spends time in now. Again though this sudden lack of regard for previous good litter box habits I put down to his hormones.

- any unusual behavior? straining to pee? unusual litter habits? Only those covered above, I haven't noticed him straining to pee but if I do I will add it later.

- what litter and/or bedding do you use? We originally used saw dust with some hay in his cage and then hay in his hidey hole however as the antibiotics were having no effect on his sneezing we replaced all of it with shredded paper (which we can compost after unlike wood shavings ) his sneezing has not stopped but it has decreased a lot. He didn't start pulling his fur out immediately when we brought him home from the shop it was about two weeks after but before we changed his bedding to shredded paper. Since the change he is pulling his fur out less (in fact yesterday and today barely at all) but we got the kittens at the same time so I don't know which is the cause.

Medical History

- spayed/neutered? - Not yet.

- has s/he been to the vet or been sick before? - He has visited the vet twice, we have been to the vet 3 times for antibiotics for him, we didn't actually take him the second time as it stresses him so much to go in the car. As for sick before I don't know where one thing ends and another begins whether symptoms are connected or separate.

- is s/he on any medications? - We are giving him Virbac (company name) Rongeur Digest: Régulateur de la flore intestinale at the moment (rough translation intestinal/digestive regulator). He has taken three courses of anitbiotics I can't quite make the name out on the syringe I will ask Ben if he knows the name of it when he get's home from work. During his last course of antibiotics he was given Virbac Vita Rongeur Vitamines everyday in his water as the vet said that he need to boost his immune system to fight of the rest of the infection (or whatever it is).

Diet

- what specifically does your bunny eat? - Originally he would eat carrot (we were trying not to give him too much despite it being one of the few fresh veg he would eat as it is apparently high in sugar but after discussing it with the vet they said we could give him a carrot a day - we had been doing every other day) he would eat broccoli and if I cut cucumber into chunks and pierced the water bits he would eat that but he didn't seem keen on it. He wasn't keen on tomato he tried it and gave up. He won't touch hay, dried grass, fresh grass, dandelion leaves. He sometimes eats a little bit of apple but said no to strawberry, melon, pear. WE started off with Vitakraft Vita special Best for Kids (-6 months) biscuits and the shop said that was what they had been feeding the rabbits with hay (the type they sold in the shop which is where we bought our hay - however I don't know if he has been eating hay at the shop either and whether they would have noticed or not) These biscuits are small beige pellets they say on the box they contain vegetable, cereal and mineral extracts with added Vitamin A, D3, and some metal minerals (i.e. iron). Parsley would eat these. we then bought a mix biscuit bag to mix with it which contained cereal flakes, grass pellets, big red and green ring biscuits, straw and lots of seeds. Parsley would eat most of the little biscuits, and grass pellets but not the cereal flakes, straw flakes, seeds or the big colourful biscuits. (I have finished this bag so I don't know the brand or names). The next mix bag we bought was very similar but from the vets, it had less seeds in it but some dried sliced fruit and veg such as banana and no grass pellets. He would eat the same bits from this bag leaving the sliced fruit and veg as well as the big biscuits. This bag is Verselle-Laga: Cuni Nature Odor control and no pellets. Lastly we have bought some Vitakraft: Pellets + Malt. These we are mixing with the Vita special and the Cuni Nature as we we're noticing he was eating less of his biscuits now there were no pellets (he had always eaten all the grass pellets first out of the first bag). He likes these and eats them however they are 40% alfalfa, 5% malt and 10% cereals and designed for dwarf rabbits according to the packaging. It also says they contain vitamins A, B1, B2, D3 and E. We have been feeding him one bowl of biscuits in a morning (approx 100g) and then fresh veg in an evening or throughout the day (again about 1 bowls worth - if he gets through it) He used to eat nearly a whole bowls worth, well over half but now he's barely eating half a bowl. This has decreased since he keeps eating cat biscuits but we're stopping this as soon as we see him, same with the tuna and chicken cat food he has been trying to eat. HE won't eat any kind of veg, fruit or grass now for the last 5 days at least. Before he would normally eat veg if you held it for him or secured it in his bars as otherwise it would just slide around and he didn't seem to get any where but even if you didn't hold it for him he would give it ago. Now if you leave a carrot for him he won't touch it and if you try to feed it to him he just runs away like you're trying to poison him or something.

- when and what did s/he eat last? - Biscuits last night as far as I am aware.
- any changes in the way s/he eats? (ie: not eating a particular food, odd chewing motions, etc) see above


Other

- movement - any unusual movements? Is s/he hopping normally? - Yeah normal motions, he hops, periscopes, tip toes occasionally, flops down when he's happy in the sun, lies out in the cat bed, sits huddle near walls or on the rug.
- is the rabbit molting? - He is not malting excessively but as I have discussed he started pulling his fur out occasionally after a week of living with us then after 2 weeks it was nearly all the time until this last week-2 weeks it has been lessening and in the last day or two very rarely. When he pulls his fur out he eats and swallows it and it is clearly visible in his poops as they are often strung together. Perhaps this is why his poops have seen softer and sometimes a little runny lately as his fur was giving him the 'fiber' needed to hold his poops together as he has not been eating hay. One last thing about his poops, I read that rabbits are suppose to deposit moist pellets which they then eat again for second digestion. On the first day he arrived he did a couple of these and ate them but since then I have only found dry pellets and never seen him eating his poop.

- any weight loss? - He has put weight on since he moved in with us and he has grown. I have not noticed any dramatic weight loss the last few days.

- any sign of drooling? wet face? - Since a week-2 weeks after getting him he has been drooling from the left side of his mouth. He often sits grinding his teeth in a circular motion making squelchy noises. The last week - week and a half I have noticed deep rubbling noises when he does this, like hard deep breathing but almost fluidy in the lungs. All the fur under his mouth looks, well, manky it seems wet all the time and clumped together.

- runny eyes? - He eyes have always been fine.

- wet nose? coughing? sneezing? - His nose has been a little wet, particularly near the beginning but never running. He's never coughed but he does sneeze several times a day, generally when he does he has a little sneezing fit, they sound like wet sneezes like there's a little bit of moisture just managing to hold on inside. Sometimes when he sneezes when he's sat up he will kick his front paws alternately so they like flick against one another.

- is s/he breathing normally - Sometimes as described above it seems almost wet, heavy and hard but he never seems to be struggling to be active, he doesn't wheeze when running about or playing with the kittens, it happens when he's been stationary for a while.

Additional

- any plants, chocolate or other substances within reach? - No, we have bunny proofed the flat so there are no cables, plants or other substances within reach. Although he does sometimes sniff and maybe lick the wet floor when I've been mopping, but I haven't noticed a correlation with this and his symptoms.

- has the rabbit been outdoors? - No, apart from in his box to go to the vets, we don't let him on the balcony as we have tomato plants and apparently the leaves can be toxic to bunnies.

- any other pets? if so, have they been ill? - We have had 2 kittens for nearly 2 weeks. Both are girls and neither have been spayed. They both had the cat snuffles choriza(??? it was in my first post) Daisy was worse than Ivy as the lady who we got the from had been giving Ivy homeopathic medicine for 2 days. We continued this (I don't know the name, I shall ask Ben when he gets back) until we saw the vet two days later (for both kittens). At the vets they both got shots for it and Ivy was diagnosed as having lice and Daisy as having fleas. Both had parasites in their ears. We were given flea and lice medicine to put on them which is an overnight cure, they were given a shot for the ear parasites and antibiotics to continue treatment for the snuffles (Daisy for 10 days, Ivy for 2). Within two days both of them were almost completely healthy with only slightly gunky eyes and noses and itchy ears whilst the parasites die off. I have checked Parsley's fur carefully and they are no lice or fleas and I have checked the kittens to make sure they have fully gone and all are clear. I have also checked Parsley's ears for parasites and they are clear (the vet also said they are non transferable to rabbits).

-- Overall his dislike/allergy to hay has been since we've got him, his confidence has increased since the kittens arrived and his stress reduced. They have been here for 2 weeks whilst his appetite for veg has disappeared in the last 5-7 days. His fur eating has stopped in the last 2-5 days.


Sorry if I have been over detailed I just want to make sure you have the information you need and I really hope you can help me, I'm getting so worried. I don't want him to eat things like cat food but as he's not eating much of anything else I guess part of me thinks it's better to eat something than nothing. I know that changes to rabbit diets need to be gradual and I'm willing to confine him to his cage for a few days with limited food possibilities if someone thinks it will actually help him.

Thank you for taking the time to read all this and thank you for trying to help us,

Bex and Ben
and Parsley of course!

P.S. Few extra points it seems Parsley has forgotten his litter training for peeing as well today and has decided one corner of the cat bed will do nicely too. He also ate some of his shredded paper bedding yesterday. After 2 weeks of living with us we gave him a seeded treat stick which he ate in one go once he realised it was food, and 2 weeks ago when we got the kittens to make sure he knew he was loved we gave him a biscuit treat stick which again once he had realised it was food ate in one go. He drinks between 100-200ml of water a day, hard to tell exactly as we seem to have a leaky water bottle. We have run out of the vitamin powder, Vita Rongeur, do you think we should get some more from the vet? We were giving him 6 of the tiny measuring spoons in 125ml of water as instructed by the vet. the box says it contains Vits A, D3, E, B1, K, B2, B3, B5, B6, B12, folic acid, amino acids and biotine. We don't give him a salt lick as we were told they were unnecessary and he's drinking plenty without one. As for whether the alfalfa has been ground into a powder before being made into pellets I don't know they look fiberous but I'm not sure.

Thank you for helping and I shall have a read of those websites you linked now

 

[GorbyJobRabbits]

if its snuffles it can cause a series of things. I hope the vet mentioned that it is not curable. And like someone else mentioned the antibiotics could cause some of the other issues.


I personally feel pelletts are the most important thing in a rabbits diet. A good pellet is designed with the rabbits dietary needs in mind. I only feed veggies as an occasional treat. But everyone has a varying opinion.


if your rabbit is slobbering or drooling on himself the reason he may be pulling at the chest hair is because it will stay wet and cause him issues. Check all the hair below his mouth on his chest. if it is staying damp that is why he's pulling at it.

 

[ParsleyParselby]

He pulls at fur all over his body from his back to his tummy, his legs and tail. All of which are dry parts of his body. The vet never mentioned the snuffles was in curable, he said that it was likely he will have repeat problems of it as he will be susceptible to it now. Nowhere on the internet does it say it is incurable either, or at least not that I've read.

Thank you for your advice

Rebecca

 

[GorbyJobRabbits]

stating he'll have repeat problems is essentially stating it will never be cured. Pasturella isn't curable. All rabbits essentially have it in them, only the weak will have a break out. Which is the case with your bunny.

and if he's yanking at hair all over himself its hard to tell. it could be the meds I dunno.

 

[ParsleyParselby]

Thank you to everyone for your help. Parsley stopped eating yesterday and whilst we managed to feed him some purred carrot and broccoli he had taken a turn for the worse. He died last night and we all miss him very much.

Thank you,
Bex

I love you Parsley, 6 weeks together was not enough.

 

[Happi Bun]

I'm so sorry for your loss, I just got to this thread. The drooling, not wanting to eat certain foods, and teeth grinding really made me think a teeth issue. Your vet said his molars were longer than usual, but doesn't sound like he trimmed them? I'm concerned by that. They are either too long and need to be trimmed or they are fine. Sadly, when bunnies stop eating they go down hill very quickly. (Note: All this is just my opinion from what I personally know and have read).

Rest in Peace, Parsleyink iris:

 

[GorbyJobRabbits]

I'm very very sorry Parsley =(

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

I just got to this thread too. I'm so sorry about your little Parsley. I agree with the above post-long molars and molar spurs can be a big issue that cause alot of the above named issues.
Rest in pease little Parsley, and Binky free!