ParsleyParselby
Member
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.
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.