My little girl, Ellie (she's 8.5 pounds, and 9 years old.. haha. Not so little) is getting up in her age. She has arthritis really bad, and until recently, it seemed like her 0.7 mL dose of Meloxicam was working pretty well. Over the last month, I've noticed a bit of a decline. Throughout her life, she's always had a verrrry sensitive tummy. If I give her anything fresh, she will certainly have some piles of runny/moosh poops... so we don't give her fruits or veggies as treats. She had a hard time with eating Timothy Hay, so we have her on orchard grass hay now instead. Usually, the soft poops will straighten up if she has more hay available, but recently, it seems like that's not helping either.
We already give her limited amounts of Oxbow pellets, along with the Kaytee Timothy Hay cookies. My latest "experiment" is going to be to see if just giving her the "carrot and dill" cookies helps her out (as opposed to the "apple and banana" ones). The biggest problem is that with her arthritis, she can't clean her back end (and who wants to clean mooshed poo off of themselves anyway), and I'm having to give her butt baths more frequently. Fortunately, she's the most easy-going rabbit when it comes to those things (butt baths, ear checks, nail trims, etc).
I'll be taking her to the vet in October for her yearly checkup, so if you have any advice as to what I should ask her, that would be great. I know my folks would say, "well, you know she was raised as a meat rabbit, and she's long outlived her intended lifespan..." but I just want my little sweetheart to be as happy and comfy as possible.
(Photo: Ellie (brown) with her twin brother Butterscotch (brown and white). Butterscotch passed away in October 2020, and honestly, I'm impressed with how well Ellie has taken his loss)
We already give her limited amounts of Oxbow pellets, along with the Kaytee Timothy Hay cookies. My latest "experiment" is going to be to see if just giving her the "carrot and dill" cookies helps her out (as opposed to the "apple and banana" ones). The biggest problem is that with her arthritis, she can't clean her back end (and who wants to clean mooshed poo off of themselves anyway), and I'm having to give her butt baths more frequently. Fortunately, she's the most easy-going rabbit when it comes to those things (butt baths, ear checks, nail trims, etc).
I'll be taking her to the vet in October for her yearly checkup, so if you have any advice as to what I should ask her, that would be great. I know my folks would say, "well, you know she was raised as a meat rabbit, and she's long outlived her intended lifespan..." but I just want my little sweetheart to be as happy and comfy as possible.
(Photo: Ellie (brown) with her twin brother Butterscotch (brown and white). Butterscotch passed away in October 2020, and honestly, I'm impressed with how well Ellie has taken his loss)