Hair mass

[tiabia0]

So its been at least 2 years since my mini rex cinnabun has had any gi statis issues and what not. Well last night she started looking uncomfortable and breathing hard. Thought it was a gas issue she has sometimes so we gave her simethicone like usual. She was fine til this afternoon when I stopped home. She was uncomfortable again and breathing hard again. Took her to the vet right away. He said it seems that theres a hair mass in her stomach. He gave me some medicine to to help the discomfort but I was wondering what your ideas are on getting rid of the hair. I give cinnabun a little pineapple juice sometimes with water and I brush her every other day.

Please let me know what you guys typically do with "hair balls" Thanks!

 

[Imbrium]

canned pumpkin (plain, not the pie filling kind) is good for keeping the digestive system going - it's tasty and high in fiber.

papaya tablets (some pet stores have them) are good for digestive problems, especially hairballs, as is fresh pineapple (or fresh-squeezed juice).

you'll want to groom 1-2x daily if she's molting to limit the amount of hair she ingests... in addition to brushing, using a lint roller can help and a great trick is to dampen your hands, run them over the bunny, rub your hands together to roll the hair off and repeat

 

[tiabia0]

Would these be good:
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=12293268

Didnt see tablets on the pet store web sites. Googled tablets though. Big difference.

 

[tiabia0]

Pet supplies plus has these!

http://www.oxbowanimalhealth.com/products/type/largepicture?picture=767&object=1702

Going to pick em up now.

 

[Geoff]

What diet is your bunny on? I think it is a bit risky to start depending on supplements that have, at best, dubious value in rabbit medicine, when proper diet is the most important aspect we need to perfect. And if your rabbit seems uncomfortable, pain meds can be very useful. Be sure she is drinking well, and if not eating well, you may need to supplement her intake with some Critical Care liquified powder (supplies extra water this way, too).

Canned pumpkin, papaya etc. are basically sources of sugar which are not necessarily what you want a rabbit to be trying to digest. There is LOTs more and better fiber in hay than in pumpkin anyway (pumpkin is a great source of fiber for a cat or dog, but not that useful for a rabbit). Papaya historically has been used to 'digest' hair, which it has been shown under more thorough investigation to be comepletely useless at (same with pineapple).

 

[tiabia0]

She eats Oxbow bunny basics T, romaine and unlimited timothy hay daily. She's almost back to normal 100%. Shes using bathroom, eating enough, etc. Only thing shes not doing is drinking the same amount of water as usual (she does this whenever shes sick) so shes had some unflavored pedialyte as well.

 

[Geoff]

sounds like nearly back to normal.. .good job!

 

[majorv]

Geoff wrote:

What diet is your bunny on? I think it is a bit risky to start depending on supplements that have, at best, dubious value in rabbit medicine, when proper diet is the most important aspect we need to perfect. And if your rabbit seems uncomfortable, pain meds can be very useful. Be sure she is drinking well, and if not eating well, you may need to supplement her intake with some Critical Care liquified powder (supplies extra water this way, too).

Canned pumpkin, papaya etc. are basically sources of sugar which are not necessarily what you want a rabbit to be trying to digest. There is LOTs more and better fiber in hay than in pumpkin anyway (pumpkin is a great source of fiber for a cat or dog, but not that useful for a rabbit). Papaya historically has been used to 'digest' hair, which it has been shown under more thorough investigation to be comepletely useless at (same with pineapple).

Papaya isn't completely useless. It contains the enzyme papain, and while it does not break down the hair itself, it may help break down the mucus that holds the hairball together.