Kiwi is not well

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Mariah

Mariah

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Location
Dundas, Ontario, Canada
A little background info for everyone:

Kiwi is a 1.5 year old spayed holland lop doe.

Her hus-bun Citrus passed away in April. She hasent been right since then. She sulks in corners and isn't a happy little girl which she once was.

She goes through these spells when she decides she dosent like the hay I'm feeding. Shes currently getting the oxbow Timothy hay, Kaytee Timothy hay and just today I went and got the grass hay by oxbow.

She eats martins adult pellets and oxbow adult pellets. I tried to switch her compeltly to the oxbow but of course she dosent like it. She gets 1/3 cup twice daily.

I've noticed over the past couple of days her hay consumption has slowed down and she wasent pooping as much as usual. I started her back on cisapride (GI motility) and metacam in case she was painful.

I work at a clinic that does bunnies so today I brought her to work with me for an exam because of the above things and because she's more reluctant to come out of her cage and x pen to run around.

We checked teeth and felt her belly. Everything seemed fine so my vet let me bring her home right after her exam. She was away from home for 4 hours.

When I returned home I don't think she moved all day. She had eaten some alphfa I left out as a treat but the pellets she loves (martins) were still there. She also did a couple more poops for me.

So I cleaned her cage (and Papayas) and did my normal routine and fed them. Kiwi took a couple of bites and that's it. She has done some more
poops and is laying down again.

I am very concerned because she is not eating (a lot) and is not running around like a happy girl.

What do i do?
 
aww, poor kiwi :(

have you tried feeding some canned pumpkin (the plain stuff)? high fiber and good for GI issues, plus they think it's really nummy.
 
kiwi's got a new potential husbun, papaya - they're going through the bonding process now, just waiting on papaya's hormones to be totally gone ;)
 
I haven't tried the pumpkin. I'll going out after work today to get her some fresh carrots, lettuce and pineapple. I will also pick up some pumpkin.

She did finish her pellets overnight and did munch on some hay. There are poops this morning... Poor girl won't even come out of her cage this morning when I opened it up...

Papaya is suposted to be her new hus bun ... But I am waiting until his hormones go away as there has been some fights...

My heart is just breaking for Kiwi... :(
 
I got her the digestive supplement from oxbow today. Does anyone else use this for their bunnies?

I also picked up the Papaya supplement to have on hand. She is moulting and has been for a while now. It's been coming towards the end of her moult for like a month now. I haven't seen a lot of hair in her poops at all lately, so I'll hold off on this for now.

I forgot the pumpkin, but did get some romaine lettuce and baby carrots for it. She ate the lettuce pretty quickly! Yay!

She's out of her cage now. I guess she decided to come out into her x pen while I was at work. She pooped some more... Yay!

Still, this isn't my Kiwi Lemon... I guess as long as she is pooping and eating we are ok...

Has anyone else gone through loosing a bunny leaving one behind and the one that's left being depressed? How did you overcome it?
 
Just an update on Kiwi: I've started leaving her cage open during the day while I'm at work. Her cage is attached to her x pen so she has access to it as well.

She seems to be happier not being in her cage for long stretches of time. She's eating her pellets right away now. Her hay consumption is still down but she's still pooping and will come out of her x pen for a bunny run.

Poor Papaya though. I have a thread on bonding them. She HATES him. They lay together through the bunny barrier and groom through the barrier too. I let them out together yesterday- I shouldn't have and should have listened to everyones advise here and waited... Kiwi went crazy and attacked him. He didnt do anything to warrant the attack. They are both fine but unfortuntely Kiwi will not have a hus bun anytime soon. :(
 
Ugh, the saga with Kiwi continues :(

I thought that leaving her out during the day would help with her depression. She comes out of her cage anywhere between 630am and 1030 am depending on my work schedule. She stays out anywhere between 1030 pm and 12am. So basically she has the option to be in her cage or x pen.

Today she is a sad girl again. She won't come out of her x pen to run.

Papaya also is acting strange. He prefers to sit in his cage rather then his x pen or come out to run around.

What is wrong with my bunnies?? Someone please shed some light because I am going crazy worrying about them!
 
I dunno what to do about the depression, but we're thinking happy thoughts for your bunns! (well, I told Nala and Gaz to, but no guarantee they were listening :p)

maybe you could try taking 'em out in the yard in their x-pens - mine always perk right up when we get outside and there's lots of exciting sights and smells.
 
Thank you for the kind words!

I've never taken my buns outside... Kiwi dosent like to be held and I think the process of getting her outside would be super stressful!

I just think that too many things can go wrong taking them outside. I'm too nervous to take them outside...
 
I always usher mine into their carrier and use that to take them outside so that I don't have to hold them/carry them and risk them jumping free :)

with an x-pen or two set up in a small part of the yard and a human vigilantly standing guard (or sitting in the pen chilling with the bunns and snapping photos :p), it seems quite safe to me... but I totally understand being a paranoid bunny momma!
 
I have no experience with this, having an only child myself, but I hope she snaps out of it soon. My best suggestion would be to pay her as much attention as possible. When mine gets sulky I take him out and we watch a movie together. It works like a charm.

Spiketv.jpg
 
Buy her new toys and change things up in her xpen! She'll get curious and come out. Try to bring her to an animal shelter and see if she "likes" any of the male bunnies. If she seems to cheer up then you might think about buying him! :) I sure hope she snaps out of her depression.
 
Cute pic droporain!

I do try and play and pay Kiwi lots of attention but I work very long days (8-630), so there's only so much time left in the day to spend with her.

She has loads of toys and I just ordered more from a website I found- pet rabbit toys.com

I also live in a small basement apt so there's only so many ways I can arrange her and Papaya bunny room.

I would love to get her another bun bun but the boyfriend says no... With good reason as we really don't have the space for anther cage unfortuntely. I keep bringing the topic up so maybe the idea will grow on him.

Like I said before, I've been leavin her out all day so she has access to her x pen and her cage and only putting her in her cage at night. So she does have plenty of room to play and run when I'm
Not home. Papaya is in his cage when I'm not home. I would love to leave him out but he has discovered he can jump the bunny barrier... I've bought more cubes so will be making an extra layer for him so he can stay out too.
 
Even though every place I've read said that bunnies are creatures of habit, my bunnies seem to love change! All I have to do is come into their room to sweep and just rearrange two things, they are so curious and come out from wherever they are to immediately "redo" the room to their specific preferences. It may be as simple as moving a box from one side of the enclosure to the other.

I also find that putting hay in toilet paper rolls and in their toys make them much more inclined to eat the hay. If I have it in a big pile, they won't bother.

I read above that you said she's shedding? I don't know if you have Simethicone (infant anti-gas drops) but I always give that to my buns on a regular basis when they shed. Makes a huge difference.

Good luck with making your bunny happy again :) Have you tried a stuffed animal??
 
I have been looking for a "safe" stuffed animal for her! She chews absolutely everything even though I give her tons of chew toys to chew on!

As you all probably relalize, I am a parnoid bunny mom and I don't want to leave her and come back and she's chewed the stuffed animal to bits... Any suggestions on where I could get her a stuffed animal and what kind would be safe?

It seems that she will come out of her x pen if I sit in the living room with her. If I'm not there, she's not interested in running around and playing. Could she view me as her security blanket as she once viewed Citrus?

Also, I don't have simethcone. My vet gave me cisapride which is a GI stimulant and makes them hungry. Does simethcone do the same thing?
 
simethicone is just infant gas drops - you can buy 'em at any grocery store or walmart/target/kmart type place. it's incredibly safe for bunnies, so the worst possible outcome is that it doesn't help.

I wouldn't be surprised if she's more bonded you you now that Citrus is gone.

I dunno about stuffed animals, but I'd love to hear a good answer - I think it'd be cute for my bunns to have a stuffed animal but don't know what kind would be safe to get.
 
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