My Bunny's Ears are Dying!

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ellissian wrote:
I'm sorry pipp but I was only repeating the info I was told here.

Milly is a very gassey bun so I'm still holding off for now. He's not very happy when I feed the guineas pigs their veg, he always trys begging for some!:)
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Yes, it's a very common piece of advice, I think that people misinterpreted the HRS caution, or it was boiled down to an easy one-liner. Best to err on the side of caution!

sas
 
Well we are going back to the vet this afternoon. My vet told me to ring today when the ab's are finished but when I rang she wasn't there so I spoke to another vet. That vet wants to see her (so I'll be getting a third opinion which is good) and did mention the slight possibility of amputation over the phone but I'm not sure if she'll go for that when she sees how small Alaska is. Anyway, I'm really hoping we will be able to do something about her ears instead of just watching and waiting.
 
Thanks, the good thing is that I'm pretty sure the vet I'm seeing is the one that does all the surgery so she probably knows the most about amputation and the like.
 
Well, the vet was great. She is pretty stumped still but she is going to ring Massey University down south and see if they have a rabbit expert that might know more about it. Massey seems to be the place where all the experts are. She also talked about amputation but we wouldn't be able to do that at this point because Alaska is so tiny and is not in prime health, I don't think she would bounce back very well after surgery.

Now I have one more problem - I took both of Alaska's siblings with me to the vets because I noticed one of them has her teeth growing badly and sure enough she has maloclussion, her bottom teeth are overlapping her top teeth. The vet says it isn't bad and her teeth must still be wearing down because otherwise they would be much longer. She had a home to go to but I doubt now that they will want her (and fair enough). The doe that had these kits has had lots of litters in the past and the kits have all been 100% healthy and now I've mated her to this buck that I haven't used before and they have ended up all wrong. None of their ears have lopped properly, Alaska's ears are dying and now one of them has malocclusion, OMG!
 
I believe, but could be wrong, that as bunnies get older they can produce more 'deformed' litters, so maybe your bun is too old to breed now.

As for the teeth, try giving lots of wood and minerals to chew, because someone I know sorted out her buns malocculsion a great deal by giving it things to chew.

There is a website called Vaga Valley that sells rabbit stuff on it, and it has little videos on it. One of the bunnies they use for the videos has no ears (the mum bit them off at birth), and I just thought you might want to google it to check out what an earless rabbit looks like. (some beat me to it, lol)
 
Thanks guys, I will get some chews and things for the baby with bad teeth, she is really fat and healthy at the moment so they obviously aren't affecting her too badly, just have to hope they don't get worse. The lady who was going to take her says she would probably still like her. The good thing is she is training to be a vet nurse and has been taught how to trim their teeth and things.

Their mum is only about 2 1/2 so I wouldn't think she is that old, this is only the second litter she has had with me, the first was way back in October and they were all perfectly healthy. She hasn't been overbred or anything and I think most of the problem may lie with the buck, after I got him from the breeder (who was selling off all her stock) I then heard from other breeders that alot of her stock had health problems.

As itis my cousin got a doe from the same place at the same time, we had the two for a year and then both rehomed them, her doe got sick and had to be put down just after she rehomed it and my boy was only in his new home for a month and then had to come back, within about three days of being back he suddenly (in the space of about an hour) got a major inner ear infection that was so bad he had to be put down. I think that they both may have had something wrong with them that was lying dormant and I guess the moving must have brought it out.

Anyway, now I just want monday to come around when I will hear back from the vet. It would be nice to know what is causing Alaska's ear problem.
 
Well I got some chew toys, now I just gotta get her to chew them! Only her mum seems interested. I have also been in touch with the lady who was going to have her and she still wants her so that is a relief. This will be her 12th rabbit! Wow, I thought I had lots. But she takes good care of them all and she is a vet nurse in training so I know that the bunny will get the best care. Now just gotta sort out Alaska's ears.

I got up at four in the morning last night to refil Alaska's hot water bottles and when I went to hop back in bed I could hear her chewing on the bars of the door of her cage. She chewed for 45 minutes!!! Until eventually I gave up and let her out. I don't usually like having her running around when I'm in bed not watching her butI was sooo tired and there was nothing on the ground that she could chew on. Naughty girl, I hope she is not so noisy tonight.
 
Aliena wrote:
I got up at four in the morning last night to refil Alaska's hot water bottles and when I went to hop back in bed I could hear her chewing on the bars of the door of her cage. She chewed for 45 minutes!!! Until eventually I gave up and let her out. I don't usually like having her running around when I'm in bed not watching her butI was sooo tired and there was nothing on the ground that she could chew on. Naughty girl, I hope she is not so noisy tonight.
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Ha! Now she has you wrapped around her little paw. Just wait, you could be in for a lot of sleepless nights :D:p

Jan
 
Pip does the same thing to me. He knows exactly how to get what he wants by making noise and not letting me sleep. He knows I'll do just about anything to keep him quiet at night. Silly bunnies.
 
Well last night when I was putting her hotties back in she started chewing but I kept picking her up and moving her away a couple of times and she stopped. Then she stayed quiet until 7.30 when she started up the chewing again so I let her out.
 
Well the vet called and said she had spoken to a specialist who didn't know much either but they want to do a biopsy on her ear. That requires aneasthetic though so we are going to wait a few weeks until she is a better weight.
 
Aliena,

Your sweet Alaska is so beautiful. Her story makes me cry. My bunnies, kitties, & I are all keeping her in our thoughts. Please post an update...we are so anxious to know how she is.

You may not be able to find a cure to make your bunny totally healthy...but your love makes her happy. We've struggled in our home with many special needs animals, and I believe that when I could do nothing more but love them I was doing all I could. Love may not cure a disease...but it makes life with disease bearable!

Wishing you the best,

Mary Ellen
 
Thanks for your support. Alaska is doing well, her ears are getting a bit more mishapen but the 'frostbite' sort of thing doesn't appear to be spreading. She is definitely putting on weight now which is wonderful, hopefully I will be able to get her to a healthy size so she can have surgery although the finances are a bit tight so it will have to wait until I have some more money anyway.

She seems to be pretty happy and loves to eat although she's not all that active, seems to prefer just to sit back and relax. She has a new cage now too, one of those NIC ones and she has her very own electric blanket so I don't have to get up in the night to fill her hotties.

Here she is:

Alaska009-1.jpg


And here she is sitting in front of her new cage:

AlaskasCage006.jpg


The blue blanket on the bottom left is usually on that shelf but it had a couple of babies wrapped in it, the bubs are two and a half weeks old and come inside to play sometimes. Alaska wasn't sure what to make of them at first because one just wants to snuggle underneath her but the other likes to binky around the floor and Alaska is starting to join in now and they play chase, its really cute.
 
So glad to get the update!

Little bunny friends may be what Alaska needs to help keep her happy and healthy. I know that when Stewart was suffering with the respiratory symptoms of his illness, Gingivere was the gal by his side. She kept him interested and happy. They were so deeply bonded.

It's great that Alaska is putting on some weight. What do you have her eating now? I know how hard it can be to get a sick rabbit to eat. We recently went through that with Pipkin. Like you, I knew there were things that would just make his stomach upset worse...but it broke my heart when he turned his nose up at EVERYTHING. And I did offer all I could think of that wouldn't be toxic.

Hang in there. Alaska is a doll and you are making her life a good one.

Keep updating us with any news!

Mary Ellen
 
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