My Journey From Being A Rabbit Novice

[Kimberly09]

Hello all you fellow Rabbit lovers! This is going to be a long one as I get you up to speed!

My name is Kimberly and I thought i'd start a blog on my journey from being a rabbit novice to, well, someone who knows a little more! Growing up we had tons of pets all over the board, including rabbits which were always outdoors. One thing my dad taught me was how to be a HUGE animal lover! So of course after getting married I ask my husband to let me get every animal under the sun. We already had two dogs. So i thought why not a bunny!

We welcomed home Charlie in February of 2012. He was maybe around 8 months, mix breed with mostly white body with black spots/patches. My husband agreed to get him but he would be an outside bunny. So Charlie made his home in a hutch with a small run attached. He would get to run around the house during play time for a few hours about once every two or three days. We got him neutered and he ate pellets with vegetable and fruit treats. He honestly hated human attention. He would hide and did NOT want to be pet/touched. I thought, well i got an antisocial bunny! And this is how he lived for almost a year and a half. I was under the impression he had a pretty good life. Until one day I started doing some research!

At the start of this summer I came across the Rabbit Welfare Association & Fund's website, also know as "a hutch is not enough". After reading and reading I came to two different conclusions. 1. Charlie's cage was NOT big enough and 2. He must be VERY lonely. At first I tried to convince my husband to make him an indoor bunny. This would solve both problems. 1. Charlie could run around the house multiple times a day and 2. He would have human contact almost all day (I am a stay at home wife/step-mom). However my husband was not impressed. He doesn't want an animal pooping/peeing in the house.

So another try at fixing the problems. 1. We would build Charlie a larger cage and 2. We would get another rabbit (female) and have her spayed then bond them. This was something my husband agreed to (after some convincing on my part)

At the beginning of June of this year, we brought home Gracie. A two month old wild colored mix. Her parents were a tan and white dutch and a black mini rex. But we think they were mixes as well since half the babies turned out wild colored.

Now this is where things get interesting!!

 

[Kimberly09]

At first after getting Gracie things were going great! Charlie was still in his hutch with small run as we were planning on building the bigger encloser. Gracie was outside also living in two x-large wire dog kennels connected. We would bring Gracie inside morning and night for about an hour to try and get her comfortable with us. Charlie would come in once a day (either time) and they would be separated by a baby gate. But could still sniff and see each other.

Before long Gracie was the MOST lovable sweet kind little girl. Loved to be pet, loved treats, and licked you non-stop! I'm not sure if it was the presences of Gracie or if he came around on his own, but about a month after getting Gracie, Charlie decided he likes people! Now my shy little bunny who HATED human contact wants to be pet on his head NON STOP!

In July we had finished Charlie's new enclosure. My husband and myself built him a 8 foot by 8 foot pen. Wooden floor covered by dirt (so escape proof!) and then planted with grass seed. The plan was to connect his hutch by tunnel to the enclosure, but for now the hutch is just inside.




Now just when things are going great.. Calamity starts

 

[Kimberly09]

On Friday, August 2nd, I was going through my normal evening routine. Feeding the rabbits and giving them a little attention since it was a busy day they weren't able to come in the house. I started with Charlie, was probably in his cage for about a half hour. Then I walk over to Gracie's cage. Right away I knew something was wrong. My fun loving little girl normally is jumping on the bars happy to see you, begging for treats. But she was just sitting there with a blank stare on her face.

I reached in to coax her and see what was going on. She tried to hop and fell onto her side. Her head was cocked slightly to the side. Eye's glassed over. And completely unbalanced. I went into full panic mode. Since it was 7:00pm my vet's office was closed. I take Gracie up to the Emergency Clinic that is open on weekend's and nights. Of course the Vet had no experience with rabbits but I figured it was better then nothing.

That vet examined her and concluded it was an inner ear infection. Sent me home with a $200 vet bill and some antibiotics. I called my vet the next morning (they have half days on Saturdays) but my rabbit vet was not in. I talked to the tech and she said I need to bring her to see my vet Monday, if she makes it that long. That was the longest weekend of my life. We moved one of the x-large dog kennels into the kitchen. Lined the walls with rolled up towels so she didn't hurt herself. But Gracie continued to spiral downhill. By Sunday morning we thought she was going to die. Layed out on her side, slow breathing, unresponsive periods. The only bright side is she would eat and drink if I brought it to her. Somehow she made it to Monday.

We took her in right away. My vet couldn't believe her eyes, she just saw Gracie last week for a check up and she was in perfect health. Now this lifeless, scared, unbalanced bunny layed on her table. My vet concluded that it was not an inner ear infection, but instead E. Cuniculi. She also said there is the chance her back leg's not working correctly could be due to a spinal injury. So to be safe Gracie was put on Panacur and Metacam.

The next few days were going quite well. She was improving everyday! Getting more active, getting her balance back in her back legs, and over all happy.

Then Friday Morning came, and threw us a MAJOR curve ball...

 

[Kimberly09]

I woke up Friday morning. Gracie was the best she had been all week! Standing up on the bars happy to see me. Ready for her tasty medicine she loved. I gave her the meds, some treats, and head rubs.

Literally 15 mins later i walk past her cage again, and she is laying on her side, not moving with blood coming from her nose and mouth. I FREAKED. What had just happen?? Minutes ago she was fine and now this?? My husband came running, probably from hearing me scream but i can't remember. He instantly held her head as I called the vet. I don't think i was thinking clearly for if I would have been I should have just gotten in the car and then called. But I was a wreck. They said come in right away. The car ride is about 15 mins to the vet. When we left the house she was breathing once every 3 or 4 seconds. By the time we got to the vet she was starting to come back to consciousness.

Again my vet could not believe her eyes. What would have caused this bunny to be bleeding from her nose/mouth. They take her to get her chest x-rayed (whole body actually because she was so small). Turns out her lungs filled up with blood. She had no idea what caused this. There had been no trauma, and both drugs were not known for causing anything like this. As we sat at the vet Gracie was getting better. Looking around. Sitting up. The bleeding had stopped and her breathing was better. My vet called and consulted the small animal vet at UW-Madison (which in Wisconsin is the go to people). As a precaution Gracie's meds were switched to Ponazuril and Buprenorphine.

We went home, made her comfortable and I watched her like a hawk. If I had to leave her side I made my husband sit there. We got a call from the vet who said the vet from UW-Madison had no idea either what would have caused this.

Now we sit and wait. If she relapses we think about euthanasia and quality of life. If she gets better, we go from there.

Some how this bunny pulled through again. By Friday night she was acting almost normal. Still had some loud breathing, but that probably due to the left over blood in her lungs/throat.

Again, Just when things are looking good, we get kicked in the butt

Saturday morning I noticed on Gracie's side the fur was sitting weird. After further inspection there looks to be a puncture hole. Now as having rabbits as a kid I remember my dad dealing with "fly maggots" as he called them, that would burrow into the rabbits. I call the vet right away again. And sure enough after taking her in they pulled out a cuterebra (Bot fly larva).

Our Vet said since Gracie was outside before she got sick she probably got infected then and we are just seeing it now. Monday morning, August 9th, we take her back again as I found three more holes, chest, side again, and stomach. The vet pulled them out and we went on our way with a solution to flush the holes twice a day. Our vet tells us she is not going to be in the office again until Monday and if she was us she would just wait if more come up. Better then have someone who doesn't know what they are doing try to pull them out.

So here we sit today, Gracie has three more holes, left side, right side and lower stomach. Vet appointment set for Monday.

After this horrible two week stretch, Gracie is doing great. Almost back to her normal self. And I'm pretty sure she LOVES all the attention of being an inside bunny.

 

[Zaiya]

Wow, such a sad story! Poor bunny!

There are two ways to ensure no more bot flies get to either of your bunnies:
1. Try once again to convince your husband to let you bring them inside. This will also make the rabbits less susceptible to any diseases floating around in the air. An added bonus is that you can watch them all the time and know the moment something goes wrong. You will have to spay, neuter, and bond the rabbits before they can be left alone together (but of course you already know that).
2. If option #1 fails, you can cover the wire on the hutches and runs with fly screen. You can also hang fly tape (sticky tape) around the hutches to catch and despose of the bot flies.

Hope I helped! Welcome to the forum!

Edit: I reread the last couple paragraphs from your last post. So Gracie is an indoor bunny now? Is that permanent?

 

[JBun]

That's an amazing story! Honestly I can't believe your rabbit is still alive after all of that. Wow, those botflies really went after her. I'm sure you'll be relieved when the vet gets the last of them out. Despite the botflies, it sounds like she is at least recovering from the EC, and actually quite well. A lot of times recovery from it is very slow and difficult, but she seems to be improving nicely, despite all of the setbacks. This would be the first I've ever heard of those meds causing that kind of reaction in a rabbit. Usually they are considered relatively safe for rabbits with a few exceptions. I have read that the EC spores can also affect a rabbits lungs, so maybe that may have had something to do with it.

I'm really glad to hear she's doing well and enjoying her inside time

 

[Kimberly09]

Its weird since this is the second summer Charlie has been outside and he hasn't had any problem with the bot flies. I am checking him everyday in case it pops up.

I reread the last couple paragraphs from your last post. So Gracie is an indoor bunny now? Is that permanent?

Haha its kind of a funny. Gracie was only suppose to be inside until she got better. But with the way things have gone its going to be ALOT longer then my husband expected. I have been trying to come up with a way to ask him to let both rabbits spend the winter inside. Then out of the blew he says to me "So i was thinking about maybe the rabbits should spend the winter inside". I mean I thought I was dreaming! I didn't even know what to say to him. I don't know what caused him to come around, maybe it was the fact I showed him by keeping Gracie's cage really clean that they actually don't smell?

But anyway. Gracie will be inside definitely until spring time. Charlie will be coming inside sometime within the next two months. We will be turning a room into the "rabbit room" and have it divided in half by one of those long baby gates that have many panels and you can change the shape.

My goal is to have everything go smoothly this winter. Then come spring time have them be inside/outside rabbits. So spend play time in the 8 foot by 8 foot enclose (will have to do something about flies though!) but still live indoors. I think with the ways things have been going it is possible for him to agree!

This would be the first I've ever heard of those meds causing that kind of reaction in a rabbit. Usually they are considered relatively safe for rabbits with a few exceptions. I have read that the EC spores can also affect a rabbits lungs, so maybe that may have had something to do with it.

She is being quite the exception! As long as the lung problem doesn't happen again, I really don't mind what caused it! We are so happy that she is and has recovered so well! There were so many times I sat next to her cage petting her while crying because I thought that was the end.


P.S. Thanks to everyone who had the patience to read all of it. I know it was long, but there has been so much that happened its hard to sum it up with out leaving out details!

 

[Kimberly09]

Thought I'd share some pictures of Gracie

 

[MILU]

Gracie is really gracious! I'm glad she's ok and spending some time indoors

 

[Kimberly09]

Gracie was at the vet again yesterday. Hopefully her last visit for awhile! The vet pulled out the last cuterebra. Gracie had a total of 9 holes. At the vet all the scabs got pulled off to see how they were healing. Most showed infection and had puss. But Gracie is still on antibiotics for another week.

I was so proud of her. Gracie has been such a good girl during this whole thing. At the vet she just sat there letting them poke and squeeze at her. At home when we are flushing out the holes she just licks my husbands hand. I'm pretty sure if I was in her situation I would have bitten a couple people by now lol

 

[kmaben]

Jeeze the poor little love. Glad everything seems to be on the up hill for her. Hopefully Gracie squeezes into the hubbies heart and both get to stay in the house. Seems like he's starting to come around anyhow. They usually see things are way in the end

 

[JBun]

She sounds like such a sweet girl. Hopefully the vet got the last of them out. She's certainly been through enough already, she doesn't need to be dealing with those nasty things in her skin too. I'm glad you get to keep them inside now. It sounds like your husband is coming around. Who knows, maybe he'll end up falling for their charms too. Gracie's certainly doing a good job at trying to convince him

 

[Kimberly09]

Alright so it has been one week since the vet took the last bot fly larva out of Gracie. All the holes seem to be healing okay, although they do still seem slightly infected. Gracie has been literally chewing her fur/skin around where the 5 holes on her chest were. Everyday it seemed I found a new sore/bald spot. I called the vet and they put her back on the Buprenorphine three times a day which is an anti-inflammatory. They seemed to think it is probably itchy from healing. I'm keeping a really close eye on it and if she keeps chewing i'll be taking her in soon.

Both Charlie and Gracie now live in a spare bedroom in the basement. I have it split in half with a large "baby play yard" stretched out. They seem really happy, I have boxes everywhere and they each have a large 4 foot long cardboard tunnel. They are so cute together. When one is at the edge of the fence the other runs up all happy, they sniff sometimes lick and then go their different ways. I'm really hoping once Gracie is spayed they will be some what easy to bond.

So far they are still on the concrete with a few towels. I have some carpet I was going to give them but they both are having litter box problems. For Charlie he is about 50/50 with using litter box. When he goes on the floor it is literally right next to his litter box. As far as Gracie she goes pee in about a million different places along the walls/corners. My husband thought i was crazy when i bought more litter boxes. So as of an hour ago, Gracie now has a total of 4 litter boxes and i'm hoping that will help. They are all on her favorite potty places.

 

[Kimberly09]

I thought it was about time I uploaded some pictures of their room and how it is set up.

Charlie and his side:







Gracie and her side:







Some of the whole room:

 

[Azerane]

They have so much room to run and play, I bet they're two very happy bunnies. Your set-up is very good. If you're worried about the concrete floor, you could buy some of those foam puzzle mats to put in a small area for them to lay on if they want to get off the concrete, if they get dirty they're very easy to wipe/hose down and dry pretty quickly. Bandit chews on his, but he never eats it, just leaves the little pieces lying around everywhere for me to sweep up.

So I take it Gracie has recovered well from all her troubles?

 

[Kimberly09]

Its funny because with the towels in there they still choose to lay on the concrete. I have some carpet that I plan to put in there for them both, but I'm waiting till they are done having pee accidents. Gracie has gone accident free for almost a week and Charlie for about 5 days.

They are so spoiled and I don't think they even realize it lol. But I have to say I have never seen Charlie so happy. I have had him over a year and a half and this is the first time he has been an inside bunny. Until recently I had never seen him do a bunny flop, and now he does one usually every time I am in there.

Gracie is doing much better! I guess I never really updated about her. Since she continued to chew around the healing bot fly holes she was put on a two week course of Orbax. She just finished that this past week. She is still, on occasion, chewing but they are mostly healed up. Her personality and activity are back to normal!

The only other thing that concerns me is her weight. I believe she might be under weight. When you run your hand down her back you can clearly feel her spine and hip bones. Right now I am feeding her unlimited pellets, timothy, orchard grass, and some alfalfa. She gets one leaf of lettuce during the day and one inch of banana at night time.