BlakeandBraxton
Active Member
Hi, My name is Shelby and I am new to forum. I am currently the "Foster Mom" (but soon to be officially "Forever Mom") to two 6 month old bunnies. My boys, Blake (New Zealand White Mix) and Braxton (New Zealand White/Dutch Mix) came from a hoarding situation where they were two of 108 bunnies living in deplorable conditions. The majority of the buns were New Zealands with some others, like my Braxton mixed in. I have had the boys since early September and early on I experienced some issues with Braxton and his GI tract.
Braxton has never gotten to the point of refusing to eat or extreme lethargy, his only symptom generally is that his feces becomes smaller in size and the feces is produced in very small quantities. Sometimes I will notice him looking uncomfortable, but usually the unstable fecal production is his only issue. He has been prescribed oral metoclopramide by one Vet for these periods of GI issues and recently, another Vet provided me with Critical Care to make a watery paste and to try to get more water in him and get things moving. His periods of stasis are hard to predict. Sometimes he will go weeks without issue, then some weeks he will only be bad for a day or so where other weeks several days will pass with him producing limited stool. He even went through his neuter with no GI upset whatsoever, so I really don't understand what sets him off balance. When I first got him I went straight to the oral meds for any issues and it always did the trick, but I am trying to go the more natural route, using the Critical Care and making his greens more watery to help things along naturally, just to try to limit how much medicine he is taking.
I am here to see if anyone else has had a bun with similar problems and can provide me any feedback. He is so young that I have heard it is odd for him to have these problems already but there is no doubt in my mind that his rough beginning in life, all the stress he endured and inbreeding in his lineage are all a large part of his problems.
The boys currently are fed several (about 4) approx. 1 tablespoon feedings of Oxbow Essentials Young Rabbit Food daily (Even though the bag states they can still be fed unlimited pellets), along with unlimited Oxbox Western Timothy Hay, and unlimited fresh water from a bowl. They boys also get 1 Oxbow Natural Science - Digestive Support Tab daily and leafy greens daily as well (Usually Endive, Green Leaf Lettuce, or Dandelion Greens). I also sometimes mix in the Oxbow Organic Meadow Hay with their Timothy Hay for some variety.
Braxton lives in a hutch but enjoys several hours of playtime in a dog size playpen and also enjoys supervised free roaming time of my room daily.
I am really interested to see if anyone can help me out! Should I try to limit his pellets even more? Should I switch him over to Adult Oxbow food already? I know that does not have Alfalfa in it, so maybe that could help? I have also been looking into the Organic Oxbow food as well, the brand that is supposed to be used specifically with the supplement tabs as that seems like it might be helpful but it says its not to be used in growing bunnies, so I am worried to do that. Any help would be greatly appreciated, Thanks!!!
Braxton has never gotten to the point of refusing to eat or extreme lethargy, his only symptom generally is that his feces becomes smaller in size and the feces is produced in very small quantities. Sometimes I will notice him looking uncomfortable, but usually the unstable fecal production is his only issue. He has been prescribed oral metoclopramide by one Vet for these periods of GI issues and recently, another Vet provided me with Critical Care to make a watery paste and to try to get more water in him and get things moving. His periods of stasis are hard to predict. Sometimes he will go weeks without issue, then some weeks he will only be bad for a day or so where other weeks several days will pass with him producing limited stool. He even went through his neuter with no GI upset whatsoever, so I really don't understand what sets him off balance. When I first got him I went straight to the oral meds for any issues and it always did the trick, but I am trying to go the more natural route, using the Critical Care and making his greens more watery to help things along naturally, just to try to limit how much medicine he is taking.
I am here to see if anyone else has had a bun with similar problems and can provide me any feedback. He is so young that I have heard it is odd for him to have these problems already but there is no doubt in my mind that his rough beginning in life, all the stress he endured and inbreeding in his lineage are all a large part of his problems.
The boys currently are fed several (about 4) approx. 1 tablespoon feedings of Oxbow Essentials Young Rabbit Food daily (Even though the bag states they can still be fed unlimited pellets), along with unlimited Oxbox Western Timothy Hay, and unlimited fresh water from a bowl. They boys also get 1 Oxbow Natural Science - Digestive Support Tab daily and leafy greens daily as well (Usually Endive, Green Leaf Lettuce, or Dandelion Greens). I also sometimes mix in the Oxbow Organic Meadow Hay with their Timothy Hay for some variety.
Braxton lives in a hutch but enjoys several hours of playtime in a dog size playpen and also enjoys supervised free roaming time of my room daily.
I am really interested to see if anyone can help me out! Should I try to limit his pellets even more? Should I switch him over to Adult Oxbow food already? I know that does not have Alfalfa in it, so maybe that could help? I have also been looking into the Organic Oxbow food as well, the brand that is supposed to be used specifically with the supplement tabs as that seems like it might be helpful but it says its not to be used in growing bunnies, so I am worried to do that. Any help would be greatly appreciated, Thanks!!!