Rabbit Ill

[bearbop]

My sister has a dutch and she is acting weird, she doesn't have her winter coat and i am afraid of this because it is -13 degrees today! i don't want to come home and see my sister in tears, she is also very skinny. here are my questions

* What feed can I feed her to make her gain weight?
* What should I do about her coat?
*NEed Help

Please help, p.s. She still is acting alive and curious

 

[sbaxter]

you need to post in the infirmary section and someone more qualified will help ,i think oats are good for buliding up but not sure,keep fuilds up maybe get a check up at the vets.
loads of dry fresh hay and keep changing the frozen water have a spare bowl or bottle to change over when frozen,hope that helps a bit

 

[Pipp]

I've moved this to the Infirmary.

Can you give us more information about the bunny?

This thread has some questions:

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=44529&forum_id=16&jump_to=597832#p597832

We need to know how old she is, if she's had problems before, etc.

Is the bunny outside? What are her living quarters like? You can't get her to grow a coat or get more body fat in time to ward off the cold, so it's really important not to let her freeze. Can she come inside?


sas :?

 

[bearbop]

If you're posting about a sick bunny in the Infirmary, please provide the following information:

- Location-Wisconsin

- Description (Breed, color., weight)-Dutch-4 pounds and brown and white

- Age-almost a year

- spayed/neutered?-no

- Notes on Fecal and Urinary Output
- are the bunny's poops and pees normal?- yes
- When did they last use their litterbox? -don't use a litter box
- Any unusual behavior?-no

- Medical History -- has s/he been to the vet or been sick before?-IDK

- Diet - what does your bunny eat?-Pellets, pears, carrots and apples and water
- when and what did s/he eat last?-This morning

- movement - any unusual movements? Is s/he hopping normally?-No

- any weight loss?-YES

- are there any plants, chocolate or other substances within reach? -NO

- has the rabbit been outdoors? yes, lives outdoors

Please read this

 

[SweetSassy]

Can you bring the rabbit inside? or take her to avet?



Are you sure she's eating with losing weight? Is she moving around or hunched up?

 

[sbaxter]

personally ( and i may be wrong) i`d bring her in maybe in an unheated room,so she doesn`t over heat,after being outside, then you can observe her fully and book a vet check up:tears2:

 

[Pipp]

What kind of pellets is she on? What's the first few ingredients and the protein and fibre content?

She needs a small box in her hutch filled with a lot of straw, tissues, cloth and/or whatever she can burrow into.

She pretty young in terms of normal 'wasting' diseases, but she may have parasites, or possibly a dental issue that isn't allowing proper digestion. Or maybe a diet issue.

If she can't get to to a vet for a fecal test, I'd treat her with a de-wormer like Ivermectin, but only if she's healthy enough.

For the winter, a few oats and black oil sunflower seeds will help her gain weight, but that won't help for a month or more and its important to figure out why she's losing weight. Normally they gain a lot of weight and 'thickness' at her age.


sas :?

 

[bearbop]

Thanks every one

 

[SweetSassy]

bearbop wrote:

Thanks every one

Ihope you can atleast take her to the vet. It's not fair she suffer in the cold.

 

[bearbop]

I fill her house tons with shredded paper and straw, she acts fine

 

[tonyshuman]

That sounds good, but it's a common old wives' tale that you need at least 8lbs of bunny per hutch to keep them warm. A single smal bunny by itself isn't supposed to be able to make enough body heat to keep it healthy. Now I don't know this for a fact, it's just one of those things people say about how to properly keep rabbits outside in the winter. I keep my bunnies inside at all times for a variety of reasons so I haven't tested this myself, or really read a ton into it.