The adventures of Dexter and Nicki

[nickiya]

Hello! My name is Nicki and I am currently studying for a doctorate. I live with my boyfriend, our two housemates, and our rabbit, Dexter.

Dexter and I were united in April of this year, thanks to my lovely boyfriend, Andy. I had been harping on about how much I wanted a rabbit (lionhead if I had a choice), and one day I was awoken by Andy who had been and got a hutch he took me along to a pet shop and as soon as we walked in I saw her little face, and that was it!

I'd originally wanted to call my bunny Jason Statham (animals with human names are the best), but she just didn't suit having a giant cockney brute as a namesake. I decided on Dexter, as I am a big fan of the TV show, and I thought it could be unisex.

Originally she lived outside (which I hated), but I finally managed to persuade Andy that she could come inside, so now she lives in my study. I don't know whether it's just me, but she seems much happier with this arrangement too!

Outside home:


Inside Home:


Not only am I in love with her, but so is Andy!



He doesn't stop playing with her, as you can see in this video: [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqLHVRiXZyo&feature=results_video[/ame]

So, that's that for the primary installment of our adventures, except to say that on Wednesday of next week she's going to the vets to get spayed fingers crossed all will go well!

 

[agnesthelion]

She is adorable! I think I remember seeing pics of her before. I have a female Lionhead and she is my heart bunny for sure

I love her new inside home. I'm a proponet of buns living inside with their families so good for you convincing your boyfriend I'm sure Dexter is happy too!

Agnes was spayed and everything went fine. Make sure she can't jump to her other levels for awhile and keep her confined for at least a week while she heals.

Looking forward to hearing more about Dexter!

 

[Nancy McClelland]

She is just soooooo cuuuuute! I think they do better inside as they get more contact with you and become more social.

 

[Imbrium]

aww, what a cutie! I love my lionhead, too!

I recommend tossing together a mini first-aid kit between now and the spay... here's what I had in my kit (ended up using all of it):

~ critical care (from the vet) in case she doesn't want to eat for the first day (one of the after-effects of the anesthesia is nausea... they can't throw up but it can still make them shun food for the first 24h or so) - get apple-banana flavor if you can 'cause I learned the hard way that most bunns hate the anise stuff

~ canned pumpkin and/or fruit flavored baby food (mine like apple/blueberry best); also make sure you've got some of whatever fruit is her favorite. normally fruit/sweets are supposed to be really limited, but my vet told me "let them eat what they want just for today - all that matters is that you get them eating" (kinda like letting a sick child eat lots of ice cream, lol). if you get pumpkin, get the PLAIN stuff, not the pie filling kind... if you have to syringe it, you'll need to water it down. a bit of baby food and some banana were the first things my bunnies ate that I didn't have to force on them.

~ a syringe (dirt cheap at the grocery store/walmart type stores) for feeding critical care, syringing liquids and/or feeding baby food (mine lapped up baby food from the sryinge without having to actually inject it into their mouth)

~ pedialyte (optional) in case you have to syringe liquids because she's not drinking much... you can use water if you don't want to cough up for pedialyte, but it really is great for fending off dehydration. if you decide to syringe liquids to make sure they're getting enough, you want to wrap the bunny in a towel 'cause otherwise you're going to have a huge mess on your hands.

~ no-chew vet wrap if you can get a little bit from your vet (plus a gauze pad or two so the wrap doesn't have direct contact with the incision) in case of excessive licking at the injection site or chewing at the stitches - I had some on Nala for the first day because the skin around the site was getting red from all her licking; the vet said that was totally fine as long as I still checked on the incision daily. totally beats having to drive back to the vet for a collar of shame if she develops a fascination with the incision area.

~ some probiotic might help ease the tummy troubles a little - I've heard it suggested when a bunny has to undergo surgery. the stuff I got said 2 doses, three days apart so I gave it a couple days before the spay and the morning after. benebac and probios are a couple of the possible brands. you can find probiotics at some pet stores or you might be able to get it through the vet.

if you've never had to syringe feed a bunny before, you'll want to aim the syringe for the gap between their front and back teeth and you always want to squirt food/liquid in *sideways* - never straight back - to make sure they don't accidentally inhale some of it!

here's a great video on syringe feeding: [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iGZVYVm5Bg[/ame]

 

[nickiya]

Oh wow, thanks so much for the advice!

I'm not sure how much of this stuff will be readily available in the UK (we don't seem to love our bunnies as much as you guys over the pond) but I'll look online and see if I can order it in time

She's definitely loving being inside! I let her run around the study whilst I'm doing my work, and she's been nibbling the bottom of my jeans to get my attention! It worked so I've had to cordon her off!

 

[agnesthelion]

nickiya wrote:

Oh wow, thanks so much for the advice!

I'm not sure how much of this stuff will be readily available in the UK (we don't seem to love our bunnies as much as you guys over the pond) but I'll look online and see if I can order it in time
off!

That's so funny you say that because I've always gotten the impression that the UK are bigger rabbit fans than us here I thought you all had more house bunnies and such but maybe I'm wrong....? Not sure if other have that impression or if it was just something I made up in my head, lol.

 

[nickiya]

God, I love Amazon... Ordered a couple of things in preparation

Thanks again!

 

[nickiya]

Yeah, now you've said that maybe I made it up too?! Haha I just know a lot of people who had poor rabbits that lived a lonely life at the bottom of the garden, but perhaps that's everywhere! All the pet shops seem to be pretty badly stocked for rabbits though, which is why I came to that conclusion.
Although I've made friends with the lady at our local shop, and she's just ordered a nice new grass hut for Dex

 

[Imbrium]

no problem - having gone through this about two weeks ago with my babies, I thought I'd share my experiences

the tough stuff (critical care, vet wrap and possibly a probiotic) is most likely available through the vet. if you can't find the probiotic, I wouldn't stress about that. not sure if critical care goes by the same name or if it's available, but I'd bet there's at least a similar product in the UK - if they act confused when you ask about it, explain that you're looking for food that you'd syringe to a rabbit that wasn't eating on their own.

if you can't get ahold of critical care or something similar and your rabbit isn't really eating that first day, you can make your own pellet slurry instead.

add some water (or pedialyte) to some pellets and microwave for a few mins (basically until it boils); let cool 10 mins or so in order to let the pellets "fluff", then stir well and break up the pellets as much as you can (adding more liquid if needed to get it to a pudding-like consistency). you can add a little bit of canned pumpkin or fruit flavored baby food to make it a little tastier. because the do-it-yourself method results in some larger chunks of pellet than what you'd find with critical care (which is powdered), you may need to cut the tip of the syringe off and use a pen tip or something to widen the hole a little bit so the pellet slurry can get through it easily. if you happen to have one of those grinder things (mortar and pestle, I think it's called), you could also crush up the pellets that way before mixing in the liquid and microwaving to make a smoother slurry.

pedialyte or a similar product is most likely available at any grocery store or all-purpose store (ie whatever's equivalent to walmart in the UK) - it'll be in the infant care section. it's basically the baby version of gatorade, minus the buttload of sugar - it's meant for infants and toddlers who are having diarrhea, to keep them hydrated and provide electrolytes and such.

 

[nickiya]

I've ordered the critical care, vet wrap and some syringes. Will have a trot down to the supermarket to search for baby food and re-hydration stuff tomorrow.
Hopefully she'll be a trooper, she's usually really well behaved and stuff, so fingers crossed! To be fair, she's gonna be the most spoilt rabbit in the world, so I'm sure she'll be fine!

 

[Imbrium]

yes, with any luck you won't need any of that stuff! it's not uncommon for them to shun food temporarily, though, so better safe than sorry

if nothing else, you'll have a nice emergency kit going in the event of an injury or illness/GI stasis episode later. hopefully that stuff will never come up, but if it does, you'll be SO glad you have what you need on-hand for at-home remedies and/or temporary measures to tide a bunn over until a vet appointment so that you never have to rush to the store or scramble to find something after someone suggests a remedy.

I actually put together a big first aid kit for my bunns a while back in preparation for both their spays and various "what if"s that might arise. here's the thread where I got a lot of help/input from other members in building my kit - http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=75235&forum_id=48 (the last post on the second page is my final/updated list).

 

[Mariah]

OMG!! She is absolutely adorable!!!! I want her!!! *LOVE*

 

[nickiya]

So, right now Dexter is being a Pig-Rabbit. We're having a digging war.
She's been digging at the carpets when I let her roam free in my study, so I've provided some old bedsheets so she could dig at those instead. Apparently Dexter does not like said bedsheets (unless they are out of bounds in a drawer, of course) and keeps going back to the carpet. I even tried putting the bedsheets in the same place, tucking them under the hay bale (this is one place she wants to burrow under), but EVERY time I sit back down to do some work for uni she's back at the bloody carpets! It's quite funny, coz I keep moving her back to the sheets where she digs for a minute or so, but then she scampers back across to the carpet to dig there! As soon as she does I clap and say NO! and then pop her back next to the sheets where she lies down all coy... 2 secs later, back to the carpet!!!
Don't get me wrong, I adore this animal but she's going back in her cage if she's not careful!
Caught in action:

 

[Imbrium]

is it the carpets in general or certain spots? if it's certain spots, you could try blocking them off with furniture, cardboard, a NIC fence, etc. if it's a whole room, you could try putting down a big tarp - my bunns have my whole living room penned in for them, but there's a tarp covering the entire floor, so they've never even had a chance to fall in love with the carpet.

it's pretty hard to distract a bunny from something they're fascinated with (like peeing on a couch or digging up a certain patch of carpet), so the best route is usually to deny access.

 

[nickiya]

Yeah it seems to be any bit of carpet next to any of the walls or the hay bale. I've got some plastic mats so I think I'll pop those about.

I've just taken her to the vets to be spayed, so I'm trying to do some research for uni, but it just isn't going as planned!

I hope she's okay :cry2

 

[nickiya]

I've just been to pick Dexter up from the vet. She seems a bit lethargic, but I've made her a bowl of fruit and veggies to try to encourage her to eat.

Should I be leaving her alone now, or giving her a little stroke on the nose now and then? Boyfriend thinks that leaving her be in her room is the best plan, but I want her to know that we still love her!

Poor bun

 

[JBun]

She's probably feeling a bit confused about what's going on, so a little reassurance and nose rubs would probably help. I wouldn't handle her much, just because she'll be sore from the surgery, but she definitely needs pets

 

[nickiya]

Yeah I gave her some nose scratches and made soothing noises at her haha I ignored the boyf in the end (as usual!)

She's ignored her food so far, until I put a selection in her carry case (she hasn't left it yet) and she had a little nibble of some spinach. I think it was more of a "for god's sake Nicki. Look, I'm eating, now go away!" but it worked for me!

 

[ldoerr]

She is very pretty. I did not need any of the stuff that Jennifer listed for my girls spays. I had the critical care and benibac plus on hand just in case, but did not need either.