ZRabbits

[BunMommaD]

That is awesome! Go Neville! He is such a lucky little boy please share the stress free medication technique...

 

[ZRabbits]

This is how we did it. Took a bit and boy do I have the scratches to prove it. Neville was responding to our stress level so we needed to calm down so that he would calm down.

Both of us do the medication. I hold him firmly with his weak side to my chest. My husband than comforts with talk and rubbing head and neck area. Once he's calm, my husband rubs his hand over Neville forehead and stop by covering the eyes. Then the syringe is introduced to the mouth. My husband lets him taste it and then Neville starts lapping it up. The remaining is introduced slow and steady.

This technique was a work in progress but we got it down very good. Just makes sense to calm the bunny before introducing the meds. Always helps.

K

 

[BunMommaD]

^^ thanks for sharing and I agree, a calm bunny is a happy bunny

 

[ZRabbits]

Neville wanted us to do this. He wanted everyone to see he's OK.




K

 

[ZRabbits]

Wanted to share Luna's First Screen Test. lol



K

 

[mrbunny]

I was thinking of whether spring had arrived officially or not, and I remembered that your Luna was coming home on the first day of spring. Guess spring is here! Congrats on the safe arrival of Luna. You look so happy and proud in your picture (previous page...9 now) with her! She's adorable!

Glad to see Neville is hopping around, too!

 

[mrbunny]

Wow, Luna is already doing some mini-binkies in her new home!

 

[ZRabbits]

mrbunny wrote:

I was thinking of whether spring had arrived officially or not, and I remembered that your Luna was coming home on the first day of spring. Guess spring is here! Congrats on the safe arrival of Luna. You look so happy and proud in your picture (previous page...9 now) with her! She's adorable!

Glad to see Neville is hopping around, too!

Thanks so much. Yes very proud of all my rabbits. But have to say, a tiny bit more because Luna is my first doe. She's just amazes me. As you commented about the mini-binkies, she's already very relaxed in her surroundings. Very confident and very curious.

And we are so glad Neville is hopping around too. When he relaxes in his crate you can really see the head tilt, but after reading everything I can on it, we are really optimistic that it will truly clear up one day. Might take weeks or a month, but we caught the wry neck fast and got him the medical attention he needs. But we also know that if there is still a head tilt, we will love him just the same. He's very happy and alert, eating and drinking and in all that I read, that's truly a sign that he's happy and content.

K

 

[wendymac]

I'm so happy seeing Neville out hopping around. It's such a great thing that you're alert to your rabbits behaviors and caught it in time. Awesome parents!!

Luna is so adorable! I love watching the cute little binkies. And she definitely looks like she has no fear. And Jake watching the buns is so cute.

Thanks for sharing!!

 

[BunMommaD]

Love seeing tiny buns hoping and playing and go Luna! Seems like she has always been there... What a confident little lady

 

[ZRabbits]

wendymac wrote:

I'm so happy seeing Neville out hopping around. It's such a great thing that you're alert to your rabbits behaviors and caught it in time. Awesome parents!!

Luna is so adorable! I love watching the cute little binkies. And she definitely looks like she has no fear. And Jake watching the buns is so cute.

Thanks for sharing!!

Thanks Wendy. Does my heart good to see him hopping around. I felt so guilty that he even got sick, but everything I've read is it's tough to even catch. And one thing that always showed up in all the articles, observe and know your bunnies. Catching it fast is the best to help cure. So that give me a little peace of mind. I do know my bunnies.

Yes, Luna does not fear ANYTHING! It's just amazes me. She rearranges everything in her crate to the way SHE likes it. She's very clean and is always preening herself. Very alert. Very confident. Hopefully these are good traits for a good Mom.

And yes, Jake does watch and protect HIS bunnies. Right now, he whines because he knows Neville is not up to par and Luna is a bit tiny. A small price to pay for a dog who has unbelievable skills. Our Jake is also a rescue who was deeply abused. And to see him today so thrilled and protective of another animal, shows that with TLC any aggressive abused animal can be saved. For a prosperous, healthy life.

K

 

[ZRabbits]

BunMommaD wrote:

Love seeing tiny buns hoping and playing and go Luna! Seems like she has always been there... What a confident little lady

Thanks Liz. Yes she definitely is a confident little lady who knows what she wants. And when you look at her, she knows how to make you melt.

K

 

[ZRabbits]

This morning was greeted by Neville, but he seems really sluggish. His head tilt was in a resting mode. So we decided to get him out to see how he felt outside his crate. Different bunny! Our boy is lacking confidence in his footing and agility. Soon as you put him on a rug, he lights up, runs, jumps, head tilt on slight.

So it appears as though we have a non-traction issue. In other words, Neville in his crate, which is hard plastic bottom doesn't allow him to make quick moves or retreats. Which in turn scares him into a "I'm only sitting in my litter box where I have traction".

So pulled out a towel and placed it over the plastic in his crate. Also put a new bigger easier entry litter box in there as well. Gave him a bigger bowl for his pellets because he's slowing down on his pellets. And that could be because of the slippery plastic floor.

Right now he's running in the kitchen on the throw rug like a pro. But will not go on the linoleum like he's done in the past.

We need to get Neville over this hump and get his confidence back. In order for the medication to really do it's job, Neville definitely needs movement.

We never thought until we put two and two together. Bunnies need their confidence and secure footing.

K

 

[ZRabbits]

My Neville is doing better, but still has a wry neck. Though when he's out it doesn't look bad but when he looks around he turns his head to the side. It just breaks my heart to see him that way. He's getting more confidence in his movement in his crate after the changes we made. He's more mobile and not scared to move around. Today we made sure Neville had two runs in the kitchen. Plus he had his grooming session along with a nice massage from Dad.

Hopefully we can keep his spirits up so that he can truly be on the mend. I know wry neck doesn't disappear overnight, but it's such a hard thing to look at when you love your bunny so much.

Last few days all he was eating was hay. But we were thrilled he was eating. Now with the bigger bowl he is now starting to eat his pellets. He also loves his wheat grass, something that is recommended in many articles.

I know I've been focusing on my "Heart" bunny, but I have made time for all my bunnies with grooming and special time together. They are all aware that something isn't right because they read our moods, and have been so sweet and understanding in their own ways.

Luna is absolutely settled in. She rearranges her food dish constantly. Loves the little hut we bought her to hide in. Loves to sprint out of it, jump in her litter box and sprint back in as fast as she can. She even rearranges that as well. Her grooming sessions are so much easier than Neville. And she been taking the flipping over in her on stride. Only once did she panic but was able to calm her down. She's an "in your face" bunny checking me out all the time. Will nudge my hand away when SHE feels like it. lol. And seeing that face peer out at you, you just melt.

I would say things have settled down here, but we truly are doing everything we can to make my "Heart" Bunny Neville better again. Any suggestions on helping Wry neck would be deeply appreciated. Though I read everything, someone who's been through this could always shed some light.

K

 

[wendymac]

Poor little fellow! I wish I could help you with the wry neck questions, but I'm more in the dark than you are. I do know how awful it is to see a fur kid not up to par. Just rest easy, knowing you are doing anything and everything you can for him.

Have you tried giving him a pinch or two of old-fashioned oatmeal? It's great for the digestive system (especially important, I would think, while Neville's on meds) and they really love it.

That's awesome that Luna's settled in and making herself quite at home. I love the "in your face" bunnies. That's definitely Max. They make all the work really worth it. You can tell, in the video you posted, that she's curious about everything. She shows no fear.

I love the fact that your hubby is equally involved. It's sweet listening to him in the Luna video, making sure you didn't step on her.

 

[MagPie]

OOooh wheat grass is great. I tried some out with Harvey yesterday and he LOVES it. Plus it's kind of cute watching the blades of grass disappear into his mouth.

Hope everything goes well with Neville.

 

[ZRabbits]

wendymac wrote:

Poor little fellow! I wish I could help you with the wry neck questions, but I'm more in the dark than you are. I do know how awful it is to see a fur kid not up to par. Just rest easy, knowing you are doing anything and everything you can for him.

Have you tried giving him a pinch or two of old-fashioned oatmeal? It's great for the digestive system (especially important, I would think, while Neville's on meds) and they really love it.

That's awesome that Luna's settled in and making herself quite at home. I love the "in your face" bunnies. That's definitely Max. They make all the work really worth it. You can tell, in the video you posted, that she's curious about everything. She shows no fear.

I love the fact that your hubby is equally involved. It's sweet listening to him in the Luna video, making sure you didn't step on her.

Thanks so much Wendy. I appreciate all you kind words. Will look into that oatmeal, but I have to say that this morning most of his pellets were gone. YIPPEE! And Neville was in my face this morning with the "See Mom, I did good last night.". I guess it just takes patience and time. But knowing he's up and about more now after yesterday's changes, makes me feel really good. When they are for the better.

When we got our first (Dobby and Kreacher) these bunnies were for me. My husband said he would just be my back up. But when we found Willard, it all changed. And my Husband's been there right beside me ever since. They really helped him as much as my husband wanted them to help me. I love to see him interact with them and especially Luna. He just melts when he sees her. And Dobby has become his "Dobinski". Last night every where my Husband went, Dobby and Jake followed him. And to hear my Husband call Dobby name and see him come bouncing from where ever he is, it's just so sweet.

K

 

[ZRabbits]

MagPie wrote:

OOooh wheat grass is great. I tried some out with Harvey yesterday and he LOVES it. Plus it's kind of cute watching the blades of grass disappear into his mouth.

Hope everything goes well with Neville.

Glad Harvey loved the Wheat Grass. It's truly really good for them. And I love watching the blades of grass disappear as well.

Thanks for your well wishes for Neville. He's slowly on the mend, but after all the changes we made to help, this morning it looks like we really did the right thing. Neville's confidence is coming back and that will be a huge factor for his recovery.

K

 

[ZRabbits]

11th day of Neville's Wry Neck. Almost done the medication. Two more days.

Truly see a nice improvement. Neck is still tilted, but his attitude is coming back. With allowing Neville runs twice a day and lots of cuddles, I have to say has helped immensely. He's no longer afraid and loves the massages. This morning was the first morning he was laying outside his litter box. He's used the litter box as his safe haven, but now is laying out more and more every day. Still greets us every morning, but can see he's more active when we are not there. This is all good.

Luna, well she's an absolute nut. We got her a hay hut so that she could hide in it if she should need it. Just as security for her. Well, she uses it as a launching pad and I have found my little girl is an interior decorator. She moves it all over, along with her food bowl. Every time I go in to get her bowl to feed her, I have to find it first. She did pick out her corner to pee so we got that right. My boys just went where we put it. But not our girl. She had to be special and choose HER spot. She very affectionate and very curious, or should I say extremely curious. When she sits with me, she must inspect my eyes, my nose, my ears, taste my hair, and the list goes on. She even loves to play with my husband's beard. She's eating like a horse. Drinking like a fish. I think she finally realizes she has a home.

Dobby, Willard and Kreacher are all doing well. They have calmed down since they were very upset that Neville was sick. They now feel that it's OK and that Neville is on the mend.

It is now molting time at Z-Rabbits. I have been brushing all of them every day and papaya is a must. Hopefully soon, the molting will end and we can get them outside when the weather breaks.

Looking forward to the weekend and spending time with my bunnies. And working on the garden and their run. Hopefully we have some nice weather so that we can continue the work my husband already started on it. I really miss my garden. I love to tend it as I love to tend to my bunnies. This year the bunnies will have their own little garden with wheat grass abundant. They just love it. And considering that wheat grass is the one thing that pops up every time I read about wry neck, I am convince this special plant must be around all year. As we do grow it in hydroponics as well.

K

 

[candykittten]

Beautiful buns! I just read your entire blog and your story has been fascinating to follow!

This is my baby Jacko. A shy little lionhead that I rehomed in September. He was so beautiful as a baby!