Loss of a Bunny (Rant)

[Tiffany0204]

In my intro thread, I mentioned that I'd tell what happened with our Rabbit.

He was an english lop, really really cute! Gizmo absolutely loved him, I did too. I never thought I'd really want a rabbit, but after being around this one it was understandable to see why my BF liked him so much. (The bunny was his, kinda became 'mine' too when we moved in together)

So the problem all started when we first brought him to the vet. Jack (bunny) had these sores on the undersides of his feet, and occasionally would crack and bleed. Jack always had out of cage time, where we'd pen up Gizmo and let Jack have run of the house. We were worried about the callouses (that's what they looked like) and so decided to bring him to the vet that the breeder recommended to my BF.

The vet looked him over, said the callouses were nothing to be worried about. I guess bunnies get them on their feet from time to time with all the laying around they do. She mentioned that labs get them as well. So long as they wern't infected (they wern't) it wasn't that big of a deal.

We had looked into getting Jack fixed, as after some research we found that it extends the life expectancy by a huge amount. My bf asked about it, and the vet said that they definitely do it, and booked an appointment for him.

After that, she wanted to know about what we were feeding him. My BF replied that he got fed the pellets that the breeder used, and got carrots and romaine lettuce as well. She said that we should be trying to imitate what rabbits would eat in The Wild, and should switch him over to Timothy Hay. She said to make the switch slowly, and to see if he'd take to it. She said the pellets are used by the slaughter houses to fatten the bunnies up before they're killed for meat. Of course this horrified us, we certainly wern't trying to fatten Jack up to be killed, lol!

So we made the switch. Jack took to the timothy hay just fine. However things started to be different. Normally his dish of water would last him for at least 12 hours. Once we started with the hay, right away he'd drain his water and we'd be filling it at least 6 or 7 times (no joke) a day. Concerned with the drastic change in water consumption, we called the vet again who reassured us that this was fine, the hay was dryer than the pellets so that's why he was drinking more.

Then he stopped "staging" to urinate. Bunnies arch themselves so they don't pee all over their undersides. If there was one thing Jack was, it was meticulous about grooming. Seriously, this was the cleanest bunny I have ever seen. He was mainly white, and with the exception of his paws all of him was still pristine white. After the timothy hay diet change, he started peeing all over himself. It was really strange. He'd also start peeing out of his cage when he was out. This is also highly irregular for bunnies. They're very much like cats, and they want to use the litter box, or a corner to pee in. It's instinct. So it was very strange to see him pee out of the cage on the middle of the kitchen floor.

Again, we called the vet and she again reassured us that he was urinating more because of the upped water consumption. My guy went from changing the shavings in the cage from every 2 days or so to needing to every day. It was crazy how much he was peeing, but I guess what goes in must come out, right?

He also stopped playing with his toys. Bunnies like to throw things and Jack had toys that he'd toss around his cage, or hold in his mouth and bob his head up and down. All of this wasn't sitting right with us, and in retrospect I wish we had trusted our guts more and had gotten a second opinion.

To me, when an animal starts doing things out of character, normally it's because of a drastic change, right? I still feel the switch to the Timothy Hay is what did this.

He started losing a TON of weight. He went from being really fluffy (not fat though) to nearly skin and bones. We got worried that the hay wasn't enough nutrition for him and went back to introducing a small amount of pellets for supplement. We wern't advised to give him any sort of vitamin supplement, that he should get it from leafy greens instead of pills.

It went really downhill after Jack got fixed. He stopped playing with his toys all together, and pretty much stopped playing out of his cage too. Normally he'd just sit somewhere instead of hopping around and investigating things. When we'd see him hop, you could see the urine scalding on his undersides. He had stopped staging to pee altogether at this point, and his fur was soaked with urine.

Again, another call to the vet, who said that as long as he was eating fine it should be okay. Jack would mow through his hay and whatnot like it was going out of style, so we figured at least he was still eating, right? Drinking too. My BF asked if it was safe to give him a bath, as to try and clean him up a bit. The vet said it would be fine, so long as we didn't use harsh shampoos.

Once he got the bath, we saw how worse for wear Jack was. He was a fraction of the size he used to be, and his whole underside was stained a really dark yellow from all the urine on him. His poops were good though, evenly formed and not runny or anything like that. Ideal poops, I guess you could say.

My guy got home early from work one day, and went to check on Jack in the cage. He was barely moving, and didn't even respond when offered a baby carrot (his fave snack) my guy started freaking out, and got an emergency appointment with the vet. Turns out Jack had an intestinal blockage and needed to be put down. He called me at work and I was due to get off in about 45 mins, I asked if he could wait until I got there before it was to be done, but the vet said that he was probably suffering alot and it wasn't humane to make him wait.



Just that morning I was commenting to my guy about how awful Jack smelled. It went beyond normal bunny smells, really putrid. He said he knew, and was concerned about him. I feel like we're to blame in all of this, because truly he was doing FINE until we switched him to the Timothy Hay.

He was put down, and we had him cremated. It was really hard.

My question (to those who have bunnies) is what do you feed your bunnies? Do you do Timothy Hay? Do you supplement with vitamins? There's so much stuff in retrospect that I felt that I should have done, and I feel terrible that we might have had something to do with Jack's being put down. We both loved him very much and still miss him alot.

I suppose I want answers to questions that can't be answered. All I know is that Jack was FINE until we switched him to the Timothy Hay.

[Punkygirl0101]

I am so sorry that happened to you.

Bunnies DO NEED pellets. I don't know why that vet would say that. They don't need pellets constantly, but they need a small amount of pellets everyday. and leafy greens should be their staple. Hay is NOT a staple diet. Hay should be available daily, but its not their main diet...it aids in digestion of other foods. Hay does not have enough calories for bunnies. Hay is mainly fiber.

I feed my bunnies pellets, hay, and leafy greens. And for a treat they get carrots, and fruit.

It is not your fault! You were just doing what your vet told you...and your vet was completely wrong!

[Swiftwind]

I am extremely sorry to hear what you had to go through... You shouldn't blame yourself though, as you were just following the advice of the vet, who is someone you should be able to trust.

[Ritz459]

I am so sorry. ((hugs)) I just recentally lost my cavy to a horrible accident and I know somewhat what you are going through.

From what I know, rabbits are "similar" to Guinea Pigs in terms of their diet. They need a pellet diet supplemented with fresh veggies (or, in the piggies' case, fresh veggies supplemented with pellets). Timothy hay is very good for them and aids in their digestion. My pigs eat a timothy hay based pellet and they get a timothy/grass hay mixture to munch on whenever evey they please.

There ARE some crappy pellets out there, just like there is crappy dog food. Of that you do need to be careful. I also wouldn't supplement with a vitamens. It is frowned upon to do so with Piggies because it can cause an overblance of vitamens. Everything they need should come from the food they eat (pellets, hay, veggies).

Here is a link you can check out about a rabbit's diet: FAQ: Diet
Rabbit Care

I'm not an expert by any means. What I know has just come from a bought of research I did when I was looking at some Lionhead rabbits.

[calgal]

I'm so terribly sorry Tiffany. I do hope you gave that Vet a piece of your mind, about how well the bunny was doing till she put him on hay. I have always said, if it "aint" broke, don't fix!!!
How is Gizmo since his bud is no longer around? Hugs to all of you. How sad.