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Pandanaut posted:Our bunny got put down today. She was less than a year old and we're kind of left at a loss right now. Sorry to hear about your bun. I can't begin to imagine how my wife will deal with Cilantro's eventual passing.
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Mar 2, 2011 00:30
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I'm so sorry for your loss 
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Mar 2, 2011 10:29
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So sorry for your loss panda, it's never easy no matter what the age or how long you've owned them.alucinor posted:When a rabbit bullies a cat, he's deadly serious about trying to drive off a predator. I've often wondered about this with Debbie, but she always wants to be next to the cats, despite the fact that she loves to pull out chunks of Link's fur. More often than not, she just wants to lay next to them, but they always run away from her. I would too if she kept pulling out my hair. Murphy never displayed defensive behavior toward them, and would often snuggle next to one of them once he was tired of bouncing around the room. He would try to hop over or crawl under the cats, but never chase them off or bite them. In surrender situations, is it ever mentioned whether the cats were exposed to other small animals before rabbits, or just rabbits plunked into a home with established cats? I've considered the fact that my cats were so frightened by the ferrets and hamsters and therefore were conditioned to be afraid of anything smaller than themselves. Yet the rabbits I owned as a child were constantly in fear mode whenever I brought them into the house to play with, but I attributed that to the fact that they lived in hutches outside.
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Mar 2, 2011 10:59
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Thank you all for the support. It truly means a lot, as crazy as that may sound. Day two is just a lot of confusion. I think we've both kind of accepted everything, it's just that complete unknown that bugs us. There's no one thing we can point to and that makes it so, so hard.
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Mar 2, 2011 17:13
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Windy posted:In surrender situations, is it ever mentioned whether the cats were exposed to other small animals before rabbits, or just rabbits plunked into a home with established cats? In almost every case I've dealt with, the rabbits were there first, yet the cats stayed and the rabbits were surrendered. Typically it was 2-3 year old rabbits with younger kittens being introduced. (N=7 that I can bring to mind off the top of my head). In all probability, the people were already bored of the rabbits which is why they got OMG KITTEHNS, and then when they found that the rabbits and kittens couldn't be out at the same time, that was sufficient excuse for the rabbits to get the boot.
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Mar 2, 2011 18:58
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my bunnies are fighting over dominance. Bitsy was Queen B for years. Like 4? And now Paterson is getting in on the hump. Does anyone have any ideas? In those 4 years I NEVER saw him ever attempt to hump her. I think that it's been somewhat food related though?
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Mar 2, 2011 20:00
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Are they actually fighting - like whirling ball of fur - or just humping and maybe some chasing? If the latter, that's perfectly normal. I've got a pair of whom the smaller boy (Wordsworth) was totally the big Daisy's bitch for about three years. Recently, W's been the one doing the humping, which given the size difference, is pretty funny.  I've got another pair, Noel and Dodger, who have been fine for four years - UNLESS I'm actively distributing food. He goes nuts and chases her all over the cage until she hides out in the corner farthest from where the food is going to go. As soon as food is IN the cage, he's fine with her coming out and eating next to him. Fuckin rabbits.
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Mar 2, 2011 22:04
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Pandanaut posted:Thank you all for the support. It truly means a lot, as crazy as that may sound. If the vet couldn't say what happened, provided they know what they're talking about, it's highly unlikely that you ever will, sorry. Really could have been anything. Maybe take comfort in the fact that people who care this much about their rabbit probably gave it a far better and happier life than it would have had with most people, short though it might have been. edit: my flatmate bought another dwarf rabbit to bond with her dwarf rabbit. The first one's obviously an unholy terror (being a female dwarf) but we and the vet think a lot of her behavior is due to boredom and frustration. So it might not actually be a completely terrible idea to get a second one. Gonna keep this thread posted! And of course some pictures when the new guy's adjusted a little. DS at Night fucked around with this message at 22:34 on Mar 2, 2011 |
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Mar 2, 2011 22:30
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My rabbit has a weird relationship with my cats. She seems to genuinely like my big Maine Coon. She chases him around and shoves her little nose underneath his big face all the time. He usually grooms her for a few licks and then goes away (in which case she chases him) or he bats at her forehead once or twice softly and without claws, which usually makes her back off (it looks like he's patting the top of her head? hard to describe). I'm going to put fresh Soft Paws on him this weekend, since his grew off a little while ago. He never actually scratches her, but if one of his claws is out it could be bad. The rabbit isn't as much of a fan of my tortie. The cat chases her around sometimes, but usually she leaves her alone. The rabbit runs up to her too, though half as often as she does to her bud. Usually I think it's her way of proving a point- the cat will be laying down and she'll go straight to her and then slowly walk by, taunting her. Given that the rabbit seems to start things with the cat quite a lot, I'm not convinced that she isn't playing. One of the cuter exchanges I've seen happened when I was petting Lola on the floor. The tortie walked up to me and Lola moved away. The cat licked my face a few times and then sauntered off- Lola watched this, then ran straight over to the cat and demanded grooming. I think she assumed that anything below me on the dominance chain was far below her and therefore ought to pay respect. Watching the rabbit with my Maine Coon does make me kind of sad. I think she really wants a friend, since she's constantly trying to get the cat to give her affection. I kind of want to get a male rabbit, but I don't want to risk the litterbox habits disappearing again and I really don't want to risk getting a rabbit with a bad personality or that she won't like being around. Plus I'd have to get a new cage. Also I'm really busy and don't have time to bond anything. Also my fiance would probably kill me. There are lots of neutered boys at the humane society now though...
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Mar 3, 2011 01:51
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Doesn't have to be a boy! There are many happy gay or lesbian bunny couples 
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Mar 3, 2011 02:26
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my girl bunny grooms the boy sooo much. But he never returns the favour. Half the time, she'll pancake next to him waiting for him and he turns, forces his head under hers and she starts grooming him again. I don't understand!
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Mar 3, 2011 04:01
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Does anyone have any recommendations for building a rabbit cage that would utilize a wall corner? I think my bunny likes the solid shelter of living in a large (doorless) closet but I'm starting to worry about heat/humidity fluctuations. I'm hoping to avoid chloroplast. I've got a million wire cubes to work with but I'd prefer not to cube in the sides redundant with the physical wall. edit: Would a view of a window be a plus or a minus? I don't want him to freak out about predator birds all day. RICKON WALNUTSBANE fucked around with this message at 07:07 on Mar 3, 2011 |
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Mar 3, 2011 07:05
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alucinor posted:In almost every case I've dealt with, the rabbits were there first, yet the cats stayed and the rabbits were surrendered. Typically it was 2-3 year old rabbits with younger kittens being introduced. (N=7 that I can bring to mind off the top of my head). Ahh, yeah, people are stupid. I'm just hoping that once we move this summer and get settled in that I'll find some fosters that are used to cats, or at least indifferent to having other creatures around. I miss my lop eared buddy, and Debbie could stand to have another rabbit around to keep her grounded.
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Mar 3, 2011 07:07
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Foaming Chicken posted:Does anyone have any recommendations for building a rabbit cage that would utilize a wall corner? I think my bunny likes the solid shelter of living in a large (doorless) closet but I'm starting to worry about heat/humidity fluctuations. I'm hoping to avoid chloroplast. I've got a million wire cubes to work with but I'd prefer not to cube in the sides redundant with the physical wall. Coro is only for the cage base. If your bun is neat enough, you can certainly go without it. However, if you don't put grids up against the walls, you have to solve two problems: a) it's very easy for bunny to knock the grids down b) at some point, bunny will eat the baseboard/walls The former you can try to fix by doing something like this:  I've never found a solution for the second that didn't involve preventing wall access. Personally I'd avoid a direct window view unless a good portion of the cage is out of the window line. One day last summer I heard a panicked scurry and then a whole lot of thumping from the rabbit room. This is a rather common occurrence in my house because someone gets their knickers in a twist, but it's usually short-lived. But after an hour I realized it hadn't stopped so I went and looked. There was a hawk sitting on the clothesline pole outside the window. Everyone was still sulking in their houses when I went down to feed dinner that night, and the rabbits whose cages were right in front of that window continued to thump well into the night.
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Mar 3, 2011 15:38
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Camille has to get her teeth trimmed! I was cool with it, knowing it was a common thing, until I heard the word "anesthetize". Now everyone in the house is a little freaked out. What do I need to know? How soon after is she gonna be okay? I keep getting the image of the vet knocking her out and then trying to pry her jaw open to get a chain saw in there.  Any good advice for helping Camille get her smell back on her when she comes home so that Pepper doesn't freak out? Neither of us are sure why Camille needs a tooth trim, she's never had tooth problems before. The vet kept asking, "Do you feed her hay?" until I wanted to scream, "No, I feed her smoked sausage, it's what she wants!"
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Mar 4, 2011 15:57
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Heh, I have a pig in getting his monthly trim right now. Molar trim, I assume, not incisors? Molar spurs become more and more common as rabbits age; but lack of dietary hay is a the most common cause in younger animals, so forgive your vet for that part. Certain breeds are also prone to developing spurs and that looks like the likely reason in your case, unless the shelter totally got her estimated age wrong. Incisor malocclusion is much less common and far more likely to be genetic. It's also usually much less related to dietary hay intake. If at all possible, I'd recommend you take both bunnies along for the ride and let Pepper spend the day in the clinic too. She'll be able to comfort Camille before and after the procedure, and you won't risk any unbonding. Camille might be a TINY bit groggy if they do the procedure shortly before you pick her up, but overall this is typically a very minor procedure and she'll be fine. They just go in with a tiny dremel and smooth out the rough spots; the anesthesia is just to prevent the vet losing a finger or three. They often send them home with one or two doses of pain meds just in case; but it's usually not needed. Because of the anesthesia she may not want to eat the evening she comes home; so I typically withhold veggies and pellets for a day or two prior to a tooth trim, then load them up when they come home, so that they are extra tempted. I also take a weight as soon as I get home and again at midnight; and they get a syringe feeding if they're down over that time. They're typically fine by morning.
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Mar 4, 2011 16:23
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Our apartment is cleaning our carpets today, so I decided to shut Lola in the bathroom. She was pissed, loads of thumps. Hopefully the bathroom feels safe enough that she doesn't get freaked about the noise, she hates vacuums!
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Mar 4, 2011 18:22
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alucinor posted:Thanks for all the advice, I'll try to put something together next weekend. Do you have any thoughts about minimizing stress when moving him over? Right now I'm thinking of using his new corner as a play pen for a few days before the switch.
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Mar 4, 2011 21:35
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Foaming Chicken posted:Thanks for all the advice, I'll try to put something together next weekend. Do you have any thoughts about minimizing stress when moving him over? Right now I'm thinking of using his new corner as a play pen for a few days before the switch. Sounds like a good plan. Maybe leave his litterbox dirty for an extra day during the move so there's lots of nice familiar poops in the new place. My guys get shuffled around fairly frequently and don't seem to experience any stress when they move, it's more like COOL THIS PLACE IS DIFFERENT MUST CHIN EVERYTHING. And then they poop on whatever their chin didn't touch. 
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Mar 4, 2011 21:50
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You are a fount of fluffy wisdom. I never updated my snuffles situation. My vet examined him and said his congestion is still limited to his upper airways. She thinks although he's sneezey, he's acting normal and is stable. We talked about treatment options should he get worse and exactly what "getting worse" would be.
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Mar 5, 2011 18:38
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alucinor posted:COOL THIS PLACE IS DIFFERENT MUST CHIN EVERYTHING. Can you explain this chin thing? I've never heard of it but it sounds ADORABLE.
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Mar 6, 2011 17:02
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Serella posted:Can you explain this chin thing? I've never heard of it but it sounds ADORABLE. Oh man, there are so many videos on youtube but this one was so ridiculous that I just had to share. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QsQ33dzB5o&feature=related
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Mar 6, 2011 17:11
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Chinning is something they do when they rub their chin on something unfamiliar to give it their scent. A lot of people assume it means "this is mine" but what it actually means is "not going to eat this right now, but later". When I'm lying down one of the rabbits in this house will jump all over me and start chinning my nose nonstop. Tickles like hell but I've been told it looks adorable.
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Mar 6, 2011 18:48
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The rabbit who lives in my bathroom (it's a big bathroom) has a thing about headbutting people's legs when they're in there, and biting/digging at pantlegs when people are using the toilet. He never actually tries to bite anyone, just pulls at the slack fabric. We think he just wants people to get out of his room, but he only does the pants thing when people are right at the toilet. He's sorta elderly and it seems like he can't see anything that isn't right in front of his face. Does he want us out, or are pants delicious?
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Mar 7, 2011 02:00
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Glasgow posted:The rabbit who lives in my bathroom (it's a big bathroom) has a thing about headbutting people's legs when they're in there, and biting/digging at pantlegs when people are using the toilet. He never actually tries to bite anyone, just pulls at the slack fabric. We think he just wants people to get out of his room, but he only does the pants thing when people are right at the toilet. He's sorta elderly and it seems like he can't see anything that isn't right in front of his face. Does he want us out, or are pants delicious? Cilantro nips at our pants/legs when she wants us to either A) groom her or b) move out of her way.
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Mar 7, 2011 13:18
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Hola Guys, I have a question regarding Jeff, our big white lionhead bunny. Lately he has been refusing to drink from his water bottle that's hung off the side of his house. There doesn't seem to be a problem with the bottle itself (my girlfriend has tried adjusting the height it sits at, cleaned it repeatedly and even tried drinking out of it herself to make sure it wasn't broken :/ ), but he won't touch it. He will, however, take water from a bowl, which is how we've been dealing with it. My first thought was that he might have developed maloccluded teeth that might be making it uncomfortable for him to drink from the bottle, but they seem absolutely fine. We're going to take him to our vet who can take a better look at his mouth and make sure there isn't anything wrong with him, but were just curious to see if anyone else has had this problem or any suggestions.
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Mar 7, 2011 20:51
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Bowls are easier to drink out of, so maybe he's just lazy. However, the plastic, rubber, and metal parts of bottles can, with age, start to degrade, which changes the flavor of the water (I once broke open a guinea pig bottle's nozzle to find a disgustingly rusted spring inside - I now only use bottles which are all glass/stainless steel, without springs, and I replace the rubber stoppers frequently). For all these reasons, we mostly recommend only using a bowl. If he's doing that, I'd just go with it. The only exception is when rabbits have a giant dewlap/furchest that constantly gets wet; that can lead to irritation and infection. Those guys get a bottle plus a tiny nose-sized bowl or a bottle only if they're really retarded about getting wet.
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Mar 7, 2011 22:42
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Have any of you ever noticed your rabbit do that leg kicking thing that dogs do when petting them? edit: Just tried to induce it again but no luck. He always starts licking whatever's in front of him, that hasn't changed. RICKON WALNUTSBANE fucked around with this message at 06:15 on Mar 9, 2011 |
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Mar 9, 2011 06:10
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alucinor posted:Bowls are easier to drink out of, so maybe he's just lazy. However, the plastic, rubber, and metal parts of bottles can, with age, start to degrade, which changes the flavor of the water (I once broke open a guinea pig bottle's nozzle to find a disgustingly rusted spring inside - I now only use bottles which are all glass/stainless steel, without springs, and I replace the rubber stoppers frequently). Thanks for the info alucinor  - We took him to the vet yesterday anyway to make sure he was fine and they've noticed he's broken a tooth, which is odd as he's not really a gnawer/chewer.. I've never really noticed him chewing on anything but food! - Either way, he's going in to have his teeth filed and to be Neutered on Friday. Poor Rabbit - You go in with tooth pain and have your balls lopped off.
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Mar 15, 2011 22:54
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I caught sight of a couple of fleas yesterday night frolicking on my rabbit's back. (I must have tracked them in when visiting a friend's house.) It's going to be AT LEAST a couple of weeks until I can make it for a trip to the vet's for some Revolution. In the meantime, no pet stores in my town seem to have rabbit-safe flea medication! I've called and visited stores. No one sells kitten Advantage (imadacloprid). I found a medication using Methoprene (3.6%) and Etofenprox(40%) in 0.034 fl. oz. applicators (other 56.4% are listed as "Other Ingredients"). I researched these active ingredients, and all data on Etofenprox seems to point to it being safe to administer to rabbits. Methoprene, on the other hand, is only safe at maximum 100mg/kg. I came up with these articles: METHOPRENE http://www.epa.gov/opp00001/biopesticides/ingredients/factsheets/factsheet_105401.pdf ETOFENPROX http://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2008/12/12/E8-29346/etofenprox-pesticide-tolerance The medication goes by the name "Bio Spot: Spot On". Would this be safe to administer to rabbits? http://www.biospot.com/cats.php This is NOT the Zodiac brand. I will not apply this medicine if it poses a threat. I will not apply this medicine if no experienced people can answer the question. THIS WOULD BE A TEMPORARY FIX until I can visit the vet for a prescription or order Advantage for kittens online. In the meantime...the flea infestation is not severe, and I have two rabbits. I am thoroughly cleaning their living area with rabbit-safe cleaning agents (as well as my living areas).
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Mar 17, 2011 03:00
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No. If that's your only option, would strongly recommend just not using ANYTHING until you can get Revolution or Advantage from your vet. Per http://www.allearssac.org/fleas.html: quote:Whatever you do, don't try to save money by buying a cheap knock-off of Advantage. Some discussion of permythrins can be found here. It says that rabbits in a feeding study experienced enlarged adrenal glands and that "all the studies noted effects on the liver even at the lowest levels of permethrin." This seems to be confirmed by the BioSpot MSDS here. A vet who knows the full pharmacology of those ingredients needs to have the final say, but I have seen enough disasters from these types of OTC flea products that it makes me very, very nervous. Do you have the type of relationship with your vet that you could just call and maybe they would just mail you a tube of Revolution or Advantage?
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Mar 17, 2011 15:03
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alucinor posted:No. If that's your only option, would strongly recommend just not using ANYTHING until you can get Revolution or Advantage from your vet. I never thought of calling the vet like that. I'll call them and explain my situation. I'm sure they can work something out... Returned biospot to the store.
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Mar 17, 2011 16:29
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I'm sitting for 2 older French lops over the weekend. Got them set up in the spare room, and my roommate had never seen that breed before and was fascinated. So I brought the girl in the living room and let her run around on the couch for a bit. When we looked back in the spare room we realized the boy had come to the closest corner of the pen and was standing up, looking around. I took the girl bunny back into the room and he started pawing at the air like he desperately missed his girlfriend. Put her back in the pen and they both hopped off to eat some hay. Friggin adorable.
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Mar 18, 2011 09:54
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So my bun samE is extremely food aggressive. She's nice and a normal amount of brattiness the rest of the time, but when I reach in to give her hay she tries to box it out of my hands, and just now I was giving her a dried apple treat and when I didn't let go as she tugged on it, she boxed me again! She's an only bun right now, so it's not like she has to compete for food. Any suggestions on how to remedy this behavior?
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Mar 25, 2011 03:52
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Does she box you if you reach in without food? With say, litter, or an inedible toy? You typically only see true food aggression in rabbits who have survived periods of neglect with malnutrition. In those cases it's a learned behavior which can be nearly eliminated just by giving them multiple food locations which are always kept full, so they never feel empty. The behavior you describe is almost always really space aggression, which is a common instinctive behavior even in rabbits who haven't ever been neglected. It often shows mostly during feedings because when you reach in with food, the rabbit is more likely to come up to you, and then feel crowded and lash out because you had the nerve to invade her personal space. If that's the case, the short answer is that rabbits are assholes and there's no way to change her.
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Mar 25, 2011 16:16
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alucinor posted:the rabbit is more likely to come up to you, and then feel crowded and lash out because you had the nerve to invade her personal space. Cilantro will hop into my wife's lap if she thinks there's a treat to be given. If there is, bunny-lap-time happiness for everyone involved. If there isn't, all of a sudden my wife is an intruder that gets burrowed on/boxed for having the gall to be under Cilantro. <  >
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Mar 25, 2011 17:56
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alucinor posted:Does she box you if you reach in without food? With say, litter, or an inedible toy? It seems to happen much more often when she can smell some sort of food, otherwise she's usually totally happy being petted if I reach into the cage. I don't want to give her unlimited food (pellets), she has hay all the time, because she's a greedy-bun and she'd get fatty fat. She's got tons of hay but when I reach my hand in to give her new hay it's just like I'm too slow so she'd rather knock it out of my hands.
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Mar 25, 2011 23:27
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My stupid rabbit ripped a bald spot in my apartment's wall to wall carpeting last night. I don't have any spare squares of it. Any suggestions?
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Mar 26, 2011 11:32
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okiecompy posted:It seems to happen much more often when she can smell some sort of food, otherwise she's usually totally happy being petted if I reach into the cage. I don't want to give her unlimited food (pellets), she has hay all the time, because she's a greedy-bun and she'd get fatty fat. She's got tons of hay but when I reach my hand in to give her new hay it's just like I'm too slow so she'd rather knock it out of my hands. How about giving her a little handful of hay before refilling the rest of the hay? Or of course using a hay rack dispenser thingy that you can fill from the outside. To be honest I think all rabbits are like this, at least the ones I know. There's one who'll insist on getting in the way of his food dish being filled and who I have to physically drag away from the dish in order to fill it, there's one who'll grunt and give you the death stare when you refill his hay even though he likes seeing you and eating hay, and there's one who'll bite the poo poo out of you so much when you feed her you just have to throw the pellets at her from a distance even though she loves us humans in general.
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Mar 26, 2011 11:54
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Foaming Chicken posted:My stupid rabbit ripped a bald spot in my apartment's wall to wall carpeting last night. I don't have any spare squares of it. Any suggestions? Get reamed by your landlord when you move out That's what happened to me both times
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Mar 27, 2011 04:49
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