Update on Spook, Thanks for all your help!

Hi Guys,

Two months ago I asked for help with my bun's skin problem and I really appreciate all of the posts and suggestions. I think he is getting over it but I can't tell you why. We tried everything and nothing really seemed to work. Then, this last month he had a big summer bunny shed and when he lost all of his old hair and undercoat, he lost his skin problem too. I have brushed him and looked all over and cannot find any more flakey places and he is regrowing his hair in his bald places. He still looks a little funny but I think we are on the downhill side of it. Thanks again for all of your help and support. I will post a pic of him as soon as he fills his hair in a bit more and gains some weight. I was so afraid I was going to lose him but now it looks like he is going to stick around a while longer. Thank you again for everything.

-Spook's and Dahlia's Mom

I disapprove of Momma right now

So I am not too happy with Momma right now. Let me tell you all about what she did and then you all can get on to her for me. I have been shedding lots and lots. Great big gobs of hair. Momma has been brushing me and lint rolling me everyday for the last two weeks. She came home from work the other day and there were no poops anywhere and I seemed to be straining in my litter box. She picked me up and looked at my butt (how rude) and there was a wad of poop the size of her fist on my butt. I couldn't get my behind clean and I couldn't get anymore poops out. I also had a big chunk of something that seemed attached to me so Momma didn't want to tug on it. Momma cleaned my butt and then I made lots and lots of poop pellets everywhere. I felt so much better. Well, Momma woke up today and we had the same problem. She said the dreaded words "we are going to see Dr. Rachel"
Momma got me ready and off we went. Now I like to ride in the car A LOT and never get scared. I was munching my salad the whole way. I got to meet a dog at the vet that weighed 254lbs pounds. The man said he was an English Mastiff. The doggy came over and looked at me in the carrier and I of course, came to meet him. He gave me a big yucky lick through the bars and left slobber all over me. ( I hope I dont get cooties) Another dog came to look at me and the Mastiff puppy growled and snapped at the other dog. Then he lay down in front of my carrier. I think he was protecting me. The man he owned said he was like that with all little creatures. He was so nice.
The vet helper called us and we went to see Dr. Rachel. I love her lots. She calls me "honey" and "sugar" and gives me lots of kisses. She checked me all over. I had some yucky wax in one ear and she cleaned that out (hated it) and then she got to the booty. She told Momma that she was going to give me a "potty trail" and got out some scary clippers. She shaved my behind hair way down. See, it is because of my head tilt that I have trouble getting my butt and ears clean. She told Momma that my scent glands were very full and she cleaned those out. (hated that too) She looked at my teeth, in my ears and squeezed my belly kinda hard. She said I was doing my first big bunny shed and I had a lot of undercoat that needed to come off. She made the vet helper rub me and rub me and lots and lots of hair came out. The poor guy was sneezing when he was through.
Dr. Rachel declared me healthy. I weighed 2.5lbs on my first visit and now I weigh 3.12lbs. Dr. Rachel said I was looking good and that I was the best bunny patient she had ever had. She gave me another smooch and we left to go home and get salad. Momma said just salad tonight cuz Dr. Rachel said I need to go easy on the fruit. Too much banana may be part of my butt problem. That hurt my feelings a lot because banana is my favorite thing.
I am going to let Momma rub my head quite a bit for this ordeal. Can you please tell her that I really need some banana? That I don't like my ears cleaned and to never never never let someone shave my behind again? I would most appreciate it. I thumped at Momma when I came home and made a nice big pee on the carpet. That will teach her.

Bun Skin Problems

Okay guys,

My vet is stumped, I am at my wits end, and Spook is miserable. This first started in April. I took Spook in because it looked like he had mites (walking dandruff). Dahlia, his bonded partner, has never shown any symptoms. He started out with just a patch on his back, flakey skin, and some hair loss. The vet actually found the little bug on him. Since then we have been giving ivermectin at regular intervals and a month ago he got dosed with selamectin (Revolution) topically on top of the ivermectin. Through out all of this we have treated Dahlia since we assumed she would have it too; but she has not shown any signs what-so-ever. However, Spook has just slowly gotten worse. It has spread all over his body, but not his face. He acts like he feels fine and he doesn't really act like he itches, but his skin is very tender. He can barely stand being brushed. And he is losing all his cute fur (those pics I posted were not recent, I just got them off my camera). My vet is a hightly recommended bunny vet and he can't explain it. He even insisted I start bringing Spook in for his doses (the only thing he could think of was that I wasn't giving the shots or I missed sticking him, like that's possible). I don't think he is getting re-infected because it has never gone away and I have cleaned my house top to bottom. I was just hoping that some of you long-time bunny owners might have some advice. As far as I know the selamectin was supposed to be the best thing to get rid of these things. Another possibility (since we haven't done a skin scraping since April) is they might not be there anymore and this is some sort of allergic reaction, but it looks the same as it did in April. Anyway, three months is long enough. Has anyone heard about anything like this? Does anyone have any other suggestions? Thanks for your help in advance.

-Dahlia's and Spook's Mom

Too Hot, Too Stressed!

Our bunnies will overheat in a matter of minutes. Putting them in a car adds stress and therefore more heat, even though the car's a/c is running. Many times we have arrived at our destination with an overheated bunny. Some of our friends are planning trips in the next few weeks and must take their bunnies with them. Here is a cool solution - the poor man's a/c. We found the instructions last summer on the 3 Bunnies website and built one to see how it works. It worked well for us for several reasons: it was portable; it was small enough that it fit in the floor of the van between the seats(can be placed on the seat too - just make sure its level - placing a shallow tray under it is a good idea); bags of ice are available all along the trip(although the frozen 2 liter bottles worked best); our power source (a battery charger) was renewable and portable too. Note that the fan on the lid needs to be at the opposite side of the box so the air can be drawn across the ice and out to the bunny. The instructions are found at www.3bunnies.org, click on Caring For Your Bunny, then Housing, then Bunny Chill Box. Note: we had to place the vent holes right up against the door of the bunny's pet carrier for maximum cooling. Keeping a close eye on the ice supply and the power supply, seeing to it that the a/c is still operational, is very important. David Fisher, 3 Bunnies web master, and the inventor of the 'poor man's a/c' has given permission for anyone to post it and share it(but please don't take credit for it). He has placed it in the public domain to benefit bunnies everywhere. Way to go David!

You tawkin to me?

Tango causes a lot of fear and trauma when I take her to the vet. Everyone is very alarmed by her. Anyway, today was nail trim day for Tango and Nemo. The puppy spa is about a 1/2 a block from my house. I tucked Nemo in my hoodie and zipped up and off we went. Easy, Easy done in five minutes and back home. The lady that usually does it was outand her husband was there. I told him I was going home to get my big girl and that she was a handful. He said "no problem, I have trimmed a raccoon's nail so a little bunny wont be a problem" I told him I just wanted to warn him but he didn't listen. So I go home and get Miss Tango and put her in the carrier. (she wouldnt fit in my hoodie and would whip my butt if I tried) When we walk in I told him we needed to go into a room and that I needed her carrier to be on a table when I took her out. He seemed skeptical still. Poor man. I reach in to get her out and she does her usual growling and thumping the back of the carrier with all her might. His eyes got big as saucers."Is she growling"? "I have never heard a rabbit growl before" So I get her out and he says "holy crap". I tried to tell him!!!!!!! Every time he trimmed a toenail she grunted and tried to bite him. I honestly thought he was going to cry. It was over pretty fast. He didn't charge for it because her back feet didn't need trimming and I am fairly sure he just wanted her out. He said as I was leaving " Do you have anymore like her at home"? I laughed and said yes but I wasn't bringing Mojo in because she didn't need a trim. (Mojo is big but NOTHING like Tango but I wanted him to worry a bit.) Next time I think I will bring them both at the same time and see how he reacts. Cant help myself. It was so much fun. Tango doesn't scare me at all but she sure scares the heck out of everyone else. Raccoon Smaccoon. Just had to share that story with you all.

Christina

P.S. Sorry how this is split up. I couldnt get it fixed properly.

More Romance

Bailey and Arven came to Heartland at different times but both for the same reason - eye problems. Bailey's eye problem is a rare disorder, which even after 5 surgeries his left eye still had to be removed. Arven came to us with a severe infection in her right eye. The vet was able to save her eye, but not her sight in that eye. Bailey and Arven fell in love at first sight. Once again two bunnies bonded themselves, without any help from us. Go figure. We had tried to bond Bailey with a few other females here before. If he became blind we wanted him to have someone that would give him comfort and help him get around. But he was intolerant of the females we introduced him to. We hadn't thought about the bonding possibility when we brought Arven into the same room where Bailey was. She had just had surgery and Bailey's room was quiet and perfect for recovery. Arven was the one who made a pass at Bailey, and the rest is history, as they say. Bailey and Arven must always remain with us because Bailey's remaining eye must be watched closely. He has to be kept out of sunlight because it stimulates the aberrant growth that took his other eye. And so the blinds will be drawn for the two and a blanket covers their playpen. We think it is a beautiful love story of two special needs bunnies who had a chance meeting that was meant to be.

Finding Nemo

Hi Everyone!

My name is Nemo and I wanted to share my story with you. I am a head tilt buns. My momma was in need of bunny supplies and went to the local pet store. She doesnt usually frequent the pet store but she was in a hurry that day. Lucky for her! She spotted me in a cage with a "free to a good home" sign. She noticed my head tilt and inquired about me. The pet store lady said she couldnt possibly sell me with the head tilt. My momma went home and fretted about me all night long. She knew taking on a sick bunny would be expensive and she already had three rabbits. She decided she just couldn't leave me there. She came and got me the next day. The pet store lady informed her that all her sick bunnies usually ended up at the snake breeder. That made momma so sad and mad. She knows thats how a lot of sick or unwanted buns end up. It is disgusting.

Anyway, momma took me to the vet. They tested me for some really bad stuff which came out negative. The nice vet lady told momma I had some type of ear infection and gave me some medicine (which I hated by the way). After only a week my head had improved from about a 50% tilt to about 15 or 20. Thanks to the yucky meds, some good food and lots and lots of exercise and love. I am full of life and very loving. My momma says I think I am a dog not a bunny. She took me last week for a final check up, which I passed. The vet lady made me go to sleep and when I woke up "MY DOODADS WERE GONE! WELL, I NEVER"!

As I tell momma how to write this story, I am stretched out by her feet. I want to plead my case to everyone who is tempted to patronize pet stores. I know its hard, I know all the babies in there are sweet and precious but they are perpetuating our plight. I probably picked up my infection from unsanitary conditions and not getting the proper diet and exercise didnt help. Encourage everyone you know to speak out when you see bunnies being sold like a commodity.

We are very special animals! And for those of you dealing with a head tilt bunny, "Dont give up on us" Even if we have our jaunty look for life we can still be very happy and healthy and bring lots of joy. Nose bumps to all those special bunnies out there and to the wonderful people who continue to educate and inform on the wonder of living with rabbits.

A happy bunny despite severe head tilt

Carrot Face

This is Samson, one of Heartland's special needs bunnies. Samson has malocclusion, a misalignment of his teeth which prevents him taking bites of food such as carrots. We shred his carrots for him so he can enjoy treat time just as much as the others do. We were using paper plates to put the shredded carrots on but the plates weren't containing the carrot morsels very well. While trying to scoop them up Samson was scooting much of them off the plate and onto the floor. So this evening Megan gave him his carrot treats in his food dish. The dish is nice and deep making it a lot easier for him to corral the tasty treat. He was the first one to get his carrots and wasted no time getting at them. Megan finished handing out carrots to the others and walked back by Samson's cage. What she saw was an orange face with a very satisfied expression on it and she started laughing. She showed me and we were then both laughing. The deep sides of his dish kept the carrot contained for him. But his pressing in so determinedly for every bit gave him a bright orange stained muzzle. It was too cute to pass up and Megan grabbed the camera. I don't know who enjoyed treat time more tonight, Samson or us!

Jeannie
Heartland