Is my bunny sick? HELP!!!

Jessica, has anyone checked her teeth and throat? Rabbits can't vomit from
the stomach, but they can force their food from their esophagus or buccal
cavity. If there is a problem, she may "choke up" her food.

Too much change or changing things too often are very risky for rabbits.
Changing foods rapidly can throw the gut off because the bacteria and other
microorganisms in their rear gut are used to a certain diet. When one makes
a diet change, it needs to be gradual to give the microflora a chance to
adjust.

An important site for rabbit people is www.rabbit.org . There are articles
on health and husbandry. The site helped me a lot when Toofer hopped into
our garage. Another good site is www.carrotcafe.com . There is good
information on putting together an enjoyable and healthy diet.

I hope that Mika is okay. It sounds like a checkup by a good vet would be a
good thing. Rabbits need a consistent diet, a consistent environment with a
good temperature, and good medical care. I believe that www.rabbit.org will
help a lot with your questions. There are also recommendations for some
good rabbit vets.

Healing vibes being sent for Mika,
Anita, Jessie, and Quark

"Jessica Gaertner" <j.gaertner RemoveThis @comcast.net> wrote in message
news:_6eRc.90952$8_6.45195@attbi_s04...
> Mika has been staying inside in a small cage in the basement for the past
> few days while I worked on water-proofing her cage outdoors...
 >> Stay informed about: Is my bunny sick? HELP!!! 

Jessica,

She could have had a chunk of something caught in her throat. Is there
corn in that mix by any chance?

Is there a vet open in your area tonight?

Rhonda

Jessica Gaertner wrote:

> Mika has been staying inside in a small cage in the basement for the past
> few days while I worked on water-proofing her cage outdoors. I just decided
> to move her back out and proceeded to set it up with the proper
> materials(litterbox, water, hay carpet, carrier etc.) To welcome her back
> into her home, I put down a special treat, a gourmet bunny food (LM
> Bonanza). When the cage was complete, I put the overjoyed bunny back in.
> She imediatley went for the food, but quickly stopped. As I finished off
> the cage, I noticed her making sicky sounds. When I went to check on her, I
> noticed that she appeared to have vomitted a bit of the food, liquified.
> This can't be right, because bunnies can't vomit. She proceeded to act sick
> for a minute or two and then stopped. She is acting very lethargic and has
> no interest in her fav. food(fresh grass) at all!! I'm very worried about
> her, as she is my only rabbit at the moment and I care for her deeply. I
> have some non-expired meds for her stomach from a previous vet visit, should
> I try this, just to be on the safe side? Could someone please advise as to
> if anything is seriously wrong with her, and if so, what I should do? I
> immediatley removed the food, but have left the water and hay. As a
> precaution, I'm throwing the remaining food away. Like I said, I am very
> worried. She acts like she feels sick, and I just want her to feel better
> again. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Jessica & Mika(poor little thing)
>
>
>
 >> Stay informed about: Is my bunny sick? HELP!!! 

I was very cautious about fumes. It has been sitting for several days, and
it has rained frequently. I can't smell any fumes, but she may smell
something I can't. I'll look into this. She seems much better now and is
eating some fresh veggies and a little bit of parsley(her fav. aside from
grass.) The only vet we have ever taken her to is the emergency vet,
however, our dog's vet clinics has a highly recommended rabbit vet, so I
know where to go if this persists. Seeing as she is still not quite
herself, I am keeping a close eye on her. She is normally quite at ease in
her outdoor cage, and I find it hard to believe that the change would shock
her. None the less, I will be more careful of change in the future. Mika
is young and normally very healthy, so I have no doubt that she will pull
through. Her normal diet consists mainly of hay, fresh grass and veggies.
She occasionally gets blueberries of watermelon rinds if it is too hot out
for her. I typically don't feed generic food more than once a week, so I
hope that the new generic food wasn't too harsh on her. I will be sure to
look at her teeth and throat very carefully. Thank you very much for the
advise, it has helped greatly to put my mind at ease.

-Jessica(Rabbitpsycho) & Mika(chewing loudly on grass)
"John Cowart" <uce.RemoveThis@ftc.gov> wrote in message
news:4115827E.5C727EC9@ftc.gov...
> Jessica Gaertner wrote:
> >
> > Mika has been staying inside in a small cage in the basement for the
past
> > few days while I worked on water-proofing her cage outdoors...
> > As I finished off
> > the cage, I noticed her making sicky sounds.
>
> Did you paint the cage with something to water-proof it? She may be
> reacting to the fumes.
>
> John Cowart
 >> Stay informed about: Is my bunny sick? HELP!!! 

In article <RKfRc.91237$8_6.37165@attbi_s04>, Jessica Gaertner
<j.gaertner.TakeThisOut@comcast.net> wrote:

> I was very cautious about fumes. It has been sitting for several days, and
> it has rained frequently. I can't smell any fumes, but she may smell
> something I can't. I'll look into this.

What did you use to waterproof the hutch?
 >> Stay informed about: Is my bunny sick? HELP!!! 

I used a spray one varnish for the frame and a paint on of the same formula
for the floor and walls. Everything was washed down thoroughly with the
hose before she was placed back in. I have used this same formula before
with my iguana and had no problems.
"Dave Balderstone" <dave RemoveThis @N_O_T_T_H_I_S.balderstone.ca> wrote in message
news:070820042023474077%dave@N_O_T_T_H_I_S.balderstone.ca...
> In article <RKfRc.91237$8_6.37165@attbi_s04>, Jessica Gaertner
> <j.gaertner RemoveThis @comcast.net> wrote:
>
> > I was very cautious about fumes. It has been sitting for several days,
and
> > it has rained frequently. I can't smell any fumes, but she may smell
> > something I can't. I'll look into this.
>
> What did you use to waterproof the hutch?
 >> Stay informed about: Is my bunny sick? HELP!!! 

In article <JHgRc.264579$Oq2.71160@attbi_s52>, Jessica Gaertner
<j.gaertner.DeleteThis@comcast.net> wrote:

> I used a spray one varnish for the frame and a paint on of the same formula
> for the floor and walls. Everything was washed down thoroughly with the
> hose before she was placed back in. I have used this same formula before
> with my iguana and had no problems.

A decent varnish, cured for the recommended time, should not result in
any outgassing. I would be fairly confident in eliminating that as
harmful to your bun.

Best wishes.

djb
 >> Stay informed about: Is my bunny sick? HELP!!! 

I hope Mika will be fine. I used to keep my rabbits outdoors. I gave
them frozen water bottles (2-L bottle filled with water, then frozen)
and a fan. I also had a misting hose that I hung up around their
kennel. I used this sometimes, but couldn't use it often, since it
would get things damp. I worried about fungus. As long as the
temperature stayed between 40 and 80 degrees F, I didn't worry about
them. I kept a thermometer in their kennel and tried to do things to
keep the temperature below 85. If it got warmer than that, I brought
them in.

Bringing them in and out was something that concerned me. I would try
to time things so that the outdoor temperature was similar to the
inside before I took them out. Dealing with temperature was very
difficult here, since most summer days are very hot. Heat is lethal
to rabbits, because they can't sweat and don't pant. Their main way
of dispersing body heat is through their ears. If the air around them
is warm, this doesn't work. They overheat quickly.

I hope you are able to work out a schedule to keep Mika comfortable.
It is difficult, but it can be done. I finally had to bring mine in
completely. Between bot flies and temperature, it was a chore to keep
them healthy. We ended up with a complex of two hutches inside of a
covered kennel with a floor inside a screen house. Now it is sitting
deserted in the back yard.

Hope that you'll tell us more about Mika. She sounds like a sweet
rabbit. And it sounds like you care a lot about her.

Anita, Jessie, and Quark


On Sun, 08 Aug 2004 01:56:01 GMT, "Jessica Gaertner"
<j.gaertner.DeleteThis@comcast.net> wrote:
 >> Stay informed about: Is my bunny sick? HELP!!! 

>From: Anita ac.DeleteThis@gate.net

>Bringing them in and out was something that concerned me. I would try
>to time things so that the outdoor temperature was similar to the
>inside before I took them out.

In the wild they retire to burrows that are aprox 8C or 46F all the year around
( plus whatever body heat adds to it ).
Aprox the same depth that water pipes are buryed at to stop them from freezing
in winter.
A tempreture diferential either way of 20C or 36F is therefore probably ok :)


What do you do when you see an endangered animal eating an endangered plant?

Is there another word for synonym?
 >> Stay informed about: Is my bunny sick? HELP!!! 

You lost me with the temperature differential. Does this mean that
they should be able to handle changes of 20 C or 36 F? 20 C is 68 F
if my calculations are correct. I'm confused.

Anita, Jessie, and Quark

On 08 Aug 2004 21:54:44 GMT, steverddrf.RemoveThis@aol.commotion (Steverddrf)
wrote:
>In the wild they retire to burrows that are aprox 8C or 46F all the year around
>( plus whatever body heat adds to it ).
>Aprox the same depth that water pipes are buryed at to stop them from freezing
>in winter.
>A tempreture diferential either way of 20C or 36F is therefore probably ok :)
 >> Stay informed about: Is my bunny sick? HELP!!! 

no problem with your math, so I'm confused too. In the summer, Mika comes
in the house at night sometime so that the outdoor and indoor are approx.
the same. She is doing much better, but still seems kinda out of it.
I saw a beautiful young neutered male lop-eared at the shelter while I was
volunteering today. We were busy, so I didn't get to hold him until later,
but he seemed very sweet and in need of a good home(he wouldn't drink out of
the bottle and they didn't want to give him a bowl to avoid mess. No litter
pan either. I asked, but was advised AGAINST putting on in). Mika won't
drink out of a bottle either, but we have to refill a bowl frequently. I
will talk to the homeowners(my parents *sighs*) but I don't think there's
much hope for a home here. I was looking for a neutered male, as Mika
detests other females, spayed or not, but the house rules changed suddenly.
Hoping I can change them back. It would be nice to have more than just Mika
again. Even though Hope was a female, Mika seemed to enjoy just knowing she
was across the room from her. Unfortunately, Hope passed last winter from
stroke. She was old and a dwarf who was a stray in a big city in the middle
of winter. She lived one happy year here before moving on. It would be
nice to have two again, but nothing will be the same as gentle old Hope.
"Anita" <ac RemoveThis @gate.net> wrote in message
news:gq8dh0lb3sh9137vt9ci5o4tdhrbbnvd44@4ax.com...
> You lost me with the temperature differential. Does this mean that
> they should be able to handle changes of 20 C or 36 F? 20 C is 68 F
> if my calculations are correct. I'm confused.
>
> Anita, Jessie, and Quark
>
> On 08 Aug 2004 21:54:44 GMT, steverddrf RemoveThis @aol.commotion (Steverddrf)
> wrote:
> >In the wild they retire to burrows that are aprox 8C or 46F all the year
around
> >( plus whatever body heat adds to it ).
> >Aprox the same depth that water pipes are buryed at to stop them from
freezing
> >in winter.
> >A tempreture diferential either way of 20C or 36F is therefore probably
ok :)
 >> Stay informed about: Is my bunny sick? HELP!!!