Binkie

[I LuV MaH BuNs]

She started pulling out her fur in her dewlap where they doctor took out her growth. It started with a little bit of hair, now it's a huge patch and it was bleeding last night. Daddy took her to the vet today and they don't want to do anything, so they put the collar back on her neck. She did it to herself!



Will update!

 

[naturestee]

She must have been reading the forum.:? Naughty Binkie!

Just wondering- did they use dissolving stitches to close theincision? Because I had a problem with Fey where a monthafter she was stitched up she suddenly started licking one spot a lotand was taking out fur. I made an appointment but my vet wasbusy and I couldn't get her in for a couple of days. By then,she had a little lump there. Turns out there was a knot fromthe dissolving stitches that never dissolved and was twisting aroundunder her skin. It took the vet maybe 5 minutes to fix it.

Anyway, keep us updated. And get better, Binkie!

 

[JimD]

Binkie had her surgery over 4 months ago. Thevet removed the abscess through the side of her dewlap. After hersurgery she pulled out all of the stitches....mostly because she wasn'twearing an e-collar.
They stitched her up using dissolving stitches and put an e-collar onher. She wore it for over 3 weeks before the incision was healed. Thevet was very pleased with the way it had healed and said we could takethe collar off.
After I took the collar off she didn't bother the incision site, butrather plucked all the fur down the front of her dewlap. She did thisfor a while and finally stopped. The fur grew back in and she waslooking wonderful.
2 days ago I noticed that she had plucked the fur down the front of herdewlap again, and had a small thin scab where she had bitten herself.The next morning she had managed to chew a gaping hole...about an inchin diameter.
The vet offered several options. For the short term, we will treat thewound with a topical antibiotic (Neosporin) and have her wear thecollar until it is completely healed.
The vet said that if it happens again, she could remove just theaffected area ....or we could remove her entire dewlap. However, she ismore concerned that this might be an obsessive/compulsive disorder thatis causing her to over-groom or self-mutilate. She going to contactsome other exotic vets and get their input.
Anti-anxiety drugs and/or steroid treatments might be in the future,too. Unfortunately, Binkie could end up wearing her collar forever.

 

[Pipp]

Poor Binky!! :hug1Poor Jim! Poor Danielle! :saddened

How does she react to the collar? It's a fairly small one, isn't it?

Why do so many bunnies do that? onder:

(PS: Have you tried putting her on the roof and pointing her at the best movie channel?)



sas and the gang

 

[JimD]

The colloar is very small. It's the same one the vet put on her after her surgery. I let the vet put it on this time, too.....to make sure it was done properly and so I wouldn't be the one Binkie is mad at.
The collar is adjusted to it's tightest postion, but it still allows her to eat, drink, breathe, ets. As tight as it is, she still managed to manipulate her dewlap in and out of it.
She HATES the collar, but manuvers around in it pretty well. I think she remebers how to do stuff from wearing it the last time.
The only thing she has a problem with is getting in and out of her litter pan....so she just goes anywhere. I may have to fashion a new one for her. I took the top cover off of it and we'll she if that helps for now.


The wound seems to be improving a bit. It still looks "ANGRY".Yesterday, I tried puting some Neosporin on it and it just made matter worse. Binkie went ballistic as soon as I opened her cage and then evrything started sticking to the booboo. Arrrrrrgh! I cleaned it off and just left it alone. This morning it looked so-so. At least it hasn't gotten any worse. I'll see if I can get a pic of it later.

Question?! Has anybody ever used that liquid bandaid stuff?? Not the liquid stiches, but the liquid skin stuff.

~Jim

 

[Pet_Bunny]

JimD wrote:

Has anybody ever used that liquid bandaid stuff??

There are different types.

The one I have is called New Skin. It is pretty effective, but it stings when you apply it and it smells like nail polish. I don't know ifI would used it on Pebbles.

Rainbows!

 

[JimD]

I decided just to leave it alone for a day or two and see how it progressed.
I had a chance to look at her booboo this morning and it looked MUCH better.....not as "angry" looking.
The collar is positioned fairly close to the woound, and I'm sure it rubs on it and causes some irritation. And as tight as it is, Binkie can still manage to manipulate her dewlap in & out of the collar......go figure.
It will take at least another week or so before it's close to being healed. Hopefully I'll be able to take it off and she'll leave herself alone.

I haven't heard back from the vet with any info on self-mutilation. I did find this item ...


"Self mutilation
Rabbits who are stressed, bored or in pain may chew themselves. These rabbits need a thorough veterinary assessment to rule out skin disease before blaming a behavioural problem. Identifying and correcting the underlying cause usually helps. Self-mutilating behaviour may be hereditary in some rabbits: there are reports of successful treatment of a self-mutilating strain of labortatory rabbits using low doses of haloperidol, a tranquillising drug used to treat schizophrenia-like illnesses in humans. "

No stress....not bored....not in pain......no skin problems....We may be changing her name from Binkie .....to Bonkers :?

Something I think we should try first is to try to get her out for more free-run-time. Lately all the buns have been spending a good amount of time in their cages.....new puppy, my surgery, prom parties, graduation parties....
We need to get another x-pen and start getting outside maybe.

 

[Pipp]

Maybe she's feeling your pain.

Bunnies can be very sensitive and pick up on stress. She senses yourpain/stress as well as sheknows she's not getting out as much, and the combination ismaking her nervous.

She'sworried about you. :bunnyheart



I'm curious to see if more run time helps.(Does she run around the house where you are much?) Let us know how she's doing!



sas and the gang :bunnydance::bunnydance::bunnydance::bunnydance::bunnydance:

 

[LuvaBun]

Pet_Bunny wrote:

JimD wrote:

Has anybody ever used that liquid bandaid stuff??

There are different types.

The one I have is called New Skin. It is pretty effective, but it stings when you apply it and it smells like nail polish. I don't know ifI would used it on Pebbles.

Rainbows!

I used that too, and Boy, does it ever sting. Also, when it is dry, it can be pulled of in a strip (like dried glue) so may not be effective.

What with Binkie and Mummybunny's Miffy, what's with these girls chewing their dewlaps?? :disgust:

 

[JimD]

Pipp wrote:

I'm curious to see if more run time helps. (Does she run around the house where you are much?) Let us know how she's doing!

Unfortunately, as rescues came in.....individual attention and runtime decreased .

The last few months have been extra hard with the additon of the new pup.....and my back.

We used to set up the x-pen in the bunnie room and then just rotate buns. For some of them we would simply put a ramp from their cage down to the pen to give them access (this works especially well for the buns that don't like to be handled). However, Tootsie'e cage and pen now occupy the area we used to use for the runtime area. We needs a bigger house!!!!

The new plan is to buy another pen and put it in the livingroom and/or outside.

 

[JimD]

I checked Binkie this weekend and her wound has healed up nicely...again. You can hardly see the scar and some downy fur is starting to grow back.

On Saturday I checked her out head-to-toe, clipped her nails, and besides looking kind of ratty from not being able to groom herself, she looked pretty good. So I decided to take her collar off and keep a close eye on her.

I filled her hay rack AND and extra bowl with timothy hay, gave her fresh food with several pieces of papaya, filled her water bottle with fresh water, and clean out her litter pan.....all in anticipation of her ingesting a LOT of fur from grooming after 4 weeks. All the time she was charging, grunting, head butting, and TRYING to nip at me.

Once I finished messing with the stuff in her cage she settled down and started grooming herself. Next thing I know she's running the Bunnny 500 in her cage....stopping every now and then to toss a toy or execute a binkie. She did this several times to the point that she would flop in exhaustion. I'm guessing she was pretty happy to be without the lampshade...yes? We kept a close eye on her and she was good about not chewing at herself for the remainder of the day.

Yesterday morning I hurried down to check on her and make sure she hadn't hurt herself, and there she was standing in a pile of fur. The whole cage had a good inch throughout and there was at leastfew inches surrounding her. It looked like it had snowed in her cage. And there she sat looking quite content and happy with herself. It must have been itchy!!!She hadn't chewed on herself and she looked MUCH better now that she had made herself all pretty again. Her ltter pan had a goodly amount of "Strings-of-poops" so she is passing a more than normal amount of fur thru her system. I'll have too watch for any signs of blockage, but I think she'll be fine and back to normal in a few days. And she's made it perfectly clear that shedoesn't want me messing with her or her cage right for now.

Updates to follow!!

TTFN

~Jim

 

[LuvaBun]

Yep! Sounds like Binkie was really pleased to be rid of the collar . And I bet it feels so good to have groomed herself to perfection. Let's hope that this is the end of the chewing and getting back to 'normality'.

Jan

 

[JimD]

All is still well with the Binkster!!

She still has that "touch-me-and-i'll-bite-you" look anytime I even get near her cage, but she seems a little more relaxed when I'm just passing by.

I think her tummy may be a little uncomfortable due to all of the fur she ingested. She's still eating drinking & peeing, but there's still lots of strings-o-poops. Yesterday when I got home from work I found that she had hardly eaten any hay which is unusual for her, but by this morning she had eaten about half of it. I mixed in some orchard grass to see if that would prompt her to eat a little more. She gobbles her pellets and I've been giving her several pieces of dried papaya each day.
I think she about finished removing all of the loose fur and has just been grooming as she used to.
I've also been checking her dewlap for any indications that she's chewing on herself again....not an easy task, but if I hold a piece of papaya up over her nose she'll raise her head enough for me to get a quick look-see.

~Jim

 

[JimD]

This morning I noticed that Binkie has plucked the fur from her dewlap and left a bare spot. It also looks like she may be chewing at it too.:disgust:

Pray that we don't need to collar her again!ray:

~Jim

 

[LuvaBun]

Oh no! Naughty Binkie :nonono:! You must stop chewing on yourself or else your Dad's gonna have to get the collar out - and we know you don't like that!

Strange how she stops for a while, then starts again. Is there anything that may be a trigger for it?

Jan

 

[JimD]

LuvaBun wrote:

Is there anything that may be a trigger for it?

Jan

Maybe the full moon?:?



Honestly, I don't have any idea. She's been fine for a month and then out of the blue she does it again. We've been trying to keep her distracted by changing out toys, stuff to chew on, runtime, extra TLC, etc. She's been such a good bunnie the last few weeks. I hate to put the collar back on, but I'd rather do that then let her chew herself into an open wound again.

I think I'll get her a grass mat to shred. Maybe it will wear her out?!?!

Or, maybe we should try bonding her with one of our other bunnies....hmmmm. She keeps trying to make friends with Tootsie, but Tootsie wants nothing to do with her. I wonder if her and Chippy would get along?

We needs a new plan, me thinks...arrrrrrrr!

 

[JimD]

Well, by the time I got home on Friday,Binkie had chewed a little more at her dewlap, but not enough to break the skin.

I took out the e-collar and a towel with the anticipation that I would need to put the collar on her. As soon as she saw me getting the stuff together, she started thumping at me. Do you think she knew???

I decided to give her another chance and I started to watch her and noticed something. Binkie has always been very maticulate about grooming. She starts at the back and grooms around to her dewlap....where she seems to get very aggressive with the grooming. If I squirt her with the spraybottle she stops and starts grooming from the other side until she gets to her dewlap again. It's like a vicious cycle :?.

This past weekend we decided to start getting the buns used to the NIC add-ons. I started with Binkies cage and temporarily attached the add-on. I took the doors off of her cage so she could come and go as she pleases. I put a shelf in and a paper bag, as well as trading out a lot of her toys. I also started putting her food dish in the add-on area.
What a happy, busy, curious little bunny she was. She played and explored all morning and wore herself out. It's been 3 days now and she really hasn't picked at her dewlap that much. Maybe she was just bored?

I just hope she continues with this much improved behavior.

~Jim

 

[naturestee]

Hmm. If toys help keep her distracted, maybe a grass mat is a good idea? I think you had mentioned that earlier. The Pier 1 dragongrass mat is a hit around here. All four buns like to rip them apart and dig at them. Hay in bags and baskets might be good for her too.

 

[JimD]

naturestee wrote:

Hmm. If toys help keep her distracted, maybe a grass mat is a good idea? I think you had mentioned that earlier. The Pier 1 dragongrass mat is a hit around here. All four buns like to rip them apart and dig at them. Hay in bags and baskets might be good for her too.

Funny you should metion that....I did give her a grass mat.

Usually she'll make short work of it. Within a couple of hours she has it completely shredded. This time she started shredding and got so distracted with her new add-on and toys that she never finished. She's only chewed a bit at one of the corners.

I think I'm dealing with a bored bunnie.

~Jim

 

[JimD]

Binkie is having a blast!!

It's so funny watching her move all of her stuff around and trying to find just the right spot for everything. She must have moved her grass mat 5 times last night.
She's getting a lot less aggressive about her "territory", too. I use to have to be extra careful about messing with anything in her cage, but now it's almost like she invites me in to look around .

~Jim