Neutering, timothy hay allergies, and other questions from a new rabbit owner

[RumiTheBunny]

Hi everyone,
So I just adopted a Holland Lop (who I named Rumi) a few weeks ago from a family that was giving him up (all I really know about him is that he’s around 5 months old and healthy overall, which the vet confirmed on our first checkup). Overall, he’s happily settled into his new home with me (showing lots of happy/comfortable bunny language) and is a very sweet bunny, but I do have some concerns…

1) My rather severe timothy hay allergy.

Oddly, with the first bag of timothy hay I got, I didn’t have much of a reaction, but whether it’s just that my body has broken down over the last few weeks or this new batch is full of dust, I can’t even put my hand into the bag without my hand getting crazy itchy. I’m also sneezing all the time and beginning to cough as well (oh no). I’d like to switch him onto another hay, but what kind would be best?
2) Getting my bunny neutered.
Is this a generally safe procedure for bunnies? For some reason I’d never even blink about getting one of my dogs fixed but I’m weirdly scared of doing it to a bunny (they just seem so fragile!). I absolutely DO want to neuter him, however. I just want to make sure he’s safe when I do. My questions: Is he at the right age for it, or should I wait a bit? What can I expect, post-surgery, and what’s the basic aftercare? Also, I think my vet is great, but if anyone has any specific recommendations for a vet in/near Los Angeles, CA, who’d be a great choice to neuter a bunny, I’d love to hear it.
3) Combatting rabbit boredom.

I give Rumi tons of attention and space to roam, but since he’s a single rabbit, I want him to have a little extra stimulation (when I’m not home, mainly). I’ve tried to get him a few rabbit toys from the pet store (a sort of ball made out of sticks, apple wood, etc.), but he seems to have no interest in them. He doesn’t seem like much of a chewer in general. Are there any particularly great rabbit toys anyone recommends for him? Any tips regarding keeping a single rabbit happy in general would be appreciated!
4) What’s a good brand of pellets you all would recommend? (To be used as a treat/supplement, not the core of Rumi’s diet)

Thanks in advance, everyone.

 

[Aki]

1) Allergies get worse over time, so no wonder you are having more trouble now. I think you should try several kind to find something that won't trigger your allergies. If you make a search on the forum, I know another member has the same problem and mentionned the hay they use.
2) If your vet is used to operate on rabbits, it's a really safe procedure. Rabbits who die on the table generally have an undetected heart problem or an allergy to the anesthesic. Yes, at 5 months old he is at the right age to do it. There is no specific pre / post surgery care. Just make sure the vet gives you metacam for a few days to avoid any pain, to immediately get everything back to normal as soon as Rumi is home to avoid stressing him out and to keep a lot of nice vegetables / hays on hand to tempt him to eat. My rabbits have all always bounced back very well from neutering and were eating a few hours after surgery. Keep an eye on the stitches to make sure there is no infection and that he doesn't eat them. I've never had that problem but it can happen.
Sorry, I can't recommend any vet but hopefully, someone will chime in.
3) well... I'd say 'find him a spayed female bunny'. Most rabbits aren't really interested in toys and interacting with another rabbit is their main distraction. With my rabbits, it's been hit or miss. Until now, cardboard boxes with several 'doors' opened with a cutter, a wooden house made out of old wine crates (yep, you are French or you aren't ^^) and cisal mats are the only thing which they all liked. Aki likes puzzles made for dogs and she's a champ at them. I had a bunny who liked to violently shake a bunch of plastic keys (like the one you get for babies to ease the pain from their gums) and got his pellets from one of those treat balls they sell for cats. Tybalt likes tree branches but only fresh ones that I just cut. I put some of their hay in a metal ball that I suspend to encourage them to stand on their back legs, especially since the two I have now aren't really spring chickens.
4) Using pellets as a supplement to avoid deficiencies is ideal. I use a European brand of pellets, but here is a comparison of pellets brands :
http://www.therabbithouse.com/diet/rabbit-food-comparison.asp

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Allergies-- I use Orchard grass as my body tried to reject my nose when we fed Timothy. We found a vet that did several spays and neuters a week, but we lived in CA at the time--check with other owners and organizations for a rating. Ours love paper bags, cardboard boxes (look for cardboard castles here) and paper roller from toilet paper and we also keep a couple of litter pans full or hand shredded newspaper.

 

[RavenousDragon]

In terms of boredom, I am a HUGE fan of hiding pellets for my rabbits in various toys and puzzles or just around the apartment. Instead of simply feeding them in a bowl or something, I force them to actually work for it (I actually do the same with my cat's dry food before I leave for class every day too! It gives her something to do while I'm gone all day). I also will make them do tricks for the pellets (e.g. give me a kiss, stand up and beg, do a circle, etc.). Training them to do silly ticks is a great way to keep them occupied and not as bored!

 

[mark]

Hello Rumi! We also live in the Los Angeles area, and if Torrance is not too far away, I would like to recommend Dr. Kaufmann of Harbor Animal Hospital in Torrance, California.

You can read a bit about our experiences here: http://www.rabbitsonline.net/showthread.php?t=86182

We had Kimchi neutered here. He has had an annual checkup as well.

Also, on a personal note, Kimchi came down with a mystery illness suddenly one day, and from one day to the next became listless and frail. It was after hours (after we had both returned home from work) that we realized what was going on. We called the vet, and were referred to an after hours emergency voicemail. Incredibly, Dr. K called me back personally, we talked over the phone for a bit, and he directed me to take Kimchi in for an emergency visit. We ended up at another clinic, as he was not able to make it in from where he was, but nevertheless he may have saved our dear bun because it turned out that he was very dehydrated and had a sinus infection.

Anyway I cannot recommend Dr. Kaufmann and Harbor Animal Hospital highly enough. Regardless of the vet you choose ultimately, you should try to find a vet who has specialized training in rabbits - especially, IMO, when it comes to surgery.

 

[Whiterabbitrage]

I can relate to Timothy allergies! They just wiped me out!! Your rabbit is so young that I would switch to alphalfa hay for the first year because it has extra nutrition for a growing young bun. Then when Rumi is an adult, switch to orchard grass or meadow grass. Good luck!,

 

[PaGal]

Since you have plenty of good answers on the other questions I will just make suggestions on toys. I have five buns, a mix of male and female and only have one bun that has ever played with a toy. He loves his plastic slinky although I would only have one for a bigger sized bun as I have heard of one dying from being choked when a slinky got wrapped around it's neck. Pine cones make nice chew toys. You can find directions on how to cook them to make sure the seeds are out and bugs are killed. Paper towel and toilet paper tubes. You can even stuff them with hay or put a few pellets in and fold ends closed for an extra fun toy. cardboard boxes are a hit with them all especially for digging and chewing. You can buy inexpensive boxes at walmarts in the office supply area. They have different sizes. Connect several together for more fun. Concrete forms sold at home depot or lowes. They are thick cardboard tubes that come in different sized diameters and cost around $6. I made a woven mat from brown packing paper once. The bun can lay on it or even chew it. Old phone books with the outer covers removed are great fun for shredding. Place in a cardboard box for less mess. I have noticed that after my buns were adults they have the tendency to lay around more than when they were young.

 

[Whiterabbitrage]

For playing by herself, my buns favorite has been paper. The kind they use to wrap boxes or the kind they use as packing paper, the same stuff you wrap dishes in when you move. That cheap brown or white paper. She loves ripping it to pieces. She'll spend hours on it.

 

[RumiTheBunny]

Thank you all so much for the great replies! I switched Rumi over to orchard grass and the allergies have gotten much, much better - practically nonexistent now. I also got him Oxbow's "young rabbit" pellets since he is growing, which he gets a small handful of twice a day. I'll try to get him some alfalfa hay as well!

Mark, thank you for the vet recommendation! I'd love to see your vet as he sounds fantastic, but unfortunately Torrance is very far from me (about an hour and a half minimum, usually over 2 with traffic). I scheduled a neuter with Rumi's local vet, who has been listed in several rabbit vet directories. His staff says he regularly fixes rabbits (twice a week or so) so fingers crossed everything will go smoothly.

Definitely going to take you all up on the toy recommendations as well!

Some other questions if you all don't mind answering (forgive me, I'm a new rabbit owner and Rumi came into my life a tad more quickly than I was expecting):
-My dog loves Rumi and sees Rumi as a small, strange fellow dog. (This is a HUGE relief as I was not expecting her to act so positively to the new addition.) However, Rumi is totally indifferent to her (excluding when he mounts her, which people find hilarious - she's only about 8 pounds heavier than him.) I see a lot of photos of bunnies and dogs forging unlikely friendships and am actually hoping this will happen and provide some companionship for my bun. My dog clearly wants this to happen but are rabbits generally disdainful of even friendly/loving dogs? I never leave them alone together and don't plan to - I'm just wondering if he'll eventually become more receptive to her friendship attempts.

-In regards to handling...I pick Rumi up several times a day. This is exclusively to taxi him from his hutch to the bathroom (his room at the moment, where he free roams). That's the extent of it - all business and very short. I keep reading on rabbit blogs/sites that bunnies usually hate being picked up (which I always knew) but some claim bunnies will start to resent you/unbond with you if you pick them up regularly. Is this true? If it is, I'm at a loss at how to transport him from room to room.

-Rumi currently weighs 3.8 pounds at 5/6 months. How much more can I expect him to grow?

-This may be irrelevant considering Rumi isn't fixed yet but I've noticed he actively holds his pee/poop until I let him free roam in the bathroom, which obviously makes a huge, huge mess (it looks like a poop bomb went off, plus several puddles of pee, after just a few minutes of letting him in there!) and my family is starting to get extremely annoyed. He was initially using his litter tray in his hutch SO well (aside from a few stray poops around the cage, but peeing exclusively in the box) and now is barely using it and just waits to demolish the bathroom (so to speak). How can I remedy this?

Thanks again everyone, and sorry again for all the questions! Just trying to be the best bunny owner I can be.

 

[Hermelin]

Your rabbit can get a Bond with the dog but it will take time. Rabbit are naturally prey animals and getting trust from a bunny takes time.

With picking up you don’t need to worry, does your rabbit trust you and have you trained picking up so the bunny stays calm when you picking up, then you have won the bunny trust and he will tolerate being picked up for short times. Myself I always get kisses when I’m picking my bunny up and when I pet him he will do the rabbit purring while being picked up. But this was after training him for months and winning his trust :3

It’s your rabbit a dwarf rabbit he won’t get much bigger, if he it’s another race of rabbit they often grow to 1 year and giants up to 2 year.

Try having a litter box in the bathroom, my rabbit aren’t fixed but if he have a litter box on the floor he’ll use it as long theres no beds and couches, he will hold himself and run from the cage to the bed. But getting him fixed will help with litter training.

 

[JBun]

I'm glad you found a relatively simple solution.

Since your bun is nearly fully matured(6 months for small and medium breeds), I would recommend skipping the alfalfa hay. It's really only recommended for nursing mothers and growing babies, as it has too much calcium and protein in it for adult pet rabbits, and your bun is nearly considered an adult bun now. As for the young rabbit pellets, if you can switch him onto the adult pellets soon, without them causing problems with your allergies because they are timothy based, then you will want to start that transition soon. You'll need to get some of the adult timothy pellets, and when you only have 1-2 weeks worth of the young rabbit pellets left, start transitioning in the adult pellets. If feeding twice a day, I start by adding in a 1/2-1 tsp per feeding and gradually increase the amount each day while equally decreasing the young rabbit pellets, so that at 2 weeks minimum, you are completely switched over. You will also need to be feeding limited pellets based on your rabbits body weight and the recommended amount. Usually for a 4 lb adult pet rabbit it will be about 1/4 cup a day with free fed grass hay. This of course is variable and how many pellets each rabbit gets depends on what they need to maintain a good body condition and what their poop looks like. If they seem on the skinny side, they may need more pellets. If they have a good body weight but have mushy poop or smaller than usual poop, they may need less pellets and more hay. Every rabbit is different, so you have to learn what a healthy rabbits body should feel like(not bony) and what good healthy poop should look like. These are both the main indicators for health issues in rabbits.

If you find that you are allergic to the adult timothy pellets and need to continue feeding the young rabbit pellets, then see how 1/4 cup a day works and if your bun seems healthy and eats a pile of hay the size of his body per day, then stick with this. If he seems to be getting chubby, then I would reduce the pellet amount per day to maybe an 1/8 cup. Also good to keep an eye on his urine and make sure there isn't a calcium issue. Some calcium sediment in the urine is normal but if there is thickened calcium sediment, then it may mean your bun can't have the higher calcium young rabbit pellets, as it's too much calcium for him. Usually for most rabbits it won't be an issue though.

Here's a body weight chart for rabbits that you can refer to if needed. I usually just feel along their back. If it feels rounded and not bony, and they don't have fat rolls around their legs and bum, then they are a good weight. If the backbone feels pronounced at all, your bun may be underweight. If there are fat rolls around the legs and bum, your bun might be overweight.
https://research.unc.edu/files/2012/11/Body-Condition-Scoring-Rabbit.pdf

Once your bun is neutered, there's a good chance he could get along with your dog. As with any rabbit relationship, it's kind of an unknown until it actually happens. They essentially decide who they like, bun, human, or other animal. But as long as he isn't showing a fear response to your dog, or aggression, I think there's a chance they could become friends. There are plenty of stories where it does happen, including members here on RO.

With the handling, though in general rabbits don't usually like to be picked up, whether or not to continue is mostly based on the individual rabbits response. Some rabbits don't mind being picked up, and you can usually tell this because they show no signs of being uncomfortable being held or of irritation with you after you put them back down, except maybe being upset that you stopped holding and petting them. This would be a rare exception though, for a rabbit to actually like being held. Most rabbits dislike being picked up and held, and will give you an irritated thump or foot flick after putting them back down, but then will be just fine with you afterwards. But there are rabbits that being picked up either terrifies them, or they dislike it so much that it can actually affect them learning to trust you and forming a bond with you. With these rabbits I would say to avoid picking up unless absolutely essential, otherwise it could set back any trust you are able to build with them. With these rabbits it's better to find other ways of moving them around if you have to, like using a pet carrier that you train them to go into themselves. With rabbits that just get irritated initially but then are fine with you, I would just pick them up as needed and not worry about it. You just will need to gauge your own rabbits reaction to you picking him up, to determine what course you should take.

He may gain a few more ounces, but he's pretty much considered full grown at that age. I wouldn't think he would get over 4.5 lbs for sure.

So the bathroom, it actually might be him adding his own territorial marking. As gross as it sounds, it's a place that has human scent all over it, so he may just feel like he needs to make a contribution too. You have to remember that to a rabbits ultra sensitive nose, what a bathroom must smell like to him. First is if you don't have his litter box in there with him, you need to do that. But if that doesn't work, you could try bringing his whole cage in there if possible, so he has his own territory with him(his cage is his territory), and this may help him not feel the need to mark the bathroom. Cleaning the bathroom floor with vinegar may also help, as it will help remove any urine scent. Laying out some puppy pee pads are an option too, as long as he doesn't try and chew them up. Or you may just have to wait until he is neutered. It usually helps calm down that whole territory marking thing as he won't have the hormones driving it. But right now he's at the prime hormonal stage. He's a hormonal teenage bunny, and marking his territory is going to come very natural to him until he gets the snip.