Please help me...

[zainah]

Hello friends!
My name is Gemma, Iam a filipina singer and I am presently residing and working in China.I have a pet rabbit, a male who is I guess 6-7 months old. He has beenacting so strange since yesterday. He started eating his tail untilit's gone. This is my first time to have a rabbit as a pet. I amsearching for a veterinarian out here but it's hard to communicate withpeople since they couldn't speak and understand English and I can'tspeak chinese either. Please help me... for the past few weeks it seemsas if he is restless and wants to mate. I planned to buy a femalerabbit but it's hard to find a petshop here, I only bought him fromsomeone who sells along the road when he was still I guess 1-2 monthsold and I pampered him like a baby until he grew bigger. Please helpme... I'm in a very difficult situation. His tail is completely gone,he cut and ate it.. I need your help.. I need some info about this kindof behavior and the best remedy and medicine for it. Thank you so much.

Sincerely;
Gemma

 

[VNess2010]

So sorry you're having problems! onething I can think of, is he might have fleas down by his tail and hemight be chewing and itching himself raw! I'd inspect his furvery closely...and try to find a vet ASAP!

Good luck

-Vanessa

 

[zainah]

thanks very much for the reply Vanessa, one ofmy chinese friend who can speak a little english volunteered to helpfind one good vet. another question, how often do i have to bathe mypet? since it's getting warm now(cold weather passed already) i thinkhe needs to get bathed more often?

thanks,
zainah

 

[LoveMyBunnies]

rabbits do not typically need to be bathed.Immersing them in water can be a shock to them. If they get dirty andcannot groom themselves, it is best to spot clean them. I would highlysuggest you read through the thread at the top of the forum called"rabbit care cheat sheet" it has alot of helpful information.

Also, it would be good to get your pet neutered. If you are on the roadalot, having a female who is having litters would proabably be a badsituation for the rabbits and stressful for you. Getting him a femalecompanion is not a bad idea, but I would strongly reccomend that theyboth be fixed prior to introducing them to one another.

As for what he has done to his tail, I have never heard of that before, hopefully someone else here can be more helpful.

 

[ayglnu13]

Hello You dont need to bathe yourrabbit unless he is dirty. The shampoo will dry out the rabbits skin.So I tend to only bathe them when they get dirt or something gross onthem. Rabbits groom themselves, so they are usually very cleananimals.

~Amy

 

youreally shouldn bathe a rabbitunless absolutly necessary theydont dry off well , and if youhave to bathe him have a hair dryerready and make sure heisnt damp when your done dryinghim .

Rabbits get chilled very easily , andthe stress of a bath canalso compound problems . Lookaround the area where his tailused to be and see if you cansee any tiny openspots, fleas were myfirst thought, but cant ruleout fur mites either. Ask yourfriend who speaks a bit ofEnglish if there is a product overthere equal to either Frontlineor Advantage for kittens , trythat and keep us posted

 

[Pet_Bunny]

Hi Gemma,

Is there any more information about your rabbit?Does he bite anything else besides his tail? Has hegone through any stress? How is his pee and poop?

Rainbows!

 

[zainah]

its really quite hard having this problem on aplace where there's language difficulties, thanks for the advice ongrooming/bathing..on the products that you guys mentioned, i will go tohongkong as soon as possible(3 hrs from my location)i'm sure i willfind those products available there, cause here in mainland,i dont seeany petshops in my area wherein i could buy pet foods, vitamins ormedicines..bad place to have pets u might say, but i wont give up

ever since i've been giving him carrots, cauliflower and greens..pleaseadvice on what particular veggies are the best..i'll see if i can findsome here..

thanks a lot guys,your advice means a lot to me.

zainah

 

[zainah]

its really quite hard having this problem on aplace where there's language difficulties, thanks for the advice ongrooming/bathing..on the products that you guys mentioned, i will go tohongkong as soon as possible(8 hrs from my location by train)i'm sure iwill find those products available there, cause here in mainland,i dontsee any petshops in my area wherein i could buy pet foods, vitamins ormedicines..bad place to have pets u might say, but i wont give up

ever since, i've been giving him carrots, cauliflower andgreens..please advice on what particular veggies are the best..i'll seeif i can find some here..

thanks a lot guys,your advice means a lot to me.

zainah

 

[ayglnu13]

zainah wrote:

ever since i've been giving him carrots, cauliflower and greens..pleaseadvice on what particular veggies are the best..i'll see if i can findsome here..

thanks a lot guys,your advice means a lot to me.

zainah

I don’t suggest Carrots because they are really high in sugar. And makesure you are not feeding them iceberg lettuce because it can give themdiarrhea. Dark colored greens are good for them though.

Here is a website that lists good and bad foods for rabbits.

http://earthhome.tripod.com/saferab.html

~Amy

 

[Midori-Chan]

I give Alexandre a combination ofthesevegetables twice dailyarsley, celery,carrots, a little of basil, tomatoes, cucumber etc. Don't worryabout breeding your rabbit, either. Just try and get himneutered sometime and that will calm his behavior.

 

[zainah]

i'll try to send a photo of my pet rabbit,honestly i dont know what is his type or breed(expept that he is allwhite)..well he is "toilet trained" already..when he pee or poop, hegoes to the corner litter box..he is really sweet, i share my bed withhim..he likes carrots and carrot juice which i prepare by using ablender..and also i noticed he like to chew on papers..i hope this isnot serious.

 

[Pipp]

zainah wrote:

He has been acting so strange since yesterday. He started eating his tail until it's gone.

This is definitely strange, especially if it came on thatsuddenly. Did you and do you notice any dandruff? (Mites)Or little black dirt specks? (Flea droppings).

Is he eating and pooping normally?

Is is anus or genitalia swollen or discoloured?Anylumps? Can you see his anal glands? (They're little glands onthe sides of his little poop hole). Does his bottom smellbad?

Has hebeen excessively grooming or chewingsoon after the baths?

Has he been stressed out about anything?

He's atthe age the hormones kick in and they can becometotally different little rabbits practically overnight until they'reneutered. (I've never heard about one chewing off his tailbefore, though).

A rare hormone imbalance can cause hair loss, maybe there's arelationship there. (If you can't see any signs ofinfestations of skin problems, it may be hormone-related given thetiming).

Or it could be related to his 'plumbing'. If he's having painand discomfort in his urinary system, maybe he's chewing his tailinstead of whatreally hurts.

Anyway, here's something from my vet on the infestation part:

"Cheyletiella mites, commonly referred to as "walking dandruff", areoccasionally found in rabbits. They cause dense dandruff primarily downthe back and at the base of the tail Rabbits can contract and supportflea infestations. Ivermectin is very effective in controlling mites.Topical insectides are also useful in controlling mites and fleas."

I'll add to that that you should never useFrontline (fipronil) on a rabbit.

SAS

 

Pipp: Can youplease explain why one shouldntuse Frontline for flea controlon rabbits ? From what my Vethas told me it can beused instead of Advantage because it isntas harsh as some of the chemicalsin Advantage ? Just curious , andi need to know .

 

[m.e.]

Frontline and Rabbits:

http://www.angelfire.com/fl/RabbitRescue/fleas.html

http://www.rabbit.org/chapters/san-diego/health/vet-talk/frontline.html

All Frontline products carry a warning that it is not to be used onrabbits. I would call your vet immediately and seethatthey donot recommend it to any other rabbitowners.

 

[m.e.]

Also, as a general fact, Frontline ismuch harsher than Advantage. Here's what the different topicaltreatments are designed to prevent/kill:

Advantage: fleas
Frontline: fleas, ticks
Revolution: fleas, ticks, mosquitoes, ear mites

Revolution is so strong, I would recommend it only for healthy, adultdogs and cats, and certainly not rabbits.And don'tever, ever, ever, use Hartz topical flea treatments, forany animal. Bad news.

I e-mailed a rabbit-savvy vet once and asked them about flea treatmentsfor rabbits. I saved the response, but don't have it with me at themoment. I'll have to dig it up later today...

Sorry, I know that was O/T :?

 

M.E. I read the 2 linksyou sent , and I dont want to startan arguement , but from what Iread Most of the issues involved with theproduct is because of grooming anotheranimal just after the product was applied, I am going to call MyVet and ask him, hewill be in this morning , He isa Very Highly respected Vet whoSpecializes in Exotics , So If anyoneknows it will be him , He wasntthe one who suggested using Eitherproduct on My Animals , It was a different vet, and since having an allergic ractionto Advantage with mycat i wouldnt even use thaton any animal , ( It verynear Killed her) . FYI , my Rabbit donthave fleas but the foolish ratcertainly passed them onto mycats grrrr. just found them onthe mommy cat last night.

 

No Actually it isntO/T because the original startof the thread was about possableflea or mite problem .

 

[m.e.]

Oh, I wasn't suggesting Advantage either; thatcan be just as bad. (And I personally use Frontline on all my cats, butthey're a totally different critter...) Those links were two that Ipulled up very quickly off of Google, I have not read them thoroughly.I just know that any topical treatment, be it Advantage,Frontline, Revolution, or Hartz, can cause a lot of problems forrabbits.

I would be wary of a recommendation of one over the other, IMO, they're all potentially dangerous.

I believe that our more experienced members have recommended kittenflea powder as the safest and most effective method of treating rabbitsfor fleas.

Obviously, any animal that is treated with a topical treatment(aka pesticide) needs to be seperated from other animals untilthe product has fully dried / been absorbed.

 

[Pipp]

Hey Gypsy,

My cat almost died from Advantage as well, I think from licking it offthe other cat soon after it was applied, although it could have been anallergic reaction. (My vet thought maybe an allergy to food,but the day after the application was way to coincidental to me).

The linked article talks about Advantage re: problems when it's lickedoff, not FrontLine, correct? I thought Frontline causedneurological problems with straight applications.

Regardless, with FrontLine when the manufacturer and the HRS both saynot to use it on rabbits, I don't much care what anybody else says, I'mcertainly not going to take a chance. And if I wasa vet, I'd make sure my patient was aware of thecontroversyabout the product.

Program is the only flea control I've seen that seems to be recommended for rabbits, and I'm not 100% sure on that.

And to put it squarely back on topic, has anybody ever heard of arabbit anywhere chewing off its tail because of parasites or anythingelse?I answered it anyway because of the potentialof a suffering bun out there, butI had a nagging feeling itwas really Ashton Kutcher and we were being Punk'd.:shock:It will beinteresting to seeifthey post again.

SAS