Please help

[Hudson River Rabbitry]

Hi all,
I have a couple of situations I'm trying to resolve and hope you can help.

A week ago, I lost my best breeding Silver Fox doe. She seemed fine in the morning and was dead when I returned from work. Trying to determine what could have caused this, I got to thinking about diet. I free feed Purina 16% Show Formula, 2nd cutting timothy hay daily and fresh well water water, twice a day. The well water seems to be very high in mineral content as it leaves behind a white powdery residue after evaporation. Assuming this is calcium, could high levels of calcium be what killed her? Upon cleaning the cage trays, there is always a buildup of calcium in the corners where they urinate. Is this normal? Is it possible to have blood calcium levels tested? Is it costly?

Would high calcium levels cause hair to fall out in small tufts? I have one buck that seems to be in perpetual molt. Had him tested for parasites internal and external with negative results. He also receives periodic sub-Q injections of Ivomec. These small tufts of fur when pulled out, seem to be bound together at the follicles by something. The vet had no idea. The buck seems perfectly fine otherwise.

Thanks
Gerry

 

[naturestee]

I'm so sorry for your loss. And such a rare, beautiful breed too.

The only way to know how she died would be to do a necropsy- animal autopsy. Vets are the best but I haveheard ofa few breeders thatlearn how to do this themselves due to the cost. Would be best if you had medical training and a good knowledge of rabbit biology first so it's not really recommended for the average person.

High calcium can cause problems but you probably would have noticed something wrong beforehand. Another forum bun, Luna, is having problems with kidney stones that were causing her repeated stasis issues. Then a small amount of blood was found in her urine and the vet was able to zero in on the problem. Calcium problems usually develop more like this, or withchangingurination habits or sudden appearance of blood in the urine.

Calcium in the urine is very common and is totally normal provided that it's not a thick sludge. All my litter boxes get calcium build-up on them. You can have blood calcium levels tested although with rabbits it's often more about genetics (or infection of the kidney or bladder) that causes a build-up of calcium. I'm not sure of the cost for just that test, but a basic kidney and liver function test runs for about$20 at my vet (which is often cheaper than most other peoples' vets).

As for the buck, are those tufts with the skin on them coming from any particular area? Is his cage immediately next to the cage of another bun? My thought is maybe the other bun is overgrooming through the bars or nipping through the bars. Or the bun is overgrooming himself. You could move his cage a few inches away from others or put in either solid or fine mesh dividers on the wall to stop other buns from pulling his fur.

You could also try adding stuff to his diet that helps skin and fur- Omega fatty acids are great for this. Flax seeds and sunflower seeds will likely help the most.

Just an FYI, there have been reports of poor quality control in Purina's feeds- mainly suspected contaminants like mycotoxins (mold toxins). If another bun dies unexpectedly or becomes ill while still feeding this same lot of feed, have the vet test the food.

I hope this helps, and maybe some others will have thoughts too. Also, browse through our Library just incase something suddenly makes sense.

 

[Hudson River Rabbitry]

Thanks for your reply. I was feeding Blue seal when I first noticed this buck with the fur tuft problem. The vet checked everything and felt it was diet related. That was about four months ago and was when I switched to Purina. Since then, he started showing improvement until recently when it seems to be getting worse again. All seven of my other rabbits are beautiful and very healthy looking.