Sick Bunny #2

[GoinBackToCali]

Update- This morning, 12-07-07... Rico Suave was found dead in his cage...
We are all pretty upset... he was our favorite...

RIP Rico Suave..



The Half brother buck to #1.. sneezing occassionally.. clear discharge from nose occassionally, raspy when excited. Not an all the time thing.. No fever.. healthy as in eating and drinking like a horse.
Is his issue maybe allergies? Or is he contagious because he was originally housed next to #1? He has NEVER been as bad as the other one, sickness wise.

Both are now on 4 way acid packs in their water, rabbit-Mycin, Vet RX, (both in dropper form) and Bene Bac..


Can rabbits actually be persnickety like people and have little allergies?


Zin

 

[pla725]

It is possible. I have rabbits, who like, me are allergic to hay dust. All are healthy otherwise. And, welcome to the board.

 

[Pipp]

pla725 wrote:

It is possible. I have rabbits, who like, me are allergic to hay dust. All are healthy otherwise. And, welcome to the board.

:yeahthat:

Try and determine when he's worse -- see if you'reat the dusty part of a hay flake, or at the bottom of the pellet bag.

Also look attemperatures or temperature changes and stress situations.



sas:bunnydance:

 

[Bo B Bunny]

My rabbit is allergic to barn hay that had alfalfa in it. I think the dust from it was the main problem. He is fine with Oxbow Timothy hay but as a baby we could only give him the pellets containing alfalfa.

 

[GoinBackToCali]

Perhaps im doing something wrong.. ya'll all say *bottom of the bag* and stuff.

I have 6 horses and literally over 40 rabbits, as well as showpigs and stray cats and the occassional wandering goat.. so we go to the feed store and buy hay in bulk. Like by the truck full.

You can get 2 different types of hay here..bedding and eating.. I get both. The bedding tends to 4 and 5 year old hay thats been kept in giant walk-ins.. the older it gets the softer it gets, so by the time the rabbits get it, It's as soft as.. well...a bad perm. (Heh.. theres a lady I cant stand who has big Texas hair, all fried and permed, and my son calls her horse bedding hair)

The down side is.. the rabbits dont differentiate between the course eating hay and the soft bedding hay.. so I go in the barn in the mornings and they are sitting there looking at me, bedding eaten, with a *what the heck happened to my bed* type look..

You ate it... seriously...

I also do something uber stupid as in my pampered buns dont eat alfalfa pellets.. so I have to make the rounds of all the Wal-Marts, and buy the bags of fresh Timothy Hay AND Alfalfa Hay...gets very exspensive...but their worth it...


So is there some sort of bagged Hay I am unaware of?

 

[Pipp]

Hay, I've got eight rabbits (not counting the 'guests') and live in one of the most densely populated neighbourhood in North America, and I definitely buy hay by the bale. (And pellets from the feedstore, too).

The neighbours (and landlord) see me loading two or three bales into the apartment and throwing them in the spare bathtub. :huh:craziness

I don't have horses, so I'm not sure about the bedding hay, but my reference was to the 'fines'between the flakes in a bale, no bags in my post hay-wise, just pellets.

I throw the fines in the litter boxes, and the strands ... in the litter boxes too, but off to one side. (I've stopped using horsestall bedding, I'm only using hay). Hopefully they only eat what they don't pee on. Constant battle keeping them in enough clean hay. (Especially since my little dwarf Sherry seems to be able to get around every bathtub blockade imaginable and munch, poop and peeaway sittingontop of the bales). :nonono:

The only kinds of hay I buy are first to third cut Timothy (preferably second cut), and local meadow grass, with the odd garbage bag full of bluegrass, oat hay or some other variety).

The first cut Timothy is arough, they don't mind it so much, but they can poke their eye out. (Although now I'm realizing the attack it with relish not so much to ingest it, but to cut it into safe little bits, they're not stupid!)

Most of mine actually prefer brown bits, so the really leafythirdcut isn't as popular, and it doesn't have the same high fibre count.

I wrote up a big long page on the fibre counts, etc, but I guess it's another page eaten. :sigh:

Doubt there's anything you don't know here (or above for that matter) but here's the Library link:

Hay: All About it



sas :bunnydance:

 

[Bo B Bunny]

Well, Bedding hay is still just old grass hay I am assuming. My buns would turn their nose up like I'd given them - bedding hay LOL!

Nutritionally it's not doing much for them, but it's still hay so it's helping their guts.

So are you considering not feeding the grass hay or what?

What sorta horses do you have?

 

[Bo B Bunny]

Is the bedding hay in big round bales? We feed that to cows here and some in the winter for the horses.

 

[pamnock]

Try bringing the rabbit inside where he can be observed 24/7 and remove the hay during this time.Occasional rhinitis symptoms can be difficult to diagnose and in most cases are probably not due to hay allergies.

His problems could very well be related to the same issues that buck #1 is having.

Pam

 

[Haley]

Good advice here!

I think yes, its possible it could be allergies but keep an eye on him bc as Pam said, it could also be related to something more serious.

One thing I would keep an eye on is his teeth. Feel around his mouth and jaw for any lumps and keep an eye on his eating habits. My Max had a tooth root abscess and one of the first symptoms was a runny nose with clear discharge.

 

[Ivory]

I second what Pam said. I would bring him in for observation.

We all have to remember that allergies are a very specific response that manifest themselves in ways other than sneezing. Just sneezing could indicate just irritation from the dust as opposed to a true immune response.

 

[GoinBackToCali]

Actually... Rico Suave was brought in for over a week, he was fine, when he gets sent back out, he sneezes.

I give them the bedding hay for comfyness, and supplement them with alfalfa and timothy hay, their favs!!

I have MarWari's.. or desert war horses... thay have the extremely long legs to keep there underbellys off the scorching desert sand, and they have the pointed ears that slope inward, so when a sword is drawn, there ears arn't in the way..I do alot of ren faires, and I use to be an elf.. like LOTR elf, and they were my ride. They started outlife as exotic show off trophy's for a literal drug dealer.. I got them all as a lot at a county adoption thing... they were seized when the guy was captured and tried. They werent very popular in a land of cowboys, ropin horses, and rodeos. They were slated to be destroyed.

Oh I lie again... I have a very very VERY elderly Clydesdale Belgian Mix named Bob... short for Big Ol Boy.. when I sit on him, I am actually WAY higher than the roof of my big ol Dodge. He has this really long huge face that when you look straight at him, he borderline looks retarded..LOL. I got him because he was ugly, well the general consensus was he was ugly, personally, I think the guy I got him from was uglier. But yanno, Beauty is in the eye of the beholder..


Ok.. it took me so long to write this response, and in the interim about 20 people needed moderation on my Tudor Discussion group... I got distracted and done fergot the other questions..lol.

Zin

 

[GoinBackToCali]

Bo B-


You can get it in big round bales, but I get it in the traditonal bale sized..

Indiana? My husband's a Yankee...lol.. Graduated from Notre Dame, born and raised in Evansville, we bought a home to restore in Booneville... 5 years ago... and it still sits there unrestored..

It is truly gorgeous there...



Zin

 

[Bo B Bunny]

If you ever move up here, you'll have to look me up!


I am in central indiana - Evansville is about 2.5 hours from me or so.

I have 2 quarter horses! I'd love to see the war horses! I don't know that I have ever seen one. My daughter will LOVE that - she's big into horses and competes in horse knowledge competitions! She's going to be 12 friday.

I want a Freisian!

 

[Ivory]

I love the sorrel-colored Clydesdales. Dad had one at the office a while back....it was HUGE. Another huge one are the Percherons. Those horses have to weigh 3000 pounds and must be over seven feet tall...

 

[Bo B Bunny]

your dad treats large animals also???

Cool!!!

 

[BlueGiants]

I LOVE the Percherons! We had one at the barn where I used to ride. He loved to pull the wagon full of kids! (I'm sure he's long gone from this world, but he was fabulous! I haven't thought of him in many years.... thanks for the memory flash!)

Sorry for the off topic hyjack... humblest apologies...:foreheadsmack: