Sudden death, other rabbit not eating

[Michelledickerhoff]

I called the vet today to update him on how he's doing and to tell him about his poop changing from mushy to now tiny balls, and to see if I can get something more to help it. I guess they closed earlier than what I thought,and I got hung up on by the after hours emergency answering person, he didn't see it as an emergency I guess, he didn't let me finish what I was saying, before he said we would appreciate if non emergency calls were during regular hours we open at 8 am thank yu have a great day "click"! Well geeez...thank yu so much. For everything! I can't wait for him to get better. I feel so bad for him. I feel as if he's my own child. He's been very sweet since he doesn't feel good. Hopefully that part doesn't go away

 

[Imbrium]

Sheesh. Like there's so damn many emergencies going on that he can't take ten seconds to be vaguely polite?

Sick animals seem to somehow understand when you're really trying to help them feel better... and they often remember to appreciate you for it even after they've recovered .

 

[Imbrium]

I've got some choice words for USPS right now, none of which are appropriate for the forums >.>

There's no guarantee for Priority mail, only for Express... so I can't bitch them out about not delivering my package today even though, based on the origin and delivery zipcodes and a drop-off time between 5 and 6 pm on Friday, they claimed it would arrive on Monday. Tracking shows it didn't get to a post office in Michelle's state until 1:25 pm, meaning it gets delivered today (Tuesday)... hopefully. I drove to a more distant post office (that's open until 6 pm) in rush-hour traffic on Friday because I didn't make it to a closer one before they closed at 5 pm... and I waited in line instead of just dropping it in the package chute inside, because I arrived at 5:40 and the last time the packages are collected from the drop box for the day is 5:30... all to make sure a sick little bunny got his probiotics on Monday. Damn post office - they think it's fine as long as stuff arrives by Christmas; never mind that some of us are mailing things *other* than Christmas presents. I've come to expect this stuff from Amazon Prime shipping (and from freaking UPS, who I've had countless problems with), but USPS is normally reliable. Since starting my online business, this is the first time I've had a package not arrive when I was told it would (if not early).

I've got half a mind to ask for a picture of your adorable bunny giving his best disapproving and sad face(s) and then forward it to USPS to show them who they let down, lol. Actually, I've got one bunny that looks perpetually disapproving (Nala's got a "grump" face) and another that looks perpetually sad (Gazzles has an "Eeyore" face)... narrowing it down to the best couple pics will be hard, though!

Disapproving (Nala):

Disapproving (both):

 

[Imbrium]

Then we've got Gazzle's sad faces:

Gazzle looking both sad AND disapproving:

And a combo shot where Nala looks disapproving and Gaz looks sad... I'm leaning towards this one ...

 

[Imbrium]

Wow... you must pretty much be first on the route, lol! Crossing my fingers he loves the hay

Arrival at Post Office - December 24, 2013 6:50 am
Sorting Complete - December 24, 2013 7:38 am
Delivered - December 24, 2013 8:22 am

 

[Michelledickerhoff]

Yay! I got it this morning! My mail man usually doesn't deliver at my house til 1030. But he's a bit he gives off a bit of a perv vibe the way he looks at me, he never says anything inappropriate but his eyes says it all, so he looks every day to see if I have a package bc I order online quite a bit so he brings it at 830 if I do so he can catch me before work! And yess he is eating the crap out of the orchard kind! I can't believe my eyes I've never seen him eat hay like that! I havnt tried the other 2 yet. For some reason those pictures are not loading on my phone

 

[Imbrium]

Heh... little creepy, but works out well if you're eager to get the package

Actually, two of the three bags are plain orchard - I filled up a big one and still had room (weight-wise) for a little more without the postage going up. The 80/20 blend is labeled; anything not labeled is plain orchard.

I'm SO glad he likes the orchard! I'll still send you some of the KMS Hayloft stuff when it arrives, though (well, I'll mail it on the 26th, since I think the post office closes in 27 minutes and the hay isn't here yet).

45 lbs of hay (two 20 lb boxes + 5 free lbs) from Sierra Valley is $66.98 for me, but $85.90 for you (because TX qualifies as a "west coast" state and your state doesn't)... KMS Hayloft has the same delivery charge for your zipcode as for mine (though delivery apparently takes three days longer for yours) - 45 lbs of bluegrass would be $59.79 after shipping and 45 lbs of 3rd cut timothy would be $61.79. Sierra Valley estimates that a 20 lb box will last two rabbits around 2 mos, which is 5 lbs per rabbit per month - at that rate, 45 lbs = about 9 mos of hay for one bunny, so you'd be really only paying $1.44-$1.67 more per month if you bought from Sierra Valley... but if he'd be just as happy with one of the KMS Hayloft hays then you may as well save $14-16 each time you order a 45 lb box.

 

[Michelledickerhoff]

Ya I'm deff gonna have to order some more, bc I don't think I've ever seen any at the pet store

 

[Tauntz]

Hooray! Hope your bunny keeps improving! I've been following your thread here but knew you were in excellent hands with Imbrium! Please keep updating us!

Thanks (Jennifer) Imbrium! You are one of THE RO heroes in my book! RO members are fabulous! They always come forward & help a bunny & their human in need (especially those of us who are still new & learning bunny parents)! :goodjob

 

[Michelledickerhoff]

Thanks this morning was actually the first day I didn't have to syringe feed him! I'm still finishing the rest of his antibiotics tho he has 3 more to go, he doesn't like getting syringe fed at all, he knows when I'm getting his medacine ready bc he sits there with his ears all the way back watching me, lol so cute!

 

[Imbrium]

Orchard grass is sometimes marketed as "meadow grass," I believe... and I know oxbow sells it. My girls wouldn't eat Oxbow's orchard grass, though, and the Oxbow hay (or any other "pet store" hay) is a LOT pricier than Sierra Valley or KMS Hayloft anyway... even though it's not even as fresh and pretty.

*blushes* Always happy to help! How can I look at adorable bunny faces and not? (Unless said bunnies are mine and the help they "need" involves getting more craisins and/or pellets in a day than they're allowed!)

Bunnies are too often misunderstood as pets, and the way to change that is through educating pet owners - which is what RO is all about, bunny-slaves sharing information! I learned most of what I know about rabbits from other RO members and from websites I discovered because someone on RO linked them, so I enjoy being able to pass that info around to others. I especially love it when I help some people fairly regularly and then turn around and see them giving out great advice to others based on things they learned from us "veteran" folks (which has been happening a good bit lately) .

 

[Michelledickerhoff]

I'm glad I found this app! It was completely accidental, I was googling and found it! I'm deff going to pass it on to any other rabbit owners I know

 

[Imbrium]

I forgot we have an app now, lol... I always hang out on RO from my home computer. I suppose I could download the app, but I'm always home anyway and rarely use my phone. (Btw, if you log in from a computer, you should be able to see the pics I posted earlier - the phone probably doesn't like the size or something. Same user name and password should get you onto the non-app version of the site.)

 

[Michelledickerhoff]

Okayy I will have to try that! And do yu know how I edit my profile ? It lets me change my picture just nothing else

 

[Michelledickerhoff]

How much of the pro biotics should I give him? And how

 

[Imbrium]

On the actual website (not sure if the app differs), you go to "My Account" and then under "Control Panel" near the bottom of the drop down menu you can choose to edit other stuff... I'm not sure which options require a paid subscription and which don't, though (aside from the fact that I know signatures DO).

Unless your bunny is over 10 lbs, give him 1 gram (one tube) of the BeneBac Plus. Some bunnies will eat it straight (either from the tube or put on a plate or something)... if that doesn't work, you can mix it in with a small amount of fruit or veggie flavored, preservative free baby food (given his tummy troubles, I would opt for something involving a low-sugar veggie) or mix it into the critical care if you give him that tonight. You'll want to give him a second dose in three days (Friday).

 

[Michelledickerhoff]

Merry Christmas! I woke up about 6 am and most his pellets and pretty much all his hay was gone! It's like he thinks he has some catching up to do! Lol. He's back to playing and doing his little kick thing he does with his back legs, "thump" does anyone else's rabbit do that he does it when he plays or if I'm trying to pick him up when he doesn't want picked up. Do yu think it's fine to give it to him even while he still has 2 doses of his antibiotics to go. Or is it fine to mix?

 

[Imbrium]

Give or mix what? I'm a little lost, hehe. If you mean the Benebac, definitely give it to him.

Ideally, you want to give the first dose the day you start giving the antibiotics (a day or two before is just as good if it happens to work out that way), then a second dose after three days and a third dose one week after that (so 10 days after the first dose). Late is better than never, though! Probiotics will NOT interfere with any antibiotics (the reverse can happen with broad-spectrum antibiotics, though) except to cancel out some of the side-effects.

Which reminds me, I forgot to mention that you do NOT want to give the probiotic and antibiotic at the same time... I wanna say it's 2-3h you're supposed to wait between giving one and giving the other. If you screw up and give them too close together, it's the probiotic that you risk ruining. Since you can't really OD a bunny on probioitics, you can give an extra dose a few hours later if you think you canceled a dose out by giving it too close to the antibiotics.

 

[Michelledickerhoff]

Yes that's what I was talking about was mixing the 2 I just now gave him his antibiotic so I'll do the benebac around 2 or 3

 

[Imbrium]

Ah, ok. Sounds good . Hopefully the probiotics and, more importantly, the fact that he's *finally* eating hay will have a positive effect on how his poops look!

I think Sierra Valley must infuse their orchard grass with bunny crack somehow, lol. It seems to have a way of turning "My bunny absolutely refuses to eat ANY grass hay!" into "Holy crap, where did all the hay go??" It got my girls eating grass hay and I've sent it to two people in the last couple weeks who both had the same success - pretty damn impressive to win over four picky bunnies in a row!