The lives of Kiwi & Papaya!

[Mariah]

Jenny! I too have been calling you Jbun! That's a really good idea about the pellets. I will do half an half at every feeding That way, they think there getting more, but really there not!

There wasent a lot of poops this morning when I woke up and Kiwi didn't eat a lot of hay overnight... I was up late with them though... I didn't put them to bed until nearly 12am! I'm going to be a tired girl today at work... But they were playing and running around, I didn't have the heart to put them to bed. So I'm hoping when I'm home from work tonight, she would have eaten more. Ill be able to get an update from my boyfriend before he goes to work. My vet is awesome too, because if something's wrong with Kiwi she will let me leave to come home and get her. I'm only 12 minutes away from work so I can be home in no time at all. Still, I hate leaving them for 11 hours while I'm at work... I need to set up a webcam or something so I can watch them when I'm away. Ha. I'm a little parnoid as you can tell!

I think this morning she would benefit from simethicone, but since I'm not home to watch her for the very first dose, I don't want to give it too her.

I don't understand why they chew everything in the house! They have a ton of chew toys but apparently the walls and furnature are more tasty

 

[JBun]

I'm paranoid about my buns too. It's hard not to be when you've had to deal with one being sick though. A web cam would be great. Then you could see what they're doing during the day too, along with making sure they're ok.

I think with some rabbits and chewing it's all about the things they're not supposed to have. If I try to stop my buns from doing something, it's like it perks their interest and then they really have to try and do it. They can be so stubborn sometimes. Good thing they're so cute or they'd be in BIG trouble

I'm sure they were glad to have lots of playtime last night. I would have hated to ruin their fun too. I hope Kiwi's been doing ok today. Looking forward to your update.

It's ok, you both didn't miss my name. I finally got around to putting it in there. Thought you'd like to call me something other than Jbun. One day I may actually get around to putting a picture in there too

 

[Mariah]

Well... When I got home tonight, kiwi was laying in her cage, which is odd for her. Usually she's laying in her x pen on her nice fleese blanket. I opened up both x pens and Papaya bounded out, and ran in kiwis. Kiwi got up but stayed in her cage for a whole longer. As I write this she's out now exploring and keeps coming up to me for pets.

I don't know what to do. Should I give her simethicone? She did poop some more throughout the day and I see she was munching on her hay and did drink some water.

My routine is metacam in the morning her breakfast because I know to never give it on an empty stomach and cisapride in the night. I started weaning her off the cisapride but ill take me a bit yet to completly stop the cisapride.

I'm so sorry for all the questions but I really don't know where else to turn. Everyone thinks I'm crazy with my rabbits!

Oh, and little Papaya is fine Thank goodness! I can't handle anther sick bun!

This is a pic I just snapped of my 3 little amigos Trippy had to be in the pic too!

And Papaya, cause he's just too damn cute! Lol...

 

[JBun]

Have you tried stopping the metacam. Hasn't she been on that for a while? Maybe that's causing problems. I know I can't take advil too often cause it causes problems with me. I guess you could try one dose of simethicone and see if it makes a difference. Maybe .5-1cc, or you could stick with the dose your vet recommended. Maybe once she's feeling better again you could try not giving the metacam one day and see if she does ok with it, like on a weekend when you'll be home with her to keep an eye on her. There's got to be a solution for Kiwi, it's just figuring out what it is.

 

[Mariah]

I did try stopping the metacam and she didn't seem to do that great without it, however; I was feeding more pellets so maybe that was the cause. I could try stopping that tomorrow morning.

I just finished cleaning their cages/ litter boxes, and I fed them. I decreased kiwis pellets a bit more then this morning as well to see if that makes a difference. I also just gave her the first dose of simethicone. She licked it right up out of the syringe thankfully... Because she's a demon to hold and it would have been a fight so I'm glad she took it I'm her own accord.

If the simethicone was going to help, how fast acting is it? I'm eagerly awaiting to hopefully see a difference... I mean I've already seen a difference with the decreased amount of pellets but she still sits all hunched up so to me that's an indication of discomfort on her part.

 

[JBun]

You should be able to tell a difference an hour or two after you've given it. You'll be able to tell if she's acting more like her normal self. If it's not gas causing her discomfort then you probably won't see any difference in how she feels. I would only stop the metacam if she's feeling better, and it would be good if you're around so that if she starts to act like she needs it again then you'll be able to give it to her.

It actually could take several days of a lower pellet diet before you see a significant difference in how she feels, just cause it'll take some time for the digestion to correct, if this has been the problem with her.

Cute pictures! I love the buns with your cat. So they all get along ok?

 

[Mariah]

Ok good to know. I close Papayas door to his x pen when I feed pellets cause he eats faster then kiwi and if I leave the door open, he will run into kiwis cage and help himself to her pellets! Lol... Such a boy! Anyways, she ate all the pellets I gave her (decreased amours again), so I opened Papayas door and he went to play. I kinda ushered kiwi to go and play too and she did! They both were in the living room. So... Another improvement tonight! She didn't lay for as long as she usually does after eating and neither did he! I think "we" may be on to something here!

I honestly had no idea I was feeding too much. I really hope this is the route cause to all my bunny troubles!

I'm still in shock to took the simethicone from the syringe! Thank goodness!

Yes, my kitty Tripp and the buns do all get along. He actually goes and lays with Kiwi and steals her hay
Just for fun, here is a pic of my horses- Billy Goat (the bay)and Sully Man (the grey)

And another of Sully with "his" kitty

I find a lot of horse people also have bunnies! Anyone else on her have horses? They are also a HUGE part of my daily life!

 

[JBun]

Always good to hear Kiwi's feeling better. A permenant 'better' will be the best to hear. Hopefully that's where she's headed. You may want to just keep a mental note of whether or not she always seems worse after eating pellets.

I haven't found that simethicone is hard to give at all either. Zeus sucks it down. Buns love sugar, unfortunately, but I guess good if you're trying to get them to take their medicine.

Lol, Tripp stealing their hay is too funny! That's great that they get along. I love interspecies friendships.

Beautiful horses! Billy looks like my horse that I just had to sell, except my horse is black, but Billy looks black to me in that picture. My horse's name is Deniro. Really sweet boy. The people just came and picked him up last week. I was pretty sad watching them drive away, but he was going to a really good home, so I was glad about that.... So do you do horse jumping? I had wanted to with Nero but it never worked out.

Here's my boy soaking in the sun

 

[Mariah]

Deniro is beautiful! What breed is he? Billy is a Percheron/ Quarter Horse and Sully is a Percheron/ TB. Can I tell I love the drafts! Yes, I ride Hunter/ Jumper. I used to jump Billy but he fractured his left twice... He's sound now but I don't change the jumping with him. I will jump Sully as well, but right now we are concentrating on our flat work. What do you ride? Funny, that we both have horses! Why did you decide to sell him?

Kiwi is defintely worse after eating her pellets. I gave simethicone again this morning because she ate and come out and layed down with her head right in the ground. She didn't eat a lot of hay overnight nor did she poop a lot more since I put her to bed last night.

What is going on with my little girl? I'm so sad for her

 

[JBun]

Deniro is Thoroughbred/Quarter horse. I was mostly doing just trail riding with him. I had to sell him cause I have back problems and couldn't ride anymore, and it also made it really difficult for me to take care of him. So now I just have my little buns to love.

Kiwi's not going to make this easy to figure out is she? Maybe you could try cutting out pellets completely for a few days and see if that helps. Have you asked the vet at work about any of this? Has Kiwi ever had an xray done of her belly or had bloodwork done? I'm just guessing that this all might be a diet issue, but you may want to rule other things out to be sure. If there isn't anything else wrong with her belly area or some other physical problem causing all this, all I can think of is that it has to be something she's eating. I can't imagine it would be the hay, and as long as she isn't getting any treats right now, then it can't be that, so all I can think of is that it has to be the pellets or the meds that she's taking. So maybe start with removing the pellets and see what that does.

 

[Mariah]

I too was thinking about an X-ray. Maybe she has a hair ball that's stuck which is causing the tummy upset. I had kiwi at the vet about 2 weeks ago and she did a complete exam, felt her belly, checked teeth etc and she didn't feel or see anything that would be causing kiwi to be off.

When I took her to the vet she was so stressed it took about 48 hours for her to become "her normal" again. She was refusing pellets (she then ate eventually) her oats (which I've stopped completly) and was hardly eating any hay... So, I really don't want to take her back again unless she stops eating completly and stops pooping. It was an added stress that I didn't need at that time, nor do I need it now, considering how kiwi is right now.

I'm at a loss. I'll be home soon and will check on her and post another update later.

Edited to say: I don't believe it's the hay as Papaya eats it and most days loves it. As well, I'm pretty picky about the hay I get and I always open up the bag before I bring it home and check to make sure all is ok with it.

 

[Mariah]

Just a quick update: Kiwi is sleeping and so is Papaya, so I can't say how she is feeling just yet. I know this is their sleeping time! It's actually really cute. Papaya is in his bunny castle and kiwi is in her house too, which is just a foot stool, but she loves it!

Tons of poops in kiwis box too. This is what she did from 8am to 1pm. I added shavings over top of what she did overnight so what you see in her box is you can times it by two. I add shavings in the morning but I dump everything at night and they get fresh shavings.

What do you think about her poop?

 

[JBun]

Lol, how funny is it that we swap poop pictures on this forum. Actually, they look pretty perfect from the ones that I can see.

If Kiwi gets that stressed going to the vet office, I would be reluctant taking her in too. If you decide you need to bring her in and you have a big enough pet carrier, now that Kiwi and Papaya get along, you could try bringing them in the same carrier. It might be less stressful to have her buddy with her. But yeah, I think i would be doing it as a last resort with her too, and that's if nothing else seems to be working.

Yeah, I think the hay's fine. If food is the culprit, it's more likely the pellets or meds.

 

[Mariah]

Well, I stopped the cisapride last night to see of that could be the cause. I still gave her metacam this morning because I wasent going to be here. I haven't noticed a bad difference today with not giving the cisapride. Her poops are normal today and currently as i type this she's my munching on some hay. Yay!

One of my two hair hair in their poop. I don't know who's it was because when I wasent watching they both were in the same litter box.

What do you give for hair if I can't give pineapple or papaya to lube the hair up and make it pass easier?

 

[JBun]

Yay for poop!!! I think extra fiber from increasing their hay and decressing pellets, is supposed to be the best thing for hair in the poop. I think just make sure they always have plenty of hay to eat and you should be good.

That might be good stopping the cisapride to see if that might be causing her problems. Keep an eye on that poop You'll want to make sure that her digestion doesn't slow down too much. I hope right now they are both having a ton of fun running around and playing

 

[Mariah]

Yes! I just put them to bed but they were running around the living room together doing blinkies and the bunny 500

Kiwi pooped a fair amount from when I cleaned her litter box around 730 tonight and even after I fed dinner around 8pm.

She was just laying after her dinner so I did give simethicone. I would like to say its been helping over the past couple days (just since yesterday) that I've been using it.

No problem on giving lots of fresh hay. I didn't see any hair in poops today so that's positive.

Both buns were very happy bunnies tonight And again, I'm going to be so tired for work in the morning... Yes, I work every Saturday.. But hey, if my buns are happy, I'm happy, so ill sacrifice my sleep for them

When are you bunnies most active Jenny? Mine vary from 10pm ish to around 1am in the morning.

And ha, yes, I post pictures of my bunnies poo

 

[Mariah]

645am: Kiwi ate her breakfast, layed for barley no time at all and is now running around! Woooohoooo!!! She also ate lots of hay overnight- about half her hay rake full!

She didn't really poop a lot more since 12am, however; I think she's on a new popping schedule. She tends to do a lot from 8pm-11pm and then again sometime in the morning between 8am and 1pm while I'm at work.

Here's hoping I come home to lots of poop today!!!

Happy Saturday everyone!!!!!

 

[JBun]

That's so great!!! I bet it's a big relief when you see her running around and playing. Let's hope she's on a streak of feeling happy and healthy

That's about when my buns are most active too, morning and night. It might have something to do with that being their feeding time as well. They sleep most of the day, and that's also when they poop the least.

 

[Mariah]

I've come home to loads of poop in her box and I can defintely tell she was eating her hay! I'm just so excited!

They are both sleeping right now, and I think I may take a "bunny" nap too!

I wish I could get a pic of papaya in his blue bunny castle. He's too cute!

 

[Mariah]

Ok... Because I think my bunnies are adorable, here they are!

I woke kiwi from her sleep, she's not too impressed with me!

And Papaya in his bunny castle: