Victoria Goren Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 We had to rush our rabbit to meet the vet at the surgery last night, he was slightly off colour yesterday so we brought him indoors to keep an eye on him, 15 mins later he was in the bottom of the cage having a seizure. The vet thinks its bloat. we have now put, on her advice, our other two bunnies and the two guinea pigs on a very strict no treat good for your tummy diet, i know piggies dont get bloat but the new diet wont hurt them either. we are blaming ourselves because we indulged them with treats at christmas, no more of that now . exactly the right things only. porridge is the order of the day i am told and just the right amount of pellets and the very best hay (Excel). please think of our Stewie Rabbit the next 48hrs are critical. any other advice would be well recieved Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnnieP Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 Oh dear! Poor Stewie. Great that you got him to the vets so quickly for a diagnosis. Fingers crossed he will recover well. Thinking of you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 Poor Stewie Buns have very delicate tums and need a carefully balanced diet and lots of hay and water to keep them healthy. My two are very boring and prefer the same stuff every day and no changes to their diet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victoria Goren Posted January 6, 2009 Author Share Posted January 6, 2009 I have rang the vet and he is a little brighter and hopping around the cage but had not passed anything through his bowels yet and is not eating. He will not be home tonight but in away i am glad because we want him really well before he comes home no matter what the cost. the other two rabbit dont know whats hit them this morning they did not get the usual bowl full of pellets.........it was more Timothy hay! the vet has said they can have porridge because its good for their tummies.......Stewie will be having brown bread to day to tempt him any other advice would be very well received Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 Their diet should really be 50% hay, 25% greens and 25% pelletd food. I find that adding Avipro to their water in times of stress or illness settles their tums and keeps them healthy. Introduce any new food (especially green stuff) very carefully. Good to hear that the little fella is looking better now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnowWhite Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 I agree with Claret's strick diet regime. You need to ensure that the rabbits get unlimited hay at all times plus some pelleted food (ideally Burgess Supa Rabbit Excel) and some green vegetables. I'm not sure from your post if you just gave your rabbits hay or not but they will need something else to eat Rabbits have really sensitive digestive systems that basically can grind to a halt and cause a build up of gas (bloat or gastro intestinal (GI) stasis). This can be caused by illness or infection or more likely by a bad diet including too many treats or poor quality food. Bloat or GI stasis is an incredible serious illness which sadly has a very low survival rate particularly in young rabbits. My rabbit Penny suffered several rounds of GI stasis last summer after having a slight respiratory infection. She pulled through twice but eventually it got the better of her. I don't want to upset you about but it is important to realise how fragile rabbits can be and how important it is to give them a good diet. Have a read of this article which has been written by Mairwen at my local rabbit rescue. It is really interesting and hopefully might give you another perspective on this illness. http://www.cottontails-rescue.org.uk/gutstasis.asp On the subject of porridge I have not heard of this being good for rabbits at all. The normal recomendation for rabbits with bloat is just hay and Excel. Also, bread should not be fed to rabbits under any circumstances it is fattening and cannot be properly digested. It may well lead to bloat. You might like to get a second opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 I totally agree with SnowWhite about the porridge bit - sorry, I speed-read and missed that bit in your post. My friend Karen Wren is a top breeder of bunnies and there's some excellent advice on her site: http://www.rossrabbits.co.uk She also has a very good DVD with lots of bunny care info from 30+ years of bunny and GP keeping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victoria Goren Posted January 8, 2009 Author Share Posted January 8, 2009 I agree with Claret's strick diet regime. You need to ensure that the rabbits get unlimited hay at all times plus some pelleted food (ideally Burgess Supa Rabbit Excel) and some green vegetables. I'm not sure from your post if you just gave your rabbits hay or not but they will need something else to eat My mom exaggerated a little bit in her original post. Stewie, Peter, and Dylan had a very healthy diet they always had hay and pellets but for Christmas we bought them treats, rabbit treats, from our Pet Store. We cannot feed our rabbits Burgess Supa Rabbit Excel as they have been raised on the pellets we are feeding them and so it would cause further illnesses to change them now. Rabbits have really sensitive digestive systems that basically can grind to a halt and cause a build up of gas (bloat or gastro intestinal (GI) stasis). This can be caused by illness or infection or more likely by a bad diet including too many treats or poor quality food. Bloat or GI stasis is an incredible serious illness which sadly has a very low survival rate particularly in young rabbits. My rabbit Penny suffered several rounds of GI stasis last summer after having a slight respiratory infection. She pulled through twice but eventually it got the better of her. I don't want to upset you about but it is important to realise how fragile rabbits can be and how important it is to give them a good diet. We are aware of what GI Stasis is and we realise that rabbits are delicate creatures, but thank you for the imformation. Maybe someone who isn't aware found it useful. And we are sorry to hear about Penny. On the subject of porridge I have not heard of this being good for rabbits at all. The normal recomendation for rabbits with bloat is just hay and Excel. Also, bread should not be fed to rabbits under any circumstances it is fattening and cannot be properly digested. It may well lead to bloat. You might like to get a second opinion. Our vet is highly recommended by the Royal College of Vetenary Surgeons and she works for the Newmarket Vetenary Hospital, we put all our faith in her. She owns rabbits herself and she has always been very informative and honest with us. Apologies if any of that seemed rude, it was not intended to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnowWhite Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 I hope Stewie is back home tonight? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victoria Goren Posted January 8, 2009 Author Share Posted January 8, 2009 I hope Stewie is back home tonight? No he's not. When I called the vet earlier she said that he was eating a little better and he's passed a few currants but they still don't think he's well enough to come home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnowWhite Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 Fingers crossed for him then. I hope he's better soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victoria Goren Posted January 10, 2009 Author Share Posted January 10, 2009 Stewie died this morning Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Couperwife Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 oh im so sorry (((hugs))) cathy x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victoria Goren Posted January 10, 2009 Author Share Posted January 10, 2009 Thank you we are devastated he was such a huge part of our family...we loved him so much. we have buried him a our garden near his favrite sun bathing spot, he was a truly special rabbit but we have two others and our other animals...but already out neighbours want to pass their rabbit onto us because they dont want him, they have just passed on their puppy that they have had for 15 days to someone i would not pass a flea to becasue it kept crying. we saw it out being walked with no jabs last night one of the coldest nights of the year, we kept telling them that they must have the rabbit jabbed against Mxyi but no they havent. i will never understand why people do this and hope that they never experience the stress that they put on these small little creatures Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenuk99 Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 So sorry to hear about Stewie. He had a happy life with you and it obvious that he was well loved and looked after. Big bunny hugs Jen x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigmommasally Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 I'm so sorry and sad to hear about Stewie. Having recently lost one of our bunnies I know how devasted you must be feeling. I hope you have lots of happy memories to look back on. Thinking of you x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 So sorry to hear your news - Hunny Bunny and Cupcake send you bunny hugs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FruitandNutCake Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 So sorry - I know how upset you must be, we lost our Steffi a couple of months ago, and we still really miss her. At least Stewie was well loved and cared for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victoria Goren Posted January 12, 2009 Author Share Posted January 12, 2009 i have contacted the cottontails lady for advice, i know you will think we are silly but we are watching the other 2 like hawks. this is victorias mum by the way. thank you all for you hugs they are needed at the moment i can tell you. Stewie had such a huge presence that he is missed so much. we have brought burgess nuggets today and will bring them over slowly in the next to weeks. but the little devils will not eat much hay.......................WHY??????????????? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 Is the hay fresh? If it's stale then they won't eat it. I buy mine by the binbagful from a local farm and it smells divine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victoria Goren Posted January 12, 2009 Author Share Posted January 12, 2009 we buy it from Pets at home because from other places it looks horrid and its the very best timothy hay and it smells like a meadow????????????? i am worried about them getting tummy probs our piggies cant get enough of it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 Perhaps try cutting down their other food and treats so that they don't have any option other than to eat hay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victoria Goren Posted January 12, 2009 Author Share Posted January 12, 2009 yes just started that and they will not be having any comercial treats im afraid. just waiting for the cottontail lady to get back to me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 They'll eat it in the end! My girls used to lay in the hay rack munching and snoozing when they were babies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victoria Goren Posted January 13, 2009 Author Share Posted January 13, 2009 (this is victorias mum ) the lady from cotton tails is going to ring today. will post later what happens Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
