QUOTE(djspinnet @ Jun 3 2008, 10:37 PM)
Which vet did you bring it to?
I used to stay in Taiping before, and in fact I bought my rabbits when I was in Taiping, and I've brought my rabbits to the vet in Taiping once (to get an bleeding bite wound treated).
Generally, you really cannot depend on pet shop owners or vets for advise in Taiping. If you live there long enough you should already know why. Not many people in Taiping keep a pet that is not a dog, cat or hamster, so the vet is not experienced enough with other small animals like rabbits or chinchillas or ferrets or what not.
Edit: Also, no offense to the pro-Oxbow products or good hay & pellet advocates here and what not,
but its premature to think that alfalfa hay could have saved your rabbit if it was readily available in Taiping. All you really needed was good and timely care, and like everyone has been saying, research beforehand. I raised my rabbits in Taiping on locally made pellets and zero hay. They ate the Japanese needle grass planted in my garden instead, and the veggies my mom plants. Sometimes they get fresh veggies that my parents specially buy for them.
So for those who buy into the whole "alfalfa hay is the way!" idea -- if you wish to get it, stop grumbling that you can't find alfalfa hay or that you have to drive out all the way or go out of your way to get it. If you want to willingly get it, by all means, but don't grumble. Because alfalfa hay or no alfalfa hay, a rabbit will live long and healthy as long as it is well cared for. My rabbits never tasted hay in their life at all yet are living a full long life. Eat grass, local pellets and some veggies only.
P/S: In case someone still doesn't get what I'm trying to say, essentially, caring for a rabbit is a lot simpler if you know what you're doing. Rabbits can be low maintenance pets if you know how to take care properly of it within the limits of your resources.
Good on you for bringing up your rabbits so well
There must be a misunderstanding somewhere. We 'good quality food advocates' have never ever said that alfalfa hay could save a rabbit's life. Although it would make our lives a lot easier if we could just chuck a bunch of alfalfa hay at sick rabbits and expect them to magically spring back to life in the very next instant.
The problem, as most of us here are aware, is that the majority of people do not bother to do some research on an animal before buying it. they can come to the forum and post, but they are somehow incapable of going to google.com to learn a little bit more. and so, they go out and purchase tiny little rabbits, cos they are just so freaking cute! nevermind the fact that they are too young to be sold, they have been deprived of the mother's milk and without the essential nutrients from their mother's milk, their digestive system is under-developed. With the stress of leaving their family, moving to a new environment, adapting to different types of food... its no surprise that the digestive system gets compromised resulting in fatal diarrhea.
What we 'good quality food advocates' are trying to achieve here is to encourage owners to provide their rabbits with a diet as close to their natural diet as possible, so that its easier on their digestive system and hopefully their baby bunnies will survive til adulthood. (BTW, hay is dried grass. the varieties may differ, but its still 'grass'. so although your rabbits may not have tasted hay in their entire life, they did in fact enjoy the benefits of high-fibre food in its most natural form).
As for good quality food... well end of the day it boils down to the quality of life which an owner wants to give its rabbit. since it seems such a hard concept to grasp, lets try to see it this way: would you feed your child fast food throughout his entire life? sure he wont die, but is it healthy? and if you could afford it, wouldn't you want to give him a better diet?
and i don't think it really costs that much to give good quality food. I use Oxbow pellets (not saying that Oxbow is THE brand, but in Msia, it has the best nutritional content so far), 4 types of hay, tons of vegetables... which comes up to RM180/mth for 2 rabbits. big amount?? not really.. divide that by 30 days and i only get RM3/day/rabbit ... is that too much to ask for? if it is then seriously, i think some people should reconsider keeping rabbits, because if the rabbit gets sick, the vet bill is gonna cost way more!
and for the record, i do not and have never considered it a burden to give good food to my rabbits
This post has been edited by 11Jan: Jun 4 2008, 11:00 AM 
Jun 3 2008, 03:52 PM
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if you have a garden, you can also plant herbs for your rabbits or you can grow wheatgrass in small pots.
Looks like my bambi (probably with less fur 
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