Thanks sangterap.

Yeah, I am very close to them and I really wish I could have brought them to KL with me when I came over to KL but they've been so pampered with a huge garden for so many years it would be cruel to take it away from them. They grew up with me through some difficult times when I was sick and in and out of hospital for almost half a year and depressed many many years back and knew how to communicate with me and my moods and helped me recover. They are... not just pets, they're... more than that. Dunno how to describe... I think I'll feel their passing more than any normal rabbit owners would.

I'm so gonna miss them when they go over to the other side

Likely to be stress from travel + new surroundings. I do not know what procedures you took to mimimize stress from your rabbits during the travel and the conditions of the travel but it will impact how your rabbit recovers from stress.

My rabbits had to endure 2 hour journeys when my family shifted homes too. Despite them being accustomed to travelling in the car for shorter distances before, and shielding them from the A/C, stopping at rest stops for them to "destress" and all.

They threw a tantrum when we reached my new house, grunted when we forced them into the cage after setting it up in the new place, shitted and peed into their food, even when my father bought a food deck and mounted it slightly higher instead of using food bowl, they even climbed on top of the deck to pee into the food. Took a month or two for them to finally get accustomed to the new place. Until then, you just have to make sure they have clean food and water, and bond with them, it makes the acclimatizing process faster and easier. Replace the soiled food when they pee into it. Give them a mix of grass, alf hay and tim hay, slowly adjust the amounts to change their food.

Don't worry too much about rabbits eating grass vs hay. Hay is basically just dried grass. If you know what type of grass is planted at your house, check if its suitable for the rabbits. The type of grass planted in my house is, so they have *never* been fed any sort of hay at all. Both my rabbits have been generally illness-free for 8-9 years now, the only times when we've taken them to the vet was once, due to a bite injury from fighting.

More pandas...

It's so obviously a panda!



We just forgot to feed it its bamboo shoots that's why it's so skinny!

Hahahahahahhaa.....

Believe me... in my coming to 9 years experience keeping rabbits...

They *will* run once they get used to the experience.

My father has been building barriers and playpens and what not for them to play in the garden. They will always try to escape. Few times they escaped into my neighbours house la, to the road outside la, etc etc until my house is seriously cordoned off now (at least the bottom half of the gate and fencing). We've been doing this for 9 years and they're still outsmarting us until today. Nowadays they don't escape out of the house (cos its too difficult) but they have

1) escaped into an open pipe when they heard a dog bark -- we had to stuff rocks into that piping
2) escaped into my house to steal my mom's fresh market veggies despite the fact they are allowed to eat all the veggies my mom plant in the veggie garden, and despite all attempts to block them from coming into the house
3) digging underneath and escaping out of the playpen via the tunnel they dug
4) the list goes on....



Get a collapsible playpen... make sure your eyes are always on the rabbit to catch it once it prepares to jump over... and to move the playpen around once they start digging an escape tunnel... especially when there are blank patches with no grass on the playground where its super easy for a rabbit to dig

You've been duly... err... "advised"

Extremely smart.

Believe me... my rabbits... close to 9 years and they're still outsmarting us until today! Nowadays we've given up trying to outsmart the rabbits already... give them full freedom but cordon off any escape route out of the house.

But rabbits playing in huge huge space/garden/nature/lots of leaves and veggies to chew on and dig its roots up and burrow under the soil = happy = long life. When rabbits are happy they will jump up and twist their body in mid-air (kinda look like they got seizure abit also ) but it actually means they're extremely happy.


This post has been edited by djspinnet: Jun 2 2008, 03:49 PM

Actually my father has been taking of them for the most part since I moved out of my parents house years ago...

Nope. My rabbits never had any health problems, infections etc. The only time I had to take my rabbit to the vet was cos the two rabbits fought when they were young and one was injured. That's all.

And well, recently my rabbit was walking funny but the next day it was alright and until today its running around fine still. I guess as long as you take good care of your bunny, give them a clean environment, they'll be fine.

They prefer soil or needle grass more... soil can dig, needle grass nice to eat.

The cheapo lalang grass or the field grass that's planted not so nice to eat and harder to dig (cos the roots holding the soil tightly), but its really out of your control lah that one.

If you can find a patch of soil that's not too rocky and slightly loose, maybe you can take it there. It helps trim the rabbits teeth & claws when they bite and scrape the earth to burrow a hole to sit in... and its damn fun to see also

Here's my bunny Sprinkles digging a burrow... head inside already can only see the butt...



This post has been edited by djspinnet: Jun 2 2008, 07:35 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.

This post has been edited by djspinnet: Jun 3 2008, 10:57 PM

Whoops don't get me wrong

I'm not saying good quality food = pointless or show off how well I take care of my bunnies (because there are people here who take better care than I do). I do buy quality food for my rabbits from time to time too.

But more like, within limited resources, it is still possible to provide certain foods to the rabbits, especially in small towns where life is not a concrete jungle, as stop gap measures (or even as a permanent diet). What I often see in these animal forums (not just in the multiple incarnations of the rabbit thread, but also in other pet threads I visit), is that because these good food advocates talk so much about good quality food that often newbies end up thinking if I don't provide this and that to my <insert_pet_type>, my pet will not be as healthy/happy/whatever, just as easily as they forget to research on pet care before they get the pet. To me, that is also a concern because when that particular brand/food type is unavailable, chances of them being unable to think of alternatives (e.g., normal grass) becomes low and may end up complaining. You know how easy it is to misinterpret.

Recent shots of Snowball...

I just reached Penang, left straight for my hometown right after work...

My rabbit is in a bad condition

My father told me it was still relatively active this morning, but suddenly in the evening I think it had a major stroke and is having spasms and somewhat paralyzed now

My father's been hand feeding it food and water until I reached home and checking on my bunny every now and then... this was the same bunny who had a minor stroke a month ago.

If it doesn't go tonight, my father and I are probably going to take it to the vet to be put down tomorrow. Can't stand the sight of it suffering It's really heart-wrenching.

Its an elderly bunny... its lived long past its expected lifespan.

I'll so miss my bunny... it held out for me to see it one final time. My father told me that the last few days, it kept running up to my father to be stroked and loved and get my father's attention... its never done this. I think it knew its time is almost up...

Keeping Proudfoot comfortable...

Proudfoot is currently paralyzed from whatever hit her (suspect major stroke).

Head keeps tilting to the left, so my father and I put a piece of cardboard underneath it to keep it comfy, and put a rug around its head to support the head and give it a comfy place to rest its head on (when it tilts down). Covered it with a piece of towel cos it tends to get rather cold during the night time here.

Warning: following picture is not cute. don't click if you're expecting cute bunnies. photo is of my "hospice bed" setup for my darling Proudfoot (it's a she).

sangterap,

It's definitely a headtilt/wry neck.

The question here is what is the cause. The cause could be a lot of things... far as I know it had no cancer, no inner ear infections, so it looks more likely stroke (cos of the paralysis & old age).

This post has been edited by djspinnet: Jun 13 2008, 11:50 PM

Possible... but bacterial infections usually do not cause paralysis as far as I know... lets see what the vet says tomorrow.

Just checked on her, she's somehow moved the towel underneath her, perhaps she's more comfortable that way. At least her posture looks a little bit better now (as in more comfy).

Hi crazymouse,

I took it to the vet this morning. Its definitely not inner ear infection, so we've ruled it down to a compromise on its neuro system or a stroke. Its hind quarters are not paralyzed, but the front left foot is somewhat limp. It's paralyzed on the front left upper body beginning with the head till the left midsection.

The eyes are fine -- that was the first thing the vet checked.

The good news is that she is still eating so we've decided to treat her and see how she progresses. She cannot eat solid food (although she can munch on grass, veggies and fruits still -- just not pellets anymore. Cannot chew.)

The vet recommended to put her on a soft diet, of:

1) Organic vegetables to reduce residues and chemicals going into her system
2) Grass/hay
3) Some mashed papaya concotion he gave us (kind of like the liquid version of the Oxbow papaya health tablets)
4) Some medicine and vitamins
5) A tiny bit of unflavoured yoghurt with live bacteria to help her digestive system adjust to the new diet.
6) Oats

The most important thing at this stage is just to care for her... a bunny this old, there's only so much we can do...

---

Added on June 14, 2008, 12:00 pmNot sleeping, but having a head tilt. Her head tilts to the left so I put some towel underneath to make her more comfy.

She's about 8 years

This post has been edited by djspinnet: Jun 14 2008, 12:02 PM

Oops sorry. I must have mistaken with the posts above.

Benebac?

Never seen in anywhere before. But we've not fed her yoghurt yet. Right now we're injecting soft food into her mouth directly. She's used to eating a lot of fresh vegs and grass so we're gonna pulp that up, along with a wee bit of oats.

She's having difficulty chewing really. It's really sad.

The only thing she can eat without assistance is banana cos its soft.

Yeah... at this stage its mainly making them comfortable until they go...

Yup, I'm making a slurry out of crushed pellets, banana and oats, and also fresh veggies (she can still eat fresh veggies) but only her favourite vegs. Inject the slurry into her mouth from time to time to keep her nourished.

I'm in Penang right now, going back to KL tomorrow. I don't know if my next trip to Penang is gonna be in time for her...

Sprinkles, Proudfoot's lifetime companion... they always play together, groom each other, and do the binky dance together... until now.

Proudfoot just left.

She went peacefully.

We just buried her in her favourite spot.

Thanks all for the support and advice.

I'll miss Proudfoot terribly.

She brought so much joy to the family, with her antics and cheekiness. She was an expressive rabbit, always doing the binky when she was happy, digging my garden up, sneaking into the house to run away with a fresh veggie from the kitchen and always sitting next to her best friend Sprinkles in the garden, playing together, chasing each other, grooming each other, rubbing each other's nose and all. She was my friend when I was sick and depressed and she knew how to comfort me when I'm down, and play when I'm happy, she knew me.

I guess in a way... her suffering wasn't for long.



Bye, Proudfoot.

It was a good 8 years.