The next day, we heard he had been taken to a veterinarian for x-rays. They kept him overnight, and the next morning, his bowels still had not moved. Later in the afternoon, we got another phone call and we feared the worst. As it turned out, the news was both good and strange. The good news was that the bunny boy finally had passed a very large fecal mass. The strange news was that it happened immediately after acupuncture needles had been removed from him. Yes, the veterinarian had done an acupuncture treatment on the rabbit!

We do not know any details at this time. We would like to know if it is even possible that this Traditional Chinese Medicine treatment can be used to stimulate the nerves that activate a rabbit’s lower digestive tract, but that certainly is the theory.

We are going to do some research on acupuncture for rabbits to learn more on this fascinating topic. But wouldn’t it be wonderful if it is true that the expert use of tiny needles can be used to “un-stick” the digestive system of a bunny who has gone into G.I. stasis?

If you have any knowledge or experience regarding rabbit acupuncture, please contact us by email with the details, so we may share the information.

Here is a picture of the wonderful rabbit condo that was raffled off as a prize, along with its lucky winner. You can click on the picture to see a larger size version.

It’s a little hard to see all of the details because of the sign, but Rob, who designed and built it, told me he experimented with using ramps to connect the different levels, but after trying it both ways, he eventually decided it’s better not to use ramps, but to let the rabbits simply jump from one level to another. He said that the ramps took up too much space and were unnecessary. Furthermore, it is good, healthy exercise for the bunnies to have to jump between levels, and none has had any problems doing so.

It is also interesting to note that this condo is open at the top. Rob told me that his rabbits were smart enough to know that jumping out over the top walls would be too dangerous, and that none of them has ever tried. There is another view of the condo in the video posted below.

There were three vets who gave up their time as free volunteers this year, and we are extremely grateful to Dr. Ruack from West Boulevard, Dr. Burnstyn from Arbutus West and Dr. Martinez from Little Paws for so generously taking part.  The health checks and grooming were by donation, as were the cookies and beverages.

If you would like to get a sample of the flavour of VRRA’s Rabbit Fest 2011, here is a YouTube video:

If you know somebody who is considering adopting a bunny, it’s important they learn the pros and cons of being the parent of a house rabbit. I have just discovered the perfect educational tool that does just that. It’s a video Amy Sedaris made with the House Rabbit Society. It’s very short — less than two minutes long — but it does an excellent job of telling the house rabbit story in a nutshell.

It’s available from YouTube, and I encourage you to share it with others in the rabbit community. It really does cover all of the points that people need to be aware of before they make a big commitment…

The first product the doctor recommended is Florentero paste. It comes in a tube, and I’m not quite sure how they recommend getting it down a rabbit’s throat, but our big voracious rex who eats pretty darn everything would not eat the stuff. Even when we tried mixing it with pumpkin baby food or mashed bananas, she just thumped and hopped away.

After that failure, we tried Florentero tablets. These are the size of products that you would probably feed a horse, and — especially since Priscilla doesn’t have any incisors — we had to break off small portions and pulverize them in a mortar and pestle before trying to feed her. Again — no way. Whatever is in them, it’s a flavor our bunnies just won’t eat.

Imagine our delight recently when, perusing the array of rabbit food on the shelves of our local Tisol shop, I found a cylinder of American Pet Diet probiotic pellets. They go under the brand name “Critter Be Better” or CBB, and they’re a bit on the pricey side, but after all they are only supposed to be probiotic supplements for rabbits and not something you feel them a lot of every day.

We usually mix a teaspoon of them with the quarter cup of Oxbow Bunny Basics with Timothy she gets every other day. The good news is that she and her partner, Ryan, love the flavor. They are as crazy for them as they are for their pellets. I think if we gave Priscilla all the pellets she wanted, she’d explode like the fat guy in the Monty Python sketch. But don’t worry. We are pretty strict about limiting our big girl to only 1/4 cup per day.

Obviously it’s too early to tell whether these new probiotic pellets are actually improving their intestinal flora, but that is what they are intended to do. My wife has recently been reading about the benefits of probiotics for humans, and she’s convinced that a lot of health conditions from irritable bowel syndrome to allergies can improve by taking acidophilus, eating lots of yogurt and generally encouraging the growth of healthy bacteria in the gut. So I am pretty confident our dear bunnies are going to have to make fewer trips to their vet now that we’ve finally figured out a way to get probiotics for rabbits into their little tummies.

I’m not sure how widely available the American Pet Diner CBB probiotic pellets are at various pet shops, but you can now get them online from Amazon. Here is a link if you’d like to give them a try.

We met Dr. Martinez last fall at Vancouver Rabbit Rescue’s annual Rabbit Fest. He generously volunteered to give free health check-ups to the rabbits people brought in.

Dr. Martinez with Priscilla

Very recently, we learned he had opened a new veterinary practice in the Steveston area of Richmond, just across the river from Vancouver, BC. He immediately saw there was something wrong with Priscilla’s right eye and did some tests to determine there was no scratch on her cornea but rather it was an inflammation. So he gave us a tube of ointment and showed us how to put it into her eyes as gently as possible. That was a few days ago, and now we can tell our big girl is feeling better already.

There are not a lot of rabbit savvy vets in the greater Vancouver area, so we were very happy to know about Dr. Martinez. It is obvious he not only knows a whole lot about rabbits and how to keep them healthy, but also he is a man who truly enjoys rabbits and likes to spend time with them.

If anyone in the area is looking for a good veterinarian to take their rabbit  (or dog, cat or other small animal) to, you will be hard pressed to find anyone better than Dr. Joseph Martinez.

His clinic is named “Little Paws” and the address is 130 – 12011 2nd Avenue, Richmond, BC. Phone 604-241-2387 or email: littlepawsvet@yahoo.ca.
www.littlepawsvet.com

By the way, he even makes house calls!

Here is the YouTube video with Dr. Martinez in it…

“Many people feel guilty leaving their companion rabbit home alone all day, when they are at work.,” she said. “Adopting a partner bunny is the perfect solution. It’s not only good for your bunny; it’s good for you!”

According to Cotter, two bunnies are not twice the work of one, as long as they are bonded. “They share living quarters, food and water bowls, and even a litterbox – so the cleanup is essentially the same. And the bunnies entertain one another, groom one another, and keep each other company when their humans are not at home.”

“Introductions need to be done carefully,” says Margo DeMello, President of HRS, who lives with a group of bonded rabbits herself. “Rabbits typically can be aggressive when first introduced, and injuries can occur if they are not properly supervised.” She cautions that both rabbits must be spayed/neutered, not only to prevent breeding and health problems, but also so that their behavior toward one another is not determined by “raging hormones.”

“Rabbits, like people, need time to work out their relationships,” adds Cotter. “But a patient human caretaker will be well-rewarded: once they are bonded, there is just nothing more heartwarming than watching a bunny couple snuggle up to each other and kiss each other’s faces.”

HRS has chapters and representatives across the United States, as well as overseas, and most chapters offer bonded pairs for adoption, as well as single rabbits who can be bonded to a rabbit-in-residence. Many people new to rabbits prefer to start out with a single rabbit, and adopt a partner bunny at a later time.

“Adopters are welcome to contact any of our chapters at any time, for help in adopting or bonding rabbits,” says DeMello. “And there are several internet groups where bonding advice from HRS volunteers is also available, including a group dedicated to this topic only: groups.yahoo.com/group/bunbond/.”

The mission of HRS is twofold: to educate the public about these often-misunderstood companion animals, and to help rescue and “re-home” domestic rabbits. HRS advocates spaying and neutering rabbits – both for health reasons and also to help put an end to the animal overpopulation problem.

For more information on Adopt a Rescued Rabbit Month, log onto House Rabbit Society, or PetFinder. To find out more about adopting a rabbit, contact your local shelter or your your nearest HRS chapter. For more information on House Rabbit Society’s rescue and education work in your area, please call House Rabbit Society at (510) 970-7575.

The “Adopt a Rescued Rabbit Poster” may be downloaded from this page at the House Rabbit Society website.

We have two condos, and the rabbits in each get different surface treatments. Priscilla, who is excellent with her litter box, has inexpensive, washable cotton rugs from IKEA on her three topmost shelves. The bottom shelf, where her litter box is located, has several layers of newspaper on top of the tiles. This is so, when the condo is cleaned out, we can simply wad up the paper, folding in the spilled hay and any “bunny berries” that missed the litter box.

Littlewood and Ryan

The condo that Ryan and Littlewood share has all of the tiles covered with newspaper. This is because those two lop-eared rabbits are less accurate with their litter boxes and if we used rugs they would need to be laundered at least two or three times a week.

Inside all of the litter boxes we put down a layer of wood pellets. Sometimes we use horse stall pellets, and sometimes we use the pine pellets made for burning in fireplaces. On top of that layer goes a layer of timothy hay. We buy a bale from a feed store every month or two, breaking it down into flakes, each of which goes into a plastic garbage bag, to keep the car trunk from turning into a barn.

We also put a water bowl into each condo. Because none of our bunnies has incisor teeth, they are not as good at picking up things as most rabbits, so we don’t give them balls, pine cones, rattles, toilet paper rolls stuffed with hay, or other typical rabbit toys. We also have to cut their salad into smaller size bites when they have their breakfasts and suppers.

Rob used the basic rabbit condo plans on my video as his starting point and then designed and built an expanded, luxury condo that is four panels wide (56-inches). The picture on the left is Rob’s first condo for Lara. (You can click on the thumbnail to see a larger photo.)

But, after they added Harrel to the family, Rob used his computer designing skills to dream up an even bigger, fancier rabbit residence.  You can see more of Rob’s pictures and plans on a 6-page booklet he created, “Conceptual Living for the Modern House Rabbit.” Rob has very kindly given us permission to make copies of his booklet available at no charge. Click here to download the booklet.

If you find this information valuable, please consider helping VRRA by downloading the new ebook, “Little Mutt.” Your $7 donation will be shared by VRRA and AMREF. Click here for more about the “Little Mutt” book.

There are actually two reasons why it’s a good idea to brush your rabbit to remove loose fur. Of course there is the aesthetic one, of not wanting your guests to see huge dust-bunnies rolling like tumbleweeds across your living room floor. And the rabbits also look tidier when they don’t have tufts of loose fur sticking out of their coats.

But even more important is the health issue. Hairballs in rabbits can be very serious. They can cause blockages in the digestive system that can be fatal. That is why, if your rabbit ever stops eating and stops using its litter box (of course your rabbit never leaves little droppings anywhere else) it should be given immediate medical attention.

Our rabbits spend a lot of time grooming themselves as well as each other. And that means they probably are swallowing some loose fur. So if we can remove that loose fur first, there will be less of it available to potentially form hair balls in their delicate little tummies.

OK. Now that we’ve decided that we need to groom the rabbits regularly, that leaves the question of what tool to use. We’ve got a drawer full of different combs and brushes that either didn’t work very well, or that the rabbits didn’t like having used on them. But we are very happy to have found one brush, or comb, or fur-removing device that works like a charm. It’s called the Furminator. They come in at least three different sizes, each of which is color coded. We use the smallest size, which comes in blue.

There’s a bit of a drawback, though. They work great, it’s true, but they’re on the pricey side. I think that our local pet supply shop retails them for $42 (plus tax)! But there is also good news. We were visiting some folks yesterday, delivering some hay for their rabbit, and noticed they had a blue Furminator — just like ours — sitting in their rabbit supply basket. Our friend said she got hers for about half price from an online auction site. Although it took a few extra days for delivery, it saved her nearly 20-bucks.

Well, this morning I thought I’d see if I could find Furminators for sale on eBay, and I did. 662 of them, to be precise. Most of them were too big, and most of the small blue ones either didn’t tell the delivery price, or they posted a delivery price that was sky high. But, after a few minutes of searching, I finally managed to find one person who was selling them for a very good price.

Merchants and offers on eBay are constantly changing. So here is a general link to help you search for a Furminator on eBay.

And good luck to you in keeping your rabbits well groomed and healthy.