I said it before and I’ll say it again in case you didn’t see it…bunnies are not meant to live in hutches outside.Less than a year is the lifetime of a farm rabbit. They are not meant to live long happy lives, so they don’t spend a normal lifetime in their hutch.
Your pet bunny can actually freeze to death in a hutch. If he can freeze to death on a really icy night, don’t you think he must be very cold on the very cold nights? He’ll also be lonely, scared, and in danger of animals hunting for a meal.
Please consider setting up a nice little home in your house for your bunny instead of putting him in a hutch outside where he will most likely become a cold chore that nobody wants.
The Bunny Nazi
If your bun gets a scratch, even a small one, you need to analize it every day to be sure that it’s healing properly. A little one can be treated with some antibiotic cream like neosporin, but a scratch that bleeds needs to be seen by a doctor right away. Bunnies are very sensitive to infection and if not treated will die very quickly.
Typically cats and bunnies get along quite well, but cats are playful, so their nails need to STAY TRIMMED so they don’t hurt your bun accidentally. If your bun gets a cat scratch, it’s time to clip kitties nails and bring bunny to the vet…not necessarily in that order.
It’s true that dark greens are good for your bun, but although we consider spinach to be in the “dark green family” it’s not something that should be given to your bun in large quantities. I like to throw a little in here and there, but not every day. The reason is due to the high calcium content in the spinach.
The average sized pet rabbit (approx. 2.5kg) needs typically around 510mg of calcium per day. Any excess calcium that is absorbed into the blood stream from the gut is excreted through the urinary tract, where it may be deposited and form calculi. Rabbits can form solid calcifications in their kidneys, ureters, bladder or urethra, as well as depositing thick calcium “sludge” in their kidneys or bladder. Rabbits suffering from urinary tract calculi are often in a lot of pain and as a result will not eat or drink, subsequently being dehydrated and necessitating fluid therapy prior to surgery.� Sometimes you can tell if your bunny is getting too much calcium because the poops will have some white on them.
Other symptoms of calculi being present include:
- loss of appetite,
- loud painful grinding of the teeth,
- hunched posture,
- lethargy,
- unwillingness to move,
- pressing tummy on the ground,
- loss of litter training,
- blood in the urine,
- perineal scalding
- straining to urinate.
Of course these sign can mean a lot of things, but most importantly, that your bun is in need of emergency care, so if your bunny shows any of these symptoms, please call your vet immediately.
