Bunny Bathroom Problems?

I read online somewhere that rabbit owners are obsessed with their rabbit’s droppings. I, of course, thought that was gross. Why would I want to investigate Walter’s litter box all day long? Ew.

As a rabbit owner, I pay a decent amount of attention to what’s going in Walter’s litter box. At the vet’s office, Dr. Pilny asked if I noticed excessive urination or if the litter box felt heavier than usual when I went to clean it. I answered honestly that I had no idea; the box could feel heavy due to a greater amount of urine… or I could have just been a day or two behind schedule in cleaning the litter box.

But in the last twenty four hours, I’ve been paying really close attention to Walter’s droppings, and this is where I need some help. I’ve noticed the color has changed. Normally, it’s a dark brown. In the last day, it’s been gray. Aside from color, everything else is the same – same size, same consistency, same amount and frequency. What could be causing the color change?

I’ve also noticed that Walter is not eating his pellets. I gave him some mint on Saturday that he was only mildly interested in, but his pellet intake is much lower than usual. He’s done this before – in the past, it’s been his way of telling me he wants a new variety of greens, and that could very well be the case this time. I’ll pick up some fresh veggies on my way home tonight to test this out.

Aside from the color of his droppings and Walter’s disinterest in pellets, he seems to be normal. He’s been hopping around, snuggling, trying to dig his way into the bedroom (which is occasionally off-limits, though he’s been known to sneak his way in), and chewing on his honey-hay log.

So, any ideas what’s going on?

Getting a Second Rabbit

Over the past few days, I've been debating getting a second rabbit. I feel like I haven't been at home as much lately, and so I've been feeling badly that I'm not spending as much time with Walter as he's used to. When I come home at the end of the day, it's pretty clear that Walter's been lonely. I feel guilty about leaving him alone all day long, especially now that's he's calmed down so much and has become more of a snuggle bun.

I easily see the benefits to having a second bun: someone for Walter to play with and keep company. (Not to mention the fact that I found a heart-meltingly cute rabbit up for adoption online.) But what are the downsides?

Money, for one. The cost of food, veterinarian services, toys, etc would obviously double. Training a second rabbit to not chew my walls or dig my carpeting could be another nightmare. Cleaning up after two rabbits instead of just one would be more of a headache. And then there's the space factor: right now I have one large cage that wouldn't be big enough for two bunnies. Where would I house them?

Then I worry about whether or not Walter would do well with another rabbit in the house. Does he want to be Top Bun, or would he love having a new friend around? I don't know anything about bonding rabbits. If I got a second rabbit, he'd need to be around a year old. I don't think I could deal with the attitude and training issues of a bunny.

Do you have multiple rabbits? What are the benefits and drawbacks to owning more than one? Do the pros really outweigh the cons? And what's the hardest part about introducing a new bunny into the house?

Freedom!, Part 2

Well, it finally happened. Walter’s teeth chomped their way through my laptop charger cord. The other day, I turned on my computer and noticed that it wasn’t charging. I assumed the plug had wriggled out of the socket, so I gave it a little shove back in. Still, not charging. I double-checked to make sure it was plugged into the computer properly, and sure enough, it was. That’s when I noticed the skinny stream of smoke rising out of the cord. And that’s when I freaked out.

I unplugged the charger immediately – both from the wall and from the computer. And then, with my laptop on its last legs of battery power, I ordered a new charger.

It’s probably for the best. Forty percent of the cord had been covered by duct tape (what I had to use before I owned any electrical tape). Another twenty percent of the cord had been covered by actual electrical tape. It was only a matter of time before it happened; I’m just glad I was there when it started smoking and unplugged it before matters could get any worse!

So it’s been a few days since I’ve been able to blog, now that my laptop is officially uncharged and my new charger is still somewhere in the mail. And, as much as I love my smartphone, it’s no easy task to type more than a small paragraph on the device.

I wanted to check in with those of you who responded to the poll in my last entry. I was really surprised that the majority of people indicated that their rabbit was free to roam the house unattended! This gives me some hope for Walter, who I dread locking up every night and all day while I’m at work. I want to believe that Walter can be trusted all day without my watchful eye. I would certainly feel less guilty about being gone all day if I knew he wasn’t confined to sixty square feet of space.

For those who responded positively to rabbit freedom, how old was your rabbit when you started letting him loose about the house? What kind of boundaries did you set up? And how did you know that your rabbit was ready to be trusted without supervision?

Lemon Oil

I don't usually let Walter in the bedroom.  I did when I first moved into my apartment, but then I discovered that Walter's lounging time under my bed was really time spent pulling up the wall-to-wall carpeting.  Figuring neither my landlord nor I would not like the carpeting to be ruined, I banned him from the bedroom.  Over the past weekend, however, I had some friends over for brunch.  Walter can be a pretty shy bunny, and I assumed he would want to be able to get away from the noise of company, so I allowed him to spend the afternoon in the bedroom, hiding under the bed.  Apparently he loved it, and now he can't get enough of playing in there.

For the past two days, the bedroom, as usual, has been off-limits to him.  Walter has spent much of the day staring longingly at the closed bedroom door, then scratching at both the floor and the door itself, and then eventually biting at the walls.  Of course, none of these things work, and all they do is manage to make me mad at the bunny.  This morning, Walter was particularly feisty.  So I had to resort to more clever methods than just turning him away from the door.  Enter, lemon oil.

I've used lemon oil on the door frames before, and it deters Walter from chewing things that he shouldn't.  Today, I decided to put some on the door and the floor mat in front of the bedroom door, in the hopes that the smell would be enough to keep Walter away from the entire area.  Sadly for Walter, this method worked.  Also sadly for Walter, I accidentally got some on his nose as I was waving my lemon oil-covered finger in front of his face.  He is still not pleased with me.

I bought a small (0.5 fluid ounce) bottle of Aura Cacia lemon oil from Whole Foods a while back.  I am sure I probably paid too much for it there, but you can find it online for about three bucks.  You only need a teeny tiny bit of lemon oil when applying it to door frames or wherever, so even a bottle as small as half a fluid ounce will last you a long time.

Using lemon oil as a chewing deterrent is something I definitely recommend.  It's been a huge help for me. I just put a tiny bit on my finger, then rub my finger across the door frame or the table leg or whatever else Walter likes to chew.  It's such a small amount that I can barely smell it, but it keeps Walter away for days or even weeks.  And, as I discovered today, using more than my usual amount can keep the rabbit away from an entire area! He hasn't gone anywhere near the bedroom door for the past hour.  (Though, that could also be because he's still mad at me for getting a dab of the lemon oil on his face.)

What do you recommend as a rabbit chewing deterrent?

Testing Out My Vet's Suggestions

Over the weekend, I tested out my veterinarian’s suggestions for incorporating pineapple juice into Walter’s medication routine.  I started with the add-juice-into-the-syringe approach, but what I failed to realize ahead of time was that this would mean that there would be more liquid to squirt into Walter’s tiny rabbit mouth.  I have enough trouble getting him to take just one milliliter of medicine; adding four more was torturous!

Needless to say, this method failed for me.  Next, I tried to put out a small dish of plain pineapple juice, in the hopes that Walter would slurp it down, and the next time I could place out a small dish of pineapple juice laced with meds.  Walter snubbed the juice entirely.

So, back to the basics, which now entails using some serious brute strength to hold Walter in place and force the medicine down his throat. Walter repaid me by tearing his entire box fort to shreds on Saturday.

I’m about a third of the way through Walter’s medication period. Only two more months to go, and I can’t wait for this to be over!

Good Advice from the Veterinarian

Walter’s been in an interesting mood this week.  He’s found a new hangout spot: my leather ottoman.  He started using it as just one more piece in his self-created obstacle course around the living room, but yesterday, I noticed he’s taken to just laying on it.  I think he thinks it’s his own couch.  Speaking of couches, Walter has also taken to lying next to me on the couch.  He doesn’t try to run around or jump between the cushions; he just wants to snuggle.  It’s sweet, even if it’s abnormal for him.

I’ve been having a lot of difficulty getting Walter to take his medication.  On Monday night, my attempts left Walter completely shaking with terror; I could hear him making this weird teeth-grinding/chattering noise that I’ve never heard him make before.  It stopped as soon as I stopped trying to force the medicine on him, so I take it as a sign of fright.

I emailed my veterinarian for some suggestions.  He replied with some interesting suggestions, which I’ll have to try tonight.  First, he let me know that the pharmacist was considering other flavors for the medication.  Right now, Walter’s medicine is banana-flavored, and I don’t think he’s enjoying it.  The veterinarian indicated that the pharmacist was working on a pineapple flavor, and also, interestingly, a hay-flavored medication.

His suggestions both include pineapple juice (using the 100% juice kind), since rabbits typically love pineapple juice and it’s good for them – especially for their digestive tract.  First, he suggested putting the proper amount of medication in the syringe and then filling up the remainder of the syringe with pineapple juice.  This would make for a sweeter, tastier experience for the rabbit.  His second suggestion was to set out a small dish of pineapple juice for the rabbit, and see if he lapped it up completely.  If so, then repeat this, but mix in the proper dose of medication.

He also told me what I already knew: wrapping the rabbit snuggly in a towel and covering his eyes will minimize his medication-related stress.  Since I only have two hands, it’s difficult to hold the rabbit in his towel, cover his eyes, and give him the medication all at the same time.  But I’ll figure something out.

The doctor ended his email with a good piece of advice:

“Sometimes TLC is Tender Loving Care and other times it is Tough Loving Care. Often times, if our pets know meds or treatments are coming, they prepare for it, which makes it difficult on both parties. Sometimes it is best to just give it when least suspecting.”

Remembering that tough love is okay sometimes is hard for me when it comes to the bunny.  He’s got those sweet “don’t hurt me!” eyes and that silly little wiggly nose.  But, the veterinarian is right.  If I don’t toughen up on Walter, the rabbit always wins the struggle, which means he won’t get his medication and he’ll stay sick.  Tough love it is!  And I’ve been consistently giving Walter his medication right before bedtime: procrastination of a difficult chore on my part.  Maybe I should switch it up and start giving Walter the meds right when I get home from work.  That way, it’s over with early on, and he has the rest of the evening to play and forgive.

In other news, Walter has discovered a new love for cilantro and Italian parsley, and nothing cracks me up more than seeing a giant clump of greens hanging from Walter’s greedy little mouth.

Lessons in Giving a Rabbit His Medicine

Paul and I attempted to give Walter his medicine last night, very unsuccessfully.  After watching the video provided by a commenter in my last post, I felt confident in my ability to use a blanket to wrap Walter in a “bunny burrito” long enough to squirt the medicine in his mouth.  But this proved easier said than done.  We just couldn’t get him to stay in the bunny burrito.  Just as I thought we’d wrapped him up securely enough, he’d wriggle out and dart to one of his hard-to-reach hiding spots.  I was able to give him maybe one-tenth of the required dose through the course of the night.  After spending about an hour chasing Walter around the apartment, probably scaring the bejeesus out of him, I gave up.  By bedtime, Walter was terrified of us; he wouldn’t even come over for a peace offering of basil.

I went to bed frustrated, but woke up with a new plan.  The video showed the rabbit handler sitting on a stool – a place that is out of the rabbit’s element.  I needed to recreate the same situation for Walter.  Trying to pin Walter down on the carpet was fruitless; he would always have an escape route.  So, what could I use that would block off all his exits?  My answer: the dining room table.

I had seen Walter hop up onto the table from the dining chairs enough to know that it was a scary jump down from the table for him.  Too scary for him to attempt it, in fact.  I asked Paul to lay a towel on the tabletop and lift Walter on the table. (To Paul’s credit, he is a much firmer rabbit handler; picking the bunny up still scares me, and I’m sure Walter can pick up on this.)  Once on the table, I wrapped Walter into his bunny burrito and gave him a few forehead scratches while Paul got the medicine ready.  To my surprise, Walter calmly let me insert the syringe into his mouth, behind his teeth, and squirt a little bit of the liquid towards the inside of his cheek.  This was a huge improvement from the night before, when Walter would shake his head and violently run away at the first touch of the syringe on his mouth.

After the first squirt, I let Walter take a short break to lick his lips.  I placed the syringe back in his mouth and repeated the process.  Two more small squirts later and Walter had taken his entire dose of medicine! Paul and I praised the bunny for his good behavior and then gave him a small bit of carrot as a reward.

I’m still nervous that we’ll encounter another medicine-taking struggle for tomorrow’s dose, but I’m confident in the tabletop bunny burrito, and proud of both myself and Walter (and Paul!) for figuring out how to get through the first round.

A big thank you to those who have left comments or tweeted at me with tips and tricks to make giving my rabbit his medicine a lot easier.  I appreciate all your help!

Rabbit Rx

Well, Walter’s mad at me.  After our dog-sitting experience and after five days of not being able to run around, Walter was definitely relieved to be home.  I let him have as much out-of-cage time as I possibly could on Wednesday night and then again on Thursday.  But, as with every night, eventually he had to be locked up for bedtime.  This morning, I woke up for work and wandered over to Walter’s cage with his breakfast, as usual.  Walter did not greet me with his usual nose noozle.  Instead, he proceeded to try to chew his way out of the cage – something I find hilarious to watch, but simultaneously makes me feel bad for my little bunny.

He’ll be glad when the weekend comes, though.  I promised to give him extensive out-of-cage time, though I purposefully made no mention of the medication he has to start tonight.  It’s his E. Cuniculi treatment.  Off the top of my head, I can’t remember what the medicine is called, but I do know that I have to use a syringe to squirt it into Walter’s mouth.  This is going to be a really difficult task.  I can barely get my rabbit to hold still for me to inspect his ears! How am I going to get him to let me squirt a few milligrams of liquid down his throat? (Side note: I was actually told to squirt it towards his cheek, so as not to choke the bunny.)

Fellow bunny-lovers, do you have any tips for me?  What’s the most painless way to get my rabbit to take his medicine?

Don't Dig the Carpet!

Walter moved into our new apartment yesterday.  He was not pleased about the change.

We did most of the moving on Monday, but were too tired by the end of the day to finish the job, including Walter and his cage.  When I returned to Paul's apartment after work yesterday, I let the rabbit out of his cage so that he could hop around while I finished packing.  He loved hopping in, around, and on the empty moving boxes.  But, unfortunately, packing also meant taking down Walter’s cage and putting all his toys in boxes.  The rabbit went from happy to slightly confused to completely terrified in a matter of seconds.

He hid under the couch for as long as we would let him, and luring him into his travel carrier was more difficult than usual.  Paul and I had to resort to serious cornering tactics and then basically just shoved the rabbit into the crate: not my preferred method of getting Walter in there.

Once we got to the new place, though, Walter settled in pretty quickly.  I set up his cage and put the playpen around it so that the rabbit couldn’t discover any unpacked wires or wood items strewn about.  The apartment, as I mentioned in an earlier post, has one major downfall:  carpeting.

It took Walter maybe an hour to discover the joys of digging at the carpet, even within the confines of his playpen.  I am starting to worry that the combination of the rabbit and the carpet will become disastrous and expensive.  What recommendations do you have to deter a rabbit from chewing or digging at carpeting?

Walter and the Couch

I have mentioned in several earlier posts that Walter’s favorite hangout is underneath the couch.  What I haven’t talked about yet is Walter’s love for the couch itself.

It took a while before we decided to let Walter up on the couch.  At first, he wasn’t big enough to make the jump, so we would stack pillows as little rabbit stairs.  This confused him at first, but he eventually got the hang of it.  As he grew, we took away his steps pillow-by-pillow until he could make the full jump on his own.

Once he’s up on the couch, he refuses to acknowledge it as a place to relax.  He prefers to be the sole occupier of the sofa, and likes to dart back and forth like a maniac.  He’ll toss his head or throw in some funky jumps in the middle of his races, but mostly he just enjoys running from one end of the couch to the other as quickly as he can.

Recent attempts by the rabbit have been made, with some success, to hop from the couch cushions to the top of the couch back.  If he’s made the jump, he’s not really quite sure what to do while up there, and you can tell the jump back down onto the seat is a little scary for him.

If Paul or I are sitting on the couch, the rabbit doesn’t let it faze him too much.  We’re simply two extra obstacles in his race course, and he’ll have a fun time jumping over us, on us, around us, or nudging us to get the heck off the couch.

Letting the rabbit on the couch is only problematic in two cases: when his nails scratch the leather or when he's decided it’s his new litter box.  Unfortunately, both things happen about ninety percent of the time that Walter is up on the couch. Trimming his nails would be a good start to fixing the first problem, if I could get the rabbit to hold still and be patient while I did it.  But the second problem seems much harder to fix.  He never urinates on the couch (okay, he did it once when he was younger), but he leaves droppings all the time!  Sometimes it’s just a typical “I’m marking my territory” dropping here or there, but sometimes it’s a full potty break!

I don't want to ban Walter from another of his favorite play places.  I'd prefer to find a way to share the couch with him.  Do you have any tips or tricks on getting a rabbit to stop using the couch as his second bathroom?

Things Ruined by Rabbit Teeth

I've decided to compile a list of all the things Walter has destroyed with his chompers.  This list does not include items that we’ve given to him as rabbit-approved chewthings.  I will update this list as it grows, which it will inevitably do.  Please feel free to leave your own list in the comments section.

• Over a dozen buttons on the remote control
• Wires to two surround-sound speakers
• Power cord to a laptop battery charger
• Approximately twenty inches’ worth of baseboard molding
• Six inches of doorframe molding
• A few inches of closet door wood slats
• One rubber stopper from a doorstop
• Several sections of a wicker basket
• Portions of the handle to my Longchamp bag
• Pieces of various shoes and flip-flops

Does Walter Have E. Cuniculi?

I dropped Walter off at the animal hospital this morning for blood work, after receiving a call from the veterinarian last night. The doctor informed me that he found crystals in the rabbit’s urine, which can be a sign of Encephalitozoon Cuniculi, familiarly known as E. cuniculi.

E. cuniculi is a parasite that young rabbits can contract while still nursing from an infected mother, or sharing a close space with other infected rabbits. The parasite attacks the rabbit's central nervous system.  Symptoms of E. cuniculi include incontinence, loss of function in the legs, eye twitching, cataracts, liver failure, kidney failure, and the dreaded head tilt, along with other neurological symptoms.

Many rabbits will test positive for the parasite but never show symptoms.  Additionally, I’ve read that those who do show signs of being affected can live happily and healthily with the aid of medications.  Despite this, I would (of course) rather that Walter’s blood work results came back negative.  I won’t know for a few days, though.  The discovery of crystals in Walter’s urine, coupled with the head shaking I’ve witnessed him doing for the past two days, has me quite stressed, anxious, and worried about my bunny.

Do you have familiarity with treating a rabbit with E. cuniculi?  What was your experience like?

Eating Baseboards: A Love/Hate Story

Walter loves to chew on our apartment’s baseboards. His appetite for baseboards is voracious. Paul’s and my enjoyment of fixing the walls every six weeks is not. We have tried all sorts of things to deter our rabbit from nibbling on the walls, to no avail.

We put down double-sided tape, so he would get annoyed with his whiskers getting stuck in the glue while chomping. Walter resolved this by simply eating the tape, too. (We quickly abandoned this strategy and removed all the tape.)

We bought an over-priced bottled of lemon oil, but haven’t used it yet out of sheer laziness and the fact that I no longer remember where I stored the bottle. I read mixed reviews about lemon oil: some sources say that putting it on the wood will deter the rabbit entirely; some say that the rabbit will enjoy the taste and thus chew more. The same goes with bitter apple spray, which we have not yet purchased.

We tried teaching Walter the word “no” by filling a spray bottle with water and spritzing him while shouting “NO!” every time he started gnawing. Walter was unfazed by the water and just noshed away.

I finally decided to ascribe to the old adage, “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.” Walter wanted to chew a baseboard, so I’d give him his very own baseboard to chew. I debated the method for accomplishing this for a while, unsure about how to affix wood blocks to the wire sides of his cage. Fortunately, my coworker came up with a clever idea: Using cable ties to secure chunks of wood between the slotted sides.

I bought a pack of 10 white plastic cable ties, and a pack of 10 stainless steel ones, too. I wasn’t sure which ones to use at first: the stainless steel ones would ensure that Walter wouldn’t eat the cable tie, but the sharp edge could be dangerous and, as it turned out, they were hard to pull tightly enough around the wood blocks. I decided to use the plastic ones, and fortunately Walter's teeth hasn't come near them (yet).

I also spent a while pondering what to use for the wood blocks. I read many conflicting articles about rabbit-safe woods, until I finally settled on the majority opinion: untreated pine. After wandering aimlessly in the lumber section of Home Depot for half an hour, I stumbled upon a bin of pine wood shims. They were untreated, about eight inches long, and could be grouped together to make a block thick enough to satisfy Walter’s need to chew.

I got home and set to work. I made three “baseboards” that were four shims thick. One was placed at rabbit-mouth-level in front of his litter box, the other at rabbit-mouth-level if he chose to sit on top of his wooden bungalow, and the third was set vertically in the other corner of his litter box, in case Walter felt like getting creative while chewing.

My hope was that Walter would spend enough of his cage-time while we’re at work chewing on these rabbit-friendly baseboards, and then no longer have the urge to chew on our actual baseboards during out-of-cage time. And it worked! ..For about three days.

Six weeks later, Paul and I got out our wood filler and paint cans and set to work on the baseboards.

Rabbit or Vampire?

Most rabbits shed twice a year: once in the spring, and once in the fall.  I’ve read it’s also possible for some rabbits to be in a permanent state of molting.  Unfortunately, my rabbit falls into that second category.

Walter first began shedding a few months ago.  He got the signature “Dracula” markings on his forehead, and it moved slowly from there onto his back, where it then spread sideways down towards his belly.  The whole process took several weeks, and was hell on our apartment’s cleanliness – and on my allergies.

Just as I thought we could finally put the broom away, I noticed the Dracula lines once again forming on his face.  A week or so later, the division between new and old fur crept onto his back.  And so the process began again.

I wonder if this is a nutrition or sunlight thing.  I read somewhere that lighter-colored rabbits need exposure to more sunlight than dark-furred bunnies.  Is this true?  If so, could a lack of sunlight contribute to constant shedding?  It seems like a silly question to ask, but if the difference between Walter shedding every day of the year and not is simply opening the blinds of the window more often, then perhaps it’s worth it.

Rabbit Health Mysteries, Part 2

My rabbit is more stubborn than I thought.  Over the past two weeks, I started noticing little dribbles of liquid that Walter would leave behind as he hopped about the apartment.  We first noticed it on the sofa, which Walter turns into his own running track when we’re not occupying the seats (and sometimes, even if we are!).  I investigated the fluid – it seemed to be clear, colorless, and odorless.  It was just a few small drops, so Paul hypothesized that Walter had sat in his water bowl, or in one of the many tiny puddles of water made by Walter gallivanting in his cage. This idea made sense, and I brushed it off as a onetime thing.

But then it happened again later in the week.  I had just introduced pea pods into his diet, so I thought that this might be the culprit and immediately stopped incorporating them into his meals.

A few days later, Walter was in the middle of a particularly thorough grooming session: nothing out of the ordinary.  I checked on him ten minutes into his cleaning ritual and noticed that he was sitting in a fairly large puddle.  He was nowhere near his water bowl – or any other water source, for that matter – so the fluid presumably had to have come directly from him.  Again, I inspected the substance.  Again, it was clear, colorless, and odorless.

At this point, I began to worry, and sent an email to my veterinarian.  While waiting for a response, Paul discovered two new wet spots on the carpet.  Later in the evening, these wet spots turned from the carpet’s own color to the color of dried rabbit urine: not a good sign.  So I turned to my #1 rabbit resource: Rabbits for Dummies.

The book informed me that urine spots outside of the litter box, for rabbits that are well trained, can be a sign of a urinary tract infection.  I stopped there and picked up the phone to schedule an appointment with my vet.  Unable to squeeze him in on Saturday, we waited until Monday morning.  This is where Walter’s stubbornness kicked in.

My vet, who is great with rabbits from my personal experience, is very keen on not disrupting the sensitive nature of a rabbit’s body.  So, he said, instead of trying to use needles to get a urine sample, he would need to wait for Walter to produce a sample on his own.  I dropped Walter off in the early morning before I left for work.  By the time I left the office, Walter still had not peed.

So he had to stay overnight at the veterinarian clinic, which I’m sure he hated.  Hopefully that taught him a lesson about stubbornness! And hopefully he’s produced some urine this morning, so I can bring him home with me this afternoon.  I am still waiting to hear back from the doctor.

In the meantime, my vet let me know he did an X-ray on Walter’s belly.  He apparently found some non-food items in his stomach, which should easily pass, but asked me, “Has your rabbit been chewing anything strange lately?”  Well, would you consider the baseboard of our apartment strange?  Or maybe the buttons to our remote control?  Or how about a few pages from the phonebook? I could go on and on.

Anyways, I certainly hope my rabbit does not have a urinary tract infection, but I’ll be glad to know what has been causing him to go to the potty outside of the litter box!  Have you gone through this with your rabbit? I’d love to know what you learned to be the cause of this fluid, and whether it’s urine or something else.

Rabbit Health Mysteries, Part 1

Let me preface this by telling you all that I’m a slight hypochondriac. I’m one of those obnoxious patients that goes on WedMD and diagnoses myself with a heart attack when I’m really just experiencing heartburn. It’s inevitable that I would transfer my hypochondriac self-diagnoses on to my rabbit.

Prior to getting my pet, I had done enough reading to know that rabbits are the master of disguise when it comes to disease, and that I needed to keep a close eye on his behavior and body if I wanted to keep him healthy. So, when Walter first came home with me in April, I set him up for an initial veterinary exam, just to make sure we were starting off on the right foot. I prepared for the vet visit by suspiciously watching every grooming session, every scratch of the ear, and every bathroom visit. I created a laundry list of questions to ask Walter’s new doctor, and of course, came up with all sorts of potential problems he may have.

Now, this was problematic for a few reasons. For one, I had only been with Walter for about a week! I didn’t know anything about his personality or his quirks. For another thing, I had never owned a rabbit before, and all the research in the world won’t fully prepare you for everything. And lastly, I’d read so many articles and books about rabbit behavior that I actually couldn't keep all that information organized inside my brain. So I picked out tidbits of knowledge here and there – and whatever I picked out always assumed the worst.

Walter sure shakes his head a lot. Maybe he’s developing the head tilt!

Or maybe I should’ve remembered that rabbits shake their head when they don’t like something you’re doing. (Walter shakes his head at me when it’s time for him to go into his cage at night, but he thinks it should still be playtime.)

Why is Walter scratching all the time? He must have mites!

I probably should have noticed that he never scratched the same spot twice; if he had mites, it was more than likely that he’d have a defined problem area or two. This was just generalized scratching because, you know, he had an itch.

As it turns out, Walter’s initial vet exam went just fine. He did have the beginnings of an ear infection, which meant I had to tackle him twice a day and sneak drops into his ears. But after a few days of the drops and a few more frantic emails to the vet (“Why is Walter’s fur thinning?” Answer: because the ear drops occasionally made it out of his ears and onto his fur, and the liquid was greasy, making his fur clump together.), I learned to trust myself as a rabbit caretaker and know the difference between a silly rabbit quirk and a real health issue.

What was your biggest bunny health scare?

Hungry, Hungry Rabbit

My boyfriend tells me that Walter is getting fat. Like a good mama, I insist he’s just maintaining a healthy weight - it’s good to have some meat on your bones! Right?

But how do I tell if my rabbit is really gaining too much weight? Per my last entry, I certainly can’t scoop him up and hold him while standing on the scale, so I’m never exactly sure of his actual weight. And, the last time he was weighed was his first vet check-up, which was five months ago when he was still a very baby bunny. Walter’s done a lot of growing over the past few months, maturing from a newborn bunny into a full-grown adult.

I am starting to notice that he’s beginning to get that telltale fat bulge on his chest that indicates that maybe he’s put on a few too many pounds. It’s the only way for me to know that he’s gaining weight. I found this chart, taken from the Pet Food Manufacturer’s Association website, very helpful:

Walter is probably about a 3.5, according to this scale. So if I want him to be a solid 3, where do we cut back on his food intake? And what’s the appropriate amount of daily food for a seven month old rabbit? Some sources tell me to offer my rabbit an unlimited amount of pellets and fresh veggies until he reaches one year of age, while others suggest cutting back to one-half cup of pellets per six pounds of body weight, but sources vary with regards to how many vegetables he should receive each day. What’s the right amount here?

I’ll admit that I probably spoil Walter with too much food. But who can resist a rabbit that jumps for joy at the sight and smell of a brussel sprout?!

Rabbit Techniques: Picking up your rabbit

I've had Walter for about five months now and still have not mastered the art of picking him up. From the day I considered owning a pet rabbit, I read about the dangers of picking up your rabbit improperly. One instance of incorrect positioning could lead to a spinal injury, surgery, or death. This set me down a path of insecurity and paranoia related to carrying my pet bunny.

It doesn’t help that Walter has quite a mind of his own. He likes adventure! And while he enjoys the frequent cheek-rub or scratch on his forehead, he doesn’t want to be “tied down.” He likes the freedom to hop about on his own, and makes it quite known when we’re infringing upon his adventure and exploration time.

So I set out for YouTube. I found several videos like the one below, all giving great pointers and encouraging advice for picking up your rabbit, but I couldn’t relate to a single video.

For starters, look how well-trained and well-behaved that rabbit is! The chances of me getting Walter to sit patiently on a table while I practiced these new techniques was just as likely as me teaching him to speak English.

I still haven’t gotten the hang of it. I freak out and panic anytime I watch someone attempt to pick him up. My boyfriend, friends, family, and I all bare scars of the scratches we’ve received while Walter writhes away from our grasp. Not being able to master this practice has been a hindrance for my pet’s care, as well.

The inability to pick him up translates into an inability to get him to hold still for health inspections (by me, not by the vet; Walter melts like putty whenever the vet handles him!). I can’t get him to let me clip his toenails or check his belly for abnormalities. I can’t even pick him up when he refuses to go voluntarily into his cage! Clearly, this makes for an occasional long night before bedtime.

So, what works for you? What techniques have you employed to be able to successfully pick up your rabbit?

Welcome!

So, how exactly did I become a rabbit owner? The answer is simple: I love having a pet.

I grew up with dogs and have very fond memories of playtime and snuggle time with man’s best friend. I’ve always loved them for the companionship and the easy entertainment they provide, but I live in an apartment and sometimes keep hours that are not fair to a dog’s bladder. So I started exploring other pet options. I’m allergic to cats, fish don’t provide the same type of companionship, and I found birds and rodents to not be quite my style. And then, I stumbled upon the idea of owning a rabbit. Rabbits, I read, are social and interactive. You can litter train them. And on top of that, they are adorable.

But, adorable or not, I needed to do my research. So, I read every piece of information I could find, I researched breeds, considered adopting versus buying from a breeder, and made sure I had the space and finances to keep a rabbit happy and healthy. After all that, I decided it would work. And that’s when I found my “wascally wabbit,” Walter – a Holland Lop who will be seven months old in September.

But even as prepared as I felt, rabbit ownership was – and still is – surprising at every turn. That’s why I’ve created this blog. I hope to create a community of rabbit-owners and lovers, find some answers for my own bunny questions, and hopefully provide some entertainment as I try to navigate through the bizarre world of owning a rabbit.

Before I go on, let me explain this blog’s title. “Noozles and bonks” may sound like a nonsense phrase, but for my family, it was a nighttime ritual. I have a sister who is six years younger than me. Growing up, she never settled for a simple kiss goodnight from our mother and father. Instead, she created “noozles and bonks.” Noozles are simple nose rubs, while bonks are great onomatopoeias – it simply means bumping two foreheads together, creating a great “bonk!” sensation. Noozles and bonks always went hand in hand. We never did one without the other, and every night without fail, this is how we would tell my sister goodnight.

I chose this for the name of my blog because each morning, Walter greets me with a delightful noozle to say hello. Every evening, upon my return home from work, I receive another furry noozle. And right before bed, as Walter has finally settled down and found his favorite resting spot, I curl up next to him for our gentler version of bonks – a simple touch from my forehead to his.

Noozles and bonks, bunny style.