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Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Help with Gracie; UPDATE: Vet appt.

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    • skibunny8503
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        So for anyone that hasn’t been in the lounge, I posted that I’m 10 wks pregnant!  And with that being said I’ve decided to keep all my bunnies (that really wasn’t a decision in the first place) and keep them upstairs (even though my mom keeps saying to put them in the basement).  We’ve made up a schedule especially for Gracie with cleaning out their litter and putting a new blanket in their cage to keep everything clean.  She has gone a little down hill but isn’t too bad.  She just keeps peeing on herself.    She eats very well and gets around good and isn’t in any pain so there is no reason to put her to sleep, that is the last thing on my mind…I just want to make her as comfortable as possible yet less work for me as in a few months I won’t be able to bend over the cage like I usually do to clean up her pee.  So I’ve been pondering the idea of putting a diaper on her.  I found a few websites about it but I am still a little worried what Archie would do.  We might pick up some diapers tomorrow just to test it out.  Worst case it doesn’t work and we just have diapers for the baby when it’s born.  So does anyone have any ideas or suggestions about diapering her?  I didn’t know if one kind of diaper is better than another?  Thanks guys!


      • BinkyBunny
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           I haven’t had to do this, and the only time I saw this done was with a disabled bunny that could not walk at all.  She could also not get at her diaper and tear it up.   So I am not sure if that would work for Gracie or not.  

          I found this article from “Zooh Corner” (a rabbit rescue) about caring for a disabled bunny and if you scroll down toward the middle, you’ll see the section on diapers.  The author of the article did say this allowed her bunny more freedom since she didn’t have to worry about him peeing everywhere.     http://www.mybunny.org/info/paralyzed.htm

          Here’s another article with instructions on how to diaper a bunny though  http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/diapers.html

          Also, the page about disabled rabbits on CatsandRabbitsandmore mentions it as well (around paragraph 23) http://www.catsandrabbitsandmore.co…cial_needs

          Hopefully that will help and maybe there will be some other members that have gone through this that can help you as well. 

          I was glad to see though the photos of Gracie in your other post where her fur was growing back a bit!  That’s good!


        • LittlePuffyTail
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            Just want to wish you lots of luck finding a way to help Gracie.

            (((((Gracie))))))


          • RabbitPam
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              Hi,
              I am not sure that the diaper will resolve the issue of you bending over, since you would have to catch her and use them and change them. If she responds well after you check out BB’s links than it’s an option. I’m also wondering if you could rearrange her housing to help out.

              Spockie became incontinent when he lost the use of his back leg. I went to Palace Pet Beds http://www.palacepet.com/It
              They are rugs that you can order in sizes or get large and cut to size with a matte knife that are designed as puppy pads and rugs for incontinent senior pets. Very pretty and soft, they wick away the pee. I would just remove one, toss it in the washing machine, replace it with another and let the washed one air dry until I changed it a day or so later. It’s not easy, but it’s kind of simple that way and not heavy or messy like litter bags. Wanted to give you another option.


            • LizzieKnittyBun
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                aww, I dunno if it would work or not, honeybun, just make sure you don’t strain yourself whatever you decide.

                hugs to you and Gracie!!


              • skibunny8503
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                  I did get a Palace Pet Bed before but Archie was digging at it and it seemed to come apart…maybe if I wash it the parts that are loose will come out? If Gracie was a lone bun I wouldn’t have problems putting stuff in but Archie’s a digger and chewer. He keeps digging and chewing the blankets. I had a little pet bed but he started chewing that and pulling the stuffing out GRR! I think the problem she has the most is if her tail doesn’t go all the way up then she pees down the side of her leg which the blankets can’t really help her with that.
                  Thanks BB for the links, I’ll go look at those now. I wish the vet could do something else for her but it seemed like there wasn’t much more we could do and he was the best one around us.


                • jerseygirl
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                    Choosing to diaper is tricky because of the poop factor and cecals. Personally, I think it is worth a go while she is able to move about if it’s going to save her skin a bit. Is she dribbling much or is it mainly as you said, she just goes to pee as normal but doesn’t get her tail up?

                    Some things I’ve been thinking of are alternates to regular nappies (we call them nappies ). I’ve seen washable nappies for babies that are like cotton pants and have absorbant materials incorporated. Some have hemp and bamboo which are said to be very absorbant. Those are some natural material that might be an option.

                    I was thinking something like a hair net that has a net pouch for a pad would be an idea. So less fur is covered and you could tease the fur back thru the net. But I don’t know of anything like that or if it would stay in place.  Using pads instead of a full nappy might be easier to change. Just a matter of taking out a soiled pad and replacing rather then doing a diaper change or garment change.  
                     

                    I did find these products, mostly for dogs. 
                    http://www.seniorpetproducts.com/pr…p2031.html   
                    http://www.doggiediapers.net/catalog/i6.html  
                    A pattern for sewing. 
                    parksbird.com/ss_dog_diaper.htm  
                    And this YouTube video using regular newborn nappy. This is from disabled rabbit group I think.
                    http://www.youtube.com/watch


                  • jerseygirl
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                      Actually, is she using her box generally? Or is she unaware she’s peeing sometimes and sometimes lies in it?

                      I was wondering if wrapping the top parts of her hind legs instead would be feasible? With something absorbant. OR a waterproof fabric that lets the urine run off it. Or would she and Archie be more likely to tear something off?  Another possible problem is if it doesn’t allow her skin to breath where she has the fur loss so it could get uncomfortable.  I’ve got my thinking cap on…


                    • skibunny8503
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                        Posted By jerseygirl on 06/26/2011 08:01 PM

                        Actually, is she using her box generally? Or is she unaware she’s peeing sometimes and sometimes lies in it?

                        I was wondering if wrapping the top parts of her hind legs instead would be feasible? With something absorbant. OR a waterproof fabric that lets the urine run off it. Or would she and Archie be more likely to tear something off?  Another possible problem is if it doesn’t allow her skin to breath where she has the fur loss so it could get uncomfortable.  I’ve got my thinking cap on…

                        Oh thanks for those links!  The pattern one looks interesting, I might have to try that!  Thanks!    When I was at my parents house the other day I was going through baby stuff and there’s a bunch of cloth diapers (my parents used cloth diapers when we were babies) and she either bought the wrong ones or got them as a gift because they were too thin to use and used them as burp clothes but there were a lot that were never used.  I was thinking maybe putting a couple together and trying to use them for Gracie?  They’re just pieces of cloth so no velcro or anything.  My mom used to use safety pins to keep them in place but I’ll see if my mom has some extra velcro to sew onto them.  I’ll try experimenting with that and maybe buy one online or get that pattern.  I’ve seen disposible diapers used before on bunnies but since Archie is with her and I have no idea what he’ll do, would those even be safe to use if he tries to eat/chew it?

                        She uses her box I would say…70% of the time.  We made a ramp so it’s easier for her to get into the box which made a huge difference than before but it’s not a matter if she can get in the box, she just doesn’t know she’s going to the bathroom or realizes it too late.  Sometimes she sleeps and cecals come out and she doesn’t know.  That’s also the case in pooping because she’ll sleep and then have a pile of poo when she wakes up but that’s not a big deal since I can easily clean that up.  I try to excret her when I can but at night it’s hard and sometimes I try excreting her and it’s like she’s holding it in (or maybe I’m not pushing on the right spot) and she still goes a lot afterwards. 

                        I’ve thought about wrapping her legs but I have no clue with what because it would have to be something waterproof or the pee would absorb through it and not helping her case.  Her legs need to heal and it’s hard when she constiently pees on herself, lays in it, or is getting baths all the time and her fur is wet. 

                        I think I’ll tell my brother to bring some of those diapers over and I’ll try that.  She’ll probably hate me but she really needs to heal.


                      • brittbritt
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                          I wonder if vet wrap would be something you could use to wrap her legs in. It uses itself to stick to itself, hope that makes sense. I use it to wrap certain perches that are slick so my birds don’t just fall off them. When they poop, there’s can be watery, it seems to not go through the vet wrap. I buy it at a local horse feed and tack store.


                        • skibunny8503
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                            Sounds like something Jersey was talking about wrapping around the legs. I might look into that once her legs heal up. I think the best thing is for her legs to breath at first so her skin and fur can heal. But I’ll look in our Tractor Supply store to see if they have any. What section is that usually in?


                          • brittbritt
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                              I believe it was close to where they have the medications they keep for horse and cattle. It’s about $2 for a roll and comes in different colors.


                            • skibunny8503
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                                So attempt #1 didn’t work out so well with Gracie.  The newborn diapers didn’t fit her!  Poor girl, she did do pretty good for me but the diaper didn’t go up high enough to stay on.  I couldn’t find Huggies Newborns (plus I wanted to save some money) so I bought Target’s generic diapers.  I couldn’t put a hole for her tale because when I cut into it stuff was coming out.  So I’ll be out again tomorrow and will buy a bigger size for her.  

                                Here’s a picture of our attempt to diaper, you can see how small it is on her.  Her fur is thicker and maybe newborns fit better with uppy ear rabbits since lops have a different body shape.


                              • LittlePuffyTail
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                                  I would try something specific for animals. This place has small washable ones for under 20 dollars and they already have a tail-hole. http://www.petdiapers.com/


                                • Elrohwen
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                                    Poor Gracie-bun! I agree with LPT that diapers meant for animals might fit better. Plus, washable ones would be a lot cheaper over time.


                                  • skibunny8503
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                                      I took Archie and Gracie to the vet today.  Archie had a clean bill of health.  The shaved Gracie which they found several sores because her fur was so matted I couldn’t see her skin.  She did some research and said that giving her an injection of Adequan might be beneficial to her.  She said it’s for cats and dogs but there would be cats that wouldn’t be able to jump up and after the injection they would be better.  So it was worth a shot and it has no side effects.  It’s given once a week, so I’ll monitor how she does on it this week.  If it works then we’ll take her back next week and she’ll show us how to do the injections and it would be $90 for a bottle of it but it would last for 15 months.  She also cleaned her ears for free which they were getting bad since she can’t clean them herself.  I also told her about the bandages that stick to themsleves (I haven’t been able to go out and find them yet but I’ll get out this week).  She said that it’s worth a shot.  She also put l think it’s called Dema, it’s a liquid bandadge, that they put on her sores.  So she said to see how that works and to stop the silvadene for now.  

                                      I did stop diapering because she was miserable with them and it looked very awkward on her and didn’t seem to work well.  So I’ll keep you guys updated and I hope that injection really helps her!  She’s hiding in her tunnel right now.


                                    • Sarita
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                                        Continued vibes to Gracie. Will be interested to know about the injections.


                                      • LizzieKnittyBun
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                                          aww poor thing. i wish you could somehow tell her that you’re just trying to help her out!


                                        • LittlePuffyTail
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                                            I’m hoping the injection helps her. ((((Gracie))))


                                          • jerseygirl
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                                              If you can’t find vet wrap locally, you should be able to get it online. I came across it a few times when looking at the diapers online. Often with medical supplies etc. It would be good if you could get a sample to try intially at a local store. But even if you end up buying a roll, it’d be good stuff to have in a 1st aid kit.

                                              This Adequan sounds interesting. Might get to where it’s needed better then oral arthritis treatments.
                                              Feel better Gracie!! <3


                                            • LittlePuffyTail
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                                                Any store that sells horse supplies would have vet wrap. Some pet stores even have it.

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                                            Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Help with Gracie; UPDATE: Vet appt.