My disabled rabbit

[Whitesnowy]

In memory of WHITESNOWY

За български натиснете тук. 

DO
NOT PUT DOWN THE RABBIT! Looking after a disabled bunny is 100%
possible! We went through this and I would like to share the story. With
our good care Whitesnowy lived two happy years even
though he was disabled. One day we took him to the vet because he acted strange
and ate less. After the examination (where I don’t know what
exactly happened) the vet brought him back and the
rabbit couldn’t move. We were shocked. When this happened I had
absolutely no idea how to look after a disabled rabbit. To be honest, I thought
with this back injury – he wouldn’t survive the night. But not only
he did survive the night, he also kept fighting. Me and my girlfriend dedicated
our life to him. We were with him 24/7. I checked the Internet for
information about how to look after a disabled rabbit but I found very little.
And this is the reason I want to share what I’ve learned. “Do we put
disabled people down just because they can’t walk?”. This video /link/ gave me a great
motivation. God
forbid something like that would happen to anybody but if it does here are some
ideas how to take care of the bunny.

At first
we tried different methods to accommodate him. We let him lying, then we
supported his body standing so there would be a change in the position. This is
how everything looked like:

pic1 https://s20.postimg.cc/xnxrcr0rx/01.jpg

pic2 https://s20.postimg.cc/8jbcd2qp9/02.jpg

pic3 https://s20.postimg.cc/w037buca5/03.jpg

pic4 https://s20.postimg.cc/ix7kskm25/04.jpg

pic5 https://s20.postimg.cc/jo0aycofh/05.jpg

During
the hot summer days I laid him on a tile and placed a bottle of frozen water
near him.

pic6 https://s20.postimg.cc/3r1j1mw19/06.jpg

Later I
installed an air
conditioner in his room. If you do so, be careful – the cool air
should not blast directly on the rabbit. The temperature I maintained during
the summer was 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit). You might think it’s
a bit higher but this is because he often got cold and his nose got wet. So be
extremely careful if air-conditioning a disabled rabbit.

After
some time I managed to build a “house” for
him. Then I surrounded the yard of the house with air mattresses in case
he managed to jump (using only his front legs – he did that many times). I
ensured he would land on soft matter.

pic7 https://s20.postimg.cc/g6y8vdpd9/07.jpg

pic8 https://s20.postimg.cc/oqhmt4xpp/08.jpg

 

Ideas for ACCOMODATION:

pic9 https://s20.postimg.cc/4x5j0fkbx/09.jpg

pic10 https://s20.postimg.cc/pvboyik6l/10.jpg

pic11 https://s20.postimg.cc/vkwiwkfql/11.jpg

pic12 https://s20.postimg.cc/jx2h20qlp/12.jpg

pic13 https://s20.postimg.cc/5f59u0zal/13.jpg

pic14 https://s20.postimg.cc/fdq8gi8q5/14.jpg

At first
I used plastic bottles of water to support his body standing. I covered the
bottles with a few layers of underpads.
Later I decided that plastic bottles with underpads might be a bit rough to lie
on so I changed the bottle with folded air mattress and cloths. Again, on the
top I used underpads because when I picked him up, to move him to a feeding
position for example, he sometimes urinated (this is uncontrollable reaction in
disabled animals). So I recommend using softer materials just where the
animal’s head lies and you can use water bottles (covered with layers of
underpads) to support the body.

pic15 https://s20.postimg.cc/iluptjuzx/15.jpg

Sometimes
he liked to jump out of his bed so I designed the house and the yard that he
can walk back to his bed on his own. I made stuff like tunnels so he can stand
up only on his front legs and support his body to the surrounding and walk
forward.

pic16 https://s20.postimg.cc/6y0nz05v1/16.jpg

video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G20B-wIdIG0

The best
position for accommodation I found was this:

pic17 https://s20.postimg.cc/69rtg2759/17.jpg

pic17a https://s20.postimg.cc/qvktwk9t9/17a.jpg

If he
decided to move, he fell right in the yard instead of on his back and stuck in
the house. Under the yard there was a blanket – everything must be soft and there should be no sharp edges. On
top, again there were underpads in
case he urinated – they are easy to change. If you cut them to smaller squares
– make sure no dust(cotton) come out of the unterpads. Use lint roller to
collect any dust or crumbs where the bunny lives.

During
the night a small light bulb was on. I found the rabbit felt safer that way. I
also bought a baby camera to monitor Whitesnowy remotely
when I’m in the room next to him. It was of a great help especially during the
nights because I didn’t have to stand from my bed every time I woke up to check
him if he is our or stuck or anything.

pic18 https://s20.postimg.cc/ak6hbnc8d/18.jpg

pic19 https://s20.postimg.cc/nculbknu5/19.jpg

And this
is a bunny in a sleep mode:

pic20 https://s20.postimg.cc/734f8od65/20.jpg

  

HYGIENE:

In case
the rabbit peed on his own, to maintain good hygiene under him I found that I
could use pads for pregnant women (like sanitary napkin but much
thicker). 

pic21 https://s20.postimg.cc/xoc01clv1/21.jpg

pic22 https://s20.postimg.cc/rbwuriist/22.jpg

To
prevent his rear legs from getting wet I made socks from face masks:

pic23 https://s20.postimg.cc/uwsqaqncd/23.jpg

pic24 https://s20.postimg.cc/yholtyrvx/24.jpg

pic25 https://s20.postimg.cc/rsi2dy6jx/25.jpg

 

FOOD and WATER:

Keep
feeding the rabbit what he’s used to eat. One VERY IMPORTANT thing
though – cecotropes must
be collected and given to the rabbit to eat. No commercial pellets are enriched
with the elements that cecotropes provide. Whitesnowy usually
extracted them once or twice a day but we had cases when it happened three even
in very rear occasions forth times for 24 hours. In most cases the first ones
came out at 5 a.m. 

We fed our
rabbit four times for 24 hours. First I gave hay,
then pellets. I limited veggies and fruits because of upset stomach – I used
them only as a treat. After the end of the feeding I waited 45 minutes before
giving water. Then 30 to 60 minutes before the next meal I gave him water
again. If he refused to drink by himself I used syringe. If he refused again I
put the tip of the syringe in a cucumber so it started to smell of something he
liked. In some cases I sucked very little juice (two drops – just in the very
tip of the syringe). For the juice I used watermelon or tomato. This trick for
giving extra water worked every time. It’s very important to give water at
least TWICE after feeding – this prevents sludge in the urine. The scheme was
as follows:

– 6:00
FOOD (hay then pellets). He ate for about 15 minutes and rested 45 and then at:

– 7:00
WATER. And then 30 to 60 minutes before the next meal I gave water again as
follows:

– 11:00
second time WATER (trick with cucumber or some juice if needed).

– 11:45
FOOD.

– 12:45
WATER.

– 16:15
second time WATER.

– 17:00
FOOD.

– 18:00
WATER.

– 21:15
second time WATER.

– 22:00
FOOD.

– 23:00
WATER.

–
between 03:00 and 05:00 – second time WATER. (depended on my wake up instinct
during the night).

I’ve noticed that the bunny drinks more water when the water is at room temperature (instead of cold water). So, keep bottles of water in the room.

Some
pictures of eating position (the same way I held him to drink water from his
bowl):

pic26 https://s20.postimg.cc/4fk0vfqgd/26.jpg

pic27 https://s20.postimg.cc/ahrnlxewd/27.jpg

pic28 https://s20.postimg.cc/cauka9031/28.jpg

pic29 https://s20.postimg.cc/rxltnmdv1/29.jpg

pic30 https://s20.postimg.cc/4kns53xrh/30.jpg

pic31 https://s20.postimg.cc/cesz48uy5/31.jpg

pic32 https://s20.postimg.cc/6rwm6rsfh/32.jpg

pic33 https://s20.postimg.cc/tun55xtwt/33.jpg

pic34 https://s20.postimg.cc/l0w8ou6y5/34.jpg

pic35 https://s20.postimg.cc/po2aqlub1/35.jpg

Apart
from feeding, giving water and maintaining hygiene we spent a good time on
stroking Whitesnowy. He also liked to be massaged. And
for 10 years old rabbit, he liked to sleep a lot as well.

 

Helping
the disabled rabbit urinate:

This is
easily done by massaging and softly pressing the belly when the rabbit is
lying. This ensures excellent hygiene. I also woke up at least two times a
night to do the procedure. I build up a scheme for this too. It was every time
before feeding, 80 mins after water, 45 mins after previous one.

BATH:

If it
got messy, you may need to use water to clean the bunny. Use only baby shampoo
if necessary. In my case, most of the time a local clean was enough. I
used face
pads and warm water.

 

EAR
CLEANING:

A
disabled rabbit cannot do this on its own anymore and wax is building in the
ears. You can consult a vet to teach you how to clean bunny’s ears. I used
swabs and pulled the wax out. You must be very careful not to put the wax
deeper in the ear. Use LED light to check ears weekly.

 

TEMPERATURE:

You may
need a thermometer to
get information of what’s going on. If you don’t have an air conditioner, you
can use frozen water bottles during the summer. During the winter you may need
to heat up the room where the rabbit lives. The perfect temperature for the
rabbit is when you touch its ears and you don’t feel them hot or cold. The ears
must have the same temperature (or a bit cooler) as the tips of your fingers
and you should not feel any difference.

These pictures are an example for positioning of frozen water bottles:

pic36 https://s20.postimg.cc/v0r54qi7h/36.jpg

pic37 https://s20.postimg.cc/5w04rbir1/37.jpg

pic38 https://s20.postimg.cc/b8oz5g6nh/38.jpg

If it’s
too hot, you can water bunny’s ears:

pic39 https://s20.postimg.cc/6bbekc4od/39.jpg

 

CART
(wheel-chair):

Try it.
There are carts for disabled animals. We bought one for Whitesnowy but
he didn’t like to be placed in it. Anyways, it’s a good idea to try making the
rabbit walking again.

Some
videos:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=disabled+rabbit+wheel+chair

 

Here
are 14 useful videos that I made:

videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCT…shelf_id=0

Try
anything that you find practical.

 

If
the links to the pictures doesn’t work, you can download an archive with them
here:

mirror1 https://www.dropbox.co…y.rar?dl=0

mirror2 https://yadi.sk/d/looPsQt4yHaMR

 

Please,
help me share this information by coping it in as many places as you can (other
forums, sites, facebook etc).

Taking
care of a disabled rabbit is 100% possible! 

[tobyluv]

I’m sorry about the loss of Whitesnowy.

I’m sure that anyone with a disabled rabbit will appreciate the information and links you have given here.

[Mikey]

Very good information! Two out of three of my rabbits are considered disabled (one more mildly disabled than the other). Bombur just has a very sensitive tummy and we have to watch what he eats very carefully or he will bloat so bad it becomes hard for him to walk. He also gains weight more easily than most rabbits, and is prone to having liver problems. We were given the choice of giving him daily meds to help or keeping a close eye on his diet. Given that he really hates syringes, we decided to watch his diet and nix anything that was causing him an upset. Its been going very well for him

My Badger has splay leg, a muscle/weight issue, and bad back. The splay leg is not bad enough that he cannot walk, but he is very wabbly and runs very funny. He has very poor balance, but that doesnt stop him at all. He has a very bad back because of it, but the vet said as long as he isnt showing signs of pain or discomfort, we shouldnt worry about it yet as he still is under a year old. In the future he will most likely be needing a wheelchair so he can move correctly and help his back/posture a bit. He is also very small for his breed, and he is a pruebred dutch. We have taken to calling him a Mini Dutch because he is 1lbs, but all of his litter mates were of normal size around 4lbs to 5lbs. He was also the only one from his litter with lasting disabilities. To add to his issues, he also has a hard time gaining weight and muscle, and keeping it. He will be above 1lbs one day, and a few days later he could be a bit under 1lbs and his muscle tone would be smoother/less obvious due to the fact he was relaxing more and running less. We have run multiple tests on him (xrays, ultrasounds, endless stool samples, extensive blood work, ect) and everything comes up clean/normal. He will have these problems for the rest of his life, but they dont seem to bother him much at all. The only discomfort he shows is that he becomes cold easily, and when he gets into a mood to run (his favorite thing, honestly) he will sometimes lose control of his direction and run into the wall or fall over/trip. He always takes a minute, then starts his running again until he gets tired and sprawls, or comes to me/my boyfriend and begs for pets until he falls asleep

I agree that a bun should not be put down because it is disabled. If they are happy and you can afford the extra vet bills, there is no reason to put the bun down Now, if the bun is in constant pain and there is nothing that can help the bun escape the pain, then i believe putting them to sleep is a fair possibility. No one deserves to live like that

[Whitesnowy]

It’s been a year without Whitesnowy. I know we have the Rainbow Bridge forum but I just want to give a little up for this topic. I hope you’ll understand. I miss him terribly and sometimes I wonder if life is still worth living with so much pain along with it. He literally died in my hands. I had my palms on him so that he would feel he’s not alone. I never gave up on him. You should never give up on your rabbits too. 

[sarahthegemini]

Posted By Whitesnowy on 8/28/2017 4:26 PM

It’s been a year without Whitesnowy. I know we have the Rainbow Bridge forum but I just want to give a little up for this topic. I hope you’ll understand. I miss him terribly and sometimes I wonder if life is still worth living with so much pain along with it. He literally died in my hands. I had my palms on him so that he would feel he’s not alone. I never gave up on him. You should never give up on your rabbits too. 

Of course we understand. Thank you for your original post. It was made before I became a member here and if you hadn’t updated i likely never would have seen it and it truly is a wealth of information that will benefit many of us newbies should we ever face this situation ourselves. Thank you for such invaluable information. I can see what a dedicated bunny parent you were, and despite his health he was a very lucky bun to have such wonderfully caring owners. If only all animal owners were like you! I can’t imagine how tough it must have been but he looks like such a love bug. I only hope more time will help you but of course he was such a focus in your life, it must feel like you’re missing a limb. Talk to us all about him if it helps I’d personally love to know more about him 

[Author]

Messages