Hi Jerseygirl and Bam, thank you for your replies and I apologize for the delay in response!!
That is so amazing- and a bit scary- how emotionally sensitive rabbits are. I always thought only bonded partners would be really affected by the loss of another bun. And Lukie was always such a brat to Precious, snorting at her and trying to nip her nose through the gate. I think it was all show, that he was just afraid of her. He did groom her if she didn’t move!
Bam, I saw a similar change in Nelli, our older female, after her husbun BunBun died. She never had any use for us before, but she became friendlier and even let us pet her most of the time. Sadly, she also aged rapidly- her previously unnoticed E. Cuniculi symptoms emerged, and 11 months later, she died of kidney failure ?. I adore Lukie and am so glad we adopted him, but for Nelli’s sake, I felt badly that we brought a young bunny into her life. If we had known how quickly she would become old and ill, we wouldn’t have put her through that. Although we gave up trying to bond them pretty fast, and afterward, I think she enjoyed grumping at Luke from her side of gate. He was fascinated by her lol.
Jersey, I am concerned about Luke’s teeth, especially after you mentioned it, as I really respect your opinion. Two vets have noticed points on his molars during a regular mouth exam- the first was about 14 months ago, and the second was of course, just recently. I’m glad that they don’t seem to have gotten worse- although since it was different vets- therefore different perspectives- it actually could have progressed. What is the protocol for this? Should I call our regular vet, and ask to have him sedated and examined? Do I need a special “real exotics vet” to make it as safe as possible? Our regular vet says he is not a rabbit expert, but has always successfully treated out rabbits and neutered BunBun. I trust him, as long as he says he is comfortable doing it, but if there is actual evidence that better outcomes are had with exotic vets doing this, I would rather go for that. I know sedation is a risk, as well as jaw fracture with a certain instrument (I just read about that!).
Sorry for all the questions. I’ve never had a bun have molars checked in more than the regular awake exam.
Oh, I’m pleased to add that Lukie is back to his old self, chomping down his greens as we speak- he actually just climbed into the bowl for better access ?. The cardboard under the tables and all the other changes have stopped him from ingesting any more fabric. His poops are nice and big- and he just received his Binky Bunny oat hay today and is very pleased with it, so I expect even bigger poops soon ?. The excitement!! It really frightens me that if we hadn’t figured out what was going on, we could have lost Lukie. I feel like the worse he felt, the more he hid, and the more he hid, the more nonedible stuff he ate. Poor thing.