# rabbit help?



## magic (May 27, 2014)

i am taking care of a friends pet rabbit for a week and i notice she has crusty stuff around her eyes. owner said she has had it off and on for acouple of weeks. she is a pet and kept indoors, fed oxbow pellets and timothy hay. could it be from to many cleaning chemicals in the house? or allergies?













i also have a pet rabbit who sneezes alot and probably has snuffles but just wondering if anyone has advice on how to treat this.


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## Dayna (Aug 16, 2012)

yikes. I'd keep that rabbit far away from your rabbit.

Snuffles aka pasteruella is a highly contagious un curable disease.

I put down any rabbit showing any symptoms immediately. I have a vaccinated herd so any new rabbits also go straight into quarantine.



I treat rabbits as livestock though, not everyone does.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

I would put eye antibiotic in her eye twice a day and see if that helps. Definitely keep her far away from your rabbit.


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## GoatieGranny (Jul 26, 2013)

Another thing that really helps eye ailments is chamomile tea. Just make a really strong cup, extra herb and steep for twenty minutes. You can either spray it onto her eye, or use a soaked washcloth and hold it there, or squeeze the tea out and into her eye. Her actual eye looks pretty clear, and I can't really tell if the crust is because of eye drainage or sore skin around the eye. Either way, Chamomile is good for things like this.


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## ThecrazygoatpeopleBurnett (Jun 10, 2014)

I have a friend who's Californian rabbit just has allergy a to hay, and she sneezes. Just something else to think about. As for the eye thing, it could be mites or fleas or the rabbit could be unhealthy?? Again just things I've heard from everyone else, I've never had a actually 'sick' rabbit, only wounded ones.


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## NyGoatMom (Jan 26, 2013)

I would advise as Karen....and keep your rabbit away from hers or yours may pass that to your friends rabbit  So sorry your rabbit may have snuffles..........


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## magic (May 27, 2014)

thank you everone for your help! im not really sure that it is snuffles because she is a rescue has been sneezy since i have had her,and before i knew much about rabbits i had kept her by my other holland lops and they have never gotten any of her same symptoms. since snuffles is contagous i feel that the other rabbits would have picked it up?


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Not necessarily. I had a rabbit with snuffles and made the choice to keep her in her bonded trio. So she lived and snuggled with the other 2. They never got it. These were all pet house rabbits. I made sure to clean often and their litter box was cleaned daily.

Just for precaution, I would keep your bunny away from your friends.


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## Karen (Jun 22, 2010)

It could be allergy related as well - try feeding her fresh vegetables and no pellets for several days, and see if it is getting any better! Also, give her fresh hay, in case hers has gotten moldy ... 

Parsley - the flat stuff is tastier than the curly, dandelion greens, chicory - all good tasty bunny food!


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## Dayna (Aug 16, 2012)

Karen said:


> It could be allergy related as well - try feeding her fresh vegetables and no pellets for several days, and see if it is getting any better! Also, give her fresh hay, in case hers has gotten moldy ...
> 
> Parsley - the flat stuff is tastier than the curly, dandelion greens, chicory - all good tasty bunny food!


That is not a safe diet for a rabbit. And such a sudden dramatic shift in diet could very well cause the rabbits death.


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## Hodgson (Jan 7, 2014)

True, rabbits NEED pellets and hay. Feeding just veggies will cause major digestion problems. 1/4 cup a day of veggies is plenty as a treat, but not just any veggies. You need to research which ones should be avoided or given sparingly.


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## Karen (Jun 22, 2010)

That is not true. My rabbit never ate pellets once we got her, lived on hay and fresh vegetables, and an occasional seed treat. Oh, and her daily 3 raisins ... no more, no less - and she lived to be 11 years old. We were always careful to make sure she got a variety, and a good balance so she got all her vitamins she'd need from them, but that was not hard.


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## Dayna (Aug 16, 2012)

Karen, no disrespect intended. But I'm going to go on the many years of experience of people who know rabbits (including myself!) and have had them for decades rather than your one rabbit, a person on the internet that I don't know and is saying the exact opposite of what my friends who either raise rabbits or are veterinarians say is the proper diet for rabbits. Putting a bold blanket statement out there to just pull a rabbit what it's currently eating and give it large amounts of things its never eaten is irresponsible and dangerous. I hope people doing google searches read the whole thread and not just that post.


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## GoatieGranny (Jul 26, 2013)

Rabbits can certainly live without pellets IF they are fed foods that give them what they need nutritionally. Pellets are a convenience. They need fiber, too, like hay, sticks, and the like. 

The key is to be very careful if you make changes from what they are used to. Go slowly. Rabbits can die of bloat if their digestive systems get messed up. I've had rabbits since I was 10 years old....and I don't want to say how many decades have gone by. LOL. I've raised them on pellets and without pellets, as well as mixing the two methods. They grow slower without the pellets, but they grow steady and strong and are just fine. Pellets are much easier, but more expensive. Pros and cons to both methods. 

Just like everything else, there are different opinions and different ways that work in every situation. One way is not "the best" or "the only" way. We need to respect that.

Also, think about how a rabbit eats in nature and know that those types of foods are totally ok to raise rabbits on, if that is the way you chose to do things.

The main thing is to know what they need to grow/maintain/lactate/carry kits, etc. and to make all changes slowly.

A side note about getting information off the internet: If someone is making money off a product in any way, such as companies that sell rabbit pellets, (Or someone who makes a commission by selling it through their own business or whatever), do further research before you come to conclusions. They may be correct, they may not be, but it's best to do further research.


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## Karen (Jun 22, 2010)

Dayna said:


> Karen, no disrespect intended.


Thanks. Trust me, I have loved bunnies and done years of research my whole life about them. I just was not able to own one until I bought a house.

My father had bunnies way back in the Depression - started with one, and ended up with 32 bunnies, and they never had pellets whatsoever. The hay is most important, we all know (or at least should) that bunnies cannot throw up, so they need the fiber. But as has been mentioned, with research, a bunny can do fine without pellets. I got most of my rabbit nutrition information from Dad, from rabbit.org and from my rabbit-specialist veterinarian. I always fed from a certain list of vegetables, and that got narrowed down by Miss Hoppy herself. Cilatro may kinda *look* like parsley, and have the same nutrition as parsley, but it is NOT parsley, and she'd yank the plate out from under it, and shove the empty plate toward the refrigerator.

Paying attention to a bunny itself, and not just its input but "output" is crucial. On this we can agree.


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## Dayna (Aug 16, 2012)

Karen said:


> Thanks. Trust me, I have loved bunnies and done years of research my whole life about them. I just was not able to own one until I bought a house.
> 
> My father had bunnies way back in the Depression - started with one, and ended up with 32 bunnies, and they never had pellets whatsoever. The hay is most important, we all know (or at least should) that bunnies cannot throw up, so they need the fiber. But as has been mentioned, with research, a bunny can do fine without pellets. I got most of my rabbit nutrition information from Dad, from rabbit.org and from my rabbit-specialist veterinarian. I always fed from a certain list of vegetables, and that got narrowed down by Miss Hoppy herself. Cilatro may kinda *look* like parsley, and have the same nutrition as parsley, but it is NOT parsley, and she'd yank the plate out from under it, and shove the empty plate toward the refrigerator.
> 
> Paying attention to a bunny itself, and not just its input but "output" is crucial. On this we can agree.


And I agree about rabbits not needing pellets, but I do think that the average pet owner cannot feed rabbits what they need without feeding pellets.

I've done a forage based diet here in Hawaii and it's HARD! lol I spent HOURS each day gathering just the right type/amount to meet the fiber/protein/fat/carb ratio that rabbits need to thrive. Eventually I gave up doing 100% forage and now do a combination diet.

I actually feed NO hay. But I think the average pet owner needs to. I feed a lot of coconut palm fronds and other things that are free to me that act like fiber. Hay is super expensive here in Hawaii. But palm fronds practically grow on trees. hehe


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## NyGoatMom (Jan 26, 2013)

I have rabbits...I have never really delved into their feed...I feed pellets and hay, and occasional fresh treats. They seem ok so far! I would not have guessed it would be so difficult!


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