Category Archives: General Care

I participate in the local rabbit forum and sometimes, I read about new rabbit owners in distress because their rabbits are having diarrhea.

There are many sides to their stories. Some fed their 6 weeks old rabbits fresh vegetable and some just could not differentiate between diarrhea and cecal. Whatever the reason, most of the time, the underlying problem remains the same – the kits were weaned too early.

Some of these kits are packed and sent to pet shops at the tender age of 4 weeks just to maximize their “shelf life”. Yes, the main factor is their cuteness. And most of them have to pay with their lives.

Many unaware buyers get caught in the web of deception because they simply do not know that what looks good on the outside does not necessarily reflect what is inside. This is especially true with rabbits because being animal of prey, they do not normally show sign of weakness and if they do, it may already be too late.

And the most frustrating part is that some owners just sit on their heavy butt and failed to weigh the urgency of the situation. They still post in forums expecting for advice when what they should do is to send their rabbits to the vet right away.

Most of the time I do not even dare to feedback on these posts because firstly, it is difficult to ascertain the real situation through the shallow descriptions given and secondly, I believe they should always consult a qualified vet immediately when their rabbits show symptoms of illness.

The last thing I want is having a dead rabbit because of my recommendations due to my inaccurate assumptions.

But what if all else fails?

If you got yourself a vet whom is only well versed in cats and dogs, then that will leave you with no choice but to try the best to save little bunny. So what should you do?

It is a norm to rehydrate the rabbit the best you could by providing loads of water and stop giving pellets for a day. Provide unlimited hay and only re-introduce the pellets once the stomach stabilized (judge through normal fecal deposited).

Most resources encourage feeding rabbits below 6 months with alfalfa but I notice that some young rabbits do not take to alfalfa all that well. They start to have excessive cecal due to the reason that alfalfa may be too rich for them. I just cannot remember the exact cause for excessive cecal when feeding alfalfa to young rabbits. Someone please enlighten me on that.

I believe the best pointer is always going back to the basics. I normally get idea by reminding myself about how wild rabbits are when they are in the wild. What do they eat in the wild is a good question to begin with.

I always like to conclude that the way to a healthy rabbit is through its stomach. As long as their stomach is in good condition, there will always be binkies.

I started off this post wanting to give a solution for diarrhea but I believe it has been written for too many times and I am not a qualified vet to begin with so I do not think I am in the position advice.

I hope someone can comment and perhaps give their opinion on how to solve a diarrhea problem. Thanks in advance.

Someone asked me in the forum whether I would recommend vaccinations for rabbits. In my opinion, I will only vaccinate any of my pets based on the following:

1) Outbreak of disease
I do not find it necessary to vaccinate rabbits when there is no sign of outbreak. At this moment, there are 2 viruses that rabbits need to be vaccinated against – Myxomatosis & Viral Haemorrhagic Disease (VHD). And touch wood, these viruses have not came into Malaysia, yet!

2) Availability of vaccines
Of course it would not be possible to vaccinate rabbits if the vaccines are not available. Dogs and cats are the common pets being treated and vaccines for these pets are readily available. I cannot say the same for rabbits. And the sad reality is, not many local vets know how to treat rabbits and that alone tells me that they will never spend too much on stocking up on rabbit vaccines.

My conclusion is, I will not vaccinate my rabbits until it is absolutely necessary. I rather take prevention measure like keeping my rabbits free from mites and fleas which are the agent for the above mentioned viruses/diseases.

Ever heard of the saying “The key to a man’s heart is through his stomach”? Coincidentally, this saying is suitable for rabbits too.

The key to a healthy and happy rabbit is to keep his or her stomach healthy. Based on the many articles written on the internet, many have came to the conclusion that adult rabbits must be fed with a high fiber diet supported by 24 hour access to HAY. Hay promotes healthy gut movements.

I would just like to quote a number of articles on the internet that support this high fiber theory:

1) “Pellets should be fresh, and should be relatively high in fiber (18% minimum fiber)” – House Rabbit Society
2) “The best cure for GI stasis is prevention. Be sure your rabbit companion gets plenty of dietary fiber from fresh grass hay. Feed high fiber (22% or higher crude fiber) pellets” – GastroIntestinal Stasis, The Silent Killer by Dana M. Krempels, Ph.D.

I believe these 2 statements from highly reliable resources should be enough to tell us that we must work hard to keep our pet rabbits’ stomach healthy always.

And let’s take a look at the guaranteed analysis of Oxbow pellets:

• Crude Protein min 14.00%
• Crude Fat min 1.50%
• Crude Fiber max 29.00%
• Calcium max 0.85%

*taken from www.OxbowHay.com

A whooping 29.00%!!! isn’t that great!??

Many rabbit owners have encountered a sudden death in their rabbits and normally brushes it off as a shock or heart attack. Little do they know that there were actually symptoms leading to the death of their rabbits. They are just not in tuned with their rabbits’ eating habits. Normally, a rabbit will stop eating and drinking if it has got stomach upset.

Whenever you feed your rabbit, just take note of the amount that you gave and ensure that he or she have not left the food and water untouched. If that happens, quickly pack your rabbit and go to the nearest bunny-savvy vet and tell him or her that you are suspecting G.I. Stasis with poor bunny. You only have 24 hours to save your bunny’s life.

I hope that will never happen to you. You will never be happier seeing poop but count your blessings when you see healthy poop in your rabbit’s litter box!

Lastly, just on the reason why I am heavily promoting Oxbow Products is because firstly, it is the recommended rabbit feed by many and secondly, it is the only good rabbit feed made available locally at the moment. I normally go for rabbit feed of good quality and have a CONSTANT supply. I really dislike having to switch feed halfway through when my rabbits has got used to the feed.

Happy pooping bunnies!

I am beginning to doubt and be skeptical about the age of my imported does. So here I am going on a hunt for some information to ascertain and determine the age of rabbits. I learned quickly that it is merely impossible to determine the exact age.

But I stumbled across an answer that says that we can roughly estimate the age of rabbits by looking at the ears. The more veins they have, the older they are. I am going to give this method a try but how much is many and how much is less?

The search continues…

Anyone with knowledge on this topic please feel free to post your comments.

One of the signs of problem that I always look out for in my herd is the food and water intake. I roughly know how much each and everyone of my rabbits eat per day but I was not sure how much water they should be drinking daily. As it is very subjective and very much depends on individuals, I needed to ascertain a guideline so that I could always have a mental note behind my little brain.

That sent me looking for answers on the internet and I finally got an answer.

Someone has written that the normal water intake for an average mammal would be 90 ml to 100 ml per kg per day. Therefore I would take it as a guide that my rabbits should be taking AT LEAST 160 ml per day because all of them are within the range of 1.6 kg to 1.7 kg.

This is just so embarrassing. I have so much on my mind these days that I really have forgotten some really fundamental things. By blogging this I am ensuring that I do not ever forget this one fundamental thing about rabbits’ diet.

As you have read on my previous posting about Oxbow Products being available here, I was going through their products at the stall the other day and opt for Oxbow Oat Hay to be added to the regular Timothy Hay I am currently giving the buns. SB told me she settled for Botanical Hay instead of the Oat Hay she initially targeted.

I then asked her why Botanical? Then she asked me a question which really struck me and I was actually lost for words. She asked, “What is the reason you give hay?”. Such a simple question became one that sent me scurrying for an answer at the back of my head. I quickly settled for “providing more varieties and tastes for my bunnies?”.

Just like a game show, I could almost hear the “BUZZZZ” indicating a wrong answer. My goodness! How could I get that wrong?

SB always have a good way in helping me remember things. Her words are almost like the POST IT! And she has a good brain retention period for knowledge unlike me because I always flush out stuff on my mind to make room for more pressing issues.

SB said that for her, she opt for Botanical Hay or any hay for the matter is to help the buns have different texture to chew on and that will give a different motion as to how the buns chew. Oat hay is almost like Timothy Hay so a better variety would be Botanical Hay.

I then imagine myself banging my head on this table right in front of me…

There you have it, the basic of all basics the reason why we feed our rabbits HAY!

Other benefits of hay include:

1) Provide roughage and reduces the risk of stomach blockage
2) The chewing motion while chewing allows for wearing down teeth keeping them from overgrowth
3) Occupying your rabbit from chewing your favorite furniture at home the entire day (limiting damages-LOL!!!)