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HELP! Sick rabbit

1K views 16 replies 4 participants last post by  robin416 
#1 ·
I have a 5ish year old Holland Lop buck. He's had health issues his whole life, but lately they have been bad. I know he should probably see a vet, but I'd like to avoid that if at all possible because we just went and bought a bunch of stuff for our animals.

1. One of his testicles are like 3 times bigger than the other, swollen for sure. Really not sure what. Cancer?

2. He also has had diarrhea, he's had it a few times before too.

3. He has severe dandruff. I've looked at it really closely, and so has a vet tech (relative) and can't see mites.

4. He won't put weight on. He's living on mainly oatmeal, and a bite or two of pellets/hay/veggies/black oil sunflower seeds occasionally.

5. He also has ear mites, but I've got them under control.

His diet is mentioned above, I'm not sure what to do. He was given Ivermectin orally this spring, and topically like 3 weeks ago. I was limiting his oats, but I really just gave up and let him have as much as he wanted so he was at least eating and somewhat comfortable. He's my first rabbit, and a favorite in our family. (Not a breeder/show rabbit or anything). Any advice on what to do?? I hate to take him to a vet but I suppose maybe I could if he really needed to, just want to see if there is anything else I can try first. Can't find much online. Any help would be very much appreciated!
 
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#2 ·
Oh- I forgot to mention. He also has issues hopping, his hip has gone out before. Took him to a chiropractor and that helped some, but I think he's mainly just old.
 
#4 ·
I would take him to a vet if he was a pet.I bet that swollen testicle is very painful,maybe the reason he's not hopping right.Severe pain will keep them from eating and moving too much.You might get lucky and neutering him might solve all his health problems.Take him to a vet.
 
#5 ·
Thanks. I'll call a vet asap. Someone told me they won't neuter over 4 years of age, he's 5. So not sure what they will do, but I'll call.
 
#8 ·
OK- I do have another question, but it's not enough to make a discussion over it. If this were your rabbit- what would you do? I have an American Chinchilla buck, and I'm thinking about bringing him in the heated garage for the winter. Here in MI, sometimes it gets down to -40some degrees and I feel that would be entirely too cold for a rabbit, no matter the cage conditions. Currently he has a big 8 foot long by like 2 1/2 foot wide hutch outside, but would it be better to leave him outside for the winter, or bring him inside the heated garage (50ish degrees) in a large dog crate? The size is obviously significantly different so not sure on what to do. I don't have any other larger cages that can go inside the garage. I don't want to bring him in the garage in the middle of winter, when it's -40 outside and 50 in the garage. Advice is appreciated :)
 
#9 ·
I am sorry about your rabbit. Sometimes we just can't save them.

With the chinchilla, I don't like the sound of -40 degrees. I guess what I would do is offer some warmth, and watch the behavior. I'm sure you can see if the animal is cold and suffering. It might be okay to leave him out for a few hours during the day , but at night, I would have my pets not suffering from the cold.
 
#10 ·
Currently it's about 40-50 degrees here so he's fine for a few more weeks. The only problem is, I don't like bringing them in when it's that cold and putting them back out in it. Temperature stress- as rabbits can have trouble regulating their body temperature when it gets too hot. I guess I will leave him out with TONS of straw- and if it gets too cold I'll bring him in for the rest of the winter.
 
#13 ·
Our hutches are kinda out in the middle of our yard, so we can't really do heat lamps. In the past, we have given them about 2 bales of straw each (we literally stuff their hutches) and they make tunnels all around. Just didn't know if that would still be too cold. So far, we've brought them in if the weather was too bad but I wanted other rabbit people's opinions. Apparently they can tolerate 'quite cold' but so far I haven't found an actual number on what they can be out in.
 
#15 ·
Wild rabbits can withstand extreme cold.Hunting season doesn't even start until it gets cold because the rabbits can have weevles(sp?).Like Robin said,I think wind would be your biggest concern.Do you cover the sides and top?The rabbit hutch I see w/ the heat lamp has the lamp pointed at the nest box.It is in the middle of a yard,too.
 
#16 ·
Ours has a top but no solid sides. Its not too far away from the chicken coop so it gets some wind protection but not much. We live in the middle of a bunch of fields so it is always SO windy at our house. If the news says 20mph, we'd count on 35mph or more.
 
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