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Celery

22 10:15:58

Question
QUESTION: Dear Dana,
I keep finding different answers on the internet about rabbits eating celery and I don't know what to believe.
I have a 3 month old San Juan bunny and I gave him a tiny piece of washed celery, he loved it. I just don't know if it can cause diarrhea or mess with his digestion. He also loves bananas.
Recently my beautiful girl, Thumper, passed away from gas. We took her to our exotic pet vet and he sent her home with meds, she had GI stasis. We treated her at home but the next morning, she didn't look better so we rushed her back. She had developed gas over night. I am still so sick and heart broken that I could not save her, I miss her more than words can say. The vet said we did every thing right and on time and that he has never seen a better rabbit owner, but the guilt is still unbearable.
I just don't understand why she died and I am petrified that my new bunny will get sick. He eats Timothy hay and pellets.
Please help.


ANSWER: Dear Denise,

I am sorry about the loss of your bunny.  If she developed a true bloat, which is due to a blockage of the stomach, then there was likely nothing that could be done to save her, and it was nothing you fed her or did to her.  Some rabbits have anatomical anomalies that predispose them to this terrible disorder.  I am very sorry the vet could not save her.

For information on safe rabbit diet, please read:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/diet.html

Celery is okay, though better if it's organically grown (celery, being very full of water, has a lot of pesticide residues if it's not organic) and cut into small pieces so that the "strings" don't get caught on the teeth and cause problems.

Hope this helps.

Dana

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Dana,
So, I've come to realize that you're the only trusted rabbit source on the internet. I've googled this question but am still at a loss.
Cocoa will just not stop going poop and pee on the couch. I pick him up when I catch him and put him in his house(cage), but just as soon as he comes out, he's back at it. I tried vinegar, he sniffed, turned around and pooped. I've put newspaper there, he just eats it. I don't know what else to do, do you have any suggestions? I'm getting him neutered in a couple of months and am hoping that will help.
Thumper pooped and peed on my last couches, so much so that I had to get new ones. (i didn't mind, after all, it was her house and i was lucky enough to share it with her:)
But, there's got to be a better way. I do not want a caged bunny, I want to give him as much freedom as possible but he's in his house more often than he's out.
Are there any tricks that I'm unaware of?
Thank you so much in advance!


Answer
Dear Denise,

Aw!  What a warm fuzzy.  :)  But now I must disappoint you.

I wish I could magically come to your rescue here and save your couch.  But I have to be honest with you:  1)  neutering will be essential to his stopping this marking and 2) even neutering might not stop it.

I've had bunnies decide that the couch *is* the litterbox, and what kind of idiot human do I think I am for telling them otherwise?  I have *never* found a way to break them of the habit, short of piling boxes and obstacles on the couch to keep them off.  And that doesn't make the couch very usable.

So what I finally did was pull out the white flag.  I went and bought a water-resistant mattress cover, and put that down first.   Then a length of plastic carpet-protector runner from Home Depot, and put that on the couch seats.  And then I bought 100% cotton, rubber-backed mats (you can get them cheap at Marshall's) and put them down over the runner so the couch is still sittable.

I got plenty of mats so they can be changed out and laundered regularly, and that's really it.  I wish I could say otherwise. But once a bunny has gotten into the habit of doing this, the only thing I've been able to do is physically protect the couch--not break the bunny's habit.

Hope that helps at least save your couch.  

Dana