My Bunny Dinah

Question
Okay so I have a rabbit named dinah and she is a American dwarf rabbit or something rather... and she is very skinny! barely eats and eyes are always slowly closing half way.  Her poop seems to be fine/ normal. One of the only ways she eats is if i sit near her and tell her to eat... i also don't think she gets enough water... I can't afford a vet but I don't want to loose her! HELP>?!


<3- jill

Answer
Hi Jill,

you need to get her to a vet, period.  She's your pet, she depends on you totally to give her the care she needs.

I have no idea what you are feeding her but I bet it probably is not correct.  She needs to be eating hay the most, over anything else.  Hay keeps the gi tract working and is what pushes ingested hair through her so it doesn't form a hairball.  Rabbits can't vomit, so she can't get rid of it like a cat.  They need hay to get the hair through them.  Good timothy hay, fresh smelling and green.  Oxbow is a great brand.  They also have orchard grass hay which is also excellent.  every once in awhile you can give her some alfalfa hay along with the regular hay.  Not too often though as adult rabbits can develop kidney stones/bladder sludge.

You can afford it.  Many vets will work out installment plans over a period of months if money is an issue.  Vets are animal lovers as well, they would not go through 8 years of schooling to become a vet if they didn't love animals.

You also need to adjust your budget to set aside money for your pet.  You need to be able to set aside enough for a yearly general exam, and at least one other unscheduled exam (ie a problem).

To get the most out of your money, keep overall costs down, and also the best care for your rabbit, you need to go to a good rabbit vet.  Good rabbit vets will not waste your money trying potential solutions that will cost you but not work.  Experienced rabbit vets will be better at diagnosing/recognizing and treating problems, which means bunny gets better with the right treatment, and because you get the right treatment the first time, you aren't paying more than you absolutely have to.

To find a good rabbit vet, start here:

www.rabbit.org/vets/vets.html

to find a House Rabbit Society-recommended vet near you.

And again, most vets will work with you if you can't pay all at once.  You have to ask them about this beforehand.  

It may be a good time to look at you budget and see what is going where.  You may find that there are luxuries that you can do without, or that you are paying for things you don't need anymore, and shift that money into your rabbit responsibilities fund.  Otherwise, if you really find you can't adequately take care of your rabbit, you may need to consider that having a pet and taking care of their basic health needs (regular and/or unexpected), at this time, is not something you can do.

Lee