Saturday, January 30, 2010

COW ISLAND....yay! shedding like a banshee....nay.



we have our first advertiser, Cow Island....welcome! what a lovely site he has. maybe if we're real nice to him he can conjure up some bunnies visiting the cows. maybe i'll send him a link to our cow videos. i am so relieved to see such talented and tasteful advertisers! now that i've checked out Project Wonderful, it seems all their ads are just as lovely as can be. thanks jade for the recommendation! we're anxious to see how it goes.

on the other hand bells is shedding like crazy. we know how that goes....poor bells, he hates it. with the shedding comes the threat of GI stasis, a nerve wracking time to be sure. whipping out the kit: papaya tablets, pumpkin puree, unlimited hay as always and unlimited bunny runaround as always....infant gas drops don't hurt either, and hopefully this goes without saying but whatever you have to do, once you see those spiky little tufts coming up (like in our header image), remove all that shedding fur. we had to resort to cisapride a couple of nights ago. drastic times call for drastic measures, just in case ya'll dont know about cisapride it's an intestine motility drug and if you end up getting your hands on some be sure your bunny is well hydrated first. subcutaneous fluids may be in order if it's gone on for a while. i believe if you administer cisapride without thorough hydration it could lead to kidney failure. D moll correct me if i'm wrong about that please. something failure is a danger, pretty sure it's kidneys. finally i got him jump started, that was after a very scary 14 hour battle with it...these bunnies, Lord have MERCY!

8 comments:

tfangel said...

Every time i see that shedding bunny butt up there, i want to give it a grooming. ;)

Something that i do when the shedding rolls around (feels like all year at times) is give them romaine lettuce. My vet said it's not for nutrition, but it acts like a helper to move things through. It's almost all water, but since i've been doing it they haven't had the clumps or too firm bellies.

Too much though and they can make a mess. ;)

Ann (bunnygirl) said...

I've been lucky with my bunnies. I've never had one who had any health issues as a result of shedding. Instead, the problem is all mine as I have to keep cleaning up all that fur everywhere!

d. moll, l.ac. said...

I think Alice has made an interesting point about movement, when a horse has colic the first thing you do is walk the animal to increase blood flow. Likewise there is a recent study in humans that basically says we are not designed to sit as much as we do and modern lifestyle of such causes all sort so of health issues from hemmoroids, to various bowel and organ diseases. I had a bun, Bandit who couldn't eat hay, she ate, to her great delight, canned organic pumpkin, stasis was not one of her problems. Errr, not sure about the kidney failure and dehydration with Cis, at an electrolyte imbalance.....Congrats on Cow Island....

Annette Tait said...

Arabella is shedding too though she has her fleece sleeping/watching nests around the floor so most is stuck on them. Fleece is great to catch the loose fur. The rest of the time I have a grumpy bun as I pull tuft after tuft from her peplum, her haunches, her forehead! :)
there is a saying over here 'ne'er cast a cloot 'till May is oot'
(don't take off any clothes until May is over - wonder why we have shedders in January?)
glad to hear that Bells is better. Nothing worse than an ill furry.

Jade and Mickey said...

Oddly enough, Mickey's shedding is finally slowing down. He's been a constant source of excess fur for months. It's taken a Furminator, a slicker brush AND a flea comb, but it's looking like I'm getting a respite for a bit--at least until things warm up and it starts all over again.

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Malcolm Russell said...

We were told to feed Jellybaby Pedialyte to keep the electrolytes up during times of dehydration. It comes in fruit flavours. The recommended the apple one. She liked it.

Michelle May-The Raspberry Rabbits said...

Oh the shedding season. Uggggg... Hang in there Belly. Auntie loves you!