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Last Updated: 1/17/08

Photos
Story

I accidently took a short video of Harry. You can see it on my videos page.

Photos

Photos are listed from oldest to newest.

Harry in the bathtub on 2/1/06.
The cat carrier Harry lived in previously taken 2/1/06.
Harry in his new cage on 2/1/06.
Harry's left side on 2/4/06.
Harry's right side on 2/4/06. You can see some of his white patches.
Harry, Sweetie, and Mr. Tiny (left to right) on 3/18/06. There is a video from then too on my video page.
Harry in the bathroom on 12/24/06.
Mr. Tiny and Harry in the bathroom on 12/24/06.

Harry in his hutch on 4/29/07. He is always trying to get away!

Harry in his hutch on 1/13/08.

Story

A relative asked me a few times in early 2006 if I would take in another rabbit. Since I am swamped with animals and work, I referred her to the House Rabbit Society. She never went through with that, and somehow, I ended up with another rabbit. My relative got the rabbit from other relatives of hers who had neglected the rabbit. I named him Harry. Harry was kept in a dark 12" by 21" cat carrier with a broken door for one or two months. He was fed mostly carrots and not a good diet. They were afraid to touch him. I estimate him to be 3 to 5 months old but probably 4 months old, being born in early October, 2005. I got Harry on 2/1/06.

Once I got Harry, I examined him. He is about 3 pounds. Harry is a semi-dwarf rabbit but not a Netherland. He is probably a mixed breed. His fur is a slightly brindled chocolate with white patches on the chest and legs in an uneven pattern. His ears are slightly lopped so he may have some lop in his genes. His coat, ears, eyes, teeth, and anal glands all seem fine. He has a round stomach so I do not know if it is bloating or just a lot of food since my relative was feeding him some pellets and hay the week before I got him so he had to stock up. I gave Harry a bath to remove the yellow stains on his feet and clean him up. I trimmed his nails. They were sharp but not too long since he is still a baby. One dew claw was just starting to become ingrown.

I put him in my largest indoor rabbit cage which is just 35" by 19.5" but still 2.7 times the room than he is used to. The first night, he ate lots and drank 200 mL of water and peed intense orange pee from all the B-carotene in the carrots. I will not feed him carrots for a while as he could be suffering from Vitamin A toxicity which damages the skin and brain. Despite his previous life, Harry's behavior so far seems completely normal. After his first pee on the floor, he now pees in the CareFresh in the litter pan but prefers to scatter his poo around the bare floor of the cage so I have to sweep it up twice a day.

Harry had a vet appointment on 2/3/06. The vet agreed with my assessment. Harry is a healthy buck about 4-months-old. The vet said he is my healthiest rabbit. So, neglected rabbits seem to do better than ones I thought were not. The vet felt his joints which should have been abnormal if he just got carrots but they were not so he must have had some pellets. He is not gassy, just full of food. He is eating and drinking a lot. He was 2.9 pounds on their scale. I gave Harry a few drops of Bene-bac for good bacteria that day.

My last guinea pig, Fritz, died unexpectedly on 3/11/06. I put Harry in her Hagen Zoo Zone 2 cage. It has about 10% more surface area than the cage he was in but less height. The dimensions are 20" x 39.25" x 14.5" high. The reason I prefer it though is that it has plastic shielding around the sides so Harry can kick the CareFresh and poo balls but they bounce back in. I took away his favorite ledge (does not work with the Zoo Zone cage) and litter pan. I filled the entire Zoo Zone with CareFresh and left the guinea pigs' wooden box house in there. Harry can squish inside it and squish on top of it with no room to spare. He loves to move it and flip it and dig the plastic cage floor up (he may make his way through yet). I took out the litter pan because he just kept moving it. Although he was pretty good about putting pee in the litter pan in the cage he was in, he put almost all his poo on the bare cage floor. So, I figured I would just layer the entire cage with CareFresh and change it twice a week.

Harry was neutered on 4/11/06 without incidence aside from peeing in the carrier and all over. He is up to about four pounds.

On 4/22/06, I noticed his left incision did not look right, apparently still bleeding, and there was a white patch which could have been an infection. I got him to the vet on 4/24/06 (cannot get a weekend appointment). The vet stuck a Q-tip all around his privates and said the white stuff was fibrous tissue and not pus but that since it was not fully healed, he would give him some liquid Baytril for 10 days. He should have been healed but was not. The vet also noted his right side was open. I told him it was from the beginning. I thought that the wound was open but the vet said no, he used glue so it had come open be accident. That side was really purple at first but was healed by this visit. Harry was up to over 5 pounds! He is taking his bubble gum flavored medication okay once I get him out the cage. I am sure many a wild rabbit has encountered bubble gum in their natural diet.

Harry continued to grow, a lot! He is good at making messes and throwing things. Sweetie has a problem with feces so I have brought her to live inside to keep the flies off her. On 7/9/06, I spent two hours scrubbing, scrapping, and disinfecting her wood floor hutch. I then put Harry in there, instantly having him have 2.5 times the room he had. The hutch room is 12 square feet (4' x 3'). He has enjoyed running and hopping which he could not do in the tiny cage. I used velcro with adhesive to hold down his litter pans which he likes to throw. He does not like the heat (90 degrees F for a high all week). He has been in there for four days now and is barely touching his pellets, water, or hay. He is eating most of the fruits and vegetables. I hope I made the right choice. I installed a perch for him. Mr. Tiny in the right room has one too. If they are both on their perches, they can see and smell each other and maybe even touch whiskers. When I put them together to play inside on Saturdays, they show no interest in each other at all! Mr. Tiny will dig up the rug but Harry will not do much of anything.

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