My bunny, Judah...

[RamonaAnne]

Some of you all know that I have a male Lion Head Rabbit named Judah...

I got Judah at an animal swap day at Tractor Supply Company...I paid $5 for him and he might not have even been 8 weeks old when I got him...(Please forgive me, NN'ers!!!...I didn't know much about rabbits when I got him...) :shuffle:

Judah has always had really smelly urine...Sometimes it was almost sickening....

On Wednesday I cleaned out his cage, petted him, picked him up, rubbed his belly a little, looked at his feet and went to work...He looked just like he always did...

Thursday was a really long day for me and I didn't do much with him Thursday night when I got home...I just opened his cage and petted him and let Nina (my cat) in to play with him for a little while...

Last night (Friday) I picked him up and was rubbing his belly when I saw them...Two big brown-ish things...And then I noticed he stunk really badly...and so I kind of looked around a little near his reproductive organs and saw this reddish-blackish thing kind of "inside" next to his bunnyhood...

I started crying, thinking he had a horrible bladder/UTI of some sort, and thinking how I should have taken him in a month ago when I first thought there was a problem, and I was praying he was going to make it through the night...

This morning I get up and the big brown things were still there...they looked smaller, so I thought "maybe the thing I removed last night was plugging the pee and now he was able to go some more..." but still I was careful not to get my hopes up too high...

I was supposed to go to a leadership meeting at my church this morning...

Instead I packed up my little guy and drove him to Maine to a vet's office that handles rabbits...It was an hour and a half away from home...And it was snowing...Not terribly bad...But it was still snowing...

I take him in and explain what was going on, and telling them I thought there was blood in his urine and why I thought that was happening....

The vet tech. takes him and looks him over and then the vet comes in and looks him over...and...everything was FINE!!....

Apparently rabbits can quite literally grow balls overnight...And that's just what my little guy did!....

And the reddish stuff?...apparently it's a build up (and it's normal!) from some glands he has...I think they might be scent glands...and apparently female rabbits find it very attractive...

I can laugh at the whole thing now because I think it's quite hilarious...Now that it's over with!!...

And yes, I AM going to bring him in to get neutered (especially now that his testicles have dropped!...) as soon as I can set the money aside...

Have a great weekend, everyone!

-Ramona Anne

 

[hawk]

Ramona I'm glad he is alright. What a surprise huh!! So are his new uh um spheres functional?

 

[RamonaAnne]

Hi Hawk,

Yeah, it came as a bit of a shock to me...

I think they're functional...He's 8 months old now and the vet said he was sexually mature...

Not that I plan on getting another rabbit any time soon. but just on case something comes up (like, the opportunity to foster one!) I am going to get him neutered...

Plus it will help keep him mellow...Sometimes when they reach a certain age and the testosterone starts kicking in, they can get a little (and sometimes a lot) aggressive and can start biting and I don't want that to happen...

 

[hawk]

Hi Ramona,
Have you posted any pics of Judah (btw I like his name)?

 

[CMDRTED]

Well trying to not laugh, OH well heck: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[R Taft]

I am glad he is OK

 

[RamonaAnne]

Well trying to not laugh, OH well heck: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, don't worry about that...I lauhged quite a bit after I knew he was okay!!...

 

[RamonaAnne]

Hi Ramona,
Have you posted any pics of Judah (btw I like his name)?

Thanks, Hawk...Judah is Hebrew for Praise...When I got him, one of my brothers was in the hospital having brain tumors removed...He wasn't doing very well AT ALL for several days after the surgery...His whole left side was paralyzed and even the doctors seemed to be concerned...

The very day I got him, my brother was actually sitting up in the hospital bed and I was even able to talk to him on the phone...

The night before, thngs were still looking grim for my brother...So I thought that was a good reason to offer praise...

And also in the Bible God/Jesus is refered to as the Lion of Judah, and since he's a Lion Head bunny, I had kind of wanted to give him a lion type name...Aslan didn't really work...And then I thought about it some and Judah just seemed so very appropriate...

And no, I haven't posted any pics yet...I will try to do that somewhere with faster internet...

 

[RamonaAnne]

I am glad he is OK

Thanks! I am too!

 

[lotus]

Some of you all know that I have a male Lion Head Rabbit named Judah...

I got Judah at an animal swap day at Tractor Supply Company...I paid $5 for him and he might not have even been 8 weeks old when I got him...(Please forgive me, NN'ers!!!...I didn't know much about rabbits when I got him...) :shuffle:

Judah has always had really smelly urine...Sometimes it was almost sickening....

On Wednesday I cleaned out his cage, petted him, picked him up, rubbed his belly a little, looked at his feet and went to work...He looked just like he always did...

Thursday was a really long day for me and I didn't do much with him Thursday night when I got home...I just opened his cage and petted him and let Nina (my cat) in to play with him for a little while...

Last night (Friday) I picked him up and was rubbing his belly when I saw them...Two big brown-ish things...And then I noticed he stunk really badly...and so I kind of looked around a little near his reproductive organs and saw this reddish-blackish thing kind of "inside" next to his bunnyhood...

I started crying, thinking he had a horrible bladder/UTI of some sort, and thinking how I should have taken him in a month ago when I first thought there was a problem, and I was praying he was going to make it through the night...

This morning I get up and the big brown things were still there...they looked smaller, so I thought "maybe the thing I removed last night was plugging the pee and now he was able to go some more..." but still I was careful not to get my hopes up too high...

I was supposed to go to a leadership meeting at my church this morning...

Instead I packed up my little guy and drove him to Maine to a vet's office that handles rabbits...It was an hour and a half away from home...And it was snowing...Not terribly bad...But it was still snowing...

I take him in and explain what was going on, and telling them I thought there was blood in his urine and why I thought that was happening....

The vet tech. takes him and looks him over and then the vet comes in and looks him over...and...everything was FINE!!....

Apparently rabbits can quite literally grow balls overnight...And that's just what my little guy did!....

And the reddish stuff?...apparently it's a build up (and it's normal!) from some glands he has...I think they might be scent glands...and apparently female rabbits find it very attractive...

I can laugh at the whole thing now because I think it's quite hilarious...Now that it's over with!!...

And yes, I AM going to bring him in to get neutered (especially now that his testicles have dropped!...) as soon as I can set the money aside...

Have a great weekend, everyone!

-Ramona Anne

Glad he's ok...we love Lionheads, have 3 dutch does and one white lionhead..my blue lionhead who was the sweetest die this past summer

 

[newfx's2]

I too am glad he's ok. Right now we only have one Lionhead. In the past we've had a Rex, Dwarf & Holland Lop (bought together) and now this Lionhead.

 

[RamonaAnne]

Glad he's ok...we love Lionheads, have 3 dutch does and one white lionhead..my blue lionhead who was the sweetest die this past summer

Hi Lotus,

Sorry to hear about your sweet Lion Head...It's always sad to lose a fur kid -- no matter how big or small!...

What is a blue?...what do they look like?...

I chose Judah because he was different than the other ones they had for sale that day....The others were either white, brown, or other solid colors...Judah's kind of a mix...His chin, chest, shoulders, and belly are white...(though he has three grey/brown spots -- one right in the middle of his chin, and two on either side...he's almost symmetrical!!) ... and the rest of him is greyish black....And he has a little white blaze in the middle of his head...

I'm awfully fond of my little guy...He seems to like me pretty well, too...

Is it okay if I send you a PM with some questions I have about hairball prevention, diet and things of that nature?...

I've looked online for some info on Lion Heads...Haven't found much, and want to educate myself as much as possible...

I'll try to post some pics later of him and Nina, my cat...

Best to you,
-Ramona Anne

 

[RamonaAnne]

I too am glad he's ok. Right now we only have one Lionhead. In the past we've had a Rex, Dwarf & Holland Lop (bought together) and now this Lionhead.

Thanks...I was SO relieved to find out this was all just "normal" stuff!!...

I did feel a little silly afterwards at the vets office...Much better, though, to be safe than sorry!!....

I didn't even realize, at the time, that there were so many different breeds of rabbits out there...

The guy my nephew & his wife got their angora from offered me one (or more) of his rabbits that he's willing to give away to good homes...

I might possibly get a friend for Judah...but only AFTER he gets neutered...

 

[newfx's2]

Thanks...I was SO relieved to find out this was all just "normal" stuff!!...

I did feel a little silly afterwards at the vets office...Much better, though, to be safe than sorry!!....

I didn't even realize, at the time, that there were so many different breeds of rabbits out there...

The guy my nephew & his wife got their angora from offered me one (or more) of his rabbits that he's willing to give away to good homes...

I might possibly get a friend for Judah...but only AFTER he gets neutered...

My daughter's Lionhead was a girl Alice. Like yours, his testicles didn't drop for quite some time. Alice was jet black w/ white feet as a baby. Now he's turned black, blue gray and light gray. He's a big boy! I'd like to get another true Dwarf someday.

I hope you don't mind me jumping in about the diet. We keep Alice on a high fiber diet to prevent any hairballs. Timothy Hay is always in his cage. Besides his kibble diet, he gets a variety of veggies. A little alfalfa is ok, but it's very rich.

I'd love to see pics of yours. Are you on FB? I'm sure a have a pic or two of the rabbits in one of my albums.

 

[urneighbour]

I love the stories that end with a big sigh of relief and a little chuckle. I do have a questions for you though....did I understand you correctly - your cat and rabbit enjoy playing together? That I would love to see!

 

[chumleysma]

I found my rabbit in the woodpile one winter. He was tan with long ears, so I knew he was not wild...must have been dumped or a "runaway." He just loved me, kept running circles around my feet, then spraying me with this awful urine that smelled like body odor. I had him neutered and all that has stopped. The vet tech told me to try cheerios (Oats), they're his favorite. Anyhow, I think you will see a nicer rabbit once neutered.

 

[Clifford the big dog]

So (hee hee) sorry (hee hee) that you had such a scare(hee hee), but very happy Judah is a healthy(hee hee) male. Sorry can't help but laugh.
My last rabbit was a lop ear and you could not tell if he was a male or female, nothing showing. My neice had a rabbit we had given her for a present. A neighbor who had a pet store assured them hers was a male. Well after the 2 of them got together it was hers that had the baby bunnies, that was how I knew I had a male. He lived to 13 years old. I never knew any others that lived so long. His name was Winnie after Winnie the Poo poo poo, since that is what rabbits do best.

 

[KodysGrandma]

Wow I thought my mixed rabbit that lived to 8 1/2 was doing pretty well, so did our vet. 13 that absolutely amazing. I am going to have to google "lionhead" to see what they look like. Can sort of picture it of course but would like to see for sure. A friend's rabbit saved her life a few years back. House caught on fire, smoke alarm had no battery (her BAD!) and the rabbit woke her shaking the cage so hard. She, the dogs and the rabbit got out. So even the tiniest pet tries to look after us.

 

[Shel]

Ramona Anne, I'm so glad Judah is okay. We use to have a sweet Holland Lop, her name was Samantha until "her" testicles dropped, :crazy: than she became Samson.

That's not my only blunder either, :shuffle: I took my Dane puppy to the vet fearing he had a tumour on the side of his penis. My vet took one look, laughed, :LMAO:then said, "You haven't had many short-haired male dogs have you?" :!rolling:

 

[RamonaAnne]

My daughter's Lionhead was a girl Alice. Like yours, his testicles didn't drop for quite some time. Alice was jet black w/ white feet as a baby. Now he's turned black, blue gray and light gray. He's a big boy! I'd like to get another true Dwarf someday.

I hope you don't mind me jumping in about the diet. We keep Alice on a high fiber diet to prevent any hairballs. Timothy Hay is always in his cage. Besides his kibble diet, he gets a variety of veggies. A little alfalfa is ok, but it's very rich.

I'd love to see pics of yours. Are you on FB? I'm sure a have a pic or two of the rabbits in one of my albums.

Oh, dear...Alice was an Allen (or an Albert?!) all along?!...Yikes!!...

I had NO idea about males being so smelly...But I knew females could get pregnant...so I asked for a male...and he was, by far, the most mellow AND the most adorable...Two things in one!!...I looked first for the mellow factor...The cute factor was just icing on the cake, as it were...

Yes, I am on FB... Ramona Anne Dube...Current profile pic is of a dog winking...He belongs to my friends, but since I'm "Auntie Ramona" I take and post pics of their dogs...There are some of their Newfies in my "The Dogs" album...

Just mention that you're from NN when you send the friend request...I generally try to be careful who I add (despite having a lot of friends on there...)

I'll have to post some pics on there, too, of my rabbit...There are some pics of my current cat, Nina...(and possibly some older ones of my first cat, Sox, but I don't really remember...)

Uhm...How big is "big" ?...(What a good question to ask Newfie owners!!...Ha ha ha!!...) Judah weighed 2.8 today...and he's about 8 months old...I was told they don't get any bigger than three to four pounds...

I always have timothy hay in there for him...and he likes to eat his pine shavings...I haven't been feeding him as many fresh veggies...but I have been giving him fruits...He loves apples and bananas...This time of year, we mostly use frozen or canned veggies...It's hard to find good cucumbers in the stores, especially when you're used to fresh off the vine, garden fresh!!...This time of year, I really do tend to eat more fruits than veggies...I will have to make a point to get some veggies for my little guy!!...

Are there any veggies or fruits they sholdn't have for various reasons?....

He did eat a cranberry the other day...My mom was making cranberry apple relish and dropped one on the floor...So I rinsed it off and fed it to him...He LOVED it....

I heard papaya has an enzyme that will help break up hair and allow it to pass more naturally...But I'm not sure how much truth there is to that?...

I'll have to make sure the next food I buy him doesn't have a lot of alfalfa in it...

Maybe I can even get some good quality bunny pellets and start mixing it together so he's not taking in so much alfalfa...

The vet said his bladder is really good and he was a very clean and healthy rabbit...I want to make sure I can keep him as healthy as possibly for as long as possible...

By the way -- do any of you rabbit owners do anything to keep their teeth down?...Judah's are fine for now...I'd like to know what I can do to keep them that way...He LOVES to chew on toilet paper and paper towel rolls...and his pine shavings...and his water bottle spout (that's a little annoying in the middle of the night!!)...and anything else that's remotely cnew-on-able!!...(including my shirts and sometimes even my hair...) Good thing he's so cute...

I was going to have them filed next week at another vets office that is much closer to where I live that I know handles rabbits...but the vet in Maine said that wasn't necessary yet, and would just be counter productive...

So....Do I just keep letting him chew on the things he's chewing?...

And the other thing is...He doesn't just chew the toilet paper and paper towel rolls...he also *eats* them...and also he eats other cardboard...I figure it's "okay" since some pet stores sell cardboard box chew things with treats inside of them...

And for all you "floof" fans out there, you'll be glad to know Judah has "floof" that sticks up right between his ears...Sometimes it just sticks up...Other times I have to take my fingers and "brush" it up...I call it his Newfie look...

Hee hee!!