1165. Sunday Sep 29, 2013's interesting cases

1.  I was surprised to see the young couple from Tampines as they had brought in their rabbit for treatment of scabies after purchase and I did not expect to see them again since many Singapore pet owners go for proximity and Tampines is a 20-minute drive to Toa Payoh. 

"How long did it take the rabbit to recover from the scabies and ear mites after the injection?" I could see that the rabbit is fully cured. They had bought the rabbit with scabies in the ears, nose and paws and had consulted me some weeks ago. The rabbit seemed to have changed coat colour as I remembered he was grey and not brown. I wondered if it is a replacement rabbit. I have a video of it as it was used as a case study of the Lemon Law by Intern Terrence. The video is "Lemon Law for diseased/defective pets in Singapore" and is at:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHXcYlGmvOI&feature=youtu.be



"We complained to the Seller. He sent the rabbit back to the breeder who kept him for 3 weeks before returning to us!" the slim young lady said.  

"Did you use a pee grate and tray for this rabbit's toilet?" I noted that the rabbit has urine-stained fur in the lower part of the four feet. 

"No," the slim young man said. "We used one but it was so small in area that the rabbit stepped on it and peed outside the tray!  So we put the brown cat litter pellets at one corner of the playpen and he would go above the cat litter to pee and poop."

"That explains why he has four paws urine stained. There should be a larger grate like the plastic one in your rabbit carrier you are carrying your rabbit to the vet. In this way, the urine can flow through onto the cat litter which would be enclosed by the tray. Go to the pet shop to buy one pee tray + grate for puppy toilet training. "

"The reason for the urine stain could be that we have not placed sufficient litter and so he stepped on the urine. We find it very difficult to wash off the urine stains."

"I will get the yellow urine-stained hairs cut off. Also the matted hair near the scrotum. It is important that your rabbit be free of urine and matted hairs, otherwise he may become sick."

The couple purchased a puppy grate + pen when they come to collect the rabbit at 4 pm. I asked Dr Daniel to hold the rabbit for them to check the absorbable stitches after neutering by Dr Daniel to make sure there is no bleeding. They were quite happy.

"Place urine-stained litter inside the tray and smear some smell at the corner of the grate," I advised. "Usually the owner will spread all litter covering 100% of the tray. You may find that the rabbit pees out of the tray as he has no clearance of the non-urine-stained area."  The couple wanted to cover the whole tray with cat litter but this may not work as the rabbit may pee outside the tray owing to his positioning.

It was great to see this rabbit again and I did take some images. Certainly he looks like the same rabbit that had gone to live with the breeder for 3 weeks to get cured but it is hard to tell since there is no micro-chipping in rabbits! The couple was inexperienced in rabbits and so a replacement rabbit will be the same as the other one.