Pet of the Month – April 2019

There are numerous things to celebrate in April: Easter, spring is (sort of) here, and Tax Day. We want to add our April Pet of the Month Rini to the list! Rini is a rabbit, so she’s a serendipitous choice for April. She was adopted in 2012 by Amie and Jonah after they realized their male bunny, Red-who was adopted by the family after he hopped into their yard-needed a partner. They instantly bonded and are truly in love with each other, though Rini is still the boss.

​Rini loves to dig and chew on everything, especially paper towel rolls and phone books (she may be the only living being still excited by phone books). She also loves to run short sprints and binky around when she’s in an especially good mood. According to Amie, her feistiness adds so much to their family. Her favorite treats are bananas and apples.

It was after she refused these treats recently Amie and Jonah knew something was wrong. They first took her to the Emergency Veterinary Hospital of Ann Arbor because it was after hours and they understood time is imperative when it comes to rabbits refusing to eat. The emergency hospital noted Rini’s molars had points on them and it could be causing her inappetence. The pain caused by the points makes it uncomfortable for them to chew their food which could lead to gut stasis. She was first treated with medication and syringe feedings of a special diet to get her gut stasis resolved. After an exam at our clinic to ensure she was stable, we set a date to trim her molars under anesthesia to help prevent a relapse. Once the points were trimmed, Rini came out of anesthesia ready to eat! She started eating hay shortly after waking up and even ate some banana later in the afternoon. She’s been recovering well at home because Amie and Jonah intervened quickly when they noticed she wasn’t eating.

*Rini is a very busy bunny and doesn’t have time to sit still for very many photos.