SERIOUSLY? The dangers of... Orchard Grass.....

[dayna]

Yeah. I figure if an animal can hurt itself on it, I'm the lucky owner. I've had parrots get stuck in "parrot safe toys" a large goat get stuck in a CAT CARRIER (yeah I wish I had taken a few seconds to video that one, but I panicked and got her out quickly).

And now I have a rabbit that got his leg wrapped up so badly in orchard grass he can barely walk. This is the angora I rescued (gee I bet he's thanking me NOW grrrrr) So I put orchard grass in last night. I don't use a hopper for him because he has such a hard time getting around, I wanted to make sure he has easy access to his food....

DOUBLE GRRRRR


I go out this morning, he's just laying there. I think oh he's so cute! Go about my chores.

I walk by later, still laying in the same place (learned my lesson on a pet not moving when my macaw was stuck in a toy and I thought he was just playing with it a lot!). So I went to investigate further.

DARN RABBIT. He had somehow managed to wind his back foot up sooooo badly I couln't get the hay off! Coupleed with the fact that he tried to CHEW the hay off. Chewed his hock sores on that side pretty badly.

So I grabbed him out of the cage, hay noose and all and plop him on top of his cage and take a couple photos.

After taking the photos, I toss him into my utility sink. For his second bath this week... I've been bathing his hind end since he can't clean it, and he can't keep it clear of the ground. Its made all his sores heal up much better. He only has the hock sore on that HAY side now. I wonder if it might have been mostly healed except for the chewing... I used the scissors to cut off as much as I could, then bathed the rest off, working it out with my fingers.

Anyway, I decided since he's such an agreeable bun to see if he would tolerate my high velocity dryer.

And he did! Really well!

Here he is all fluffed up and dry.

And since it's sunny and frankly he can't get too far, I put him in a makeshift play yard to munch some grass and "recover" from his bath.

His leg/back problem is obviously worse now. I'm not sure what to do...

 

[Devon's Mom Lauren]

We had a rabbit that did that, thought the same; how cute and he's just shy.. we had just got him a day or two before. Turned out he was in the "rolling" stage of E.C. Never showed actual head tilt but he did manage to wrap himself up pretty good in his wool and hay as well. He was never able to move his hindquarters after as well and he passed away shortly after.

 

[dayna]

Just in case it's some sort of parasite causings issues I gave him a pretty decent dose of Ivermectin both orally and topically.<br /><br />__________ Thu Oct 31, 2013 11:46 am __________<br /><br />Oh and this guy has had leg/back problems his whole life. As far as I can tell around a year. He has a very clear bump on his back where I'm fairly certain it was broken.

 

[TheLittleBunny10]

poor little guy
he looks so fluffy though
I won't be using orchard grass any time soon

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Whoa! :shock: Poor bun!

I love that first photo after his blow dry. He looks like he has a mohawk!

 

[Secuono]

Love the mohawk!

Hope he gets better soon!

 

[Honorine]

Had this happen in the past with a load of grass hay I bought, something in it was long and woody and did a number on one young Mini Rex. His foot was blown up and blue by the time I caught it, deep cut where the hay/nasty weed cut into his leg. He survived, and healed, much to my surprize. Then had a Silver or two do the same, less damage, and I got rid of the hay. Never had a problem since, I can see how an angora could have problems with just about any hay, try cutting it into 4 inch lengths so it can't wind around him, thats what I would do. Poor fellow.

 

[Zass]

I had NO IDEA hay could be dangerous, and by the sounds of it, it's happened to more than one person. I'll have to be carful with my hay in the future...

 

[dayna]

I had no idea either. I can't tell you how surprised I was to see HAY of all things cause damage to a rabbit externally.

 

[DogCatMom]

1) Poor guy! He's dealing with a lot! (and so are you, bless you...) He looks LOADS BETTER, though, since he came into your hands. :clap:

2) Orchard grass hay is what Parsley Graybuns gets (in his food and on the ex-pen floor, and in his "fresh food" bowl, and...just about everywhere except his litter box, where I use timothy hay, because I'll be !@#$&*@#$% if I'll pay $$$ for orchard grass for him to pee/poo on when I can pay $ for timothy for the same purpose). But the orchard grass hay I get is quite short. Very short. I don't think it would be possible for any rabbit, except a very young kit, to wrap these pieces of orchard grass around a body part. Most of the pieces are 2 to 4 inches (4 to 10 cm) long. Period. Are there different methods of cutting it in different parts of the country/continent?

Hope everything works out for him. How is the Angora girl who came to you at the same time?

 

[dayna]

The girl, Margie is doing great! She's put on about a pound of weight and is a solid brick of adorableness.

He's doing a lot better. He's kind of covered in dirt so I'll brush that out tomorrow, he was running around the front yard today... He can't get far an I have a fenced yard so I was not really that worried. lol

The orchard grass I get is 12+ inches long. Its really really long. So I gave him alfalfa since his issue. I will cut up some for him, none of the other rabbits have had any issues.

 

[CochinBrahmaLover]

1) Poor guy! He's dealing with a lot! (and so are you, bless you...) He looks LOADS BETTER, though, since he came into your hands. :clap:

2) Orchard grass hay is what Parsley Graybuns gets (in his food and on the ex-pen floor, and in his "fresh food" bowl, and...just about everywhere except his litter box, where I use timothy hay, because I'll be !@#$&*@#$% if I'll pay $$$ for orchard grass for him to pee/poo on when I can pay $ for timothy for the same purpose). But the orchard grass hay I get is quite short. Very short. I don't think it would be possible for any rabbit, except a very young kit, to wrap these pieces of orchard grass around a body part. Most of the pieces are 2 to 4 inches (4 to 10 cm) long. Period. Are there different methods of cutting it in different parts of the country/continent?

Hope everything works out for him. How is the Angora girl who came to you at the same time?

The hay cutting varies per farmer & field. If a farmer is cutting for sheep, it'll be shorter. For cows, it'll be longer. You don't want a lot of hay sticking out the animals mouth - more waste. So if its goat quality, it'll be shorter. If its horse quality (which is what rabbits need - according to what I've been told on pet forums, though) then it'll be longer. If its meant for rabbits, then a second company likely will process it smaller. Like those bags of hay / alfalfa for rabbits - likely it came from the farm long, then the 2nd company cut it shorter.
So it varies, and it varies even more if your buying goat hay, horse hay, sheep hay (well sheep hay & goat hay is the same pretty much)

ancake:

 

[dayna]

I buy the only available hay at the feed store.

1 large bale of Orchard Grass
1 large bale of Alfalfa

Those are my two options. lol They don't have different sized cuts for different animals here. Just a one for all.