Broken bunnies
Both my bunnies are broken, in different ways.
Joop has a horrible ear infection and his inner ear was all full of very smelly pus. I thought he was a bit quiet, then I noticed that his face had sort of gone distorted, so one side was puffed out. He has had an anti-inflammatory injection, is on Baytril and has to go back on Weds. It's a bit worrying that it was so hard to spot this until his face actually became distorted, as I'm sure it must have been painful before that.
He also has dandruff, which I originally thought was down to mites, but the Ivomectin treatment doesn't seem to have helped. The vet wants to sort the ear first, and can see that's the priority, but I'm a bit concerned there may be some condition or weakness lurking. I think he's also lost weight (not in itself a bad thing, as he has been a bit porky recently, but I'm concerned that again, there may be something going on there. )
Baytril seems to be helping, and I think the face is less distorted today.
Note to self: SirParsleyowner suggests try cat stronghold for mites. Ask vet about this.
Ash has not really got over her E. cuniculi problem - her back legs are still very wobbly and she is horribly thin and not keeping herself clean properly. She seems to get about, but I feel quite embarrassed and upset about the state she is in: if I didn't know her, I'd think she was an abuse case. She got caught up in some hay recently and I'm worried that I didn't spot this straight away: I checked her from above, but I didn't realise her feet were tangled, and I have to admit, I have no way of knowing that she wasn't stuck like that for a day or so. I've started her back on Panacur, and will check her feet every day.
You would think a rabbit would be able to free itself from a strand of hay, but she is quite weak so maybe not.
She is dribbling a lot, and when I closely observed her eating grass, I noticed she was mangling some of it and dropping quite a bit of it. She seems to be able to manage carrot and apple more easily but is still not putting on weight.
I'm sure those teeth must be wrong, though so far 2 vets have said they are fine, I am advised (not by my vet) that the only way to be sure is an X ray so I think I may have to don my Stroppy Pet Owner hat. Or perhaps see if I can find a rabbit specialist vet, though god knows where: I've tried 2 practices now and this one is better than the last, but I do get the impression that they are used to owners that will not spend money on rabbits, and possibly aren't suggesting things as they don't expect me to be willing to pay for them...
Note to self: Ask about teeth X ray for Ash on Weds.
EDIT: second note to self: ask vet about Lapizole, apparently this is a more effective treatment for e. cuniculi than Panacur (at least for some cases).
This morning, I went out with a handful of carrots - no Ash. Not in the house, not in the run. She had vanished. I'm looking under the boxes and straw to make sure she hadn't buried herself, but no.
Run in circles for a while wibbling about disappearance of rabbit.
Finally, notice that Joop has now also vanished. He was there a minute ago - where has he gone? Remember the old burrow that they haven't used in years? He's dug it out and BOTH my broken bunnies are sitting in it! Yes, my thin manky, disabled rabbit with the dodgy back legs has climbed out of the rabbit house, across the run, and put herself at the bottom of a dark muddy hole!
I think this may be some sort of 'stop giving us medication' protest...
I put her back in the house, but she was out again sunbathing this afternoon.
I'm not 100% sure she can get back into the rabbit house at the mo, or not easily anyway, so I have just helped her back in as the sun has gone round a bit. Her feet are a bit soggy now, which is probably not a good thing, but on the other hand, eating grass, moving in and out of the house, and sunbathing probably is a good thing...
I have not managed to catch her actually walking for several days, but I keep finding her in different places, so unless she has a teleport, she is getting about somehow...
Neither of them is eating much of the Burgess Excel rabbit food at all at the moment. I am not really filling up the bowl: they just pick the carrots and apples off the top.
Joop has a horrible ear infection and his inner ear was all full of very smelly pus. I thought he was a bit quiet, then I noticed that his face had sort of gone distorted, so one side was puffed out. He has had an anti-inflammatory injection, is on Baytril and has to go back on Weds. It's a bit worrying that it was so hard to spot this until his face actually became distorted, as I'm sure it must have been painful before that.
He also has dandruff, which I originally thought was down to mites, but the Ivomectin treatment doesn't seem to have helped. The vet wants to sort the ear first, and can see that's the priority, but I'm a bit concerned there may be some condition or weakness lurking. I think he's also lost weight (not in itself a bad thing, as he has been a bit porky recently, but I'm concerned that again, there may be something going on there. )
Baytril seems to be helping, and I think the face is less distorted today.
Note to self: SirParsleyowner suggests try cat stronghold for mites. Ask vet about this.
Ash has not really got over her E. cuniculi problem - her back legs are still very wobbly and she is horribly thin and not keeping herself clean properly. She seems to get about, but I feel quite embarrassed and upset about the state she is in: if I didn't know her, I'd think she was an abuse case. She got caught up in some hay recently and I'm worried that I didn't spot this straight away: I checked her from above, but I didn't realise her feet were tangled, and I have to admit, I have no way of knowing that she wasn't stuck like that for a day or so. I've started her back on Panacur, and will check her feet every day.
You would think a rabbit would be able to free itself from a strand of hay, but she is quite weak so maybe not.
She is dribbling a lot, and when I closely observed her eating grass, I noticed she was mangling some of it and dropping quite a bit of it. She seems to be able to manage carrot and apple more easily but is still not putting on weight.
I'm sure those teeth must be wrong, though so far 2 vets have said they are fine, I am advised (not by my vet) that the only way to be sure is an X ray so I think I may have to don my Stroppy Pet Owner hat. Or perhaps see if I can find a rabbit specialist vet, though god knows where: I've tried 2 practices now and this one is better than the last, but I do get the impression that they are used to owners that will not spend money on rabbits, and possibly aren't suggesting things as they don't expect me to be willing to pay for them...
Note to self: Ask about teeth X ray for Ash on Weds.
EDIT: second note to self: ask vet about Lapizole, apparently this is a more effective treatment for e. cuniculi than Panacur (at least for some cases).
This morning, I went out with a handful of carrots - no Ash. Not in the house, not in the run. She had vanished. I'm looking under the boxes and straw to make sure she hadn't buried herself, but no.
Run in circles for a while wibbling about disappearance of rabbit.
Finally, notice that Joop has now also vanished. He was there a minute ago - where has he gone? Remember the old burrow that they haven't used in years? He's dug it out and BOTH my broken bunnies are sitting in it! Yes, my thin manky, disabled rabbit with the dodgy back legs has climbed out of the rabbit house, across the run, and put herself at the bottom of a dark muddy hole!
I think this may be some sort of 'stop giving us medication' protest...
I put her back in the house, but she was out again sunbathing this afternoon.
I'm not 100% sure she can get back into the rabbit house at the mo, or not easily anyway, so I have just helped her back in as the sun has gone round a bit. Her feet are a bit soggy now, which is probably not a good thing, but on the other hand, eating grass, moving in and out of the house, and sunbathing probably is a good thing...
I have not managed to catch her actually walking for several days, but I keep finding her in different places, so unless she has a teleport, she is getting about somehow...
Neither of them is eating much of the Burgess Excel rabbit food at all at the moment. I am not really filling up the bowl: they just pick the carrots and apples off the top.