Missy, Peanut, and Freckles – Spring 2003

This is an old photo, but a favorite and typical of how I used to find these three in mid-afternoon. Snoozing in a pile with little Peanut in the middle of his two *big* girls. Peanut passed away later that year and nowadays Missy and Freckles live apart, but share play times once in a while.

Dora has been back at the vet’s since last Friday. I brought her back because she wasn’t doing well at home. She’s not doing much better there, but they are taking good care of her. I visit every day and bring her special things, like fresh raspberries and dandelion flowers, to tempt her to eat on her own. The vet says he is seeing a little improvement each day, but I can’t see it. She seems to be having good days and bad, like a rollercoaster. I’m hopeful that there are many good days ahead for her. Enough of the bad.

So. I brought Dora home from the vet this evening. She started eating some on her own and making pooties. The vet felt it was safe to let her continue to recover at home. His instructions were to give pain meds and gut motility drugs every 12 hours, encourage her to eat, and syringe feed her as necessary. Giving her meds is not easy and syringe feeding her is impossible – she stresses out too much. I have to sit on her and hold her down to get the meds in her. I’m spoiled by my other bunny who comes running for her twice daily meds, I think. I’ve forgotten how difficult this can be with a rabbit. I’ve put a smorgasbord of favorites in front of her, but all she will eat is carrot tops. Not much of the carrot itself, just the tops. She’s turning her nose up at her old favorite – apples. She’ll nibble politely at red cabbage. Romaine, green-leaf lettuce, endive, dandelions, kale, parsley, cilantro, dill, arugula – no go. Just carrot tops. So. I bought 5 bunches of organic carrots to get us through ’til the morning and am overloaded with carrots. I have a friend who makes a scrumptious carrot cake, I can add a few to chicken soup with matzo balls. What will I do with all these carrots?

Dora is still at the vet’s and will be for a few more days. So long as she continues to improve, I hope to bring her home on Monday evening. My vet recommended surgery on Thursday because she hadn’t shown any improvement overnight and wasn’t responding to medicine. With other bunnies that have had bouts with GI Stasis, I’ve always been very conservative and waited it out. I was terrified of the surgery. Somehow with Dora I was brave enough to take my vet’s advice and allowed him to perform the surgery, called a gastrotomy.

If you happened to read the link in my last Dora post, you might remember that this surgery is considered by many vets to be a last resort. My vet doesn’t agree with that, and feels it should be done sooner, rather than waiting until the bunny is at death’s doorway. So, he opened up her stomach to remove the mass of food and hair and fiber that she couldn’t pass on her own. As it was, her stomach was bloated to twice its normal size and was putting pressure on her other organs. That’s why she wasn’t eating or pooping and was so painful.

You wouldn’t know it from these pics, but Dora is improved today. She was doing normal bunny thiings like washing her face (in the photo above left) and scratching her ears (at right). She ate a little bit of salad and pooped some for the first time since Tuesday. She still needs to be syringe-fed and is getting fluids and pain meds (you should see the size of her incision!), but the docs thinks she is on the mend. Good news!

Dora is at the vet’s tonight.

🙁

I took the afternoon off from work and brought her in to the vet because she’s been acting *off* the last day or two and not eating like she should and not pooping. Bad news for a bunny.

The photo at left is her in her hospital cage zonked out on pain meds. I visited her tonight after my final meeting with students and brought a special salad with her favorite veggies and her toys. All of which she ignored. I hate to leave a bunny in the hospital, especially one as sensitive as my Dora, because being away from home causes its own problems. So a bunny who was not eating well is now not eating at all because she is timid and fearful in an unfamiliar place and is zonked out on pain meds. Pain medication is important for a rabbit who is ill, so I should be glad that my vet is willing to give it, because many vets do not routinely give pain meds to rabbits. Even after spay/neuter procedures – can you imagine? I have to convince myself that the she needs to be there, even if it means that she will get worse before she can get better.

She is being treated for GI Stasis and needs subQ fluids and injectable meds. I’ve done those things at home with other bunnies, but not with a bunny quite like Dora. She’s only been with me for 6 months or so and will not be handled. I can pet her and kiss her and play with her, but heaven forbid I even think about picking her up and she bolts. No way can I hold her down to give her shots, or hold her still for subQ fluids. So I left her there tonight, hoping that the meds will do their work and get her digestive system working properly, so that I can bring her home with me.

Boomer’s favorite pillow 4/25/06

I’ve seen photos of other bunnies snuggling this way and have to say how adorable I find it. It is a little alarming to consider that Boomer weighs about 20 lbs., but Cricket is content to have Boomer nap atop of her, so long as he wakes occasionaly to wash her ears. Once she’s had enough, or can’t hold her breath any longer, she’ll back out from under him. These two are so affectionate with one another – it is a joy to witness the contentment in all their bunny *doings*.

One of our favorite Noo-Joisey bunnies, George from Our Warren, is blogging again at The Hay Diaries. Check it out!