:) Victory

I've never been so proud to be from Suffolk County, Long Island, NY.

http://animals.change.org/blog/view/the_nations_first_animal_abuser_registry?me=nl

Siamo Tutto Bene

(Title may need some explanation. There's a fairly recent movie called "Everybody's Fine." I started watching it, and realized it's almost the same as an Italian movie called "Siamo Tutto Bene", which means, Everybody's Fine! Must be either a remake or based on the same book or something).

Anyway, i just wanted to check in and let everyone know that really, everybody's fine here!

There were some ups and downs and scariness, but Biffy is all better and we (I) stopped giving him his medication on Thursday. The last few days I used a towel and it helped a lot! I'm not so good at making a secure bunny burrito, but I tried and Biff seemed nice and distracted by taking out his aggression on the towel. He chewed the towel and I really think it helped keep him calm. At some points, he'd clamp down on the towel like a baby's binky. (Get it? Binky?)

He seems to be feeling fine, although from the medication dripping down, he has a big ol' mat right at the bottom of his whiskers and it might be bothering him, I'm not sure. I'm afraid to try to cut it out for him, though.

Sogna's good too, although right around the time of stasis they both started a massive shed. So, Sunday morning, I got the old pen, locked myself in it with Sogna, and the furminator, and the brush. I was in there an HOUR with her, and she's still shedding like a beast. But I let her go, because I think an hour was quite enough for her. Then repeated with Biffy, although I wasn't in there as long with him because he doesn't shed badly, and he was done when he was done for the most part.

So now, the buns are mostly back to their studies. Midterms are this week, and the first draft of their final paper is due Sunday. Ahhhhh!!!!! (Midterms don't count, nor does the first draft, but it's a whole heck of a lot of work and it just keeps increasing...)

Wish me luck!

Stasis Update

First of all, thank you all for your support and indispensable advice. This blogging community has been invaluable to me in more ways than one, and I feel privileged to consider myself a part of it. I honestly never would have thought I would have so many wonderful friends who I've never even met, who care so much about my bunnies, or that I would care so much about all of yours.

Biff is doing great. He's back to his normal energy level and appetite. He runs towards his food, and gave quite a chase this morning when I tried to wrangle him to give him his medication. He's even enlisted the help of the Sogna girl, who gets in between us when I try to catch him, and has been giving me so much attitude on behalf of Biff that you'd think she's the one I'm picking up and syringe feeding!

I called the vet yesterday morning, to ask how long I should continue to give him his medication, since he was already eating Saturday night. They said at least two more days.

I would like to ask for just one more piece of advice. I can't get Biffy to swallow his medication. I squirt it into his mouth, he drools it out. Of course then it gets all over him, and he spends the next hour or two cleaning himself. So I'm sure he's getting most of it into his system. Is that OK? Good enough? How do you all get your buns to lick swallow their medication when they don't want to? I thought it might help if I administered his medication with him securely on the ground, thinking maybe he's too uncomfortable to really eat anything. Of course that doesn't work, because if he's on the floor, he doesn't stay still and I can't get it into his mouth. And it's easier for him to run away. Please share your thoughts.

Thanks again, from the bottom of my heart, and Biffers asked me to thank you for him too!!!

Our First Emergency

My sweet little boy didn't come out of his cave for breakfast yesterday.

I tried putting his food near him, because it's unusual for him not to run for breakfast, but he pushed it away. Tried giving him an Oxbow Papaya Tablet as a treat, but he didn't take it. Parsley, no.

At first I thought maybe he just wasn't hungry, breakfast was late and encroached on naptime. But he never refused food before. And he was still pooping like a champ.

So I went out, got a pineapple to juice, a feeding syringe, and a thermometer, and came back. He was hiding under the bathroom toilet and wouldn't come out.

When I picked him up, he didn't struggle at all. I held him for several minutes without a kick. This was definitely NOT my normal healthy boy.

His temp read 99.2. I thought, that couldn't be right. So I tested the thermometer on Sogna. 102.4. So, if anything, the thermometer was giving higher readings, not lower. (Although, at our last vet visit, they told me to keep an eye on Sogna because her temp was a little high, but she was perfectly healthy. So I think she probably just runs high.)

At this point, I panic. I have no medications whatsoever in the house, because the buns have never been sick before. At least not since Sogna was in foster care.

I called the vet, who closes at 5, at about 4:30. I explained the situation, and asked whether I should wait til the morning or come in now. They said, you could get simethicone and try to get him through the night, but, "you know with rabbits, they go fast." Ahhh. Ok, will you stay open for us? We're on our way.

I packed up the whole family (Jon to drive, me, the patient and Sogna for moral support), and headed to Brooklyn. The nearest vet is 20 min away.

I'm not going anywhere.

We got there, and I tried to read the thermometer over the tech's shoulder. Looked like something in the 96's or 98's but I'm not sure. Definitely bloated in his upper GI tract, more towards his chest where I didn't think to look.

They checked his teeth to see if that was the problem, but they said his teeth looked perfectly normal. I guess his molars have somehow ground themselves down since our last visit.

So, not knowing the source, they gave him IV fluids and a Reglan injection. Sent me home with meds. Reglan and Simethicone 3x/day, critical care 4x/day, call us if it gets worse.

They said it was good that I recognized a problem, the fact that he was still pooping means that we caught it early before it got more serious. Man was it serious to me.

I'm calling the ASPCA

Biffington does NOT like to take his medication. The only thing that he doesn't seem to mind is the Reglan, I guess it's yummy. I guess part of the problem is that I have to hold him to feed him. And Biffers is NOT a bunny who likes to be picked up. He started eating last night, (not back to normal just yet), so hopefully we won't need to medicate him much longer and we can leave him alone.

So, he gets his meds and critical care, doesn't swallow them, and spends the remainder of the day cleaning the mess off of his fur, until next dose.

Biff is only 2 and a half, and has never been sick before. I know stasis can happen at any time for any reason. I guess I just thought I had more time to enjoy them being healthy.