Hi everyone,
As a few of you may remember, I had questions a few weeks ago about fostering this rabbit that I had been watching during a pet sitting job. Determined to get him out of the pathetic conditions he was in, I ended up fostering him. Simon has been at my house for about two weeks and I am working with a rescue to hopefully get him adopted soon.
Things seemed to be going well with him and he has been very happy to get out of his cage and run around, which I think he hasn’t been able to do in a year or more. One of my main concerns when I was watching him was that he looked like he had the slightest case of head tilt, almost non-existent. My vet wasn’t convinced there was anything wrong with him and I was okay with that. Whatever kink I was seeing, it’s not there any more and it makes me wonder if the combination of his inch-long curled claws and supporting himself on the flimsy, bowed-in shelf he had with his previous owner had thrown everything out of whack, much like what happens to us with heavy back packs or bad posture. There were times that he seemed to stumble, but then there would be days where I wouldn’t notice anything. I was hoping that between the “bad posture” and the fact that he’s lived almost his entire life in a 3×1 cage, his muscles haven’t really been used properly. His eating and drinking are normal and now that he knows what leafy greens are, he eats those with gusto and searches for more.
Things seemed fine so I took him in to get neutered and he’s been recovering nicely at home. Eating and drinking is normal and his litter box training is slowly getting better. After a day or two of recovering I let him out to get some exercise and there were times that he seemed to almost lose his balance and then he would correct himself and act like nothing was wrong. During this time he was also more willing to lay down at my side and let me pet him than attack me or get into trouble (yay for no more balls). I was wondering then if his little stumbles just had to do more with being sore than anything else. Last night though he was so happy to be out that he did a full body shake and rolled over. It was the only incident of the night and he was out for a few hours, though I was not watching him the entire time.
So my questions after this very long drawn out story:
1. Does this sound like early stages of an ear infection/ head tilt? Something worse? Or is it possible that he is just a little on the clumsy side? Compared to Jaedan, there’s a reason why I (affectionately) named him Simple Simon.
2. Has anyone had similar instances when it came to rescuing a neglected rabbit?
3. Did I possibly make things worse by having him neutered and stressing him out?
4. I have specific clothes and shoes that I wear only when I am interacting with Simon (sitting on the floor; cleaning his cage and litterbox; any close interactions) I make sure to wash my hands after each visit, but there are times when I just go in to give him something or say hello and I am wearing normal clothes and often times the dog and cat follow me. If it’s a bacterial thing, could we be possible carriers and spread it to Jaedan?
I do plan on getting in touch with the vet, but I can’t do anything until tomorrow. I’m a little stumped, frustrated and paranoid at the moment. I can’t figure how much is paranoia, how much is optimistic thinking, and how much is a real problem. I feel like I bit off more than I could chew in terms of this foster.
Any help would be greatly appreciated and thank you for taking the time to read this long post.