Some background information so you understand the position we are in. We are an early thirties/late twenties couple a little over one year into our first owned home. It has not been an easy year to say the least. Our home is very old and a lot of the cosmetic renovations done before we signed were installed to hide house defects (such as asbestos flooring, plumbing issues and crumbling wall). My fiancee was laid off briefly at the start of the year and it really hurt us financially. Several minor/major animal emergencies, human medical emergencies, care repair and surprise home renovation bills later, and we were just starting to get back on track. We were able to start setting up appointments to get our rabbits spayed/neutered, and I began work on the finished basement so they could have a spacious new playroom to themselves (we were blessed with a very warm and dry basement, full of possibility). But then our water heater failed. We live in New England, and our heat is radiator steam heating. It was simply not an option to ignore it with winter coming up fast. Purchasing and installing a new one, plus the removal of the old one (plus getting our boiler room up to the code we didn’t know we were violating) ended up destroying our financial recovery. We’ve had to work with our mortgage company to set up a payment plan to avoid foreclosure, and all sorts of bills have gone delinquent. Why am I telling you all this? Maybe this forum is different, but with the year we’ve had, having a bunch of well-meaning animal lovers lecture us on how we shouldn’t keep animals we can’t afford to vet is just too much. We are responsible hard working individuals utterly devoted to our companion pets, and this situation we are in could not reasonably have been planned for.
Our english spot, Janeway, was adopted from a local pet store. Our rabbits are largely rescues- we purchased Janeway because we noticed that she had a horrible face injury, a result from an encounter with an aggressive adult rabbit. No one wanted her, and after watching her sit and wait while her brothers and sisters found homes, we took her in. She was only our second rabbit, and we did not know anything about rabbit wound care beyond basic first aid. Through cleaning and antibiotic ointment her injury healed, but in its place she developed three cheek and dewlap abscesses. There is only one exotic animal vet with rabbit experience in our state. The surgery and aftercare (her wounds were stitched open and we had to flush them out daily before they could be closed) was very very expensive. It actually kicked off our money problems. The vet thought the abscesses might return, but she healed beautifully. We made sure to check for any swelling regularly, but a year went by without incident. About two weeks ago I noticed a slight bulge under her eye where she had previously developed a abscess. Within days this bulge had swelled to the size of a golfball. Her lower eyelid is actually stretched with the sheer size of the abscess. She is still eating, but she is skin and bones, a skeleton of a rabbit. This happened so rapidly, so unexpectedly, and we have absolutely no way to pay for her treatment. Deferring our mortgage and falling delinquent on other bills has demolished our credit, and we were denied for CareCredit, and virtually every loan under the sun. Our bunny vet absolutely does not accept payment plans, and does not partner with any charities or organizations who could help fund her treatment. State rabbit rescues are not equipped to treat her, and if we surrendered her she would be put down. We plumbed every personal and professional resource we had to get the new water heater installed- had we known this was on the horizon, we would have suffered in the cold in favor of saving her. We love this bun dearly, and we are going to lose her. She has days, maybe.
Does ANYONE have experience where they were able to mitigate the damage and pain of an abscess through some kind of home treatment? I am starting a new job next week, my fiancee is working overtime where she can, and we have a possible holiday bonus on the horizon, but obviously none of this is going to be in time to save Janeway. Alternatively does anyone know of financial help that would be swift and generous? The few programs I could find that were not dog and cat specific do not provide enough to cover the pre-surgical exam, let alone whatever complications would arise from her being so very ill and underweight. We are right now considering taking the extreme financial risk of a no credit-check payday loan, but even that may not be soon enough and if there is anything to be done that could prolong her life, I am willing to try anything. Right now she is getting the proper dosage of baby aspirin mixed with banana to help with the pain. A not exactly recommended avenue of treatment, but the possible complications of aspirin are far overshadowed by her approaching death.
Anything, any advice. Or your prayers, if that is all you can offer. We are preparing for the worst.
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