guilty

[Ester Yeh]

i had one of the worst shocks with my bunnies today.  I was feeding simba and nala ( my new baby lionheads) when my other rabbit, whom i mostly call "bunny" , escaped from his pen and i coudlnt shoo him away fast enough cuz i had my hands full and he managed to grab hold of Nala.  I had read up on what to do when this happened so I thought if something like that happened i would be prepared..however, it scared the bejeezes out of me and i panicked.  I stupidly grabbed hold of bunny and tried topull him away from her but instesad ended up dragging her into the air too.  Thats when she started screaming. I dont remember how he let go of her. But that scene has been replaying in my mind all day…I"Ll never be able to get her screaming out of my head. When I checked her out afterwards..the white lining part around her eye ( dont know waht thats called…eyelid?) was pink .  But other than that she seems like she’s ok.   I feel so incredibly stupid and guilty.  She has an appointment for the vet tomorrow at 2 30. Hopefully she’ll be fine. I will definitely take more precautions with them to make sure that never happens again…

[Gina Won]

ohmygosh!! *cries too* i know how distressing it can be if you suddenly think you caused your bun bun any trauma or difficulties but it’s a learning experience… extremely painful and frightening, i know, but it has value also… as long as nala is okay in the end and now we know more about how to prevent such a scenario it’s all going to be okay… give her lots of snuggles and kisses (as i’m sure you already are!) to reassure her that things will be okay and that your love will make everything feel better soon.

a semi-similar scenario happened at my house when floppy ferociously leaped out of her x-pen in a fit of jealous rage and tried to attack little seamus. he was daintily frolicking around the family room when apparently floppy had had enough and jumped off of the roof of her cardboard house and went after shamie like a lightening bolt. i had stepped out briefly but came barrelling back in as soon as i heard a commotion… floppy had shamie cornered after what looked like a fast and furious chase. he was frozen with fear and floppy looked just about to pounce. i ran in, picked her up and put her back in her pen (needless to say i removed the cardboard house!) and then went to tend to shamie. he was frozen like a stone statue and had a little puddle of pee-pee near his rear (he was so scared that he had piddled himself!) as well as a few fecal pellets he let fly during the struggle. poor babe. i spoke to him softly and picked him up and as soon as i did so he started breathing heavily, audibly. i think he was holding his breath while he was frozen scared! after about 15 minutes of kisses and cuddling he calmed down and then i put him back in his house for the night. luckily, no one was physically hurt, just a little traumatized…. but nonetheless it was a VERY close call, so now i’ve learned not to put any tall boxes in floppy’s pen. her new cardboard house is quite low. =)

[BinkyBunny]

OH how scary. Those little rascals are experts and slipping by us.  So quick, so quiet when sneaking out!

 I know that must have been terribly upsetting. I am so sorry!  And like Ligeia said, it’s a learning lesson. 

We’ve all been there!   Many years ago when I was first learning about rabbits I had a real scare too.

My learning lesson was allowing bunnies who weren’t bonded to be separated only by an xpen.  Well, my poor bunny got her eye and lip ripped up by another bunny.   She got her lip sewn back together and her eyelid was repaired, and they work like normal now,    But talk about guilt!!!!!!! 

People are always amazed when I tell them how ferocious bunnies can be to each other.  

So take a deep breath, and know it’ll be okay.    This experience will just help you advise others.  Some people think they can just put bunnies together and it’ll all be roses and sunshine.

Don’t be too hard on yourself.  It’s just one of those things we learn from.  You are a good bunny mom!

So whats the update after the vet visit?

[Ester Yeh]

owww…that sounds so painful!  But thanks so much for the support and kind words.

I took all three of my buns to the vet the other day.  Nala has a cut right above her eye that was oozing before we got there. the vet cleaned it up and said that her conjunctivitis was inflammed and that if it’s still oozing later to buy this ointment that will need to be applied daily.  So far I haven’t seen any oozing so thats good and she’s acting like her normal self so thats good too.  Vet also said she needed to gain some weight so i’ll be working on that too. and Bunny also got treated for ear mites because his ears had gotten crusty and i had thought it was because I cut his nails wrong and that he scratched his ears and bled and then scabbed up.  But turns out he has ear mites and i have no idea where he got it from! he had that problem before i got the lionheads so i know he didnt get it from them. And he’s never been around any other animal! So all three ended up getting the Ivomec shots.  The lionheads didnt have them, but it was to help prevent it.  It costed me 260 which took a huuuuuuuuuuuuge huuge hit out  of my bank account especially since im a poor college student . 

This was my first visit to the vet so I dont know what the normal procedure is.  But the vet would take my buns into a different room one at a time to examine them while i stayed in another room. I didnt ask but I thought you would be able to be in the same room with the buns while they were being examined.

[Ester Yeh]

oh and i forgot to mention that Simba had no problems.  He weighted in at 3.5 lbs and Nala at 2.7 and Bunny at 4.11

[BinkyBunny]

I have never heard of a vet taking the bunny in another room, UNLESS, it was just to do a test.  But you mean you were out for the whole thing?  I have never heard of that.  Just so you know a normal vet visit goes like this:

You are put into the examine room with your bunny.   A vet tech comes in and takes your bunny’s temperature.  They will also weigh your bunny, but most of the time they have me help.

Then, the vet comes in, and will sometimes retake the temperature, and then listen to you, and then examine your bunny while you are in there.   If blood must be taken, or some other intrusive test, then sometimes, the vet or the vet tech will come in to take your bunny into the back.  It’s usually about a 10 minute wait.  Then they come back, the vet goes over with you the assessment and treatment while you are with your bunny.

It’s so unusual that the vet just took your bunnies. 

I hear ya about the expense part!  I actually have VPI pet insurance, and I sing their praises because they have saved me so much $$.  I pay 11.50 per rabbit per month.  The only thing that don’t cover is parasitic illness, which may include mites.  

As far as where he got the mites  from – were you around any animals?  It’s possible that you could have brought them in on your shoes, clothes hands, But depending on how long you have had him, he could have had them before, but mites are not so obvious until they get worse.  

I am so glad to hear though that bites or cuts were not  severe and no abscesses formed.  I was worried that when you said "oozing" that an abscess formed where the cut was.  Those can be serious if not treated right away.

Did the vet say why he was so thin?  Did the vet just say he needed a more calorie rich diet or was the vet worried about an illness?

[Ester Yeh]

Her eye seems fine now..no oozing at all.

And with the vet situation…i actually didnt even meet the vet until after the whole thing.  I just talked to her assistant who took each bunny one by one into the back and then brought them back to me. Then at the end, the vet came out and introduced herself and talked to me a little about what was going on with the buns.  The only thing she did in front of me was give Nala and Simba the shots.  She said she already gave Bunny the shots in the back.  And all she told me about the weight situation was "Nala can stand to gain a little weight" . That was it.

And that pet insurance sounds very interesting.  I think i need to get myself some of that haha =D

[BinkyBunny]

Well, just my own opinion – but I think a vet should be a little more involved with the animal’s human. 

So were you just waiting out in the general waiting area the whole time?   If so I can’t imagine that would encourage you to ask more questions.  Seems so distant, and I would also want to see how the vet handles my bunnies.   

Just so strange to me.

[BinkyBunny]

Well, just my own opinion – but I think a vet should be a little more involved with the animal’s human. 

So were you just waiting out in the general waiting area the whole time?   If so I can’t imagine that would encourage you to ask more questions.  Seems so distant, and I would also want to see how the vet handles my bunnies.   

Just so strange to me.

[Sarah Jones]

i’d also wonder why some were given shots out back and some not. what if you got diddled and she dind’t give the shots!

try another vet, even vets who don’t know much about rabbits usually make you feel better by having you in the room. my vet got his little rabbit book down and went through it saying what might and might not be wrong. i think i was swindled, but i was there for the whole thing and had input. it makes you feel much better!

[Ester Yeh]

yea i thought about the possibility of her not having given the shot too..but his ear is almost 100% better now so she obviously had given the shot

[Ester Yeh]

im going in for another round of shots next tuesday

[Ester Yeh]

http://www.xanga.com/new_obsession

go there for bunny pics!

[BinkyBunny]

New Obsession – Cute site!

[Author]

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