Underground Squeaks

22/01/2025

Whit will be missed by both our personal & rescue family 💔 We are waiting on additional testing to hopefully give us some answers. As we grieve this loss, we also celebrate our time with him 🌈

Pics: Baby Whit 2023 & our last early morning snuggle (forever grateful for those last few days together)

21/01/2025

Post-Vet Update on Whit:

• Initial bloodwork showed anemia - unknown cause; waiting on additional bloodwork results
• Imaging didn’t find any obstructions, bloat or gas, but his gut is moving super slow.
• He’ll need round-the-clock care for a while to combat dehydration, pain, get his gut moving properly, etc.
• Hopefully, the additional bloodwork will give us a better idea of what’s going on.

He’s not out of the woods. But he’s made it this far 💙
(And don’t let the picture fool you. That’s an extra large carrier. He weighed in today at 11.5 lbs.)

Oh, and Mama Butter Pie (named by one of the firefighter’s daughters) and her 3 “Pie Babies” are adjusting to rescue life really well so far 🩷 Pics coming soon…

20/01/2025

Thank you to everyone who has sent rabbit food and other supplies 🥰 As usual, things are super chaotic around here. We had an emergency intake of a mama rabbit with her three newborn babies who were left outside a Pittsburgh area firehouse along with dad & her previous litter (who are now safe with another local rescue).

And today we are dealing with a rabbit emergency. Our permanent resident rabbit, Mr. Whitaker AKA Whit, presented with sudden lethargy, low body temp and stopped eating & drinking yesterday afternoon. We did everything we could do at home last night, overnight and today - fluids, warming him up, pain meds, supplemental feedings and miraculously he made it through the night. We are now at an emergency vet appointment.

We are not asking for medical funds for Whit. Adam & I handle Whit’s medical bills as our permanent resident rabbit, but he could use lots of love & prayers 💙

Whit was the first Flemish Giant that came our way and we were immediately in love. He is not only part of the Squeaks family but he is part of our family. And please give us some time to get caught up on social media updates. We are running on fumes. -Sammie 🩷

14/01/2025

- Update in comments -

- Edited to add a special Thank You to Laura K. for your generous donation which more than covered today’s urgent appointment -

Quick Update: We had hoped to be able to get Lillium’s staples removed at a scheduled appointment later this week. But last night, when doing her evening medicine & treatment, we noticed the area where the abscess and hematoma had been treated is filling up deep in her neck. So we will be heading in for a same-day vet appointment this afternoon.

Please send Lillium lots of love today as we figure out how to best help her 💕

If you’d like to send a donation towards today’s medical expenses, you can find all our donation links on our Linktree (link also in bio): Linktr.ee/thesqueaks

13/01/2025

‼️ We are on our last bags of both Science Selective House Rabbit Food AND Oxbow Adult Rabbit Food ‼️ We were able to place an emergency order for a good bit of needed supplies today, but while House Rabbit is available again on Amazon they are limiting it to one bag per order. We have several rabbits that eat House Rabbit food exclusively for medical reasons. And, of course, we need lots of Oxbow Adult Rabbit food for the remaining rabbits! (We are currently good on young rabbit/junior pellets.) The link to our Amazon Wishlist is on our Linktree (link in post/bios). PM us if you need a mailing address.

💚 Sponsorship Needs: We have five more rabbits going in for spay/neuter this week. We also have seven rabbits going in for vaccines. Links to sponsor are on our Linktree (link in post/bios) Rabbits needing sponsorship are also on our page (see photo albums).

💙 Adoption/Fostering: We are always in need of adopters and fosters. We especially need rabbit adopters and fosters! The links to our Adopt A Pet page, adoption form and foster form are on our Linktree.

🩷 Thank You: As always, thank you for all your help and support! A special Thank You to Susan P. for her generous donation last week which went towards the cost of last week’s eight spay/neuters!!

📸 Pictured: Cosette - one of our special needs rabbits who is also one of the five rabbits headed in to be spayed/neutered this week

07/01/2025

We’ve been so busy with medical cases that we haven’t been able to keep up with social media updates. When push comes to shove, caring for our animals will always take priority. We also haven’t had a lot of time to take pictures documenting everything going on. We will be getting pictures of our newest adoptable rabbit within the next week. We will try to get some candid pictures of the animals mentioned in today’s update as well so you can put faces to the names & stories. Please read all the way through for ways you can help and some a really big thank you.

UPDATES:
🩷 Lillium - Mini Rex; arrived in September with severe dental issues
Lillium had to have four incisors pulled shortly after arriving in rescue. In our last update, Lillium was being treated for a serious tooth root abscess that popped up around Thanksgiving. She had been fully healed until New Year’s Eve when the abscess returned. This time the vet also found a large hematoma below the abscess that had to be addressed. Yesterday’s surgery was successful. She is on two medications for pain control and an antibiotic. She will need to return to have staples removed from her neck where the hematoma was removed. And, of course, we are hoping & praying for a full recovery this time.

💔 Jerry - Standard Rex; arrived 12/18 as a medical transfer
We shared Jerry’s story on Sunday. Jerry passed away after arriving with us as a medical transfer. Please see our previous post for his full story 🌈

💙 Benjamin - English Spot; arrived with Jerry as a medical transfer
Ben is obese which has affected his overall health & mobility. Upon his arrival with us, he also had digestive issues and urine sludge. Thankfully, he is showing signs of improvement all around with treatment on top of proper care & diet.

🧡 Calvin - Checkered Giant; medical transfer
Calvin was also part of the same surrender as Ben & Jerry but clearly Calvin and the fourth rabbit were kept outdoors. They arrived in rescue infested with mites. The mites are gone but Calvin is underweight, has ongoing skin issues that are being treated and some small lumps we are monitoring. Once his skin treatments are completed, we will determine next steps and if this older gentleman is healthy enough to be neutered.

💜 Avril - 1 year old chinchilla
In December, Avril injured her leg. She has always been one of our most wild & crazy chinchillas, but we still aren’t completely sure what exactly she did. But she sure did a good job! She was fine one moment and then dragging one of her back legs a few hours later. Despite being treated immediately and quickly evaluated by one of our vets, the leg ultimately had to be amputated. The vet had hoped she might regain nerve function, but instead it rapidly worsened. The surgery was successful! She is healing up quickly and was able to be reunited with her sister, Renata. Being back with her sister has made a world of difference! And we working to adapt their cage to allow both of them plenty of room to life their best lives while keeping Avril safe from future injury. So far, having three legs hasn’t slowed her down. And that makes our job that much harder 😉

💛 Tom - 2 1/2 year old Flemish Giant; sanctuary with Pasteurella
Following a Pasteurella flare up, Tom was still losing weight and clearly not feeling well. He also had signs of possible dental issues. He saw the vet yesterday and they found a broken tooth which had led to other teeth to become overgrown. The tooth was pulled and the other teeth trimmed. We are hopeful that this will resolve his dental issues. He’ll be on pain meds & antibiotics for a few weeks. He’ll also be getting a urinalysis.

💚 Zelda - young red-eyed white rabbit; medical transfer/pregnancy watch
Last, but certainly not least, is Zelda. Zelda was surrendered to another rescue with an intact male and their three babies. Their owner had been evicted and needed emergency rescue help. Zelda arrived underweight, malnourished and with an active infection due to a wound on her tail. Her heart rate dropped dangerously low while under sedation to treat the tail wound meaning she also was too unstable to be spayed. She transferred to us for medical care and will be on pregnancy watch until January 17th.

UPCOMING…
🐰 1/8/25 We have eight rabbits headed in for spay/neuter tomorrow. And the Berry Babies will be getting their 2nd RHDV2 vaccine.
🐰 1/15/25 We have more rabbits headed in for their vaccines.
🐰 We have at least four more rabbits headed in for spay/neuter in February. We also have a few more vaccines. After that, we have a few more spay/neuters that will be scheduled as soon as those rabbits are cleared for surgery.

NEEDS…
🌟 We still need spay/neuters sponsors. Specifically for the eight rabbits going in tomorrow: Cloudberry, Lingonberry, Mulberry, Bilberry, Dewberry, Boysenberry, Goji Berry and Renny. We also have eleven vaccines tomorrow (which are sponsored).
🌟 While tomorrow’s vaccines are sponsored, we have additional rabbits still needing vaccine sponsors including next week’s vaccines for: Flip, Birkenstock, Frank N. Bunny, Olive, Cosette, Evalynn and Paddington
🌟 We really need Science Selective House Rabbit Food. We have a few rabbit that require this specific food which has been hard to find especially on Amazon. Contact us for a mailing address if needed to send House Rabbit pellets or any other supplies.
🌟 All donation and wishlist links are on our Linktree: linktr.ee/thesqueaks (Link also in bio)

THANK YOUS…
💗 Thank you to Brian & Britt who donated $500 which covered all of yesterday’s vet bill with some leftover for future expenses. AND Britt’s workplace will be matching that donation soon. THANK YOU!

05/01/2025

⚠️ TW: Loss & Neglect ⚠️

I wish we had a better picture of Jerry to share, but he never got better. We threw everything we could at him. The vet threw everything they could at him. But his body wasn’t strong enough to heal and late last night he passed away in my arms. We are happy to have known him. We are happy that he’s not suffering any more. But we weren’t ready to say goodbye.

Jerry was approximately six years old and arrived in rescue in rough shape. Due to his medical needs, he transferred to us along with two other rabbits from the same surrender. There were originally four rabbits surrendered, but one of the rabbits passed away less than a day after arriving in rescue due to neglect. Calvin, who is also approximately six years old, arrived with serious skin issues. He has seen the vet and is undergoing treatment but may require skin biopsies in the future if the issues don’t resolve. Ben, who appears a bit “younger”, arrived obese and has had both serious digestive issues and painful urine sludge. Thankfully, he is showing signs of improvement with treatment.

Back to Jerry… Jerry had severe sore hocks. All four of his feet were damaged and causing him pain. He was treated for respiratory symptoms. He was also losing weight and having digestive issues that despite all our efforts we weren’t able to fully resolve. He required round-the-clock treatments and care. We had hoped we could get him stabilized and manage his health issues & pain. But, unfortunately, it was too late. Due to long-term damage from improper care & diet, his body couldn’t recover. He was such a distinguished gentlemen with the kindest of hearts. Even in his most painful and/or uncomfortable moments, he was distinguished & kind.

We have lots of other happenings including other ongoing medical cases, but today we pay tribute to Jerry. He deserved so much better, but at least his final weeks were in the love & safety of rescue 💔🌈

-Sammie



Added Note: Please. If you have or plan on getting a pet, let’s do better.

💚 Educate yourself on proper care and do your best in providing that care to them. Reach out to rescues for resources on proper care and vetting.

💙 Get them to a vet as soon as possible at the first signs of health concerns. Don’t wait. If your pet is considered an “exotic pet”, find an exotic vet. Need recommendations? Reach out to a local rescue for help finding an exotic vet in your area.

❤️ And if you’re in over your head or find yourself needing help with your pet, reach out to a rescue or shelter sooner rather than later.

💛 Also, be aware that almost all animal rescues and shelters are currently full (if not over capacity). So plan accordingly.

We can do better. They deserve better

30/12/2024

Guess who got adopted today? Gloria & Meathead 🙌

💜 We love celebrating adoptions!
💜 We love when bonded pairs get adopted!!
💜 We also love when “special needs” animals get adopted!!!

Congratulations, Gloria & Meathead! Congratulations to their new family!!

26/12/2024

💙 Update: Home with Jerry. Round-the-clock meds & treatment. Imaging didn’t find any obvious obstructions or masses. Waiting on bloodwork results. Today’s vet bill totaled $534.80 for the urgent appointment, imaging, bloodwork, meds & fluids 💙

At the vet with medical-transfer Jerry who arrived with respiratory symptoms, severe weight loss, stomach upset and gas/bloat in addition to being an older gentleman with horrible sore hocks, arthritis and more. He was one of four rabbits owner-surrendered to another rescue. One was in such horrible shape, she passed away less than a day after arriving in rescue. The surviving three transferred to us which is part of why we’ve been so quiet. We have a lot of medical animals right now!

Jerry gave us quite a scare over the Christmas holiday so here we are trying to get to the root of his most pressing issues and figure out a treatment plan.

Please send Jerry your well wishes & prayers. (Include Ben & Calvin, too, who are currently stable but are facing medical challenges as well.)

More medical updates coming soon but, in the meantime, if you’re able to send funds towards Jerry’s care (and medical care, in general) you can find all our donation options in our linktree: linktr.ee/thesqueaks

All the event funds have already been used towards emergency amputation surgery last week for one of our chinchillas, Avril. Told you it’s been wild & crazy! That story & more soon

22/12/2024

Three event days over two weekends with two days of Santa photos!

THANK YOU to:
💚 Steel City Craft Emporium steelcitycraftemporium
❤️ willowandwhiskersphotography
💚 Santa
❤️ Our amazing volunteers who helped at the event and/or behind-the-scenes caring for the animals
💚 EVERYONE who supported us!

🥁 In total, we brought in…🥁

🎄 $613.50 🎄

22/12/2024

The winner of our December Sponsorship Giveaway is Susan P! Thank you to ALL our spay/neuter & vaccine sponsors! Susan, your e-gift card is on its way and we will get the Oxbow gift basket to you soon

https://app-sorteos.com/w/N5NKJ2

15/12/2024

🎅 Pictures with Santa: Part Two - TODAY 🎅

❤️ Bring your small animal or dog to get their picture with Santa (register using the QR Code)
💚 Kids can get their picture with Santa (no registration needed)
❤️ Don’t have a pet to get pictures with Santa? Have your picture taken with one of our adoptable animals and Santa (no registration needed)
💚 Have a guinea pig or rabbit needing a nail trim? Stop by for a nail trim (cost in FB event)
❤️ Stop by to meet adoptable rabbits & chinchillas
💚 There will be a craft for kids and more!

🎄 We can’t wait to see you there! Please share with friends, family and online! The more, the merrier 🎄

Questions? Email us at [email protected]

You can register your pet(s) same-day as long as spots are available!

15/12/2024

14/12/2024

🎅 Pictures with Santa: Part Two - TOMORROW 🎅

❤️ Bring your small animal or dog to get their picture with Santa (register using the QR Code)
💚 Kids can get their picture with Santa (no registration needed)
❤️ Don’t have a pet to get pictures with Santa? Have your picture taken with one of our adoptable animals and Santa (no registration needed)
💚 Have a guinea pig or rabbit needing a nail trim? Stop by for a nail trim (cost in FB event)
❤️ Stop by to meet adoptable rabbits & chinchillas
💚 There will be a craft for kids and more!

🎄 We can’t wait to see you there! Please share with friends, family and online! The more, the merrier 🎄

Questions? Email us at [email protected]

You can register your pet(s) same-day as long as spots are available!

13/12/2024

Flop can’t believe the news 😲

Thanks to an extremely generous donation from Laura K. ALL the Berry Babies’ 2nd vaccines are SPONSORED 🙌

🙏 All we can say is THANK YOU 🙏

REMINDER: We will be drawing a winner from our sponsors this Monday, December 16th. The winner will receive an Oxbow Gift Basket and a $25 e-gift card! There are plenty of spay/neuter & vaccines sponsorships still available (including for Flop who is getting neutered next week) if you’d like to help AND get in on this giveaway!

13/12/2024

🎅 Pictures with Santa: Part Two - This Sunday 🎅

❤️ Bring your small animal or dog to get their picture with Santa (register using the QR Code)
💚 Kids can get their picture with Santa (no registration needed)
❤️ Don’t have a pet to get pictures with Santa? Have your picture taken with one of our adoptable animals and Santa (no registration needed)
💚 Have a guinea pig or rabbit needing a nail trim? Stop by for a nail trim (cost in FB event)
❤️ Stop by to meet adoptable rabbits & chinchillas
💚 There will be a craft for kids and more!

🎄 We can’t wait to see you there! Please share with friends, family and online! The more, the merrier 🎄

Questions? Email us at [email protected]

You can register your pet(s) same-day as long as spots are available!

11/12/2024

Headed to the vet with all ELEVEN Berry Babies for their 1st RHDV2 Vaccine 🙌

None of today’s vaccines are sponsored so Adam & I are covering today’s vet bill BUT it’s not too late to sponsor their 2nd vaccine which will be in 3-4 weeks. The sponsorship link* and link to the Facebook Album with rabbits waiting for vaccine sponsorship are in our Linktree: linktr.ee/thesqueaks (link also in bio)



* You can also sponsor using PayPal or Venmo. Please note who/what the sponsorship is for 😊