So as you may already know, this week I have been introducing two bunnies gently. I wanted to give this pairing the best chance possible. Wellington is a giant breed boy who came to me when the owner left the country to visit her home and asked her friend to look after her 5 rabbits until she came back. She didn’t come back apparently. I have no idea what his life was like before but he would not tolerate being touched at all. He bit me and flinched at the raising of a hand even if it was just to put food in his bowl. I worked really hard to gain his trust and even now, don’t dare go anywhere near his ears or his neck (I wonder if he was scruffed or handled by his ears). As you can imagine I have been biding my time with him. I wanted it to be right.
Gypsy was dumped in a car park in Egham town centre. She was unclaimed and the vets who held her asked me to take her on. She has no sight in one eye and I suspect that may have been from a trauma but her other eye is fine. Shortly (days) after she arrived here she started bleeding from her uterus and leaving small areas of blood in her accommodation. She was spayed quickly and she was seen to have a nasty cancerous uterus. I pray it never comes home to roost as often the tumours can metastasise to the lungs. Gypsy is kind, gentle, calm, and happy go lucky.
So these were my choice as a combination because I figured that Gypsy wouldn’t create anxiety for Wellie. And to give it the best chance I decided to use a larger space than my normal indoor bonding pen. I also wanted to make it an interesting for them to distract from instant face to face meetings.
I started on Saturday with fully supervised pen time on the patio by our back door. Bunny gramps (my husband) and I took it in turns to be with the buns the whole time and I put them back in their respective housing so they felt safe.
Each day when they met for their next date they appeared to miss each other and picked up where they left off.
Yesterday I sat in the pouring rain with Wellie and Gypsy. I moved them into the covered enclosure so they were dry and secure. I sat in the cold and rain for 3 hours. I realllllly want this to work.
Today they are back in the enclosure while I cleanout the other 41 bunnies.
Helping Wellie think about something else apart from what’s in his trousers and helping Gypsy know that just because he is next to her, doesn’t mean to say he will try and mount 🥴
Using a shape sorter filled with hay and Oaticakes for Rabbits as a distraction technique in the bonding pen. Seems to be working so far. Go for it Wellie
Marvin is absolutely loving his new seasons farm bought hay. Freshly cut and baled and now the rescue bunnies are all tucking in.
Hay is such an important part of a bunny diet and overall health. Thankfully now, I have no proper ‘dental’ bunnies here and so they will all devore a fresh tray really quickly.
My cubby hole and hay shed is at the front of the garden at the side of the house and all day today while I have been cleaning out I have been hearing baby birds with an oh so familiar group chirping as they tell the parents to feed them.
I have been trying to spot where the nest is and I have just spotted it. In the soffits abovemy head 😂.
A family of blue tits ❤️
You might just be able to hear them over the car noise and low flying aircraft … and you’ll see one at the end of the video
Heading in the right direction. Both have started to just do a bit of exploring and eating now. Clive has stopped pestering Zig Zag as much and so she has stopped prostrating herself on the hay. We have even had a happy flop from Clive.
Still a long way to go and it could all change in a heartbeat so please send positive thoughts our way.
Dear old boy Marvin who is just loving his hay gift - The Hay Expert’s Soft Cut Timothy. All of the bunnies here are fabulous farm bale hay eaters but Marvin has needed help to keep tucking in recently.
He suffers from Hypersexuality and I suspect is adrenal disease. He had a hormone implant but it didn’t make much difference at all. He’s had an ex-lap and it gave no firm evidence to confirm a diagnosis but the symptoms fit. He didn’t recover well from the procedure and didn’t eat properly for about 4 weeks afterwards so don’t anticipate more exploratory surgery, especially at his age.
He has regular bouts of gut stasis and I just do my usual things to support him and he seems to normalise after a day or so. Paliative care for him now I think.
He is so loved and gets so much attention living indoors with us, but his hypersexual symptoms have worsened over time and so I suspect it’s connected with a worsening of a problem (possible tumour) of the adrenal gland. It includes (despite being neutered as a youngster) mounting me, spraying me, chinning everything incessantly, weeing on the bed, spraying as he binkies, spraying other soft furnishings to mark territory, separation anxiety from me, muscle weakness, panting, loss of body condition, as well as changes in his eyesight.
Further discussions will be ongoing with the vet but suspect there is nothing more to be done apart from support.
I do so hope everybody in the UK is surviving this weather okay and all animals are safe.
This was the road (yes it’s a road) outside our house this evening. Completely flooded and had engulfed the front garden. The water was up to the door sills on our cars. We are on a slope so it didn’t get to the front of the house or back garden. Managed to clear a gully and two drain covers and so the water had an escape route into the culvert.
Thankfully despite it still raining hard as I write at 12.25 am, the waters on the road have receded and the road is now passable.
Bunnies are all okay and oblivious to the chaos where their bunny mumma was in her wellies and soaked to the skin.
Thinking of all of those adversely affected by the awful weather.
Just caught Miku grooming Ninet’s back but of course she stopped as soon as I picked up my tablet
UPDATE ON MIKU
Well I think you’ll be able to see how well she is doing. I have just changed their small low sided trays for a larger higher one in the hope that we can keep them a bit drier because Miku has been urinating all over the side of the tray onto the floor so this might help keep her wee wee the right side of the tray edge.
She is even coming over to see me for a treat. Much more mobile and poos are back to the normal huge boulders. She just loves her hay. And here there are treats froma lovely friend of the rescue Kathryn who brought by some allotment grown organic tiny carrots complete with their tops and both Miku and Ninet were straight in to do a taste test. Thumbs up!
I am outside cleaning out and …. noticed Wellington had disappeared 😂
Turns out he was just looking for the best bits of hay.
The tiny family. Mumma Mabel with her offspring Hero, Bagshot, Piccalilli and Riley. ❤️ Noisy eaters 😊
Little one, my darling Hero is doing just fine considering that she is epileptic. Meds twice a day for the rest of her life and she takes it in her stride.
UPDATE ON MIKU
So the good news is that Miku no longer rolls when I go anywhere near her. Up until the last few days, her seeing me approach to give her meds and more frequently to assist feed her to top up her nutrition (she has lost weight since she became symptomatic), has obviously heightend her stress and that in turn made her roll almost immediately, even if she was standing still. Now she just stands there, or as in this video, comes wombling past.
She is still rolling, but most interestingly it is normally when she is taking a drink from the water bowl. I have also put up a water bottle as I find head tilt bunnies can manage to drink from a dripper more easily than a bowl when their mouth is sideways. However, Miku has not chosen to use the bottle once and persists with the low sided water bowl.
When she does roll she has been knocking the bowl as she goes and slopping the contents on the rubber floor so she has been getting damp and I have to check on her through the day to dry her witn a towel if necessary.
So I have some information to share with those who are interested in her journey so far and hopefully answer questions you may have and to prevent suggestions for her care that are already being considered/carried out.
🥕She has been receiving veterinary treatment from a few hours after her symptons arrived.
🥕She is being treated for both Encephilatizoon Cuniculi (EC) and for inner ear infection as both can be the underlying cause for head-tilt/(wryneck).
🥕She is having daily Fenbendazole (worming paste) brand name in the UK Panacur and will have that for two months regardless of improvement.
🥕She is having antibiotics as prescribed by the rabbit knowledgeable vet and this is the correct drug to treat deep seated anaerobic infection including abscesses.
🥕She is having anti-infammatories
🥕She is having pro-biotocs to support her good bacteria
🥕Her coat looks grubby from where she was initially rolling in her own ur
