Sammy's blockage scare

Little Sammy was recently rushed off to the vet a week or so ago as he wasn't at all well (not eating, etc but also not responding to the usual techniques for stasis - also, I was a little unsure of what his problem was).

It did turn out to be a stomach blockage. He had an xray to reveal food which had massed but at such an early age (11 weeks) it was very unusual to think he could have such a serious problem. He was given sub cut fluids while at the clinic and I was sent home with more bags of fluid to give him along with needles & some experimental paste of prepulsid. It turns out that Prepulsid (Australia's answer to rabbit stasis medication) is no longer going to be available in this country (for the time being anyway?!). Apparently it's a human motility drug & people have been using it either incorrectly or there have been some problems with the outcomes (who knows??). I have only thought of it as a medication for rabbits so that was a bit of a shock for me. I have heard, however, that chemists still do have bottles of the stuff so will be tracking some down for our bunny medicine cabinet.

The day after Sammy's visit to the vet, it was my turn to administer fluids. I'm afraid that I only did it the once. I was advised to warm up the liquid as it was very cold in the morning (I placed it on our heating vents when the house was warming up & it worked a treat). Working out how to get the fluids to flow & getting a needle into a little bunny was another story early in the morning before I'd really woken up! Fortunately it did all work out (apart from missing the first time & poor little Sammy ended up quite damp!). If anyone has administered fluids via sub cut before, you'll know just how iccky the whole thing is (as well as watching the liquid bulge under the skin - yuck!). However, it is totally necessary to assist with speeding up the process of rehydrating the body to remove a mass when in a life & death situation (I'm sure I'll get over it if I have to do it again).

Good news anyway - Sammy is indeed very well & back to bouncing around happily. He is very good friends with Hugo & the two of them snuggle together on top of Lily's enclosure roof.

Separation anxiety

Today we officially separated the last male bunny from the girls. Since Hugo, Lily & Sammy (aka Susie - turns out she was a he!) were separated weeks ago, Lily is now is another separate enclosure but in the same space as Hugo & Sammy so they can still be together. Today we separated the last boy bunny from the rest of the clan. Unfortunately he was mummy's favourite & it was very sad to have to separate them for the time being.

What's worse is I was advised to give it a shot and put the boy bunny (he hasn't got a name yet) in with Hugo & Sammy to see how they would go. Well it went really well for about 10 minutes & I watched them all have a wonderful time running about. The little guy even had a few binkies as he was having such fun, but then Hugo started sniffing around and next thing they were at it. I stepped in straight away to separate them (as my better sense told me it was not going to work - but hey, you've got to give something a try right?!) and unfortunately got my hand in between the two of them, gaining a really nasty bite. I've never had such a piece torn out of me before & needless to say it really hurts!!! Bunnies can be very vicious if they want to be so in a way I'm glad it was me & not the other bunny who was bitten.

So, since I couldn't put the poor little guy back in with mum & his sisters & it didn't work with Hugo & Sammy, he's in our bedroom now in a rather small enclosure by himself. He's a bit scared but he's eating his hay & his dinner & will be okay. I'll have to come up with a name for him as I'll see him everytime I wake up & before I go to sleep so I'll have to say hello or goodnight to someone!

EC update

Our little Lily is doing very well & her head tilt is almost fixed. Her head is still very slightly tilted but so minor you really wouldn't be able to tell anymore. Lily is now able to jump up on boxes twice her size, her weight is nearly normal and she is a nice & round little bunny, just like her siblings now. She is still having daily medications but I have stopped medicating Hugo & Susie since Susie had a mild case of stasis recently.

One of Lily's pupils is still smaller than her other eye and I do have suspicions that she may have been left with some permanent brain damage as her behaviour is just a little different from the others. I don't see this as a problem as she is just the most gorgeous little girl that nearly falls asleep in my arms when I pat her.