August diary

As usual, life at The Do Hop Inn with all the BOING bunnies is keeping us on our toes.

The last month has seen the farm bunnies back & forth at The Melbourne Rabbit Clinic. In early July, Poppy went in for an attempt to remove an abdominal abscess, which had formed after a routine spay. Whilst under sedation, the vets discovered a heart murmur. We all decided it was too risky to perform surgery at the time so she came home for a continuation of antibiotics and pain relief with the hope that maybe the following month the surgery could happen.

The second attempt at surgery last week was successful. The abscess was removed and Poppy is now back home. We really hope that she’ll make a full recovery. So far, so good…but you can never tell when it comes to bunnies!!

Lulu is experiencing an odd problem. She would be fine during the day, running around like a mad thing. We’d say goodnight to her and the next morning she would be lying in her tray looking uncomfortable & straining to go to the toilet. We took her in for a checkup & an x-ray. The x-ray didn’t show up much but the vets could feel an unusual lump around where her spay surgery was performed. We are not really sure but it could also be an internal abscess from her surgery so she’s now on antibiotics to see if it will make a difference, then it’s back to the vet for another checkup & possible surgery to remove the lump.

*** note – Lulu & Poppy (and Isabelle) came from a factory farm. Due to unhygienic conditions at the farm, any surgery areas became easily infected. Now they are living in a stress free life with clean bedding, a regular routine and good quality food, hay & fresh water, they are totally different bunnies & looking forward to a long & happy life.

Big gossip news at The Do Hop Inn…..
Pumpkin & Tinkerbelle have broken up!!! Yes folks, the celebrity romance is over I’m afraid. Just like Jen & Brad, this seemingly blissful couple has gone their separate ways.

It all started when Pumpkin had a bit of an upset tummy.

As the two were shacked up in our Studio, Pumpkin was brought into the lounge room overnight where it was warmer and we could give him lots of attention & critical care. Pumpkin was a very happy bunny by the morning and looking forward to seeing his beautiful girlfriend Tinkerbelle.

Unfortunately, Tinkerbelle had other ideas & chose to let Pumpkin know that he was now unwelcome by attacking him! After that event, we did give the two several other attempts to reunite, but it was not to be! As Pumpkin has never really been lucky in love, we do hope that he will eventually find another girlfriend who will appreciate his voluptuous size & affectionate nature.

Pancake has been a bit wobbly for the last few months & has lost quite a bit of weight. She is now on a four weekly injection for arthritis. The injections are supposed to aid in joint pain so we hope that it will make a difference. She is looking quite frail, has lost weight but still eats like a horse! Since she came to us as an adult, we really don’t know how old she is but possibly around 8 years old so she’s doing pretty well…. but we’d like her to hang around a lot longer than that!! Ally would be lost without her. The two of them are always found snuggling together.

The “fluffies” (Charlie & Missy) are in-between their bi-yearly major haircut. Angora fur mats quite quickly & thickly if not kept under constant control and the only way we can really keep up their care is to carefully cut the fur to a short length. Of course it grows back just as fast as I can cut it off so it’s a constant battle!

For other people who have long coated bunnies, do be aware of seeds getting trapped in the fur. Whilst grooming Missy recently, I discovered a very fine end of a seed that had been caught in Missy’s skin (like a splinter). It would have really hurt so I’m sure she was relieved when that was found & removed with a pair of tweezers