Hi guys
This is my gorgeous Flopsy
Following on from my original thread http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?t=151599&highlight=Rykat I thought I'd start a new one with the current situation.
Flopsy never regained any use of her back leg and on Thursday I was faced with a horrible decision to make, have her PTS then or risk an operation to amuptate her leg but with the knowledge that there was a very strong chance she wouldn't survive the op. I chose to give her the chance and she made it through the op and is still with us. As it's some good news I thought I'd start a new thread to share her story with you, not to get sympathy, but to give hope to anyone you may ever know who ever finds themselves in a similar situation and having to make such a hard choice. It's worth taking the chance, and I know it's still very early days but the early signs are fantastic and she's fighting on.
As Flopsy had no feeling in her leg she was injuring it by dragging it behind her so we had to put a baby sock on it to protect the foot.
On Wednesday somehow she had managed to get the sock off and when I went to put a fresh one on I couldn't believe what I saw, she only had 2 toes left and although there was no blood anywhere, there was alot of bone exposed. I rang the emergency vet who said as it seemed clean to then to dress it and take her there in morning. I don't know what happened, there was no blood anywhere and I can only assume it was over enthusiastic grooming from her as she couldn't feel anything. I took her in Thursday morning and the vet examined her foot and as there was no skin and exposed bone she was at high risk of developing septacaemia. The vet asked for a second opinion and I was faced with a difficult situation, have her PTS or risk an op which she would most probably not survive due to her age (7.5 years) but as Flopsy has always been bright eyed, alert, eating, snuggling etc and only on 0.3ml of Metacam every other day I knew the only decision I could make was to risk the op and give her a chance. The op was scheduled for the following day (Friday).
Friday morning came and I took her out of the crate with her "husband" Benji and sat on my bed with her. I'm not ashamed to say that I cried buckets whilst cuddling her and asking her to pull through the op, she's come so far and was not a rabbit to give up easily, I was so scared that then would be the last time I would see her alive. I took her to the vets and was again told to prepare myself for the worst and to ring at 3pm unless they rang me which I hoped wouldn't happen. Anyone whose ever had a pet in for an op knows how very, very slow the time drags and it was torture waiting. The other bunnies were all cleaned, litter trays scrubbed till they sparkled, did everything I could to try and not think about it. I managed to last until 3pm and the receptionist put the vet on the phone, I held my breath but she said that she had come thorugh the op ok and was just waking up. The next few hours were critical but to ring again at 5pm. At 4.45 (!) I rang and was told that she was fully awake and doing fantastic, she was recovering very, very well. We went to get her and the vet said she coped with the anaesthetic very well and her recovery was amazing. Her would is very neat and although she's very wobbly on her back end she's still bright eyed, eating, pooing and weeing and so far is doing fantastic so soon afterwards.
The other bunnies are in the "Bunservatory" in dog crates but for the first 48hrs I'm keeping her separated from Benji and she's in the "sickbay cage" in my bedroom. Although the cage is too small for normal use, she's on minimal exercise so it's ideal as she can manage a hop each way!
Tomorrow I'm going to put that cage in the crate so although they can see and touch each other through the bars, Benji can't get to her until the wound has had a good chance to start healing.
I'm sorry for the length of this post, I just wanted to share one bunnies extraordinary "triumph over adversity"
Thanks for reading and I'll post an update in a few days.
Bobbie
This is my gorgeous Flopsy
Following on from my original thread http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?t=151599&highlight=Rykat I thought I'd start a new one with the current situation.
Flopsy never regained any use of her back leg and on Thursday I was faced with a horrible decision to make, have her PTS then or risk an operation to amuptate her leg but with the knowledge that there was a very strong chance she wouldn't survive the op. I chose to give her the chance and she made it through the op and is still with us. As it's some good news I thought I'd start a new thread to share her story with you, not to get sympathy, but to give hope to anyone you may ever know who ever finds themselves in a similar situation and having to make such a hard choice. It's worth taking the chance, and I know it's still very early days but the early signs are fantastic and she's fighting on.
As Flopsy had no feeling in her leg she was injuring it by dragging it behind her so we had to put a baby sock on it to protect the foot.
On Wednesday somehow she had managed to get the sock off and when I went to put a fresh one on I couldn't believe what I saw, she only had 2 toes left and although there was no blood anywhere, there was alot of bone exposed. I rang the emergency vet who said as it seemed clean to then to dress it and take her there in morning. I don't know what happened, there was no blood anywhere and I can only assume it was over enthusiastic grooming from her as she couldn't feel anything. I took her in Thursday morning and the vet examined her foot and as there was no skin and exposed bone she was at high risk of developing septacaemia. The vet asked for a second opinion and I was faced with a difficult situation, have her PTS or risk an op which she would most probably not survive due to her age (7.5 years) but as Flopsy has always been bright eyed, alert, eating, snuggling etc and only on 0.3ml of Metacam every other day I knew the only decision I could make was to risk the op and give her a chance. The op was scheduled for the following day (Friday).
Friday morning came and I took her out of the crate with her "husband" Benji and sat on my bed with her. I'm not ashamed to say that I cried buckets whilst cuddling her and asking her to pull through the op, she's come so far and was not a rabbit to give up easily, I was so scared that then would be the last time I would see her alive. I took her to the vets and was again told to prepare myself for the worst and to ring at 3pm unless they rang me which I hoped wouldn't happen. Anyone whose ever had a pet in for an op knows how very, very slow the time drags and it was torture waiting. The other bunnies were all cleaned, litter trays scrubbed till they sparkled, did everything I could to try and not think about it. I managed to last until 3pm and the receptionist put the vet on the phone, I held my breath but she said that she had come thorugh the op ok and was just waking up. The next few hours were critical but to ring again at 5pm. At 4.45 (!) I rang and was told that she was fully awake and doing fantastic, she was recovering very, very well. We went to get her and the vet said she coped with the anaesthetic very well and her recovery was amazing. Her would is very neat and although she's very wobbly on her back end she's still bright eyed, eating, pooing and weeing and so far is doing fantastic so soon afterwards.
The other bunnies are in the "Bunservatory" in dog crates but for the first 48hrs I'm keeping her separated from Benji and she's in the "sickbay cage" in my bedroom. Although the cage is too small for normal use, she's on minimal exercise so it's ideal as she can manage a hop each way!
Tomorrow I'm going to put that cage in the crate so although they can see and touch each other through the bars, Benji can't get to her until the wound has had a good chance to start healing.
I'm sorry for the length of this post, I just wanted to share one bunnies extraordinary "triumph over adversity"
Thanks for reading and I'll post an update in a few days.
Bobbie
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