Please can Lois have vibes, having emergency surgery/ Photos p33

Yesterday I attempted to bond Lois and Barney. Lois is a lovely gentle bunny and we thought Barney was too. But it turns out he is totally unpredictable. Initial signs were good, he washed her straight away. But then without any aggression or negative body language he puts his head underneath and bites. It wasn't happening regularly and there were some great positive signs. I stayed with them constantly but I knew at one point he had nipped her skin. There was no blood and she didn't make a fuss and continued to eat so I carried on until the evening, when I decided not to leave them over night.

I checked her over and found the wound was bigger than I thought. Not deep but he had taken the skin off her arm pit. It was really hard to see as under rolls of skin and fur and had to tip her upside down on her back to see anything.

I rang for an emergency appointment this morning. The vet also had trouble finding it but between the tow of us managed to uncover a massive wound.

Lois is now having surgery, it is going to be a to stitch back up, take months to heal if it heals at all due to the position of it and she may well lose mobility in her front leg

I shall never forgive myself for letting this happen to such a beautiful gentle bunny. She has had a terrible life and been through so much, I can't live with myself knowing I let this happen to her too I can't believe how quick it happened as I was there all the time and nothing was left to escalate

In 15 years of bonding this is the worst injury we have ever had. My poor little Lois

Please can we have as many good wishes that firstly she gets through the operation?

Oh no what an awful thing to happen. It's totally not your fault though - you could never have predicted that. At least you spotted it straight away and have got her to the vets.

Fingers crossed the surgery goes well and that she can make a good recovery.

I'm terrified of bonding because I don't know if I'd be able to read the signs of anythng escalating

What I do know is, if there was anything that could have been done to prevent this then you would have all the knowledge, instincts etc - if you couldn't have foreseen it then nobody could.

Sending loads of vibes for Lois - you were doing this in her interests, please find a way of forgiving yourself or at least not punishing yourself for this.

I didn't realise how bad it was straight away as there was no blood and in a difficult to see place I carried on because they were still showing positive signs. She has no other injuries thank goodness

Poor Lois Sending loads of healing wishes.

Please don't feel that it's your fault Animals are unpredictable and we can't always catch things in time. If this happened to someone like yourself who has loads of experience with rabbits then it could have happened to anyone. You were trying to give Lois a better, happier life by bonding her xx

Bunny Buddy said:

I'm terrified of bonding because I don't know if I'd be able to read the signs of anythng escalating

What I do know is, if there was anything that could have been done to prevent this then you would have all the knowledge, instincts etc - if you couldn't have foreseen it then nobody could.

Sending loads of vibes for Lois - you were doing this in her interests, please find a way of forgiving yourself or at least not punishing yourself for this.

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Thank you. This is the thing, there were no signs, he literally washes and bites in the same breath! I was all of two inches away but couldn't stop it I must have done 100 bonds over the years and never had anything like this. Still doesn't stop me feeling beyond awful about it though

Tully was injured during an attempted bond last year. I knew his potential partner was a bit weird, but hadn't seen her actually bite. They were together for a week in total, and then I found a bite which must have been a couple of days old on him and had already turned into a small abscess. I felt really awful for not noticing sooner - it's so hard to see what's going on under their fur though.

Lois is through surgery but needs to wake up now. The wound was bigger than the vet initially thought - around 9cm.

Apparently there is a major artery running through the wound area so if it had of been any deeper, Lois would have bled out on the spot So believe it or not she has actually been very lucky! Now we just need it to heal.

She is also a high risk for flystrike with such a big wound and the hot weather. So yet another thing to worry about.....

sending vibes for lois. x

Glad the surgery has gone well, hope she recovers quickly. Sending lots of vibes for Lois xx

Vibes for lois x

Hope Lois comes round from the GA well and goes on to make a full recovery.

What an awful thing to happen

Sending lots of vibes for Lois xxx

Adding lots of vibes for Lois, and thinking of you too. xx

Zillions of vibes from here but please don't blame yourself xxx

Lois is home. I have seen the surgery photos and tbh Lois is very lucky to be alive. The big blood vessel ran right through it and was right on the surface

really scary i hope she makes a full recovery. x

Good to see that she is home. Sending lots more healing vibes for her. xx

Hugo's There said:

Lois is home. I have seen the surgery photos and tbh Lois is very lucky to be alive. The big blood vessel ran right through it and was right on the surface

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Lucky bunny! Hope she is perking up now.

I'm a little worried at how much she is washing it......... knowing my luck she will pull the stitches out over night :?