Horrible day :'( *UPDATE - good news! P25* Pics p29 :D

Well today I feel like the worst owner ever My poor Heidi has a nasty wound on her genitals and I hate myself for not noticing it sooner Today I was giving them all a good brush and nail trims, and while I've got them - bum checks. Now I know I should do this on a daily basis but they hate being handled and Heidi in particular, she gets very stressed and upset It takes ages to catch her and I have to corner her with a towel to get hold of her and then she kicks and grunts and tries her best to get away. Anyway there is no excuse, I just hate to stress them out so I handle them as little as possible. There have been no signs that anything was wrong, she's been eating normally (except last night when I got worried, but back to normal this morn). So I got an appointment at the vets who has said it will need surgery to stitch it up, it looks so sore I feel sick to my stomach, I was in tears at the vets. I hate the thought of putting her through surgery and all the aftercare because of how stressed she gets. And there's no guarantee that the surgery will be successful, it's such a delicate area. But I look at her and she's perfectly healthy, the alternative doesn't bear thinking about. I've got another appointment on Monday morning, in the meantime she's got Baytril and a medicated wash to bathe it. The vet suggested I cage her within the shed to prevent her from 'careering around' as the vet put it! I was going to use my dog crate with vet bed as I was bothered about keeping her clean, so went to pets at home to get some but apparently they don't stock it anymore. Anyway, when I looked at the shed I thought it might be better to use a couple of puppy panels to section off one corner with a litter tray in. So here is my little girl all caged up







Here she is washing her paws after standing, both front paws, in the water bowl TWICE! :roll:


And here she is doing something she probably shouldn't - stretching


Not sure if I should remove the hay rack to prevent her stretching? All she did when I put her in was stretch up at the bars trying to find a way out

This episode has spurred me on to add an extra hay rack on the top level though, been meaning to do it for ages...

Oh no, poor girl.

Have you any idea how she could have done it?

Poor Heidi ! Lots of healing vibes for her! Don't beat yourself up about it, I don't check my girls everyday because they get stressed when I handle them too much, I just try to get a quick look when they're jumping/hopping around.

Hope she's better soon

tashp90 said:

Poor Heidi ! Lots of healing vibes for her! Don't beat yourself up about it, I don't check my girls everyday because they get stressed when I handle them too much, I just try to get a quick look when they're jumping/hopping around.

Hope she's better soon

Click to expand...

That's what I do as I think it will see if there's any build up of poop that might cause fly strike, but mine are all pretty good hay eaters and generally have very healthy poops so I didn't worry too much, she was lay down on her side last night and is actually looked at her bum but didn't see anything so it's obviously not enough

Summer&Skye said:

That's what I do as I think it will see if there's any build up of poop that might cause fly strike, but mine are all pretty good hay eaters and generally have very healthy poops so I didn't worry too much, she was lay down on her side last night and is actually looked at her bum but didn't see anything so it's obviously not enough

Click to expand...

It may have happened over night or this morning?

*lily* said:

Oh no, poor girl.

Have you any idea how she could have done it?

Click to expand...

Not sure, I did mention to vet that Dash is a bit nippy, I've actually been worrying lately about his bullying, it's only at feeding time but I hate it as the 3 girls get scared and he automatically goes to nip and chase them Vet said is there anything in the shed she could have caught it on which I suppose is a possibility but I've tried to make the shed and run as safe as possible, so I doubt it. It's most likely a nip that because it's gone unnoticed has split and become infected. She's still behaving totally normally tho, only today she's been enjoying the run and I put the puppy panels up on the grass too so she's been out on the grass today aswell. Just feel so bad

tashp90 said:

It may have happened over night or this morning?

Click to expand...

Vet said it's not a fresh wound, it was infected

Summer&Skye said:

Vet said it's not a fresh wound, it was infected

Click to expand...

Oh
I sometimes encourage Maizie and Daisy to jump onto my glass coffee table to check underneath of them out, could that be an idea for the future? A little table that you can take into their shed/run?

tashp90 said:

Oh
I sometimes encourage Maizie and Daisy to jump onto my glass coffee table to check underneath of them out, could that be an idea for the future? A little table that you can take into their shed/run?

Click to expand...

Hmm that's an idea...

Summer&Skye said:

Hmm that's an idea...

Click to expand...

I use the medium table from my nest of tables. I know it doesn't help much now, but could be an idea so as not to stress them out and still be able to check regularly :thumb:

tashp90 said:

I use the medium table from my nest of tables. I know it doesn't help much now, but could be an idea so as not to stress them out and still be able to check regularly :thumb:

Click to expand...

Thanks, it's a good idea

I don't check my bun's bums daily. Fiver gets his checks, but only because he's so handleable. My girls HATE being picked up and fight and scratch and even try to bite me. It's something that is easily missed. Also I found that bunny wounds get infected VERY quickly, especially if it's a bite wound. When Fiver bit Xena's foot, I noticed her being quiet the day before ad the next night I saw her holding her foot up. I looked at it and it looked awful. I took her to the vets the next day and the wound was infected, although I knew it was only a day old. I felt awful for not picking up on it, but feet and genitals aren't something we check daily with buns that hate being handled. I think the stress would cause more problems. I notice things are wrong if they are quiet or excessively licking a part of them, although if they are eating, drinking and being pretty active, things are missed. Rabbits are prey animals and are VERY good at hiding things, always remember that.

Sending her tons and tons of vibes. I know how worrying it is when one of our buns gets hurt, especially when it may be from another bun. I wonder if she had been humping him and he nipped her? I've seen Fiver's "bits" have a little nick in them from where Xena had nipped him. He's a very "humpy" bunny and probably deserved it. :roll: But it concerned me that it could have been much worse.

oh dear. these things happen. no-one could ever doubt your devotion to your bunnies.

I don't check bums daily, any more. perhaps I should start doing that again.

I'm not all that keen on rabbits jumping onto glass tables though - the potential for disaster there ... :shock:

So sorry to hear about poor Heidi, you must be feeling terrible. You are a good rabbit owner and she looks so bright you would never think anything was amiss. Fingers crossed she makes a full recovery, please keep us informed.

Awwww, I hope the surgery goes well and she is all healed soon.

I dont check mine everyday, infact I normally only do when I see a fly in their room. I personally don't think it's neccessary for healthy buns, especially those that get stressed, mine don't get overly upset but they don't like it which is why I dont bother unless I have concerns. Don't beat yourself up, you weren't to know.

I hope her op will go well and that the wound will heal quickly.

Did the Vet prescribe pain relief aswell as antibiotics ?

Thanks for the support everyone, I was ready for a bashing for being a bad owner I don't notice any of them humping but Heidi was a bit of a humper during bonding (often humping heads :shock so maybe that's how it happened. I can't c how Dash would have got to that area otherwise as when he chased them it's usually just a mouthful of fur he gets :roll:

Jacks Jane no she didn't give pain relief, I should have asked but I was a bit of a mess I never thought. Hopefully the antibiotics will kick in and prevent much pain. She's back first thing on Monday.

Adding my vibes for Heidi and supportive thoughts to you.

I very rarely have the opportunity to look at Spenser down below, and to be honest he is so furry there is not much to see! I think there is a need to balance the importance of checking bunnies underneath with the potential for injury if wriggling and kicking gets out of hand. All your threads show clearly how much you love your bunnies and how well cared for they are so please don't blame yourself. xx

Summer&Skye said:

Thanks for the support everyone, I was ready for a bashing for being a bad owner I don't notice any of them humping but Heidi was a bit of a humper during bonding (often humping heads :shock so maybe that's how it happened. I can't c how Dash would have got to that area otherwise as when he chased them it's usually just a mouthful of fur he gets :roll:

Jacks Jane no she didn't give pain relief, I should have asked but I was a bit of a mess I never thought. Hopefully the antibiotics will kick in and prevent much pain. She's back first thing on Monday.

Click to expand...

I would try to get hold of some pain relief. She will be in a lot of pain.

susie bun said:

Adding my vibes for Heidi and supportive thoughts to you.

I very rarely have the opportunity to look at Spenser down below, and to be honest he is so furry there is not much to see! I think there is a need to balance the importance of checking bunnies underneath with the potential for injury if wriggling and kicking gets out of hand. All your threads show clearly how much you love your bunnies and how well cared for they are so please don't blame yourself. xx

Click to expand...

This.
I hope she's feeling better soon and that her op goes well. Don't beat yourself up, you love your bunnies and it shows in the beautiful home you have given them