My Worst Night Ever!

I got home last night to complete devestation in my garage. Sometime during the day Zeus had broken the storage cube panels down and got in with Cosmos and Violet. From what I can tell a vicious fight ensued (with much hair being lost as Zeus had knocked the door to their shed shut and this left the three rabbits with nowhere to run in the small enclosed space outside their shed.

At some point in his desperation to get away he broke through the panels into the main garage area leaving all four rabbits running loose in my garage with Cosmos and Violet having no access to their shed with food and water.

I was able to reconstruct what happened byt looking at the distribution of panels and fur strewn around the garage.

Because Cosmos and Violet needed water I can only assume they kept trying to gain access to the water in Athena and Zeus' shed as more fur was apparent around their water bowl.

As soon as I realised what had happened I checked over all four buns as Zeus has only just recovered from an abcess caused by his last great escape, when I should have listened to my husband and disbanded the runs outside their shed, locking them in the sheds when they couldn't go in their garden runs.

Zeus, Cosmos and Violet all appear fine but Athena had a small bite on her ear I couldn't see any other damage on her body but as I went to kiss her I realised that half her bottom lip was hanging down :shock: . I wrapped her in a towel and opened her mouth. Her lip just hung there seperated from the rest of her mouth and cheek, her teeth exposed. As I did this it started to bleed.

Driving like a maniac to my rabbit vets (45 min away) with Athena in her carrier and Zeus for company, whilst crying I had to get the emergency vet back from his dinner to the surgery, where he gave her painkillers and an antibiotic and got her settled ready for surgery the next day (today). Brendan was left stranded at the railway station as I couldn't pick him up and get to the vets.

I am worried sick as I didn't remember any food and they only have Excel lite at the surgery, the vet was having trouble locating their hay last night and if Athena hasn't eaten she may have trouble after the surgery.

I have to ring this afternoon to find out how she is then collect her this evening. This is going to be expensive with an emergency call out fee, an operation and probably a course of antibiotics. The vet didn't seem to think it was as bad as it looked and I really hope he can sew it back fully.

I wasn't attempting to bond them and obviously this wasn't neutral territory when they broke free but please remember if you are planning on throwing your rabbits in together and letting them sort it out - always watch them and split up any major fights as soon as they start, always use completely neutral territory and when rabbits hate each other they fight viciously!

I will now be taking down the cube runs in the garage as this is the second time one of my babies has been hurt. I naively thought that being able to see each other all the time the four may reconcile their differences and eventually I would be able to bond them together. It looks however, like they will never get on !

Please keep your fingers crossed for Athena's surgery today!

Edit to add photo of set-up so you understand what I am tryng to describe.



Caz

omg caz , thats terrible .
I hope the surgery goes ok today . It probably doesn,t look that bad to the vet but it would to you and me. xx

/

I'm really sorry to hear about this..hope your bunny is ok.x

oh dear, this must have been awful for you. good luck with the bunny op today and i hope the vet feels in a good mood when he makes out your bill.


debbie & p-bunny

Yikes! That can't have been very nice for you. Bunnies, eh? Hope Athena is ok, I'm sure the vet will have no trouble sorting it out and she should be fine for food.
Sendin big hugs.

I must firstly say what a wonderful set up for them. It is such a shame that they managed to get out yesterday, if you are thinking of removing their run area as they have managed to break through this, would it be possible for them to have a wood / mesh run instead which would be more secure.

I am sure that Athena will come home tonight feeling a lot better than last night, give Athena a hug from me.

Janice

I hope she's ok, she's a toughy so I'm sure she'll be fine.

Gosh your runs look very secure too! I cant imagine how they have possibly got in with each other. I don;t think it is a problem that they are kept in the runs where they can see each other, maybe you should just make sure that their runs are more secure? Have they all been neutered?

Wow - what an amazing place they've got - fancy trying to get out of there :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:
Some bunnies just don't know when they're well off do they? :roll:

I hope all goes well today - I'm sure it will. As the others have said, it looks worse to us than it does to a vet, cos they're our precious bunsters, so hopefully she'll be back in her palace very soon indeed.

Hugs to you, nose rubs to Athena.
xx

aww Caz, what a fright for you! :?

I made a cage out of those for Coby when I first got him, they are a lot more secure if you use several cable ties on each cube instead of the connectors, as they are prone to weakening, maybe putting a half roof of these on too would make it more secure

hope all goes well, sure it will, snuggles to you and the buns xxxx

Oh goodness Caz! Poor wee anthea give her a cuddle form us and let us know how she gets on XX

Poor Athena, BIG cuddly bunny hugs and gentle nose rubs to her :wink:

Poor Athena - lets us know how she gets on. Sending snuggles to all the bunnies

Poor Athena and what a terrible shock you had. I hope all goes well for her today. Let us know when you hear anything xx

arh caz sorry to hear about athena, although i was surprised that she had come of worse, being the fiesty thing she is! .

i was always wndering whether you were gonna bond all four, maybe it is still an option if you try it in neutral terriotory.. anyway let us know how she gets on.

Eve x

Awww, poor athena I hope her surgery goes well today and hugs to you too, it must have been a real shock

Oh my goodness.. i hope all goes well today for Athena. Your set up looks fab Caz.. I guess zeus is just a very strong boy eh :wink: As suggested maybe he can have a stronger run secured to the shed instead of the storage cubes so that he cant push them over :?

Oh Caz, how dreadful They are such big powerful rabbits too :?

Poor Athena

You should check the rabbits again today as wounds can be hard to find straight after a fight as the skin is so soft and doesn't often bleed - I think this must be an adaptation so they don't attract predators after they fight, but the day afterwards the scab starts to form and you can feel the wounds. You need to check them for infection, although by that time it would be too late to stitch them up, so antibiotics and keeping them clean is all you can do. Can you tell mine have had a fair few fights :roll:

I have to check Zebs and Clover over in a while as Zebs slipped through my legs when I went through the gate this morning and they were at each other rolling over and over before I could get to them. This is why I usually don't let them out until I have finished going in and out of the gates doing water bottles etc, but I forgot this morning and let them out before I did the bottles. I had a quick feel and a check, there was no blood, or eye or ear wounds, but there is quite a lot of fur where they were fighting - and all in the time it took me to dash the 10m to where they were :roll:

The thing is these big rabbits are so strong :? I never leave the shed door open when I am out in case Clover knocks over the wire frame in the shed door. It is fairly tight and secure, but she is so ferocious with other rabbits. Luckily Strawberry is quite laid back, not a demon with legs like his girl.

It is such a shame that you are giving up on your set up as it is so nice for them. Could you just let one group at a time use their extension? One at night and the other during the day? Or alternating days?

Awwwwwww heck - what a worry for you - Hope your girl is o.k - I'm sure the Vets will give her loads of TLC - Bunsters what a they like eh- there's never a dull moment :roll:

poor baby athena big bunster nose rubs being sent and hope for a speedy recovery.x