As a non Bunny owner, ( I am owned by a Cat who I would not risk a Bunny with,) but I have come to love Bunnies so much, and I know and love all Adele's Bunnies, I know how hard it has been for her nursing so many poorly bunnies at the same time for her.
Plus she also has others also needing special care.
I voted for isolate treat and euthanise if needed.
But some rescues just cannot afford vaccination and so for them there is no option but to euthanise any affected Bunny.
If one of my Bunnies got sick then I would try to nurse them better.
I would know when to stop and put the Bunny first.
But as a retired nurse who has bought my cat through many health crisises, I would have a go.
Adele has not wanted me to visit to see them so poorly as some i.e. Wilbur and King Arthur she told me had horrid sores. Not pleasant to see.
So Snuggle's and Bobby's deaths were hard for me as I did not get to say goodbye.
She wants me to remember them as I saw them both the last time, and Bobby in particular being able to run around the garden having taken him there almost twice the weight he had been. And from being a lone Bunny only able to take a few steps before he got out of breath, to a Bunny who would run and hide when he heard his hutch doors open in the evening, and then to bond to Mauna-Kea and then having 2 more girlies to care for.
Snuggles who I was fond of, had a near miss last year after a nasty bite to an artery was gushing, but once again Adele rushed into action ( despite her hate of blood) and got her to the vet in time to save her. She lived with Wilbur who is so cheeky and whom I have watched grow from a tiny little bunny to the lovely handsome boy he is now.
If I had any Bunnie, which I may in the future I would always ensure they were vaccinated.
But new strains of the illnesses emerge as we have seen this year and if this weather continues as it has been then the mosquito's will continue to bite Bunnies, but unvaccinated Bunnies, wild and city liver's will get the full blown disease and it is then probably inevitable that new strains will continue to emerge.
And with the UK not using the best vaccines available as they are not yet licensed here, we have to continue to make Bunny owner's aware of the illness and the need for continued vaccination with what we do have avaialable.
And perhaps petition the people who consider the licenses to license the European type as there has been such a rise in the illness here.
Where would we inundate with letters I wonder?!!
(The same as with human flu vaccine the powers that be, having to try and predict what type may need covering the following year.)
And in some Bunnies the vaccine may not work or not give full protection. Often dependant upon the individual Bunnies immune response.
But as many have said nursing 1 or 2 sick Bunnies is very different to having 29 Bunnies on the site at the same time and up to 7 all ill at one stage and having 24 others to monitor frequently, till 9 had succumbed to the illness and sadly 2 had to go to the Bridge.
But due to her wonderful care, Wilbur, Arthur, Poppy, Coco, Merlin, Boadicea are recovering but as she said some may be left with ongoing health problems.
Larkspur is not out of danger yet.
Our prayers and thoughts are still needed for Larkspur and all the Bunnies.
Slightly sort of off topic but...
The news is talking of humans contracting malaria is rising in the UK, as the number of mosquito's has increased due to the weather and the number of people reporting and needing treatment for bites and the disease has also dramatically increased.
And some of the mosquitos have bitten previous malaria carriers or sufferers here in the UK and have passed it on.
I had no success on Midlands Today, as I discovered Nick Owen was on holiday but in view of the item on mosquitoes on the news today, I shall send my e mail again to the newsroom.
The more the mozzies there are, the greater the risk of myxo spreading.
