Swissgreys
New Kit
Today we finally got our rescue rabbits.
It is a complex situation, and has always been a bit tenuous as to whether it would go through or not.
They came from a private home - not an official rescue.
Anyway the 3 year old female arrived in a total state.
She is limping badly on her left hind leg, and her back end is a complete mess.
She stinks, her fur is matted, and she is covered in poo and soaked with urine.
She is skin and bones.
The whole thing is simply awful, and I immediately called the out of hours vet.
He came over, but sadly does mostly farm animal work (we live in a rural area) so didn't quite know what to say.
The poor rabbit was frantic when he tried to examine her, and sprayed urine everywhere.
He gave her pain relief, and we will make an appointment with a specialist first thing tomorrow as a matter of urgency.
The strangest part is that she is eating and drinking almost continuously, and still seems quite friendly, happily taking food from our hands.
She has never had access to much hay, so huge piles of the stuff all over her cage have been very well received. This is probably the only good thing to come out of today for this poor rabbit.
I am wracked with guilt about leaving her in this state, even overnight, but the vet feels she may need some form of sedation for a full clip and clean, so we can work out what caused her to get in this state.
Tonight she is warm and safe and has unlimited hay, food, and water, as well as her devoted companion (who seems fine, but will also be seeing he vet tomorrow).
It hasn't exactly been the start we were hoping for, but fingers crossed it gets better from here on in.
I dread to know what we will find once she is cleaned up a bit, but I look forward to seeing her happy and well again.
And I would welcome any advice from anyone who has helped a rabbit recover from a severely messy back end problem.
Thanks.
It is a complex situation, and has always been a bit tenuous as to whether it would go through or not.
They came from a private home - not an official rescue.
Anyway the 3 year old female arrived in a total state.
She is limping badly on her left hind leg, and her back end is a complete mess.
She stinks, her fur is matted, and she is covered in poo and soaked with urine.
She is skin and bones.
The whole thing is simply awful, and I immediately called the out of hours vet.
He came over, but sadly does mostly farm animal work (we live in a rural area) so didn't quite know what to say.
The poor rabbit was frantic when he tried to examine her, and sprayed urine everywhere.
He gave her pain relief, and we will make an appointment with a specialist first thing tomorrow as a matter of urgency.
The strangest part is that she is eating and drinking almost continuously, and still seems quite friendly, happily taking food from our hands.
She has never had access to much hay, so huge piles of the stuff all over her cage have been very well received. This is probably the only good thing to come out of today for this poor rabbit.
I am wracked with guilt about leaving her in this state, even overnight, but the vet feels she may need some form of sedation for a full clip and clean, so we can work out what caused her to get in this state.
Tonight she is warm and safe and has unlimited hay, food, and water, as well as her devoted companion (who seems fine, but will also be seeing he vet tomorrow).
It hasn't exactly been the start we were hoping for, but fingers crossed it gets better from here on in.
I dread to know what we will find once she is cleaned up a bit, but I look forward to seeing her happy and well again.
And I would welcome any advice from anyone who has helped a rabbit recover from a severely messy back end problem.
Thanks.