Lily's on the Mend!

Just wanted to post an update on our lovely Lily after posting last week about her being poorly.

After coming back from the exotics specialist in York and having taken the decision to see how she recovered, I'm over the moon to report that she's made an amazing recovery over the past week. We kept her in her crate, syringe fed her every couple of hours and kept on with the pain meds. She's done so well she's now back to being free range in our dining room. I'm so glad I didn't listen to the vet when they said she'd have little quality of life and we should consider having her put to sleep. I just knew she'd get better.

Here she is tonight tucking into her readigrass! And anyone who saw the pics last week will see how massive a recovery she's made. We're bother happy bunnies!

https://i.imgur.com/oCqXetV.jpg

such brilliant news. She certainly looks well

Great news, well done for believing in her and not giving up

Sarah3075 said:

Just wanted to post an update on our lovely Lily after posting last week about her being poorly.

After coming back from the exotics specialist in York and having taken the decision to see how she recovered, I'm over the moon to report that she's made an amazing recovery over the past week. We kept her in her crate, syringe fed her every couple of hours and kept on with the pain meds. She's done so well she's now back to being free range in our dining room. I'm so glad I didn't listen to the vet when they said she'd have little quality of life and we should consider having her put to sleep. I just knew she'd get better.

Here she is tonight tucking into her readigrass! And anyone who saw the pics last week will see how massive a recovery she's made. We're bother happy bunnies!

https://i.imgur.com/oCqXetV.jpg

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How absolutely fantastic Well done both of you x

Thanks to you all I'm relatively new to having bunnies, and I think it just shows that sometimes you have to go with what your instincts are telling you, despite what vets might say. They couldn't tell me what was wrong so there was no way I wasn't going to give her a chance. Whatever was wrong, Lily was fighting it with all she had and she he she he clearly wanted to live. And now she's on that he mend and I couldn't be happier

I've experienced a vet saying PTS twice, both times I disagreed, both times it was the right decision & my bunnies recovered. I almost feel like some vets get frustrated at not being able to cure or solve; sometimes there seems too little on the manage / wait & see side. You did good

Is she happily reunited with Len full time now?

Yeah her and Mr Len are together full time again now. We were worried at first because he has a habit of humping but when she got strong enough, every time we opened her crate she was trying to get out. She escaped the other night and went to lie under the table. My husband and I laid on the floor with them for a good hour and after a good deal of sniffing each other and them both having a grooming stand off (both of them putting their heads down to see who would cave and groom the other first) Len caved and must have been grooming her for a good 20 minutes solid. When he'd finished he put his head down for her to return the favour and she got up and ran off. So he chased her and tried to hump. She wriggled and got away from him and it was at that point we realised that she was well enough to be with him full time again. Since then they've been back to being inseparable!

Sarah3075 said:

Yeah her and Mr Len are together full time again now. We were worried at first because he has a habit of humping but when she got strong enough, every time we opened her crate she was trying to get out. She escaped the other night and went to lie under the table. My husband and I laid on the floor with them for a good hour and after a good deal of sniffing each other and them both having a grooming stand off (both of them putting their heads down to see who would cave and groom the other first) Len caved and must have been grooming her for a good 20 minutes solid. When he'd finished he put his head down for her to return the favour and she got up and ran off. So he chased her and tried to hump. She wriggled and got away from him and it was at that point we realised that she was well enough to be with him full time again. Since then they've been back to being inseparable!

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Bliss

I think vets have a hard time giving advice, as owners are all so different in their attitudes to rabbits as pets and also their persistence in nursing care (where necessary). Cost can also be a factor.

However, it's a really good thing to cultivate following your gut instinct as over time you become more sure of what's the best way forward

I agree totally, I was just chatting to my husband about this tonight. Vets are geared up to deal more with you more "usual" pets, and to be entirely honest, we ended up being bunny owners completely by accident. Mr Len was my niece's bunny (she's 8 and was bought a bunny by her dad ) who we were meant to get adopted out because she lost interest and then my sister and her moved away. But we fell in love with him and wanted to get a companion for him (hence us getting Lily). I think people get rabbits thinking thet'll be an easy pet - stick them in a hutch in the garden, no taking them for walks etc. So I don't know if vets know so little because of the nature of bunnies or because people never take them to the vets because they're seen as disposable somehow, and not worthy if the time and effort.

The way I see it is that Lily is a living creature that we chose to take into our home. She's utterly dependent on our care and so I have a massive responsibility to ensure that she has everything that she needs in life. I don't take being a pet owner lightly but I think that some people do. Whatever pet you choose, you have to remember that it cones with a cost, in terms of money but also time and care.

I now know a whole lot more about bunnies than I ever could have imagined but they're such gorgeous, funny, loveable creatures that I wouldn't change it for the world

So pleased to read this wonderful update about Lily

What an excellent update I'm really happy for you all.

Sarah3075 said:

I agree totally, I was just chatting to my husband about this tonight. Vets are geared up to deal more with you more "usual" pets, and to be entirely honest, we ended up being bunny owners completely by accident. Mr Len was my niece's bunny (she's 8 and was bought a bunny by her dad ) who we were meant to get adopted out because she lost interest and then my sister and her moved away. But we fell in love with him and wanted to get a companion for him (hence us getting Lily). I think people get rabbits thinking thet'll be an easy pet - stick them in a hutch in the garden, no taking them for walks etc. So I don't know if vets know so little because of the nature of bunnies or because people never take them to the vets because they're seen as disposable somehow, and not worthy if the time and effort.

The way I see it is that Lily is a living creature that we chose to take into our home. She's utterly dependent on our care and so I have a massive responsibility to ensure that she has everything that she needs in life. I don't take being a pet owner lightly but I think that some people do. Whatever pet you choose, you have to remember that it cones with a cost, in terms of money but also time and care.

I now know a whole lot more about bunnies than I ever could have imagined but they're such gorgeous, funny, loveable creatures that I wouldn't change it for the world

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They can certainly be a challenge

Vets get very little training on rabbits, unless they are a specialist/exotic vet and they aren't too common. People can easily get bored with a rabbit unless they allow it's personality to shine.

Once you fall in love with rabbits you will never be the same person again. And thankfully, neither will they