Craig 1965
Warren Veteran
I didn't post on Friday when it all kicked off here - because as you may appreciate and understand, I am still very raw from the loss of Alfred. And friday, I cam very close to losing Flo. And this is a post about knowing how to add up those subtle clues.
Everything was fine on Friday morning. Bugsy and Flo were happy, eating and no issues. I went to work as usual. I left the usual 2 plates of food out, a handful of food in the toilet area and the autmatic feeder for their lunchtime snacks. I got back at 5:20 and everything looked ok. Bugsy sploofed by the back door and Flo was sitting. But she was sitting by the fridge - she NEVER sits by the fridge. That was clue number 1 - easily missed. One of the plates of food was still full and the food in the toilet hadn't been touched. Clue number 2. I opened the back door and Bugsy went out. Flo didn't. So I picked her up and took her outside as the light was fading and it's important she got some garden time. That was clue 3. Flo NEVER lets me pick her up. Ever! She ran off to find Bugsy who was sitting in his usual spot behind Alfreds bush. Flo joined him whilst I got my tea from the garage. When I came back, Bugsy was on the lawn and Flo was jammed into the bush. That was clue 4. I looked at the situation. To most people this was not anything to worry about but to me I had nothing but red flags. And having lost Alfred in June, I just had a gut feeling ( no pun intended). I went to pick Flo up - she didn't move.
I grabbed the carrier, grabbed my phone and was on to the vets before I'd even got Flo into the carrier. My heart was pounding.
15 minutes later I was at the vet hospital and in seeing the vet. Flos temperature was 37 degrees and for those with the knowledge - like Jane, this is 1 degree lower than ideal. The vet heard gut noise but not as much as she wanted. Teeth were fine. Tummy soft. But there were enough clues from me to suggest this was the onset of stasis. We decided not to admit her - it was my choice especially after the situation with Alfred. I couldn't face losing Flo.
I brought her home with emipred and metacam and critical care. Flo just sat - like a blob. The vet gave her injection of metacam and emipred to speed things up.
I got some critical care into Flo but she didn't want to know about food.
Friday night was a long night. I lay on the sofa. And Flo lay in the living room. Bugsy - well, if there is a happy outcome from this, then the saving grace was Bugsy. He was absolutely amazing. He lay next to Flo - he never moved. All night he lay there keeping Flo warm. Flo never ate.
On saturday morning we took her back to the vet. She hadn't improved. Her temperature was up to 37.9. This was positive. She'd had some critical care but nothing else. Saturday was a long day. Flo just sat in the living room. Whatever I put out for her, Bugsy ate!
Sky-O - well she was amazing. She dropped round some fresh picked forage and Flo had some of that. What an amazing person Sky-O is.
Nothing much changed on Saturday and I slept downstairs again on saturday night. Bugsy stayed by Flos side all night again. Given they've only been bonded since September, Bugsy is a god send. Given he had a torrid relationship with his brother, Bugsy was gentle, caring and he just knew.
Yesterday - sunday, Flo seemed to pick up a tad. I went foraging, nearly broke my arm falling down a slippery bank and brought in fresh grass and a bit of dandelion which Bugsy promptly ate! Flo picked at a bit of food and I got some poop off her. She was passing some poop at least. Her eyes were half closed and didn't look great. I didn't know what to do. We continued with the critical care and tempted Flo with some carrot tops. But she still was very poorly.
I spent last night on the sofa again. Flo was quite resistant to the critical care last night.
This morning Flo was a bit more feisty. It was challenging getting meds down her but she still seemed so poorly. I left for work and no sooner did I get to work than Jan texted me to say Flo had suddenly .......eaten quite a bit of fresh herbs. Small steps.
I picked some fresh dandelions from work on my lunch time and came home tonight. Flo had already eaten more herbs and her face lit up when I showed her rhe fresh dandelion leaves which were just what she wanted. It was such a releif to see her eat freely - eat keenly, eat genuinely. She wanted to eat and whilst she isn't stuffing her face, she is active, her fur feels like it has life, her whiskers are curly and her eyes full of life again.
We aren't there yet - but we are on the way there.
Ive identified Flos love of cardboard boxes as the probable cause as the ingestion would have effected the gut bacteria. We have had a box in the kitchen for the last 2 weeks and Flo has been doing some bunstruction. It never crossed my mind, but hindsight is a marvelous thing.
The clues on Friday helped save her life - one on it's own wouldn't have set my alarm bells ringing but all the clues together added up to a scary situation.
It is an unexplainable emotion to bring a rabbit who is very poorly back from that precipice - Flo went there and my goodness we all went with her. But it also showed us that Flo is an incredibly strong willed rabbit and Bugsy is just amazing. I cry frequently at the loss of Alfred in identical circumstances, but out of Alfreds loss we found Bugsy and without Bugsy I dont know what Flo would have done. Bugsy is such an amazing sensitive and aware rabbit.
I'll update with how Flo is getting on - just about to give her the last of her meds (hopefully) but will continue with metacam for a couple more days.
Craig xx
Everything was fine on Friday morning. Bugsy and Flo were happy, eating and no issues. I went to work as usual. I left the usual 2 plates of food out, a handful of food in the toilet area and the autmatic feeder for their lunchtime snacks. I got back at 5:20 and everything looked ok. Bugsy sploofed by the back door and Flo was sitting. But she was sitting by the fridge - she NEVER sits by the fridge. That was clue number 1 - easily missed. One of the plates of food was still full and the food in the toilet hadn't been touched. Clue number 2. I opened the back door and Bugsy went out. Flo didn't. So I picked her up and took her outside as the light was fading and it's important she got some garden time. That was clue 3. Flo NEVER lets me pick her up. Ever! She ran off to find Bugsy who was sitting in his usual spot behind Alfreds bush. Flo joined him whilst I got my tea from the garage. When I came back, Bugsy was on the lawn and Flo was jammed into the bush. That was clue 4. I looked at the situation. To most people this was not anything to worry about but to me I had nothing but red flags. And having lost Alfred in June, I just had a gut feeling ( no pun intended). I went to pick Flo up - she didn't move.
I grabbed the carrier, grabbed my phone and was on to the vets before I'd even got Flo into the carrier. My heart was pounding.
15 minutes later I was at the vet hospital and in seeing the vet. Flos temperature was 37 degrees and for those with the knowledge - like Jane, this is 1 degree lower than ideal. The vet heard gut noise but not as much as she wanted. Teeth were fine. Tummy soft. But there were enough clues from me to suggest this was the onset of stasis. We decided not to admit her - it was my choice especially after the situation with Alfred. I couldn't face losing Flo.
I brought her home with emipred and metacam and critical care. Flo just sat - like a blob. The vet gave her injection of metacam and emipred to speed things up.
I got some critical care into Flo but she didn't want to know about food.
Friday night was a long night. I lay on the sofa. And Flo lay in the living room. Bugsy - well, if there is a happy outcome from this, then the saving grace was Bugsy. He was absolutely amazing. He lay next to Flo - he never moved. All night he lay there keeping Flo warm. Flo never ate.
On saturday morning we took her back to the vet. She hadn't improved. Her temperature was up to 37.9. This was positive. She'd had some critical care but nothing else. Saturday was a long day. Flo just sat in the living room. Whatever I put out for her, Bugsy ate!
Sky-O - well she was amazing. She dropped round some fresh picked forage and Flo had some of that. What an amazing person Sky-O is.
Nothing much changed on Saturday and I slept downstairs again on saturday night. Bugsy stayed by Flos side all night again. Given they've only been bonded since September, Bugsy is a god send. Given he had a torrid relationship with his brother, Bugsy was gentle, caring and he just knew.
Yesterday - sunday, Flo seemed to pick up a tad. I went foraging, nearly broke my arm falling down a slippery bank and brought in fresh grass and a bit of dandelion which Bugsy promptly ate! Flo picked at a bit of food and I got some poop off her. She was passing some poop at least. Her eyes were half closed and didn't look great. I didn't know what to do. We continued with the critical care and tempted Flo with some carrot tops. But she still was very poorly.
I spent last night on the sofa again. Flo was quite resistant to the critical care last night.
This morning Flo was a bit more feisty. It was challenging getting meds down her but she still seemed so poorly. I left for work and no sooner did I get to work than Jan texted me to say Flo had suddenly .......eaten quite a bit of fresh herbs. Small steps.
I picked some fresh dandelions from work on my lunch time and came home tonight. Flo had already eaten more herbs and her face lit up when I showed her rhe fresh dandelion leaves which were just what she wanted. It was such a releif to see her eat freely - eat keenly, eat genuinely. She wanted to eat and whilst she isn't stuffing her face, she is active, her fur feels like it has life, her whiskers are curly and her eyes full of life again.
We aren't there yet - but we are on the way there.
Ive identified Flos love of cardboard boxes as the probable cause as the ingestion would have effected the gut bacteria. We have had a box in the kitchen for the last 2 weeks and Flo has been doing some bunstruction. It never crossed my mind, but hindsight is a marvelous thing.
The clues on Friday helped save her life - one on it's own wouldn't have set my alarm bells ringing but all the clues together added up to a scary situation.
It is an unexplainable emotion to bring a rabbit who is very poorly back from that precipice - Flo went there and my goodness we all went with her. But it also showed us that Flo is an incredibly strong willed rabbit and Bugsy is just amazing. I cry frequently at the loss of Alfred in identical circumstances, but out of Alfreds loss we found Bugsy and without Bugsy I dont know what Flo would have done. Bugsy is such an amazing sensitive and aware rabbit.
I'll update with how Flo is getting on - just about to give her the last of her meds (hopefully) but will continue with metacam for a couple more days.
Craig xx
