Marking the End of an Era-Updated Friday 4th December
- Thread starter Jack's-Jane
- Start date
Springfield24
Alpha Buck
Lovely post so far, looking forward to hearing more x
biscandmatt1
Wise Old Thumper
this is a great idea for a thread. i'm looking forward to reading more 
x
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keletkezes
Wise Old Thumper
I'm very much enjoying Jane's Storytime: thankyou somuch for sharing!
Jack's-Jane
Wise Old Thumper
I found a couple of photos of Hattie, the 4th of Seamus's conquests. The second photo is of Hattie and her daughter Nikki. As I mentioned previously, Nikki died during her spay
Prior to the accidental litters incident I had bought four more baby Rabbits from Petsmart. They were clearly all from different litters. What I was to discover about 48 hours after getting them home was that they had coccidiosis They all became gravely ill and were hospitalised at the RSPCA Animal Hospital in Putney. One of the agoutis, Kate, died The other three, Robbie, Aisling and Freya all pulled through. How all my other Rabbits did not become ill I dont know. I was completely ignorant of the seriousness of the situation, thinking the babies all just had a 'tummy upset' and that they would get better. It was only when the Vet at the Animal Hospital immediately sent an RSPCA Inspector out to Petsmart that I grasped the fact that all 4 of my Rabbits could die. It was a truly horrendous time and it is the reason that I became totally paranoid about coccidiosis.
These are the four babies, from left to right: Robbie, Kate, Freya and Aisling
Prior to the accidental litters incident I had bought four more baby Rabbits from Petsmart. They were clearly all from different litters. What I was to discover about 48 hours after getting them home was that they had coccidiosis
They all became gravely ill and were hospitalised at the RSPCA Animal Hospital in Putney. One of the agoutis, Kate, died The other three, Robbie, Aisling and Freya all pulled through. How all my other Rabbits did not become ill I dont know. I was completely ignorant of the seriousness of the situation, thinking the babies all just had a 'tummy upset' and that they would get better. It was only when the Vet at the Animal Hospital immediately sent an RSPCA Inspector out to Petsmart that I grasped the fact that all 4 of my Rabbits could die. It was a truly horrendous time and it is the reason that I became totally paranoid about coccidiosis.These are the four babies, from left to right: Robbie, Kate, Freya and Aisling
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Jack's-Jane
Wise Old Thumper
Charlie was my first lesson in what EC can do to a Rabbit. Although at the time neither I nor the Vet I was consulting (NOT C) had a clue as to what we were dealing with.
Charlie was returned to the Garden Centre from where he had previously been purchased as the person who bought him said that he was 'always filthy' and he was 'too difficult to look after'. The man who worked in the Pets Department knew I had a lot of Rabbits and he asked me if I'd take Charlie 'off his hands'. This I did. I soon realised that the reason Charlie was getting so soiled on a daily basis was because his hind legs were incredibly weak. The Vet I consulted said that his hind leg weakness was a 'birth deformity'. My ignorance about Rabbit illnesses at that time meant I did not question her 'diagnosis'.
As time went by I bonded Charlie with three other Does. He was a very happy little Bunny and extremely affectionate to his Rabbit companions and to me. But his condition deteriorated rapidly, he lost weight, his hind leg weakness became much worse, he developed bilateral cataracts and eventually he went into renal failure. All this panned out over about 18 months. Not once during that time did the Vet ever mention EC and of course I never even knew the condition existed. It was not until much later, after an extremely serious error by the Vet regarding one of my other Rabbits that resulted in her death, did I question the competence of the Vet. I had assumed that a Vet is 'always right'.
I started looking into all the 'advice' I had been given by her over the years and I realised that, frankly, she should never have been allowed to Practice as a Vet. The only good thing to come out of it was that I found RU.
Here is Charlie, the picture was taken towards the end of his life. He was only 3 when I had to have him PTS
By some miracle none of the three Does I bonded Charlie with ever developed any symptoms of 'active' EC. That may be because by the time I bonded Charlie with them he was no longer shedding spores, or maybe the other Rabbit's immune systems were able to deal with EC. I guess I will never know.
Charlie was returned to the Garden Centre from where he had previously been purchased as the person who bought him said that he was 'always filthy' and he was 'too difficult to look after'. The man who worked in the Pets Department knew I had a lot of Rabbits and he asked me if I'd take Charlie 'off his hands'. This I did. I soon realised that the reason Charlie was getting so soiled on a daily basis was because his hind legs were incredibly weak. The Vet I consulted said that his hind leg weakness was a 'birth deformity'. My ignorance about Rabbit illnesses at that time meant I did not question her 'diagnosis'.
As time went by I bonded Charlie with three other Does. He was a very happy little Bunny and extremely affectionate to his Rabbit companions and to me. But his condition deteriorated rapidly, he lost weight, his hind leg weakness became much worse, he developed bilateral cataracts and eventually he went into renal failure. All this panned out over about 18 months. Not once during that time did the Vet ever mention EC and of course I never even knew the condition existed. It was not until much later, after an extremely serious error by the Vet regarding one of my other Rabbits that resulted in her death, did I question the competence of the Vet. I had assumed that a Vet is 'always right'.
I started looking into all the 'advice' I had been given by her over the years and I realised that, frankly, she should never have been allowed to Practice as a Vet. The only good thing to come out of it was that I found RU.
Here is Charlie, the picture was taken towards the end of his life. He was only 3 when I had to have him PTS
By some miracle none of the three Does I bonded Charlie with ever developed any symptoms of 'active' EC. That may be because by the time I bonded Charlie with them he was no longer shedding spores, or maybe the other Rabbit's immune systems were able to deal with EC. I guess I will never know.
sparklefairy
Wise Old Thumper
I love this thread
But sadly I also know how vets in years gone by ( and some now a days ) were clueless about rabbits. I also had a bunny, freeda, who had been abandoned at the vets because she was dirty. She also had hind leg weakness and incontinence. The vet never knew why, nor did I. I just did the best I could at the time with regular Bum baths to keep her clean. She became weaker and weaker and ended up having a seizure I lost her after I had had her for 8:months. Bilbo, her partner never showed signs of ec ( which is what I believe she had ) but years later gypsy had it. Gypsy was with bilbo and later with stormy.
I always wonder if bilbo had passed it on to gypsy ( even though he showed no signs) and it lay dormant for all those years. I guess I will never know ...
But sadly I also know how vets in years gone by ( and some now a days ) were clueless about rabbits. I also had a bunny, freeda, who had been abandoned at the vets because she was dirty. She also had hind leg weakness and incontinence. The vet never knew why, nor did I. I just did the best I could at the time with regular Bum baths to keep her clean. She became weaker and weaker and ended up having a seizure
I lost her after I had had her for 8:months. Bilbo, her partner never showed signs of ec ( which is what I believe she had ) but years later gypsy had it. Gypsy was with bilbo and later with stormy. I always wonder if bilbo had passed it on to gypsy ( even though he showed no signs) and it lay dormant for all those years. I guess I will never know ...
keletkezes
Wise Old Thumper
We do all assume that the professionals know best. How wonderful is hindsight: I'm always glad when it comes in time to help with future problems!
I still have no idea how my Charlie survived so long: we took him to the vet after he hadn't been eating for a couple of days (!) and vet gave him what I always remember being told was a vitamin jab (I assume it was actually a gut stimulant). No pain relief, no aftercare advice, nothing (this would have been from 1996 onwards): but Charlie always pulled through, right as rain. He was very lucky: a shame they all aren't
I still have no idea how my Charlie survived so long: we took him to the vet after he hadn't been eating for a couple of days (!) and vet gave him what I always remember being told was a vitamin jab (I assume it was actually a gut stimulant). No pain relief, no aftercare advice, nothing (this would have been from 1996 onwards): but Charlie always pulled through, right as rain. He was very lucky: a shame they all aren't
littleboots
Mama Doe
aww....... looking forward to the next chapter x
Jack's-Jane
Wise Old Thumper
Jack was one of the 8 'surprise litter' Rexes.
Jack on top of the pile
He was the runt and he was born with a deformed front foot. This never caused him any problems at all. Jack became an exceptionally special Rabbit to me. I wont go into the full details, but suffice to say I was in a very bad way and Jack literally sat with me until I could phone for help. Our relationship was almost telepathic. He just 'understood'. Much in the way that Morse understood me.
Jack was bonded closely to his brother Ronan
Then one afternoon tragedy struck. An urban Fox came into my house via the kitchen window. I was upstairs at the time. All hell broke lose downstairs, including blood curdling screams from Ronan and Jack. The Fox killed Ronan and very nearly killed Jack. I will never forget the carnage I witnessed in my kitchen that day. Jack was severely traumatised and I thought he would die from shock. Thankfully he pulled through, although it was many many weeks before he came out of his shell and started to behave normally again. Eventually I bonded him with a gentle Doe called Maggie. I had rescued her from a Pet Shop, the shop owner was giving her away for free as she was basically one big matted knot, covered in caked on poo and also suffering with pneumonia. Maggie was very sick for many weeks. But she eventually recovered. Although she was left with severely damaged lungs.
In his 7th year Jack developed a tumour on his hip.
It was found to be a Fibrosarcoma. This is a cancerous growth that usually does not spread to other parts of the body, but grows rapidly. It often recurs quickly even if removed. Jack had one lot of surgery to remove as much of the tumour as possible. He came through the op' well.
But after just a few months the tumour had grown again to twice the size. I felt it was not appropriate to put him through more surgery. He was kept comfortable on palliative care. But eventually the tumour effected the blood supply to the lower part of his leg. The skin started to ulcerate and die off. I had to let him go. It broke my heart. This photo was taken on his last morning, 27th March 2006
Jack really did save my life.
Jack on top of the pile
He was the runt and he was born with a deformed front foot. This never caused him any problems at all. Jack became an exceptionally special Rabbit to me. I wont go into the full details, but suffice to say I was in a very bad way and Jack literally sat with me until I could phone for help. Our relationship was almost telepathic. He just 'understood'. Much in the way that Morse understood me.
Jack was bonded closely to his brother Ronan
Then one afternoon tragedy struck. An urban Fox came into my house via the kitchen window. I was upstairs at the time. All hell broke lose downstairs, including blood curdling screams from Ronan and Jack. The Fox killed Ronan and very nearly killed Jack. I will never forget the carnage I witnessed in my kitchen that day. Jack was severely traumatised and I thought he would die from shock. Thankfully he pulled through, although it was many many weeks before he came out of his shell and started to behave normally again. Eventually I bonded him with a gentle Doe called Maggie. I had rescued her from a Pet Shop, the shop owner was giving her away for free as she was basically one big matted knot, covered in caked on poo and also suffering with pneumonia. Maggie was very sick for many weeks. But she eventually recovered. Although she was left with severely damaged lungs.
In his 7th year Jack developed a tumour on his hip.
It was found to be a Fibrosarcoma. This is a cancerous growth that usually does not spread to other parts of the body, but grows rapidly. It often recurs quickly even if removed. Jack had one lot of surgery to remove as much of the tumour as possible. He came through the op' well.
But after just a few months the tumour had grown again to twice the size. I felt it was not appropriate to put him through more surgery. He was kept comfortable on palliative care. But eventually the tumour effected the blood supply to the lower part of his leg. The skin started to ulcerate and die off. I had to let him go. It broke my heart. This photo was taken on his last morning, 27th March 2006
Jack really did save my life.
