Sunday, November 15, 2009

Sick Bunny

Oxtoby decided to get sick late last week. I'd like to think I'm fairly knowledgeable when it comes to rabbit ailments, considering what I went through with George, but I'd never experienced rabbit intestinal issues firsthand. I called my vet's office, where they offered no help at all (my regular rabbit vet was unavailable), so I got out my syringes (the kind without needles) and started orally hydrating him. That seemed to work out just fine, but I still made an appointment with the vet to double check for other problems, and they sent me home with some antibiotics. The next morning I woke up to find an almost-dead Oxtoby...unresponsive, labored breathing, and I couldn't get him to take water or even lift his head. Extreme badness.
So...we took a lovely rambulance ride to the animal hospital where Oxtoby was admitted. Sub-q fluids, x-rays, and fecal cultures ensued. His intestinal bacteria had spiked. Luckily, my vet is awesome and knows her stuff when it comes to rabbits. When I came back the next day Oxtoby was back to being himself, trying to escape and eat the potted plants. We're sticking with penicillin injections for a week, but by the amount of trouble he's been getting into, I think he'll be just fine.

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