Round 2 - Bailey goes for midnight emergency surgery
Let me start off with I think I'm a horrible rabbit mom. I feel horrible for letting this happen. I feel just freaking awful. So any responding comments relating to that, I don't want to hear. I'm just going to let yal know how our wonderful night went.
Bailey's wound had been completely healed for a little over a week now. It's fully healed skin, just without fur in that spot. My vet gave me the go-ahead on getting them to bond during supervised playtimes. I started this last weekend. I posted about the success and that I was so excited how well it was going. The first day, Hailey did a couple of light nips at Bailey's back/rump area. A couple squirts of the water bottle at her and it completely went away. No humping, no biting every day after that. In fact, Bailey hadn't done her humping at all since the last injury of getting a bad bite to her genitals. They have been completely supervised, and still caged separately. All I saw had been grooming by both, they would lay side by side, legs to one side, play with their toys near each other, binkies, eat treats together -- It was like good buddies catching up on the times.
Last night was just like the previous nights. They played around in the kitchen, but were a little quiet which I think was related to the rain storm outside. They ate some yoggies and plopped down side by side. It was a little after 11pm, and it was about bed time. Time to clean up, get the rabbits to bed and call it a night. I was standing right there, turned around to dump out the litter box. My eyes were off of them for 1 second.
*squeeel!!*.....Are you freaking kidding me?
I turn around as Bailey is running as far away to the other side of the room. There is a clump of fur on the floor, but no skin this time. I thought maybe just some fur came out and Bailey was startled by it. I calmly said, "Okay guys, play time is over." I go to comfort Bailey and start to feel around her back and rump for any injuries - none. I pick her up to examine her belly - Oh My God.....her side was split on her underside. It was split down and to her inner thigh, kind of like the shape of a wishbone or a "Y". The skin was open, but there was no blood. Actually, her under epidermis was still intact. I didn't even know they had a 2nd skin underneath till last night. It was transparent, so I could still see her muscle and everything, but that thin layer was just holding everything in - no blood. But Bailey is in super pain. Her breathing was crazy and she didn't look good. Maybe if it was way smaller of a cut, I'd wait till morning. But no way, not something this big.
And just like the last injury - this happened on a Wednesday night - the perfect time. Because for some reason the emergency clinic that specializes in rabbits nearby only specializes in rabbits every day of the week except Wednesdays. It was about 11:30 when I got in touch with the Emergency Animal Clinic in Southlake/Grapevine, which is about 40-45 mins away. This E-vet is HIGHLY specialized in rabbits, but just so far. The lady says that the office visit is $97, but after midnight, it goes up to $150. So here we are speeding our way there in the pouring rain.
We get there with 5 mins to spare. But she doesn't get looked at till about 12:30. They immediately take her into surgery. She went under for about 45 mins. They shaved her, clipped the wound, cleaned her out, sewed her up, and put her in an e-collar. I maxed out my credit card to pay for it. They wanted to send me home with Metacam, but I still had plenty from the last injury, so I was able to take that off of the cost.
We got home about 3am. I layed down towels in a clean plastic bottom cage. I set up her litterbox, water bottle and even though I didn't think she would eat, I set up a bowl of veggies, pellets and put a nice pile of hay in the corner. She was really groggy last night from the surgery. I wiped the sleepy watery discharge from her eyes and the saliva under her chin. She just laid there and fell asleep immediately.
And last night, my boyfriend and I had the same discussion that we had after the first injury....maybe Hailey should go back to the SPCA. I had contacted them after the last injury about my rabbits that were supposedly this bonded pair, were not getting along. They told me that if it's not working out, that maybe Hailey is just a one-rabbit gal. So she might need to come back to the shelter to find a new home. Well, we didn't take her back. We thought we'd try this bonding thing again after Bailey healed up. That was last time. And now here I am trying to make this decision again.
When I wanted to adopt a rabbit, it was just one. One cage, one litter box, one little bitty rabbit. Then SPCA told me they are a bonded pair, so I'd still have one cage, one litter box, and twice the love. Now I'm faced with having 2 cages, 2 litterboxes, 2 separate scheduled playtimes (which as been a pain), twice the drama and a maxed out credit card. This is not what I wanted. I'm already a petting zoo with a dog, cat, 2 rats, and 2 rabbits in a small rented town home. One less cage would make it seem like less of a zoo. So I feel so freaking awful thinking about it, but if an animal isn't working out, I think I might take her back. We are going to think about it for a little while and decide. It's just so upsetting because Hailey is such a great rabbit. She's affectionate, she loves to play, does the crazy binkies, so happy, has a great personality....she just snaps so unpredictable at Bailey. I'd hate to take her back, and it makes me feel really awful. I feel like this is all my fault and I did something wrong in taking care of them and dealing with their behavior. I just don't know what to do. But I look at Bailey and I don't want this for her. How did I let this happen to her. I'm kicking myself for it....a lot.
Update on her this morning:
I couldn't believe it, but when I went to see her, her bowl of salad was all gone. Perfect poopies were all over her cage. I guess she can't get into the litter box, but that's okay. And there was a pee spot in the corner. She seemed alert this morning, walking around, eating her breakfast. She has a little bit of trouble eating with the cone in her way. The cone pretty much just pushes her veggies out of the bowl. But once she gets a piece of romaine, she lays in her cone and eats off of it like a plate. She's figuring it out. I just keep picking up her veggies and putting them back into her bowl. She had sleepy stuff around her eyes, so I cleaned it up, but she wouldn't let me get under her chin this morning. So I tried to slide a paper towel between her chin and the cone and let it set there for a couple seconds - that's as much as she'll let me do.
I'll try to get pics later this evening. For right now, I'm just trying to get through a day of work with no sleep.
Let me start off with I think I'm a horrible rabbit mom. I feel horrible for letting this happen. I feel just freaking awful. So any responding comments relating to that, I don't want to hear. I'm just going to let yal know how our wonderful night went.
Bailey's wound had been completely healed for a little over a week now. It's fully healed skin, just without fur in that spot. My vet gave me the go-ahead on getting them to bond during supervised playtimes. I started this last weekend. I posted about the success and that I was so excited how well it was going. The first day, Hailey did a couple of light nips at Bailey's back/rump area. A couple squirts of the water bottle at her and it completely went away. No humping, no biting every day after that. In fact, Bailey hadn't done her humping at all since the last injury of getting a bad bite to her genitals. They have been completely supervised, and still caged separately. All I saw had been grooming by both, they would lay side by side, legs to one side, play with their toys near each other, binkies, eat treats together -- It was like good buddies catching up on the times.
Last night was just like the previous nights. They played around in the kitchen, but were a little quiet which I think was related to the rain storm outside. They ate some yoggies and plopped down side by side. It was a little after 11pm, and it was about bed time. Time to clean up, get the rabbits to bed and call it a night. I was standing right there, turned around to dump out the litter box. My eyes were off of them for 1 second.
*squeeel!!*.....Are you freaking kidding me?
I turn around as Bailey is running as far away to the other side of the room. There is a clump of fur on the floor, but no skin this time. I thought maybe just some fur came out and Bailey was startled by it. I calmly said, "Okay guys, play time is over." I go to comfort Bailey and start to feel around her back and rump for any injuries - none. I pick her up to examine her belly - Oh My God.....her side was split on her underside. It was split down and to her inner thigh, kind of like the shape of a wishbone or a "Y". The skin was open, but there was no blood. Actually, her under epidermis was still intact. I didn't even know they had a 2nd skin underneath till last night. It was transparent, so I could still see her muscle and everything, but that thin layer was just holding everything in - no blood. But Bailey is in super pain. Her breathing was crazy and she didn't look good. Maybe if it was way smaller of a cut, I'd wait till morning. But no way, not something this big.
And just like the last injury - this happened on a Wednesday night - the perfect time. Because for some reason the emergency clinic that specializes in rabbits nearby only specializes in rabbits every day of the week except Wednesdays. It was about 11:30 when I got in touch with the Emergency Animal Clinic in Southlake/Grapevine, which is about 40-45 mins away. This E-vet is HIGHLY specialized in rabbits, but just so far. The lady says that the office visit is $97, but after midnight, it goes up to $150. So here we are speeding our way there in the pouring rain.
We get there with 5 mins to spare. But she doesn't get looked at till about 12:30. They immediately take her into surgery. She went under for about 45 mins. They shaved her, clipped the wound, cleaned her out, sewed her up, and put her in an e-collar. I maxed out my credit card to pay for it. They wanted to send me home with Metacam, but I still had plenty from the last injury, so I was able to take that off of the cost.
We got home about 3am. I layed down towels in a clean plastic bottom cage. I set up her litterbox, water bottle and even though I didn't think she would eat, I set up a bowl of veggies, pellets and put a nice pile of hay in the corner. She was really groggy last night from the surgery. I wiped the sleepy watery discharge from her eyes and the saliva under her chin. She just laid there and fell asleep immediately.
And last night, my boyfriend and I had the same discussion that we had after the first injury....maybe Hailey should go back to the SPCA. I had contacted them after the last injury about my rabbits that were supposedly this bonded pair, were not getting along. They told me that if it's not working out, that maybe Hailey is just a one-rabbit gal. So she might need to come back to the shelter to find a new home. Well, we didn't take her back. We thought we'd try this bonding thing again after Bailey healed up. That was last time. And now here I am trying to make this decision again.
When I wanted to adopt a rabbit, it was just one. One cage, one litter box, one little bitty rabbit. Then SPCA told me they are a bonded pair, so I'd still have one cage, one litter box, and twice the love. Now I'm faced with having 2 cages, 2 litterboxes, 2 separate scheduled playtimes (which as been a pain), twice the drama and a maxed out credit card. This is not what I wanted. I'm already a petting zoo with a dog, cat, 2 rats, and 2 rabbits in a small rented town home. One less cage would make it seem like less of a zoo. So I feel so freaking awful thinking about it, but if an animal isn't working out, I think I might take her back. We are going to think about it for a little while and decide. It's just so upsetting because Hailey is such a great rabbit. She's affectionate, she loves to play, does the crazy binkies, so happy, has a great personality....she just snaps so unpredictable at Bailey. I'd hate to take her back, and it makes me feel really awful. I feel like this is all my fault and I did something wrong in taking care of them and dealing with their behavior. I just don't know what to do. But I look at Bailey and I don't want this for her. How did I let this happen to her. I'm kicking myself for it....a lot.
Update on her this morning:
I couldn't believe it, but when I went to see her, her bowl of salad was all gone. Perfect poopies were all over her cage. I guess she can't get into the litter box, but that's okay. And there was a pee spot in the corner. She seemed alert this morning, walking around, eating her breakfast. She has a little bit of trouble eating with the cone in her way. The cone pretty much just pushes her veggies out of the bowl. But once she gets a piece of romaine, she lays in her cone and eats off of it like a plate. She's figuring it out. I just keep picking up her veggies and putting them back into her bowl. She had sleepy stuff around her eyes, so I cleaned it up, but she wouldn't let me get under her chin this morning. So I tried to slide a paper towel between her chin and the cone and let it set there for a couple seconds - that's as much as she'll let me do.
I'll try to get pics later this evening. For right now, I'm just trying to get through a day of work with no sleep.
