So I thought that I would do a bit of an update. I did finally manage to bond Penny in with Dakota and Flopsy, but it was quite the process. Dakota simply wouldn't allow Penny to move into her and Flopsy's enclosure. She would chase and nip Penny. I don't know how Dakota managed this as she is old, partially blind, and arthritic, but it didn't seem to hinder her chasing abilities at all.
Outside of their pen Dakota was absolutely fine with Penny. So after several months of procrastinating finalizing their bonding, I finally moved them out into a new temporary pen while I am remodeling the rabbit room. The bonding happened as soon as I moved them out. So now they are happily living together.... mostly happily. Penny has actually turned the tables and now nips Dakota. Dakota is dealing with it fairly well and just runs away when it happens, but I'm not very happy about my old arthritic bunny being picked on. I don't want to split them up, but I'm not entirely sure what to do about it at this point. If I see it happening, Penny gets a talking to from me, and she knows she gets in trouble when she does it and runs and hides in her box. I guess as long as Dakota seems to be dealing with it ok, then I'll not worry too much about it. And who knows, maybe once I move them back into their old pen, the tables may turn and Dakota will be going after Penny again.
And Flopsy... well he's fine with both of them. Not too much fusses him.
So I decided to finish neutering and spaying all of my buns so that I could finally bond them into their groups. Zeus, Pip, Libby, Jake, and Roo were the only ones left to be done. I took Roo and Jake in. Roo's spay was successful but Jake's heart stopped when they gave him the anesthesia. Luckily the vet saved him and he is doing just fine... with his plums still attached
No neuter for him. So he lucked out and for now will remain a 'real' boy. Pip was next and all went well. Both her, and Roo especially, have settled down and don't seem quite as moody as they used to be.
Now the sad news. I wanted to get Zeus neutered but was worried about doing it because of his past digestive issues. But the pee spraying was pretty bad and driving me crazy, and I really wanted to be able to bond him with Baby, seeing as he is the only one of my rabbits that she seems to really like and not act aggressively towards, and I felt bad for them not having a buddy to snuggle up with. So I decided to go ahead with it. Well.... he didn't make it
I'm just heartbroken. I feel like I failed my little guy. I keep thinking of what I should have done differently, but I just don't know.
I had a necropsy done and found out the results today, which were very unexpected. He had e. cuniculi, and it was complications from this that caused his death. They found lesions in his heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, and brain, and that his brain and liver were affected the most. But the strange thing is that he showed absolutely no symptoms of it. Aside from his digestive sensitivities and suspected mild megacolon type symptoms, he was healthy and happy. The results didn't indicate any abnormalities with his digestive system at all.
I guess in some respects I'm glad he didn't have to go through having EC, as it's a horrible illness to deal with, and I'm sure very distressing for a rabbit to have. I am glad that in the end he did go peacefully. But even then I still wish he wasn't gone. I really miss him and his cute chubby checks. He was just the sweetest little bun, so affectionate and loving.
RIP my sweet boy.
