Luna the Foster Bun

[naturestee]

So, remember this thread?
http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=29541&forum_id=8

Well, I spent the last two days begging James and he agreed to let me foster her. I went in today to find that three more rabbits had been surrendered at the shelter today. They had so many that they couldn't even fit all the cages in stacks against the wall. The newest rabbit's cage had to sit in the middle of the floor!:shock:

I had gone in with the intention of checking on her status and what the shelter vet said about her and filling in the paperwork. I wasn't intending to bring her home yet since I hadn't had time to set up a cage for her. Well... I couldn't very well leave them with so many bunnies they overflow onto the floor, could I? So the bunny went in a cardboard cat carrier and I lugged her home and threw the spare dog crate together for her. She now officially belongs to Soulmate Rabbit Rescue (TreasuredFriends' rescue) with me as the foster mom.

Oh, and the previous owners said she was spayed, so no pregnancy thank goodness! I'd like to have her belly shaved to verify that but that can wait.

Her shelter name was Mama, but I just can't call her that. It doesn't fit. But I'm not sure what does yet, so for now she's just "that blue dutch girl," LOL! If anyone has suggestions, go ahead. Some of my ideas so far have been Jazz and Luna.

Pics!

Little head, big body. Skinny/non-muscled ribs and back with a great big belly. Hello, malnutrition?

You can kind of see her belly in this picture. See how the top of her back has a sharp slant to it? That would be the skinny part. Then about halfway down the ribs it bulges out into her big belly.

Don't I have a cute face?

Don't eat me!!! (But look at her pretty eye!)

I'll upload the video later.

 

[Happi Bun]

Congrats on the foster, she is gorgeous! I really like the name Luna. Looking forward to a video.

 

[Bo B Bunny]

She's adorable. You'll never let her leave.

 

[Phinnsmommy]

Such a cutie!

I know when cats have bulged bellies like that they can have worms/parasites :?

 

[Luvmyzoocrew]

what a cutie!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[naturestee]

I'm pretty sure it's malnutrition, as is James, because the belly is soft not hard. But I'll be worming her anyways just in case worms are contributing to the problems.

And here's the video! Poor girl can barely get into and out of the litter box.:? We just went down and gave her a box to hide in and covered part of the cage with a blanket so she feels more secure.



And she ate some pellets!:biggrin2:

Her official name is now Luna, Julie likes it too.

Phinnsmommy wrote:

I know when cats have bulged bellies like that they can have worms/parasites :?

 

[naturestee]

No! :disgust:

She even has a potential interested person, if their other foster doesn't bond with their buns. I'm safe!

Bo B Bunny wrote:

She's adorable. You'll never let her leave.

 

[Happi Bun]

I think I already said this...but she is gorgeous! :biggrin2:Especially when its a video. I'm so glad she's with you and being well taken care of.

 

[maherwoman]

Wow...what a beautiful, sweet girl...I'm so happy she has such a wonderful foster mommy!

 

[Bo B Bunny]

She doesn't seem too unhappy! She did a half binky and she's not afraid of you. She's just watchful when you were petting her. She'll be schmoozing you before the week's out! LOL!

naturestee wrote:

No! :disgust:

She even has a potential interested person, if their other foster doesn't bond with their buns. I'm safe!

Bo B Bunny wrote:

She's adorable. You'll never let her leave.

 

[cheryl]

Aww she is just beautiful and what a cute little face she has

Luna is such a lucky little bunny..Angela to the rescue

Oh and i really love her name..Luna..it's pretty

Cheryl

 

[naturestee]

Luna is officially a very happy bunny! Tiny binkies everywhere when I let her out today. She didn't move when I opened the cage door until I picked her up, rubbed her belly for a while, and set her down on the floor. Then she was hyper, although she had to take breaks to rest. She can actually hop normally, thank goodness.

Oh, and Luna is definitely a talker! I need to try to get her noises on video. She talks to herself in little grunts and squeaks when she grooms herself or when she is nervous. And she sometimes does it when she lands from a binky. Sometimes it sounds like a big fart but I see her mouth move, LOL! Then she looks at me like I'm crazy when I laugh at her.

I had scheduled a vet appointment for her next Wednsday, but my hubby called me from work to let me know that she might have tummy troubles, hence the belly rubbing I gave her. It seems to be on-again-off-again tummy pain, possibly gas as massaging seems to make her feel a bit better. But she has more trouble moving when she is feeling worse, which is probably what I was seeing before. And she's sneezing, but I'm hoping that's just dust as the shelter has aspen shavings for litter. James doesn't work much tomorrow so he was going to see if he could get her in to the vet sooner.

Luna...:rabbithop

 

[Bo B Bunny]

poor girl! Maybe she needs to excercise that that's helping the gas.

Also, stress/moving could have caused a bit of that. WARM TOWEL and simethicone might fix her up.

Sounds like a happy bunny to me! Had she ever gotten out much before?

I love seeing those sudden binkies! POP! lol. Then they act like nothing happened and groom themselves as if to enforce they did nothing! Clover did one of those tonight. she also will do one and then look at me like I did it LOL!

 

[naturestee]

I have no idea what her last home was like. The only info I have is her age (4), she's supposedly spayed, and they "don't have time for her." Her muscles are very weak even in comparison to the other shelter buns so I'm thinking she probably didn't get out much if at all and had a small cage.

She reminds me of Loki when I first got him. He was also pretty weak from lack of exercise, and super flabby to boot. Run rest run rest binky rest binky rest run rest ***drink lots and lots of water*** run rest binky...

 

[Bo B Bunny]

Awwww that's so sad. We let each one out to play each day. Sometimes they don't even want to play much - Tony wanted to cuddle one day which shocked me!

Bo gets grumpy and just wants to sleep sometimes - he doesn't like to play unless it's early morning or evening. Do NOT disturb his nappy time during the day!

Clover flies all the time LOL!

Luna needs to have more "glamourshots!" for us!

 

[naturestee]

No new pics, she's not used to the flashy thingy yet. I took some video today but I don't have time to get it uploaded. I'm a deer hunter's widow this weekend though! Lots of time.

Edit: You haven't had rescue buns, but I'm sure others know what I'm talking about with buns that probably haven't been outside a cage for ages and when they were they were usually manhandled. They get this disbelieving look in their eyes when you open the cage door and walk away. Then they get incredibly happy and sometimes practice jumping in and out of their cage just to make sure it's allowed. Luna had that today.

 

[Bo B Bunny]

Oh cool! I was a "guys and horses weekend camping trip widow" last weekend...... I wish sometimes that was every weekend LOL! It was nice and quiet except for the kids!

 

[Mr. Stee]

Back from the vet visit. They did a battery of blood work and took x-rays along with a full physical. Blood work is normal, x-ray showed alot of gas and a lower amount of food through the digestive tract then normal, and physical found the lower molars in need of a grinding soon.
We have Meloxcam for the pain from all the gas and critical care to give her to increase food intake. Once home and on pain meds for a bit, she began to perk up, eat hay and greens, and even played a bit. I'm sure its only a matter of time before she is fine.

Mr. Stee

P.S. all that work and it ONLY cost us $155.

 

[maherwoman]

Aww...Angela, that is so cute. Yes, I'm familiar with the look: Flower got that look when I first opened her door. I had to leave it open for quite a while before she could quite believe it...she looked so SHOCKED! And then she did that hop in, hop out, and then back in, and then back out, over and over again thing you mentioned.

Poor sweet little Luna...I can't wait until she adjusts to being somewhere safe...

Edited to add: sounds like the vet visit pretty went well...and NICE PRICE!! I think her adjustment will go rather smoothly once she gets used to a good diet and everything... I think the gas is her getting used to the dietary change...am I right?

 

[LuvaBun]

Awww, Luna is gorgeous and I'm so pleased that she has you as a foster mom

She sounds as talkative as Pernod is - I love the constant 'chatter'

Jan