Prayers for Fey, please

[Lissa]

I just LOVE the pictures. What a pretty bunny. Glad Fey is doing good.

 

[CorkysMom]

The yellow drainage bothers me....I'm not sayingI know more than the vet...but when Corky had that, it was the cottagecheese consistency pasturella stuff liquifying anddraining. If possible, try to assist with the draning...Iwould push the gunk out thru an open spot in his wounds several times aday.....whats her dose of meds daily? If you have it,flushing with Saline wouldn't hurt either.

It might be "normal" as far as it draining, but to me it means theresinfection in there...which of course is not normal.how's she acting?Eating ok? temp ok? activity level? Its good that itsdraining if its infection....Corky's was mostly removed during surgery,but had some attached to tissue that came out in this manner.Does the gunk have any odor?

I'd really like to see a pic of whats happening so I can help if at all poassible!

 

[naturestee]

PGG- I pm'd you with a picture. I don't want to subject everyone to that.

The draining stuff is not the thick abcess-type pus, which I saw whenTank's abcess was lanced. This is thin, odorlessstuff. It only drains a little bit- really hardlyany. It looks like normal white cell accumulation to me,which is what my vet told me it was. He was feeling all overher belly and tried squeezing some pus out, but there was nothingthere. She has a little swelling around the injuries, but thevet said it felt like normal tissue swelling and not aninfection. I trust him with this, as he told me that he haddealt with a number of rabbit abcesses when I took Tank in.

Fey gets 0.6 mL of Baytril twice a day. The suspension is32.3 mg/mL. I was given a week's worth which is ending soon.

She gets really stressed out if she's held much. She wasshaking a lot while I took that picture I sent you. That'swhy I've been putting a heating pad under the floor of her cage insteadof picking her up and putting a heat pack on her belly like theemergency vet instructed. It's also why I don't want to cleanit myself. I haven't been putting any antibiotic ointment onit either. I was not instructed to do it and the stressoutweighs the small benefit. Anyway, the vet thought itlooked really clean. I've been using paper towels for litterso she doesn't get anything stuck to it. It really sucks thather bad experiences with people are affecting her treatment now,though. She likes people, she just hasn't built up much trustyet.

 

[CorkysMom]

Sounds good.. I'll have to take a look when Iget home...wherever your hosting is blocked from where I am now....I'llbe home in about an hour, will let ya know then if it looks like whatCorky had~!

 

[Carolyn]

Sounds like your vet is quite savvy, Naturestee,but it's always good to hear what others say. PGG has learnedfrom the school of hard knocks, so I'm glad she's airing on the side ofsafety and is comparing notes as to how things went with Corky and howthey are going with Fey.

I don't think Fey could be in better hands than yours, your husband's,and the vets. She's one lucky little girl to be so loved andin such a good home. You're an angel to be so mindful of herworries and fears.

Prayers continue. ray:

-Carolyn

 

[CorkysMom]

The looks of that really bother me...I wouldsuggest trying to drain anythingyou see oozingbykinda pinching on it so the stuff comes out. I would alsoflush with saline a couple times a day and neosporin the wound, a realthin coat so if she licks it she won't injest much.

Also, do you know how much in mg's that dose is equal to? He was on20mg a day, which for his size was potentially lethal....but anythingless in dosage and the infection would start to get bad again.

I know you said she won't be happy about this, but you may have to pushthe issue....hows her activity level? Eating? Pooping, peeing?

Keeping you in my thoughts.....

 

[naturestee]

PGG, Fey is pooping and peeing like a normalrabbit. She is also eating alot (normal) and continues toshred the cage and rearrange its contents (again normal). Thepictures make the wound seem worse then it is in our opinion, and theyellowish tint on the edges is reducing. The vet checked herover really good for puss and found no indication of aninfection. The little drainage that is occuring is normal forthat large of a wound and is considered a healthy healing process (boththe vet at the emergancy place and our regular said thesame). There is minimal swelling, no heat, no spreadingredness, the wounds are scabbing over and reducing in sizeapropriately. As long as nothing changes she should heal wellwith the treatment she is currently getting. We appreciatethe concern.

 

[CorkysMom]

Update? Just goin thru pm's and saw that pic again...how's she doin?

 

[naturestee]

Fey's doing well. It took her a day orso of no pain meds to get back to pooping and eating completely normalagain, and now she's pooping up a storm and practically eating herweight in hay. She's been snorting down her veggies fasterthan any of the others. Her last dose of Baytril istonight. That's good, because she's getting really sick ofmediciny banana-flavored pumpkin. Yuck!

I have to be careful when I clean her cage because she's starting toget really interested in jumping out. If she's still healingwell in a couple of days, I might try putting her in a small area thesize of her normal cage to play for a few minutes. Shedoesn't like being confined and has been taking out her aggression onher toys and her litterbox. She's gotten back into the habitof growling like Marge Simpson when I clean her cage. Hey,when you don't have much you want to fight to keep it. Evenif it is just dirty paper towels and a pile of poop.

 

[naturestee]

I just went and took a few pics of Fey in the"it's so small mommy must hate me" cage. It's Mocha's babycage and I think it's too small for her now. For comparison,Mocha is about half of Fey's size.

Munching on hay.

Size comparison with the NIC condo that Fey normally shares withSprite. The spare cage is barely longer than the width of hernormal cage. Fey and Sprite sometimes visit through the bars,although if Sprite is out playing I have to move Fey's cage out of theroom. Fey doesn't like Sprite poking her nose where itdoesn't belong.

 

[2bunmom]

Awwww Look at that prettygirl!!! She looks like she is doing well.So glad to hear that she is healing up. I can'twait till she gets back to good enough health to do her highbinkies. I just love her binky pictures. Beckie

 

[jordiwes]

How is Fey doing? Is she out of the Mommy must hate me cage yet? Will you attempt the bonding again do you think?

 

[naturestee]

jordiwes wrote:

How is Fey doing? Is she out of the Mommy must hate me cageyet? Will you attempt the bonding again do you think?

Funny that you just asked that, as I just logged back on to post aboutthis. Fey is doing okay now, and is healing well, but she haddiarrhea this weekend that was most likely caused by herantibiotics. She is now almost back to normal. Feyis still in the tiny cage. I'm starting to let her playoutside of it a little now, as her wounds are healing verynicely.

The problem is that I'm going to have to start from square one torebond her to Sprite. I just had them out at the same time(cages closed so they don't defend them) and they were fine for a whilebut then started fighting. Sprite started the first smallarguement- I think she was trying to mount Fey and Fey wanted nothingto do with that. It hardly took anything to break that up andthen they went back to ignoring each other. But then Feystarted attacking Sprite whenever they were near each other.After the second time, which was when I saw some fur fly, I popped Feyback in her cage. They both got a full check and arefine. But it's going to be some time before they can playtogether and share a cage again.

Grr!

 

[dajeti2]

Normally I wouldn't say anything but I am this time.

Why in the world would you let Fey out with any other rabbituntil she is 100% healed? I don't understand that. Also why did you letthem stay together after the first fight. I am just glad Fey wasn'tinjured further. You don't want to be stressing her and having her backslide in her recovery.

Tina

 

[Carolyn]

dajeti2 wrote:

Why in the world would you let Fey out with anyother rabbit until she is 100% healed? I don't understand that. Alsowhy did you let them stay together after the first fight.
Tina

I'm curious about that too.

-Carolyn

 

[naturestee]

Tina, I understand where you are comingfrom. It's hard to understand if you don't know thesetwo. I tried letting them play together because they wereboth acting very lonely. This has been stressful on both ofthem. And I know that the longer I keep them apart the harderit will be to rebond them.

I didn't separate them immediately because the first two "fights" weremainly posturing with a small amount of chasing. They weresimilar to how they acted when they were in the small cage together(the cage from their previous owner). They would often testeach other, but it wouldn't get violent. I continued becauseit was almost normal for them. Anything involving teeth andfur is not, though, so as soon as that happened I separated them.

And even though they fought, Fey seems much less frustratednow. I think she wanted to see her sister, but she wantedSprite to be on perfect behavior "or else."

I'm not going to try bonding them until I'm sure Fey is 100%.She's actually not too far away. She's not sore at all andshe's raring to go. Her scabs are smaller and everythinglooks to be healing cleanly. She's a fast healer, she justdoesn't do well with medicine.

 

[Carolyn]

naturestee wrote:

And even though they fought, Fey seems much less frustrated now.

Fights are extremely stressful for rabbits.

Can't think of any good they do--especially for a rabbit that has gone through what Fey has.

History could very well repeat itself. Doesn't sound like tome they're too loving towards each other.Rebonding them at this point isn't something I'd consider unless youwant more of the same of what you're getting. That 'perfectbehavior "or else"' comment should send up red flags - Big Time!


-Carolyn

 

[dajeti2]

naturestee wrote:

Tina, I understand where you are coming from. It'shard to understand if you don't know these two. I triedletting them play together because they were both acting verylonely. This has been stressful on both of them.And I know that the longer I keep them apart the harder it will be torebond them.

No I don't know them that well. I can totally understand thembeing stressed and lonely. Why not move their cages closer together?They can still see and smell each other and interact but no one getshurt. Worry about bonding them once Fey is all better.

I didn't separate them immediately because the first two "fights" weremainly posturing with a small amount of chasing. They weresimilar to how they acted when they were in the small cage together(the cage from their previous owner). They would often testeach other, but it wouldn't get violent. I continued becauseit was almost normal for them. Anything involving teeth andfur is not, though, so as soon as that happened I separatedthem.

Whether it's posturing or fighting, bothare stressful. Especially considering that Fey isn't fully healed. Whystress her system further? She needs time to heal. Keep in mind thatrabbits are adept at concealing pain and stress.Just because shedoesn't look stressed doesn't mean she isn't stressed. It sounds as ifthe bond was stressed anyway.

And even though they fought, Fey seems much less frustratednow. I think she wanted to see her sister, but she wantedSprite to be on perfect behavior "or else."

Thisstatement alone tells me they are not ready to be together and to tryis just asking for more trouble.

I'm not going to try bonding them until I'm sure Fey is 100%.She's actually not too far away. She's not sore at all andshe's raring to go. Her scabs are smaller and everythinglooks to be healing cleanly. She's a fast healer, she justdoesn't do well with medicine.

I thinkyou are trying to rush things to fast. Sure they look sad and lonely.But it is your job as their caretaker to do what's best for them evenif it means keeping them separate. You also mentioned the bondingtaking longer the longer they are separated. That is a bridgeto cross later when Fey is well again. Rushing and you'll be right backwhere you started from, another injuredrabbit.

Tina

 

[CorkysMom]

Yikes.....

 

[jordiwes]

Could I have a Fey update please?