The Fellowship of the Food Bowl

[jeanluc_pippen_merry]

My first bunny was a little mini cashmere lop i named Jean-luc Picard (pictured below). I had been researching bunnies for a few months before finally deciding to get one. What i really wanted was a Newfoundland Landseer, but as they usually cost $3,000+ along with the fact that there aren't any landseer breeders in Australia, the possibility of me getting the newfie i wanted was looking pretty bleak. I remember talking to a friend about it one day, and how finding a landseer pup in Australia for sale was almost an impossibility. She knew i really wanted a pet, something to love and spoil, she said "what about a bunny?". I looked at her with a "wtf... why would i want a giant furry rat as a pet" kind of expression on my face. "Yeah right" i said to her... "a rabbit? HA!".

I should mention that i have actually wanted a python pet since i was a kid, and i had always thought of rabbits as being food, not that i ever ate rabbit, but i knew it was a common source of protein for people as well as other animals, so it never occurred to me that they might make good companions.

Anyway, the next day i decided to check out the pet section on gumtree.com to see if there were any newfies or any of my other favourite dogs for sale, and despite having chosen the dog/puppy section, i came across a listing for a rabbit. It was for a little mini lop bunny. It was much cuter than the bunnies i was accustomed to seeing. A rabbit to me had pointy ears, so i was surprised and intrigued to find one with floppy ears. Out of curiosity, i decided to check out the listing. There were more pics inside and i was sold instantly on their cuteness! At this point i was thinking to myself how i have been missing out on having an adorable little full ball with floppy ears my whole life!

I didn't buy that one, though. I don't like doing anything without knowing what im getting myself into first, so i spent the next few months reading about rabbits before finally deciding around 2 months later that i had to have one. I spent the next 2 weeks searching for rabbit breeders, seeing what was available. Of course i thought they were all adorable, but it wasn't until i came across a breeders ad for a mini cashmere litter that i finally found one i wanted to bring home. I don't remember 100% for sure, but i think there were around 5-6 in the litter, and out of those i picked 3 or 4, the first on the list being my favourite. She got back to me saying that all but 1 had already been sold, and my heart sank because i knew there was no way that the one i wanted wouldn't have been sold. And when she told me which one was still available, i was over the moon!!!! I couldn't believe that our of all those bunnies that the only one left was the one i wanted!

As soon as i saw him i knew we were meant to be together. And we were.:hugsquish:

 

[jeanluc_pippen_merry]

Jean-luc was very timid at first. All i wanted to do was pick him up and cuddle him, but i knew i had to give him his space and let him get used to the new noises, smells and surroundings. So i reluctantly let him be, though it was EXTREMELY difficult holding myself back from going into the room to sit and talk to him. >.<

I had gone shopping the week before his arrival, bought him a double story wooden hutch, the commercial ones because i couldn't find any of the cube thingies that a lot of people use (my minds drawn a blank and i forget what they're called). Got a couple of water bottles, food bowl, litter tray, chew toys, brushes and nail clippers. I had his area all set up and waiting for him to come home. ^.^

So after letting him get used to everything over night, i came in to say hello the next morning. He'd run away when i stuck my finger in to give him a little scratch. I decided to let him out of the hutch and see what he does. Im not sure if he realised the door was opened as it took a while for him to come out. But i just left it open and then went about my usual thing, pretending he wasn't there. Thought that might make it less scary for him.

He did finally come out and explore his new surroundings. The few times i tried to approach him he zoomed away back into his hutch. Until he found a new hiding place. His new hiding place was between the hutch and a chest of drawers. So we could still see each other, but he knew it was harder for me to each him there i think. And when he was unhappy with my attempts at trying to pet him, or just unhappy with me in general, he would go into that corner, turn his back on me and then look over his shoulder at me. LOL I thought it was the funniest thing and is when i realised bunnies have personalities. He turned his back and gave me the cold shoulder often during his first 2 weeks with us. But i still loved him and kept trying to win him over.

It probably wasn't till about the 4th week that i was able to pet him for just a few seconds before he'd move off. He still didn't trust me totally, but letting me reach out and pet him for a few seconds was a clear sign, at least in my eyes that he was starting to trust me a little. I was still very frustrated thought because i wanted more than just a few seconds of a pet on the head every now and then.

Grooming was very difficult. Not because he was a cashie, though that added to the difficulty, but because he wouldn't let me touch him long enough to groom him properly, and if i did manage to get a hold of him so i could groom him while i sat him in my lap, he'd struggle the while time to the point where i was scared he was going to break him spine. I remembered reading about that and so i didn't want to risk that happening. I did figure out a way to get some good grooming in eventually... when he had his head buried in his food bowl! Unfortunately, because i had already had him for a month and couldn't get propper grooming done, he ended up with matts. Not anything terrible, but i can be very pedantic at times and so even the smallest thing out of place can often drive me bonkers.

So i had a pair of hairdressing scissors and decided to try and cut them out bit by bit whenever he was preoccupied with stuffing his face. I did get most of them out, but there was 1 on his underside that i wasn't going to even attempt to get out myself for fear of him moving suddenly and being pierced by the scissors, so decided to ask teh vet to take care of them when i booked him in for his neuter. I think he was around 14 weeks at this point and had warmed up considerably. He would actually ask me to pet him sometimes, and when i would reach out to pet him, he would put his head down and chatter his teeth. I can't begin to tell you how heart warning it felt to know he was starting to trust me.

So i booked the appointment to have him neutered when he was just over 3 months, which is what i read was the best time for bucks to get the snip. I was very anxious and worried because the research i had done suggested that surgery on rabbits is very risky. But now that i think about it, surgery is risky for any living thing, but i guess even more so for rabbits as they're so fragile. And that brings me to another thought... i remember, back before i had even made the decision to get a rabbit, i read that rabbits were supposed to be hardy and strong... HA! Yeah that's why they get sick so easily and it isn't uncommon for rabbits to break their own backs! Yeah, REAL hardy and strong.:rollseyes

 

[jeanluc_pippen_merry]

Anyway, as this was my first pet since i was a kid (i had just turned 30), i didn't have experience with the neutering/spaying process, or vet visits in general. Didn't help that i can be neurotic and suffer from anxiety, so even if the vet had guaranteed that he'd be ok, i would still be worrying. >.< I actually cried on the way back home after dropping him off at the vets. Thought about him all day. Dropped him off 9am and the vet told me i could call for an update at 2pm. That 5hr wait felt like 15hrs. Of course, it probably wouldn't have felt so long if i wasn't checking the time every 30mins...

I watched the clock like a hawk, and as soon as it hit 1:59pm, i picked up my phone and had the vets number ready on speed dial. No joke, but i counted 30secs from the time i saw the time hit 1:59 so that i could call at 4pm on the dot. I know what you're thinking... "i can just imagine what a neurotic and over protective mother she's going to be". lol

No one picked up, so i waited 5mins and called back. The vet nurse answered and said he did fine but isn't eating or pooing, so they wanted to keep him for a few more hours to see how he goes, and told me to call back at 6pm. So once again i watched the clock, counting down the minutes till i could call again. 6pm came around, i called and they said he still hadn't eaten or pooped, so they wanted to keep him over night. I was reluctant because i had a feeling that he just wasn't eating because he was scared and didn't want to be there. It was full of cats and dogs howling and screaming. But, i put my trust in them and let him stay, but i wanted to see him first and take one of his cuddle toys and food for him.

They let me spend a bit of time with him, so i called out to him and he seemed to recognise me. He had his back turned but when i called for him, he turned and looked. Maybe he was trying to figure out if he recognised me for sure. He turned around again as if to say "no... that's those mean vet people trying to trick me, that's not my mum!". So i called his name again and held my hand out, and i think that's when he recognised me because he turned around and walked over to me slowly, then sat and nibbled on the piece of hay i was holding. I was so happy he was eating. When he finished that piece i gave him another one, and he ate it. Then i gave him a piece of parsley, and he ate that too. Funny thing is, all that food was right there, in his little pen/cage thing, but he would only eat it when i gave it to him. That's when i knew in my heart that he wasn't eating because he was so scared in that place. But again, i trusted the vets. Im not a vet, i thought to myself, but they are and know what's best, but that still didn't make me feel any better about leaving him over night. Everytime a vet walked in he zoomed back into his corner, it was so sad and of course, being the big emotional sook i am, i started to tear up. But quickly pulled myself together cause i didn't want anyone to see lol.

I called them the next morning, and i got the same story. He still wasn't eating, but he did drink and pee a little. This time i told them what i felt and that i wanted to take him home. They said i could come get him in the afternoon. At that point he hadn't eaten or pooped for more than 30hrs. I was worried about GI stasis at this point, but the vets didn't give me anything to worry about, just said to monitor him.

As soon as i got him home and into his hutch, he was eating, drinking, pooping and as excited as he can be when confined to the hutch, so i was so happy! But also annoyed with myself because i didn't go with my gut feeling. I thought if i had just listened to myself i could have spared him all those hours in there, scared out of his wits. But i was so happy to have him home. And so was his little bud, Pipping, who i will tell you more about later.

 

[jeanluc_pippen_merry]

I got Pippin about a week (more like 5 days) after i got Jean-luc. I was looking for a companion for Jean-luc as i heard that it's not uncommon for rabbits to become lonely without a rabbit companion, and i didn't want that, so after some searching i found a breeder in Perth (other side of Australia) who had a litter of harlequin mini lops. I actually wanted Pippins sister, but ended up getting him and couldn't imagine my life without him in it. Though, his name was originally Jadzia, because he was supposed to be a girl But one day the breeder referred to her as him which confused me, so i decided to check her to be sure. And what did i find? Testicles!!!!!!!!!!! I was bummed! I mean i was still happy i had him, i love him, but all this time i thought he was a girl and i just liked the idea of having a girl and a boy. >.<

I got over it quick though. He's such an affectionate little guy. Loves to greet you and give you kisses. He and JLP bonded the same day i put them in a play pen together. No fighting, just a little sniffing, binkying and thumping, though i believe the thumping was a happy thump because it was while binkying. I am very lucky that my bonding sessions have been very successful. Though im guessing their young age had something to do with it and it wouldn't be so easy with older buns.

About a week after the neuter, i found a mushy looking cecal. I had read about this before, so i was somewhat prepared. I stopped certain veggies i was giving them and it cleared up in a couple of days. Mind you i only found 1 and i assumed that if it was a mushy poo, they probably wouldn't eat it, and so if i didn't find any then the others must have come out normally and were eaten. So i started to introduce the veg again and all was ok. But about a week after that, i found another mushy poo. So this time i stopped giving celery which i thought was the culprit, as well as their slice of tomato treat. Same thing happened, didn't find any cecals again for a while, then a week or so later i found one again. So this time i cut everything out of their diet, including pellets and just gave them hay and water.

Well after doing this i wasn't finding any cecals anymore. Whether they were still mushy when he ate them or not i have no idea, but i stopped finding them and from what i read that was a positive sign.

Not long after that, i don't remember exactly how long, i put the bunnies to bed at around 11pm, and i went to bed at around 1am. I usually wake up between 7am-9am, but this time slept in and didn't wake till 11am. I did what i did every morning, walk in to check on the bunnies, clean their litter trays and hutches and try to get some grooming in on JLP. Usually when i walk in, JLP in particular would get excited and stand up against the hutch door and stick his nose out, following me as i walked past to grab a plastic bag for the litter and fresh hay. Except this time, he was laying there and didn't get up. I could see his chest moving, so thought it was strange that he didn't get up when he heard me enter. I opened the hutch door and he still didn't move, which is when i realised there was something wrong. My heart fell out of my chest and i was in tears, it didn't look good.

I didn't even put him in a carrier, i just held him while we hurried to the vet. I didn't want to leave, all i was thinking about was whether he was going to make it or not and wanted to stay with him. The vets said that they were going to give him fluids and monitor him. So i left him in their hands and went home. They said to call back at around lunch time. So i did, they said "he's looking good but his condition hasn't changed". I wasn't thinking it then, but later on i was thinking, how exactly is he looking good if his condition hasn't changed? He wasn't looking good when i found him at the bottom of the hutch, and if the condition hasn't changed, then that means he's still not looking good...". I got a call about an hour later. My heart fell out of my chest because i knew there was only 1 reason they'd be calling back so early after they had just told me his condition hadn't changed, and sure enough, he was gone.

I hung up and spent the day crying. The little guy who was so scared of me at one stage, who later became trusting, loving and funny, who would get so excited when i gave him some parsley that he would run around the room with it before sitting down to eat it, who used to jump all over me and sit on my shoulder while i was at the computer, being nosey, he was gone and the vets didn't even try to save him. All they did was give him fluids and monitor him. How exactly was monitoring him supposed to save him?

I called them back later on to apologise, they asked me if i wanted an xray to see if they could find out what was wrong. Well that didn't help my ill feelings towards them because why didn't they do that when he was still alive? If an xray would have revealed what was wrong then why didn't they do it? Why did they wait till he died to do it? Well im no doctor, but i assumed that a necropsy would reveal more than an xray, so i asked them to do that instead. I thought that would be more expensive than the xray, so was surprised when she said it would only cost $50.

They said that everything looked normal, there were no blockages and that his stomach was full, indicating bloat. What i want to know is, if it was bloat, why didn't they know? Bloat is common in all animals, not just rabbits, so why wasn't that something they checked for? So they didn't do any kind of physical, they didn't take an xray, then wtf did they actually do to save his life? I was pretty furious at this point.

Not only did they ask me if i wanted to take an xray to find out what was wrong AFTER he died, but then they told me that i referred me to another vet. To me this said that they were aware that they weren't very rabbit savvy, and rather than refer me to someone who is, they wanted to squeeze whatever money they could out of me before getting to a point where they'd have to refer me to someone else.

So i did go to this other vet and never went back to the old ones again. I also got a new bunny because Pippin seemed to be depressed and i didn't want him to suffer, so i got him a new companion. Who is now his gf and her name is Merry, a sooty fawn doe.

I decided to take them both in for a check up about a week after i brought her home, just to make sure that they're both healthy, and just in case JLP died from something that he might have passed on, because i really didn't have much faith in the old vets prognosis. After describing the events leading up to his death, as well as all the info she got from the old vets, she determined that he had coccidia, and that bloat was a result of that. She believed that is what happened because both Pippin and Merry had coccidia except Pippin didn't seem to be affected by it, but JLP did, he just didn't show any symptoms.

I went through a lot of different emotions, and a lot of anger towards different people. Most regrettably towards JLP's breeder who i had come to the conclusion had knowingly given me a sick bunny, but it turns out that Pippin was actually the carrier. See when i got Pippin, i shared teh airfare to bring him over with a breeder who bought 4 other rabbits, 1 from the same breeder as mine, and 3 from another. Well 1 of her buns ended up falling ill as well, but luckily she was experienced, could read the signs and was connected with a lot of registered breeders in Australia, and so was able to see that he was sick, figure out what was wrong and cure him, whereas JLP wasn't so lucky.

I still to this day can't believe he's gone. I only had him for 4 months but he made such a huge impact to my life and there's a hole in my heart that can never be filled.

 

[TinysMom]

Hi! First of all - I LOVE LOVE LOVE your blog title - its so neat. I will definitely be putting your blog on my list of watched topics.

I'm sorry about Jean-Luc but I'm attaching a link to bloat from our health library - perhaps it can help you understand a bit more about it.

Please do not beat yourself up about sleeping late that particular day and your rabbit being ill - from what I understand about bloat it is very quick and very deadly and the rabbit normally passes away because of this.

It sounds like you're an awesome rabbit slave and love your rabbits very much - I hope we get to see more pictures and hear more stories of your fellowship!

 

[jeanluc_pippen_merry]

Thanks for the info Peg!

 

[jeanluc_pippen_merry]

And so i guess that brings us to today (figured i would fast forward a little). The past few days Merry and Pip got their medicine administered by the vet. Today was the first time i had to do it myself, and what a bloody nightmare! They were so good with the vet. They sat there and took it. Of course when it came to me doing it... nope. They gave me a hard time, wouldn't sit still and i ended up squirting it on their face a couple of times, totally missing their mouth. Finally managed to get it into them after about 10mins of struggling. Not looking forward to doing this for the next 2 weeks. >.<

Which kind of leads me to a question i had been wondering for a while. I want to start participating in shows, but there's no way i can keep these guys still and am scared they're going to jump off the table and run away. How do you train them to stay still?

 

[jeanluc_pippen_merry]

(A feast of delicious asian greens await the little monsters)

(Omnomnomnom)

(Mine!)

(Is it just me, or does Merry (on the right) look like a koala cross grizzly bear?)

(After the feast)

(She's going to be upset i asked, but is she fat or just a little chubby or neither?)

 

[jeanluc_pippen_merry]

Getting quite sick of the territorial poos! Do they every stop or is it something im going to have to deal with for the rest of my life? >.<

I am making an appointment to have Pip desexed soon. Do you think that will help? I think Merry is pretty sick of him trying to hump her every other minute, so im sure she'll be happy once he stops doing it as much.>.>

 

[jeanluc_pippen_merry]

Typos ftl. Sorry it's close to my bed time again!

 

[Ashleighh]

Woo! I'm loving your blog and the adorable photos!
I'm so sorry abotu JLP! It's just heartbreaking to lose a little furry friend.
Don't beat yourself up over it though, it was clearly not your fault and I can tell what a great owner you are n_n

 

[jeanluc_pippen_merry]

Hi Ash, thanks for that. I still miss him so much. A few days before he died he started doing the most adorable thing! When i would bring him and Pip a few sprigs of parsley to eat, he would pick his up and run a circle around the room before coming back to sit down and eat it. He did this EVERY TIME without fail lol. It was so adorable and made me laugh.

Now that i know more about bloat, it makes me wish i never had to sleep because that is when it happened to JLP. Sometimes i wonder if i hadn't of slept in that morning, would those 3hrs have been enough to save him?

 

[jeanluc_pippen_merry]

Well it's a new morning (well it was, im posting a little late) which means more medicine for the Fellowship. Well half of the Fellowship since Pip is only on Baycox which they have once for 3 days, then they take a break from it for 5 days, and then another 3 days thereafter and so on. But poor Merry has 3 medicines i have to syringe feed her... Baycox, Enrotril (twice daily for 7 days) and Protexin (twice daily for 10 days).

This is Merry being held while i try to squirt her medicine in the right place this time. Seemed a little easier this morning, but she was still resisting. Little buggah!

It's breakfast time! A medley of English Spinach, Choy sum and celery tops.

Today will be the 4th day that they have been taking their medicine, and when i started my morning routine by checking their hutches, i found lots of normal size poo everywhere in Merry's hutch which is good and annoying at the same time! No more sesame seed sized pellets. And i didn't find any cecals laying around either, so im guessing she ate them all.

I love when she's in this position cause she looks so cute with her ears the flopped down the way they are here. ^.^

 

[jeanluc_pippen_merry]

Day 5 of Merry's medication went as expected. She fought every second of it! But at least i have the hang of it now and it doesn't take nearly as long as it did yesterday... I might even try doing it by myself again tomorrow.

Well it's a new day which means it's breakfast time again!

(A medley of Bok choy, english spinach and broccolini)

(Merry noming on tasty pellets while Pip prefers some veg)

(Merry having a snooze after breakie)

Here's an example of how small Merry's poops were. The small ones you see here are double the size they were just a few days ago. She's only doing a couple of those tiny ones, the majority of her hard pellets are back to her normal size, though they vary from dark to light colours.

 

[jeanluc_pippen_merry]

(This is Merry pretending to be a rabbit, but i think it's quite obvious that she's a puppy)

 

[jeanluc_pippen_merry]

Day 6 of their meds went a little smoother, but Merry is still resisting her medicine. Normal poos are normal though, which is a good sign. Making an appointment for next week so we can see how they're doing and also to get Pippin snipped!

(Merry is an eating machine. She even sleeps with the food bowl!)

(And i swear it looked like Pip was up to something today)

(I almost fell out of my chair from laughter when i saw this)

 

[MagPie]

Awwww they are adorable. Did the breeder ever respond to your email about Jean-luc?

Oooh I feel for you on the meds. I had to give my rabbit antibiotics for his wounded ear (cat scratch/bit) and sniffles. He hated getting it and I felt terrible about having to give it to him.

 

[jeanluc_pippen_merry]

She didn't respond to my initial email, but she did to the email i sent after that which is when i learnt the truth of how he ended up with coccidia.

 

[jeanluc_pippen_merry]

Today is day 7 and the last day Merry has to endure being given Enrotril. She has to take it once more later this afternoon but she still has 3 more days of Protexin to go. They both take Baycox once a day for 3 days with 5 day breaks, tomorrow is their last day off from that, then they start again on Saturday. Mushy poo update. Merry did a musy poo twice, but was also doing formed ones so not quite sure what that meant, but they are back to normal now, no mushy ones at all so i think the medicine is working! I am still a little confused as to feeding them greens because i was under the impression that you don't feed younger rabbits much greens, and mostly pellets and hay, but when i told her that i was giving them maybe half a bunch of parsley to share, some celery (mainly tops) and sometimes bok choy or english spinach every other day, she said i need to feed them a lot more that that. So i started giving them a bowl full of greens to share. It's probably equal to a bunch of english spinach that you would buy from the supermarket with the stems on. But only the leaves. Is this too much or too little? It's hard to know what information to trust when it seems to be conflicting.

 

[jeanluc_pippen_merry]

I made an appointment for Pippin to be desexed on Monday. Not looking forward to it because i always feel horrible knowing they're stressed and in an unfamiliar place. But at least this new vet i go to only sees exotic animals, so no cats or dogs to scare him while he's there.

I have to give Merry a 2nd dose of Protexin later this afternoon and then she only has 4 more doses over 2 days to go. Which is great because after that she'll only have to take Baycox once a day till its finished.

I made a youtube channel for my bunnies. I only have a few crappy vids up atm but would like to keep a video diary once were moved and settled into our new house, which wont be for a few months. I'll still video them now and then.

Here's Pip grooming and noming.
[flash=425,344]http://www.youtube.com/v/YMq2d8rnQFQ&feature=channel_video_title&hl=en&fs=1[/flash]

Here's merry doing the bunny flop. (Please ignore the weird noises coming from teh camera, i couldn't hear it until i uploaded the vid from my camera to my computer. >.<
[flash=425,344]http://www.youtube.com/v/h8dL_ku-p7I&feature=relmfu&hl=en&fs=1[/flash]