Yofi, Anna and the Crew, 2010

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Bassetluv

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Thought I'd start a new year with a new blog for the dynamic bunny duo. I've included a link to their old blog here (though I can't for the life of me figure out how to hide the actual url).

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=28182&forum_id=6[Yofi and Anna 2009]

Anyway, starting off 2010 with a few pictures of His Royal Hareness and Queen Anna, and also one of my cat Fritz, and a story (well, more of a rant, really) of what happened with him this weekend.

First, the pics:

whiskers.jpg


This one needs a bit of explaining. I was trying to take a nice shot of Anna, and had waited patiently until she was looking at the camera - which took a while, as Anna tends to move here and there quite a bit (I'd swear she has ants in her bunny pants at times). Anyway, just as I got her in the viewfinder, I hit the button to take the picture...and at that very same moment, Yofi decided he wanted all of the attention. He had thrust his head right at me, knocking me off balance, cutting Anna half out of the picture, and totally ruining the shot. Oh, but we do get to see a lovely photo of Mr. I Want To Be Seen's whiskers. Sheesh.

dynamicduo.jpg


The Dastardly Duo, hangin' out at the doorway to their room.

haiupdere.jpg


'Hai Mom!!'

wetkiss.jpg


"The Kiss"

And here's one of my cat, Fritz:

Fritzie-1.jpg


It's a long story, but this weekend cost me $500 because of Fritz. I came home on Friday night - arriving rather late - and as soon as I got in I went to the kitchen and put food down for Kaya and Fritz. Fritz, who was curled up in Kaya's bed - very unusual for him, as he always lies on his perch in the window - got up to go and eat. He stepped out of the bed and fell over. Got up, took two steps, and fell over again. Got up again, staggered across the room to his food dish, and fell on his side. Then he thrust his head into the food dish and began to eat.

I was horrified. I'd left for work that morning with Fritz wandering the house quietly, but normally, and then settling in for his morning snooze. And now here he was, just hours later, barely able to stand? What had happened to him? The first thing I thought of was that he'd somehow fallen off his window seat and had hurt his back. Then I thought that maybe he'd had a stroke. After all, he was 15...getting up there in years for a cat. Yet he was eating, purring, and acting perfectly normal...except for the fact that he was walking like a drunken sailor...a pretty tired one at that.

Unfortunately all of the vet clinics were closed at that time of night, save for the emergency clinic out the west end of the city. Having no car, and living in a city that is so behind the times it won't allow a pet in a carrier on the bus...and taxis won't allow them in their cabs...I had no way to get him out there. I called my sister, but she had her kids with her and couldn't go; I could have tried my brother, but knew he probably wouldn't pick up the phone at that time of night. So I reluctantly decided that since Fritz was not in any obvious pain, I'd wait until morning and get him to a clinic near me then. At bedtime he curled up next to me, his rumblepurr loud and clear, insisting that he too sleep under the covers.

The next morning I called not one, not two...but three vet clinics in my area, telling them that my cat was having a great deal of difficulty walking, and could someone please find a way to see him without an appointment. All three reacted the same: "That sounds pretty serious...he needs to see a vet right away." (I agreed.) "But he doesn't have an appointment, so sorry, but we can't see him". After the third time being told this, I was getting quite upset. Finally I called my brother in desperation and asked him to take me to the emergency clinic, which he did...and we then spent the next couple of hours there, waiting to see a vet. Finally I got Fritz into a waiting room, and the vet walked in and examined him. She couldn't reach any conclusions with just an exam, but suggested he be admitted for tests; she didn't think it was a stroke, but suggested things like cancer, a pinched nerve from a fall, or a neurological disorder. Then she tallied up how much it would cost for IV, an overnight stay, blood tests, etc., and she showed me the total: $990. And this was just for tests...who knows how much they planned on charging for treatments, if any was warranted?

I opted instead to have them do bloodwork and urinalysis as a starting point, and I took Fritz back home with me. The vet assured me that they would have the results by late afternoon, and she'd call me to let me know what they showed. So I waited. And waited. And waited. And didn't get a call. Finally I decided to phone them instead as I was tired of waiting to hear, but when I did...they were closed. So this morning I tried them again...only to hear that same recording. Closed. Again. So now I have to wait until Monday morning to try and get in touch with the vet, to try and see if they found out anything. And what angers me in all of this is that every clinic that refused to see Fritz told me to take him to the emergency clinic - the one that charges you $130 upfront just to walk through the door, even before you see a vet - because they guarantee test results right away, which could potentially be crucial to the recovery of an animal. Not only did I not get any results, but was charged $489 for those two tests. arrgh!

However, the one good thing in all of this is the fact that Fritz is definitely looking better. He's no longer staggering around, he's eating his food and is much less lethargic. I still have no idea what it was (or is), and am still hoping to find out it was minor. But for now, he's still my happy, purring cat, insisting on taking up half of the space in my bed at night, and continuing to be my goodnatured rumblecat. :)

P.S. Will have more Anna and Yofi stories later, promise!
 
Cute pictures...i especially love the one of Yofi giving Anna Kisses...that is so cute!

How frightning that must have been to see Fritz like that.....even though he's doing better now..you still must be anxious to get those results back.
 
Thinking about you guys and of course, Fritz! :) Love the new pics!;)

Haha, I have to laugh a bit cuz when I was little, my aunt and uncle had a cat namedFritz and me and my brother used to laugh about it all the time. (Well, I guess the same way we used to think slamming hamburger patties on the counter was hilarious!) If you think about, it's funny.:p
 
and i thought my vet was expensive! am glad to read fritz is on the mend - not a nice experience for the both of you.

with regard to the bunny pics - all i can say is whisker pics!!!:faint::faint:
 
Thanks guys! Believe it or not, I'm still waiting to hear from the vet about Fritz. I phoned at 8 this morning and told the receptionist what had happened, so she told me that she'd give the vet the message and would have her call me with the results. She went to hang up and I stopped her and asked, 'Do you have my phone number?' thinking they might have written it down wrong when I gave it to them on Saturday, and maybe that was why no one had phoned me. She paused for a moment, said, 'Yes, it's written here' and almost hung up on me when I said, 'Wait! Can you read it out to me?' So she did. And as it turns out, she was reading my old home phone number from many years ago, when I'd taken another pet to them. They never bothered writing down my number when I gave it to them on Saturday, or even asking me if my phone number had changed.

And now I've been waiting for 3-1/2 hours for the vet to get back to me. This is supposed to be one of the top emergency clinics in our region...I must say, I'm not impressed. Good thing Fritz is holding his own and hasn't taken a turn for the worse (right now he's shnoozing in my bed). You know, I'm beginning to think that our pets' health care system is getting as bad as our human one! ;)

btw, Yofidoo has been up to no good this morning. Tonight is garbage collection night, so I was preparing mine (three bags full); and every time I went to collect up things to throw out in one bag, Yofi'd burrowed his way through the bottom of the one I'd just done up. The rotter! Everything I try to do, he just has to undo. Oh, and I was in the bunny cage cleaning out the two litter boxes earlier; had scoop in hand and plastic bag beside me for the litter, and was busily scooping contents when I heard rustling beside me, and the plastic bag starting to rise up in the air. Turns out Yofi, sitting on the shelf that rests next to the outside of the cage, decided he wanted to see exactly what it was I was depositing in the plastic bag...he'd reached through the bars of the cage and had grabbed an end and yanked it up to his height, and halfway through the cage before I could stop him.

:shame
 
Update on Fritz: all tests came back normal (or, *boring*, as the vet put it). And he seems to be fully recovered too; no more staggering or falling over, no more lethargy. He's not very active, but then, he wasn't active before this happened either. The vet concluded that Fritz may have had a stroke, and to simply keep an eye on him.

And speaking of vets, it's off to another vet visit, again. Only this time it's Yofi. I have no idea if something happened to him, or if it is something that was developing and I never noticed it, but...his left front paw has what feels like an extension of bone right at the 'wrist'. He's not limping or acting sick, still eating like a pig; in fact, he still runs rampant and jumps up and down on things. I don't know if it is a bone break (highly doubt it, or he wouldn't be this active), a bone spur, a malignancy, or what. And the only vet around here that I trust with rabbits - Yofi's vet - is out of town. So I'm taking him to another clinic toward the west end, as they say they don't have a 'rabbit specialist', but their vets do handle rabbits. (When I called around, not all clinics even accept rabbits as patients any more.) So it's off to the vet on Saturday, with prayers that it's nothing serious.
 
Yofi: Inside and Out

Well, today was Yofi's big day...a visit to the Carling Animal Hospital to (hopefully) find out what has been going on with his leg. I was apprehensive about taking him to a vet - and clinic - I'd never been to before, but my apprehension proved to be unfounded. Everyone at this clinic was extremely helpful and caring. And then when I met the vet who was appointed to see Yofi, I was even more impressed. Dr. Johnson took his time with Yofi, was patient, attentive and explained everything clearly and in detail. He examined my boy (who, I must say, was behaving extremely well...even for a Yofi) thoroughly, and poked, prodded, and felt his legs. At first the vet thought - as I did - that it was a bone spur; but upon even further leg manipulation, he said that he was beginning to be suspicious...that it was more of an inflammation than a bony growth, even though it felt hard at the top of his joint. So he took Yofi back to the x-ray room and took pictures of his legs (both front paws) from toetips to elbows. An hour and a half later the results were ready, and Dr. Johnson's suspicion was right; it is inflammation. Yofi has arthritis.

Unfortunately, he has it in both front legs, in the 'wrist' joints and the elbows, and his left front paw has started to curve outward slightly. He could even have it in his hind legs, although that would not be known for sure without x-raying them as well. He does have what appears to be a lump on one elbow, and the vet said that it could possibly be a tumor...but he is more inclined at this point to say that it is inflammation from arthritis, just as there is inflammation in his left wrist. He said that he could try and aspirate the area to rule out a malignancy, but if it is inflammation related to arthritis there, and it is aspirated, then it puts Yofi's condition at risk for exacerbating the problem and causing pain and suffering. Right now Yofi is showing no sign of being affected by the inflammation; he's still eating, peeing, pooping, binkying (lol...the vet called it 'binging'), and getting into as much trouble as he ever did. So for now it's a wait and see approach. At some point down the road he might have to deal with going on pain and anti-inflammation meds for the rest of his life, but for now, I'm crossing my fingers that the condition will level itself out and not bother him.

I had a really cool couple of x-ray shots I'd wanted to post here too...the vet put them on a CD for me...but unfortunately I can't get it to work. It involves installing the software on which the x-rays were loaded, and after installation it failed to show them. They were really neat to see too; a Yofi's paws outstretched, toes spread wide-eagled, and clear images of his bones and joints, toenails, legbones, and all of his inner leg workings.

So The Boy is back home and snuggling in the arms of his sweetie, Anna...none the worse for wear after his great vet adventure. I'm not certain if he's talking to me yet - after all, cramming his gigantimorph form into a little pet carrier on an otherwise peaceful Saturday morning does tend to put a wee dent in his dignity - but I'm sure that once he's given a token peace offering (banana with a hint of craisin) he'll get over his sulking quickly.

And I must say, if every any of you decide to move to Ottawa, I highly recommend the Carling Animal Hospital, and Dr. Keith Johnson, for your bunnies. :biggrin2:
 
It seems that yes, His Hareness is still sulking. Fed the bunnies, then a few moments ago heard Yofi running around in the kitchen. I went out to say hi to him; he spotted me and took off like a shot, making a beeline (bunline?) straight to his room, and to the back of his cage. So I followed him in there, called to him, tried to coax him out...to no avail.

So this is what I will probably be seeing for the rest of the evening:

litterbun.jpg


Oh yes, I'm being punished...
 
What a cute statue!
Yofi is one of my favourite forum rabbits, gotta say. (And definitely got me to look twice at English Lops) So it's really too bad to hear that he has arthritis :( I'm glad it doesn't seem to be hurting him though!
 
Thanks everybody! (Oh, and that kiss photo is one of my favorites too ;))

Butterfinger, I admit I've loved English lops my entire life, but never even saw a 'live' one until I got Raph a few years ago. And he was the one who firmly cemented my love affair with the breed. Then after I lost Raph, along came Yofi, and I think he personifies the English lop characteristics (but then, every person I've seen here who has written about their E-lops has also described all of the same traits in their bunnies too). They truly are like puppies more than rabbits.

Unfortunately, as with many manmade breeds, the E-lop tends to suffer from certain typical problems...and their problems tend to be ear infections and skeletal issues. I was a bit surprised to find out that Yofi has arthritis, given his age, but as the vet said, with their skeletal structure and the weight that goes along with the breed, arthritis is not unexpected. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn't worsen any time soon, as right now it doesn't seem to bother him at all.

LOL hin...craisins finally did the trick...Yofi was talking to me again the next morning. Bribery will get one everywhere with him, as long as it has a flavor.

Elf Mommy...PM answered (finally) ;):biggrin2:
 
Well, I said it before, and I'll say it again...WOW! Fantastic sketches! You've really captured Yofi's character and charm (and curiosity!).

Wonderful! :hug:
 
And I was playing around in photobucket...this is kind of cool:

sep1009092-1-1.jpg


Not the best pic (Yofi's head is a too high, etc.) but it's neat to play with these handy little editing features.

Anyway, off to bed...:)
 
I haven't been on much lately, seems I have a sinus infection, which would explain my total exhaustion over the weekend. I didn't even know you started a new blog. Just stumbled upon it a few minutes ago. Yofi's must have been using his mind powers to lead me to your new blog. Just like he did to my Miss Daisy.

Thank you for a new blog, the stories of Yofi and the rest of your zoo always give me a smile. You have a wonderful writing style. I am glad Fritz is ok and the Yofster too.

You always take great pictures it would behard for me to pick a favorite.

Any openings for a environmental/safety specialist?
 
Bassetluv wrote:
And I was playing around in photobucket...this is kind of cool:

sep1009092-1-1.jpg


Not the best pic (Yofi's head is a too high, etc.) but it's neat to play with these handy little editing features.

Anyway, off to bed...:)
That is so cool! Gorgeous pic!:D

I need to check that out, weeee.

 
I just wanted to thank you for sharing your stories with us! I always know when I am having a crappy day that I can read your blog and get a laugh.

You have also definately opened my eyes to English Lops. If I ever do get a bun again it will be an E-lop.
 

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