Unsecure chicken perches

[FruitandNutCake]

 

I took him to vets this morning to be neutered, and explained about his on/off loose poos, and that i was concerned about keeping his wounds clean after surgery. So vet agreed we should postpone surgery until his poo had been normal for a couple of weeks. She then checked him over as she was going to vaccinate him, and she found a large mass in his tummy. She suspects it may be a large fur ball obstruction in his gut, which would explain his small pellet poos.

 

So I left him in the vets for her to get a colleague to take a look (or a feel!). Looks like surgery is going to be likely - I just hope it is straightforward and nothing worse than a fur ball.

[beach chick]

oh goodness, hope he's ok! and also that your vet's bill wont be too large....

got to take our new girl in next week for her jabs/checkover etc, and then organise spaying for both of them.

we have the vets VIP plan, where we pay monthly and then vaccs/checks/worm and flea stuff are 'free' and we get a discount on dental, neutering, etc etc.

[FruitandNutCake]

I'm not too worried about the cost - I'm just hoping he is fixable, the last thing I want is to have to explain to my 2 kids is that he has gone!

 

My oldest son is autistic and has trouble coping with change, and was devastated by the loss of our last rabbit Steffi.

My youngest ( who also has language difficulties) is also very worried about death at the moment - and to stop him getting upset at the thought of me dying, I told him we turn into baby bunnies and stay on earth forever - so he may expect a baby bunny to appear suddenly if I tell him Pebbles died and went to bunny heaven.

 

Fortunately we haven't had him long, so we may not be as upset if he does have to go. But I still want to do what I can for him if it is possible.

 

Vet is doing an x-ray and some sort of scopy this afternoon and will phone me to let me know the results - so keeping fingers crossed.

[cathybc]

fingers crossed it can be sorted x

[beach chick]

oh goodness, it's far worse when the kids are involved... everything crossed that you get good news.

[FruitandNutCake]

I'm fearing the worst - the vets hadn't phoned me, so I phoned them. Receptionist told me that the vet asked if I could go up at 7 so he can have a word with me.

 

I have prepared the children as well as I can, and told them that he may not be coming back. Will let you know what the situation is when I get back from vets.

[victoriabunny]

Oh dear - hope he's OK. Let us know.

[FruitandNutCake]

Well, I finally got to see vet at about 7:45 - it seems they didn't have time to do the x-ray today, but he prepared an estimate for anaesthetic, radiograph, exporatory laparotomy, metacam and baytril; £324, and said to think about it. I thought about it for 2 minutes and agreed to go for it and will take him in tomorrow. He is such a lovely bunny and is eating and not in any obvious pain so he is worth attempting to save.

[beach chick]

hopefully the vet wouldnt suggest all that if he didnt think it was worth a go... good luck for tomorrow.

[FruitandNutCake]

Vet phoned me this morning to say the x-ray showed a large tumour in his abdomen, and what did I want to do. So I told him that if he thought he could remove the tumour, then to give it a go.

 

Half hour ago, vet phoned me to say he had successfully removed tumour, but it would cost more to get it sent off for testing if that is what i wanted. Vet also spayed him at same time, and pebbles came out of anaesthetic OK and seems fine. Whew!

 

I'm not sure if having tumour tested will make any difference - whether it was benign or cancerous, he could still get more tumours, and I'll just have to have him checked regularly.

 

I'm so relieved he made it through OK - I'm surprised just how attached I am to him after just a few days of having him!

[beach chick]

oh what a huge relief, I do hope it was benign and he makes a really good recovery - bet your kids will be thrilled!!

[Chucky Mama]

Be careful with your expectations, rabbits do have a habit of doing very well in the initial few days post op and then can die very suddenly. Don't want to put a damper on things but you may want to prepare your children - and yourself, just in case Good luck.

[FruitandNutCake]

Had to take him to the vets again this afternoon as he managed to get all his stitches out! Luckily the big cut had been glued so was still intact, but the cuts from the spaying were open. He has been glued back together, but they found he now has a small hernia - which may sort itself. If it doesn't he will need another op after he has healed from this one!

 

Hopefully he will be OK, but I know bunnies can be delicate - just hoping for the best!

[FruitandNutCake]

Well, apart from a hernia, Pebbles is now a much bouncier rabbit and is eating twice as much as before! You wouldn't believe he only had his op to remove his tumour a few days ago! In fact he is scaring me how active he is (I don't want his hernia to pop out completely ) but he was obviously fed up with being confined to his cage for complete bed rest 24/7.

 

He is booked in on the 9th of August to have his hernia fixed, and hopefully that should be a much simpler operation. The very kind vet also shaved Poppy's tummy to look for a scar (she was supposedly neutered prior to me re-homing her). No scar, so she is booked in for spaying on the 9th also.

 

Kind of scuppered my camping plans. I was going to have a few 2-day trips with kids, and my sister was going to have Pebs and Poppy while I was away, but I don't feel I can leave two recuperating buns with her! Nevermind, there will be plenty of other opportunities to camp at weekends after the school holidays - and my bunnies always come first!!

[cathybc]

glad to hear Pebbles is doing so well now x