Short update: we upped the Metacam a little and he became more active and ate better within 2 hours. Not sure whether we should be happy about that or very worried 😟 Let’s see how things develop and what happens when we reduce the dose after he’s eating well again.

Molly is a pretty good guide for how her brother feels: when he was at his worst she was displaying a lot of dominant behaviours: chinning, running circles around his pen while humming and leaving poop around it in a circle too. Now she’s calmer and flops against him again. She did get groomed by him.

Bas stayed here for the week and is trying to work remotely as well as he can. This leaves me some room to nap between the medication times. It’s a bummer that only I can medicate Owen: he’s very wriggly. I’m a bit of a cheater though: when I lean over him my chest presses him down, so I’ve got one hand to grab his head and one hand to hold the syringe.

Owen doesn’t hate me completely yet: he’s out of his hutch more often, and sat still when I reached for him to pet him. He even lowered his head and purred a bit.

Owen is out in his pen again now that he has more Metacam. He stayed mostly in his hutch for the last days. He also seems more relaxed, attempting a few flops.

A pic of Owen and Molly flopping together again:

Oy, get that camera out of my face! Taking pictures of my turds for Pete’s sake, you humans are all barking mad! She’s crazy, crazy I tell you! Komple’t meshuggah! And I live with this woman!

Ladies and gentlemen: we have poop! 🥳

He’s finally eating pellets after being mostly on CC, vegetables and a couple of nibbles of hay for almost a week. He’s drinking on his own 🥳

Aren’t those the most beautiful poops?

I might even get in a whole night’s sleep in soon… It’s been almost a week of only naps between force feedings and medication 4-6 times a day 🥴

He was eating some pellets, but quite slowly. I soaked some pellets in water, and these are going down quickly now. If he doesn’t perk up during the weekend, he’s going for a dental exam.

He just finished his SECOND bowl of soaked pellets within a couple of hours! He’s hungry alright… That seems to conform my suspicion that he has problems while chewing.

Thanks for all the support Dana, Meg, and Bam! You do tend to go crazy on a week of 3 hour naps and constant worrying 😵 I’m just so happy that he’s off CC now: now it’s just meds 4 times a day instead of 6-8 feedings.

@Bam: yes, maybe he chewed on something that he shouldn’t have chewed on, and it irritates his mouth. He’s a real wrecking ball and pulls crazy stunts often.

I’m still thinking about that piece of tie-wrap that flew into his pen, which I couldn’t find back again. He’s also a chronic bar rattler, so maybe he chewed off a chip of paint or a small piece of metal.

He was very angry when the weekend vet tried to check his teeth, and she couldn’t see much because he was struggling so badly. For now we’ll offer both soaked and dry pellets to see him through the weekend. And then it’s time for a vet visit, possibly under anaesthetic.

@Meg: that’s a very different number indeed! I was told to make the CC runny, so he’d get enough fluids. And then feed him little bits every 3-4 hours.

Tbh I don’t know what’s best, I can barely tell sugar from shite after a week like this 🤣

All I know is that I’m happy that he’s eating on his own ^_^

Something went wrong there: I tried to say “thank you! 😘” and it suddenly became a post that had to be moderated first.

Owen!!@!@@!1!!!!@!!! You lazy, picky, spoilt fluffbutt! Well, at least the vet visit was cheap… 🤬

Long story short: his teeth are fine, his tummy is fine, his fur is fine, he’s a picture of bunny health. He even managed to gain weight (+ 60 g) on his diet of CC, and is now on the plump side of a healthy weight. (And that’s the thanks I get for all those broken nights?! A slightly plump bunny?!)

The stasis was probably caused by Owen’s heavy moulting at the moment. He had some stringy poops. According to the vet there are 2 options for why he isn’t eating many pellets:

Option 1: he’s just not as hungry as his sister or simply prefers prefers hay or vegetables over pellets.

Option 2: he’s a lazy bastard and simply prefers his pellets soaked so they’re quicker to eat 🤬@!$%%$#!!!!!🤬 I  really wouldn’t put it past him, he’s a very lazy bunny…

The vet told us that pellets are non-essential for rabbits as long as they eat plenty of hay and mixed vegetables. He told us not to worry unless he’s losing weight or not eating and pooping again.

Rabbits are just like toddlers, they can be so exasperating! 🙄

At least I got to see our favourite vet, who is always happy to see our bunnies. He likes to interact with them and pet them. I did get compliments on Owen’s behaviour: the vet said that he’s very calm and well-behaved. He told me that I’m raising our bunnies well ^_^

Yes, it was really crazy. I’ve never had a bun with stasis this long. When the vet said that his gut was completely still I was very very scared. I’m glad that he bounced back to health.

Thank you for saying that I raise them well, it really does me good. I got a very nasty reaction from shelters when my previous bunny Breintje had passed away and I wanted to adopt. Breintje couldn’t be bonded and I took him in because I have all the time in the world. I actually wanted to adopt a single rabbit, because I like the 1-on-1 contact and I can invest a lot of time in a bunny with problems. Rehabilitating a rabbit is something that I’ve always wanted to try.

So I called all nearby shelters and promptly heard that Breintje couldn’t have been truly happy… 😟 They were all very rude and dismissive and said exactly the same thing: “One rabbit is not a rabbit!”. (Did they all join a cult?) As if there’s only one way and that’s a bonded pair… Some nuance please: many bunnies thrive with constant human attention too, especially if they’ve got problems that make them difficult to bond.

Their nasty attitude drove us to a hobby breeder, and I’m still wondering if I made the right choice. I love Owen and Molly, but the bonding isn’t going well because Molly has some problems. (I did end up getting a problem bunny after all…)

Molly had massive self-esteem and anxiety issues, and when we first met her she was so tiny and really submissive. She instantly walked up to Bas to groom him, and we feel for her right away. Back home she groomed everyone and every piece of furniture just to make friends. She was so scared, got frequent panic attacks and was too scared to be petted. I basically talk to her all day and try to announce things, and she hasn’t had a panic attack in 3 months 🥳

Lately she started to accept being petted, and now she lets us pet her a couple of short moments a day. She enjoys it and purrs, and sometimes she attracts our attention if she wants to be petted.

She’s finally coming out of her shell now after 9 months. She’s doing that a bit too fiercely though and switched to full-on dominance mode towards Owen. I’ll work with her a bit more until her behaviour balances out, and then I’m hoping to find a professional bonder for them. Really hoping that it’s going to work 🙂 They do look to each other for comfort and enjoy laying against each other: