A Nightmare to Start the Year

[Gwennie and the Buffster]

Buffy seems to be okay now, but we had a big scare last night.

At about 8pm, my boyfriend and I noticed that she wasn’t eating and was turning away her favourite foods. We immediately got her to the emergency vet. Because our Ted had only passed away a month ago, we were terrified that we hadn’t cleaned the house thoroughly enough and she’d gotten coccidiosis from some waste we’d missed or something equally terrifying.

There were no rabbit-savvy vets open, especially because this was nighttime and a public holiday! We took an expensive taxi to the after-hours vet, because that was our only option. The only vet there was incredibly rude to us (snapping at me when I was sobbing, getting mad at me for saying I wanted to listen to the advice of the local rabbit rescue I’d consulted with because they were very familiar with bunnies, and refusing to listen to us when we said Buffy was acting sluggish, because “she looks alert to me”. A decent vet should ALWAYS listen to an a pet-owner when they say that their animal is acting out of character). While we were there, a distraught couple came in to get their dog euthanized, and she treated them with a similar attitude, which upset me even further.

She did give Buffy an injection to get her gut moving, and we already had critical care and metacam at home. After a few hours back at home, Buffy still wasn’t eating, and she was getting lethargic, possibly dehydrated, so we went back to the emergency vet (this time we were able to catch a ride with a friend). The vet tried to give her an injection of fluids, which made Buffy freak out, flip over, and stab herself with the needle. Pretty scary! She ended up getting a little tube put in to hydrate her. 

Finally at 8am, after I hadn’t slept for over 24 hours, a rabbit-savvy vet took over for the day. She saw Buffy and helped syringe feed her some critical care (which Buffy does NOT like). This vet was amazing with her and has bunnies herself! Unlike the first vet, who was snappy and stressed, this vet was very calm, and I’m sure her attitude helped Buffy feel better. It certainly helped me and Steve! While the vet was examining her, she ate a cecal, which was the most encouraging thing to happen all night!

After we got home, Buffy ate one pellet and a handful of hay. Since then, she’s eaten more grass and drunken a lot of water. Steve and I have managed to sleep in shifts for a little bit.

Because Buffy is molting so heavily right now, it looks like she had stasis from an impacted hairball. As some of you might know, our last rabbit died from stasis (combined with the stress of a large earthquake), so we were preparing for the worst. Fortunately, she’s hopping around now, eating small amounts of food, and acting like herself again! She’s also pooping fine (a few cecals that are more mushy than usual, but nothing that looks too worrying). My partner is off picking up some fresh pineapple from the supermarket as I type this. Hopefully she takes to it; she’s very picky with food. 

Jeez though, we had to pay a 50% surcharge at the vet because of the public holiday! Buffy, you are bad for our bank account (but so worth it)!

I just wanted to share this story with you all, because I know a lot of you can relate  What a stressful night! I’m so glad it’s over.

[Animanga_addict]

Poor Buffy! I’m glad she’s doing better. I know the struggles of a bun in Stastis. I lost my sammy to it. I hope Buffy has quite the speedy recovery and you get some rest! This was probably really stressful.

[Barrett]

I’d Yelp the vet for sure!

[Bam]

So glad she’s doing better! That first vet sounds awful.

[Gwennie and the Buffster]

Thanks guys <3 It was a rough experience, but Buffy is getting better and better. She's still producing a lot of cecals, but she just did a whole bunch of solid poops as well, so I'm very proud of her.

Did I mention that yesterday was mine and Steve’s two year anniversary as well? Hahaha, that was NOT how we planned to celebrate.

[Boston's Mama]

Oh no!!!! What a day and night !!!

[Author]

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