Latest trip to Save A Bunny

[MarkBun]

Hey guys, long time no post – issues with real life and all of that.

Marcy of SaveABunny called me to let me know that Tippy is again slipping in his health.  I’m currently working with her and various doctors to see about getting him better.  He had this issue a year ago and after some chiropractic and acupuncture, he got better – hoping the same happens again.

But that’s not why I’m posting (although if you’d like to learn more about him and perhaps contribute to his recovery fund, you can go here). 

While I was waiting to pick up Tippy, I came across this bunny – named Boyfriend (click on his pic to go to his page).

Although I love all rabbits, I would usually overlook a simple brown rabbit in a room full of bunnies.  However, this guy was in an excercise pen and he hopped over to where I was standing and stood up on his hind legs.  I thought “cute” and expected him to drop down in a second or two but he didn’t, he stayed standing up.  I leaned over and began petting his nose but he remained standing, giving me tooth purrs while I petted him.  He stood on his hind legs for what felt like a minute but was probably only half that – the entire time getting pets and purring.

Deciding to check one more thing before posting here about him, I picked him up and held him against my chest while I petted him.  Again came the tooth purrs and no struggling – although I’m not certain he was 100% happy to be up there.  In other words, this guy is a real snuggler and social bun.  Oh, and the x-pen was clean of all poops – only in his litterbox.

Just wanted to put him up here in case anyone was thinking about another rabbit.

 

 

[Sarita]

Oh, he’s adorable and he does sound like a lover. Is he some kind of Flemish Giant or Flemish Giant mix? Those ears are quite impressive.

[MimzMum]

Dang, Mark, he’s gorgeous! ^_^
I will keep some good home vibes going for him, and some healing vibes for Tippy as well. ((((((((((((((((((vibes))))))))))))))))))))

[LoveChaCha]

AWWWWWWWWWWW Oh gosh.. such a darling bunny

[jerseygirl]

Oh wow! From reading the blurb it sounds as if Marcy might be in trouble. Can’t say I blame her, he looks gorgeous and sounds to be a lovebun.

[Lintini]

Ahhh I’ve been ooogling over him for months. I really hope he can find a forever home soon, and that I wish I had my own house ><

{{{{Tippy}}}}

[MarkBun]

Actually, I was told by Marcy today that Boyfriend is off the market. He’s her bun who enjoys taking naps with her so he’s found his place.

As for Tippy, Dr. Harvey believes that due to his bad leg, he’s tweaked his hip and back so much that it has caused neurological deterioration in his good hind leg and thereby is causing him to drag it.  She believes that some physical therapy and chiropractic work will help him out and has a good chance of restoring movement in his good hind leg again.  I’m in a good/bad place with this as I was just fired from my job.  That means I have time to focus on his therapy but unfortnately not the cash to pay for it.  I’m looking for things to sell on eBay right now because, afterall, who can say no to this face? 

[jerseygirl]

I’m sorry to hear that Markus. : ( 
You’re a champ for standing by Tippy (and Nadia). Is there some of the physical therapy you can do yourself perhaps? Or is that something you would have been doing already?

[MarkBun]

I am doing daily massages on Tippy to keep his good leg from atrophying and try to get some movement back in it. He will still push back occasionally but hearing his tooth grinds in pain is just so heart breaking. I’ll be developing a sling for him to try and get him walking with some assistance. Truthfully though all of this is just a stop gap measure until the acupuncture and chiropractic work (hopefully) improves his condition.

One thing I’m thinking about doing is bringing both Tippy and Nadia to my house since I have to pay gas and a $5 toll everytime I go to visit SaveABunny. Only problem is that it would really upset my current buns and I really don’t think I can care for them like they should be. Not to mention if the landlord finds out, I’ll be evicted.

[RabbitPam]

Mark, I’m so sorry to hear you’re hitting a tough bump in the road. Only you would be as worried about Tippy (who is still irresistible) as yourself. You’re the best.
Maybe you could open a branch of Save a Bunny near you to take in more and run it? Just a ridiculously huge thought. Anyway, will send vibes for Tippy in the meantime and some for you to have a wonderful new job replace the old one.
{{{{{{{Healing vibes for Tippy}}}}}}}}}
{{{{{{{{{{{{Angelic assistance for Markus – who’s one of their own}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

[MarkBun]

Well this weekend of PT I feel was going well. When I put him on the floor, he actually used his hind leg for three hops before dragging it again. Still no neuro response to the leg though (this is when the vet holds the rabbit up, puts one of the feet on the table or floor then moves them to the side. They should step as they move – trying to keep balance – not happening with Tippy). His Chiro appointment is this afternoon. Probably won’t really know the real result of it until tomorrow but I’m up early because, well, I can’t sleep – sort of nervous about it.

[LittlePuffyTail]

Bless your heart for helping him! If only there were more guys like you around!

I’m thinking about starting a site on Etsy to sell some of my crafts. I want to donate proceeds to rabbit/cat rescues so I will definitely keep SaveABunny in mind.

[longhairmike]

saveabunny is registered with ebay as one of the recipients for charity auctions.
doing a search for ‘rabbit’ under charity listings comes up with 37 results.
http://donations.ebay.com/donation/GW4CController?ACTION=BrowseAction&pageIndex=1&pageSize=50&SUB_ACTION=ContinueSearch&name=rabbit

[jerseygirl]

How old is Tippy now?

I’m curious if he had this lack of neuro response last time? Sending out some (((vibes))) for him!

[MarkBun]

They believe Tippy is around 4 years old and he did have a lack of neuro response last time.

I was over there today for PT with him. He was still not using his back leg however when we did massage, he wasn’t tooth grinding in pain. I’m hoping that that’s a good sign.

Watching the chiropractor work on Tippy was strange as it looked like all she did was pet him. Later though she explained to me that the pressure they are to use to adjust cats and dogs are about as hard as you can push on your own eye. Therefore, rabbits you put as much pressure as you would when you BEGIN to feel pressure on your eye. They’re also using some crystal healing which I am always a little suspicious about but the chiropractor used the ‘device’ she’s using now (it looks like a solid metal pen) on herself at a conference where they were sold and it did miracles for some of her injuries in just the weekend.

Tippy and another bun is off to the acupunturist Friday. I’m looking at getting a deferral payment thingy with them although not sure if they’ll take it. They don’t work with rescues as far as billing goes (have to pay when you get the work done) but unfortunately the soonest I can get tippy to another acupuncturist is two weeks away.

[MarkBun]

Just an update,

We are taking Tippy to acupuncture every week starting this week and there is also chiropractic work being done I believe every other week or every month. His back leg is showing marginal improvement and he’s no longer tooth grinding in pain when I work his leg. However, his right front paw has become sore and swollen as it is what he’s using to counter the issue. He’s still not giving the proper neuro reflex we want to see but he does resist more with it than he use to during Physical therapy – which I give to him three times a week for about 15 mins.

I’m going to go buy an erector set and build a specialized bunny carriage for him. The wheeled ones are for animals who don’t have use of their hind legs. I need to create one that will keep Tippy’s butt upright so that he can use his hind paw to get around. If/when it’s done and working I’ll be sure to post some pics of RoboBun.

P.S. – it seems that one of the shelters that we rescue from gave us a couple of buns that they waited too long to get on the spaying program and we now have 12 new baby bunnies.  They’re cute, one is in a little bit of danger (the runt) but the rest are healthy.  Both moms were small lop mix breeds but we won’t know what the babies will look like until they grow up a bit. 

So if y’all wanted a baby bun of your own, they’ll be ready in about 3-4 months – but you’ll have to take at least two.

 

 

[jerseygirl]

Ahhh…baby buns, evil, evil little things. They get under your skin and….

On the bunny wheel chair thing, I’d seen some, plus a prototype on Cats and Rabbits and More I think it was. Had you seen those? There’s probably many versions around for inspiration anyway. Do you know what could be modified to make one. One of those simple bag trolley things. Some of them you see in variety stores are lightweight aluminum. Though some of hinge areas could be problematic.

[MarkBun]

The trouble with those is that they are mostly for animals who can’t use their back legs to get around. Tippy’s back legs are still ‘usable’ just not being used. So I want to make a rig that will simply keep his back end up (stop him from flopping on his side) but still keep the rest of him in contact with the ground so he can exercise his hind legs.

[jerseygirl]

Ok, gotcha. No hang gliders for Tippy then. :p Look forward to seeing what you come up with.

[cactuspancake]

yeah I was gonna say, don’t want his muscles to atrophy!

[jerseygirl]

Any update on Tippy?

[MarkBun]

So Tippy’s muscles are increasing. I can tell by the amount his foot fights me whenever I am working on it. However, he still has a balance issue with his backside that often has him falling over onto his bum leg. At which point, instead of trying to right himself, he just drags himself around via his front paws.

So, being the very stubborn headed bun that I am, I bought an erector set to build myself an anti-tipping device for tippy. However, my childhood has been killed because first, all erector sets seem to be these little, tiny packs to make little vehicles and second, the only rigid items in them these days are basically the screws. Everything else is made out of a semi-rigid plastic that bends and is rounded at the edges so the poor lil babies can’t hurt themselves anymore.

So the device I came up with for him sucked seven ways to Sunday. I salvaged as much as I can and will be using it as a template to make a more sturdy item. The trick isn’t so much making an item that lifts his hind quarters, it is making it so that he just doesn’t keep on flopping over onto his left side. The even more tricky part is that the left side is where he has his ‘kickstand’ leg.

Yup, it’s going to be an engineering marvel but I hope to have something that will keep his butt and back upright for half an hour a day. Would LOVE to have something that lasts 24 hours but gotta be realistic. I even thought about creating a guideline/bungee system that ran the length of his cage so that he was always in a sling keeping his butt and back straight but can’t guarantee that someone won’t get caught badly during the night.

Meanwhile, his girlfriend Nadia seems to keep on trying to show him HOW he should be acting. Such things as periscoping up even with her bum leg.

So, yeah, people say he’s showing a better attitude but I think he’s plateaued until he stops falling over.

Oh, and I am going to ask Marcy if I can take him to see Dr. Harvey again and I’m going to discuss with her other options, including amputation. I don’t want to do it but it almost looks like his kickstand leg is moving more under his body that it used to be a couple years ago and that could be causing the major balance issues. IMO would be better to remove it entirely so that there is freedom for some sort of appliance to stop the tipping of the Tippy.

[jerseygirl]

Maybe you’ll have to look into vintage meccano. Though that could be pricey!

I had to go back and look at the SAB videos at how he used to move about. It’s surprising he’s tipping on the “kickstand” side. It this because that leg is more tucked in now? Maybe you’ll have to incorporate an actual kickstand with a wheel or roller ball into the design.

You may have seen this type apparatus but I thought no harm linking it here anyway. These ones do allow the hind legs to contact the ground (& possibly be used) though with wheels, I wonder if the rabbits are only using their front legs to scoot around. If the sling is lowered enough they might bear some weight on the hind legs. I’ve not seen it, but wonder if something like sliders (skis?) would be better then wheels or more problematic? Anyway, this particular rabbit appears to use his hind legs some.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbCPmM59Lw0&feature=fvw

I also happened to see this rabbit in the BunSpace photo contest and then looked at the profile. It has a lot of close up photos of it in it’s wheels.
http://www.bunspace.com/bprofile_photos?bunid=10139

Maybe not for Tippy, but you could always go into business making customised wheels for rabbits. ; )

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