Mimzy & Pip- Back from vets

[MimzMum]

Wow, I am exhausted…I can only imagine how tired the buns are. >.<

The whistling icon therefore, is up there to say, “Whew! Dodged more bullets…I hope!”

Here’s the gist: Mimzy was in for crustiness around the eye and continued scratching at his mouth on the right side, so I figured we were looking at more tooth issues. The vet doesn’t see anything particularly wrong though, and that’s only with the cursory exam. She cannot check the molars without putting him under, and at $200…well I just can’t stretch that far right now. He’s eating well and doesn’t appear in pain, she thought he looked great, so I’m going to sing alfalfa hay until I see anything else worrisome. He has lost about 4/10ths of a pound, but I’m not sure that’s from tooth probs…I’ve really cut back his snacks and I think that’s the cause there.

She thinks the urine spotting is territorial in nature. Not sure about that.

She gave me some ointment for his eyes (Neo/Poly/Dex Ointment…glorified Neosporin at $25??) and pronounced him healthy. So we moved on to Pip. (A sidebar to the above, her glands are filthy and she has a little urine staining on her bottom, plus a little bit of stool sticking to her bum…if she humped Mimzy’s face that way, no wonder his eye is bothering him and he smelled strange to me that day!)

 I’d taken her in because I’d thought she was developing cataracts. The doc took a good look in both her eyes with the same little instrument you see the doc use at your eye appointments and she doesn’t see the crystalization that is associated with cataracts, but she could see ‘something’ that she called a ‘blue sheen’ that animals will get on their eyes naturally as they age. So she’s told me to keep watch on it and if I see any changes bring her right in. Although she doesn’t seem to know what she could do about it. (Makes me feel confident there.)

So all told, about $140 worth of…? Buns are resting snuggly in their xpen as we speak. If the whole trip did anything, perhaps it got them closer to each other, bonding wise.

The only thing that really chapped me was, upon paying my bill an preapring to leave, there’s this poodle (an old one) in the waiting room that is coughing it’s guts out. I thought kennel cough at first, but then when we get home the hubby tells me someone had whispered “Keep that dog away from the other animals, it’s contagious and could spread to any of them!” He questioned the tech there and they claimed the dog was not contagious. Now what am I supposed to believe there? This dog was right across from the bunnies and we couldn’t take them out right away because they were in separate carriers and it would take both of us to move them.

Should I be worried? Could that dog have had something that would harm Mim & Pip? It was like whooping cough in a human in how persistant it was, but I have no idea what was wrong with it. How many diseases are aerobically contagious between species? Would there be anything I could do now anyway?

 

[bunnytowne]

hmm good question.  Only things I know cross species are mites and human std’s in rabbits.   How that would happen I have no idea.  Dogs to rabbits oh yeah worms can jump cross species.  I don’t know about virus’s and would like to know the answer to the kennel cough question.  Hopefully some one will come with an answer.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

I’m going to go ahead and say don’t be worried. From what I’ve been reading (and I’ve been reading alot lately with my project) about rabbit health, rabbits don’t catch colds (apparently from several sources there is no such thing as a common cold for a rabbit) and I really don’t think a cold from a dog could transfer to a rabbit. The systems are much different!! So if it were me, I wouldn’t worry

[KatnipCrzy]

I would not be worried about the dog making your bunnies sick.

The eye meds that you got were NeoPolyDex…..the dex is dexamethasone which is what makes it different than Neosporin.  Dex is a steroid that helps with inflammation in the eye or surrounding tissues- it is a very safe med to use unless there is a scratch on the eye, and in that case the steroid will inhibit healing.  (One of my cats has tear ducts that do not function properly,and when I notice her tears are spilling out the corner her eye and creating eye goobies, I use those meds to decrease the irritation and it will improve for awhile.  It is not enough of a medical issue to warrant more treatment than that).

[Scarlet_Rose]

Oh Mimz, what drama! You’ve gotten some great advice already and I too would not worry too much about the dog making your rabbit sick.  If the dog was truly that sick, they should have immediately found an open examination room to put it in for the safety of the other animals.  This is something my vet does and while it prevents so many animals being seen at once, I would rather wait than be exposed to and have my pets exposed to a situation like that.  That is just my 2 cents though. Is this vet the local one or the other that you have to drive pretty far to see and is the only rabbit vet around?

Here is more info on dogs making humans sick:

http://www.cdc.gov/healthypets/animals/dogs.htm

The chances of your buns being affected by the dog are pretty slim unless there was something parasitic as well like fleas, mites, ticks & worms and of course some things like rabies and lyme disease but it sounds like this dog had a cold or viral infection.  Something also to note is that a rabbits physiology is quite different and therefore it isn’t likely they are going to get sick from the dog.

Here is a previous discussion on zoonotic diseases that you might want to check out:

https://binkybunny.com/FORUM/tabid/54/forumid/2/tpage/1/view/topic/postid/41778/Default.aspx#41802

 

[MimzMum]

Thanks for those links, Rose, and I have to say everyone that, just your reassurances are soothing my frayed nerves! ^_^ I trust you all in your opinions more than anyone else I know, including my vet.
Yes, Rose, she is the only rabbit savvy in miles and we have to go 30 to see her in Fairbanks. But she is really good in handling them and, until I find someone I can trust better, she is the one I must use. They WERE very busy that day, but they DO have a ‘side door’ that they usually take contagious animals through…I am more angry at the people who owned the dog and didn’t use that door than I am at the techs, although I don’t absolve them of blame. The usual receptionist folks weren’t on staff that day, it was mostly the dog trainer and the people who run the “Laundro-Mutt” and so with the workload they had that day, I didn’t think it would help to cause a scene. We were only there for a few minutes after our appointment and I was feeling pretty sick myself (stomach flu again, I guess) so I wasn’t in the mood to make a stink…but I’m going to be a little more careful about the waiting room from now on, just in case.

Katnip, thanks for the info on the ointment. I had forgotten she said something about the steroid. His eyes look so much better today, so it must be doing the job. ^_^

Now here’s another thought I had on Mimzy’s sudden lack of ‘perfect’ litter habits…. Since I am still working on bonding him & Pip, could he be leaving little blessings around (both kinds) in a kind of protest that he and Pip are not quite to the point of being kept together at night? I know a bun will sometimes leave territorial poops around to notify other buns that this is their space, but can they do that just to let you know they are unhappy with a certain situation?
Today he got a little buggy eyed when I put him & Pip together in the xpen, but they promptly got down to cuddling and washing one another. (Poor Pip now has a barbered spot on her back that I am not sure if she did or if Mimzy is the culprit) Pip did a little humping today, but I think it’s because I put a fresh ‘cuddle box’ in there for them (the other was dirty and torn to shreds) and that must’ve set her off. But now when I set up, I keep everything as constant as possible and they are doing worlds better!

Maybe Mimzy is not enjoying his nightly bachelor pad as much now? If so, I would be so happy for them that they are ready to take the final step!

Here’s a current piccy: (taken this afternoon)

You guys should’ve seen how nervous seeing the carriers made Fiver. He saw me bring them in one at a time, as I loaded Mim & Pip, and each time he ran into his litter box and thumped and whined. I had to keep reassuring him we weren’t going to see “THAT lady” again yesterday, that it was just the other two who were going. I felt so bad for him!

11025232920071.jpg

[Scarlet_Rose]

You’re welcome Mimz! You know that is very insightful of you and you could be very right about the messy litterbox habits. Or I am also thinking it could be fear that the “other” bunny is going to come claim his space too, although I think you are more right because they seem to be bonding well. That is such a sweet picture!

[Author]

Messages