She’s definitely pregnant!

[Hedi]

I was at the shelter cleaning yesterday when an officer comes in with a bunny found in a trap. She is a brown dutch and HUGE! Bless her heart I had to get her to walk from one carrier to another and she did but it took forever. lol

I put her in an x-pen to kinda feel her out. I know nothing about pregnant rabbits but she is so big and she was firm from the waist down. Her back legs are spread out and she cant hardly get up. I begged our cat/dog vet yesterday to just look at her. She was definitely a girl and either had "an enlarged organ or pregnant." Yeah, that wasnt no organ-even I knew that! lol

So we got confirmation today she is pregnant and due any time. She is stuck in a front room for now so when I go in tomorrow I will ask she be moved to a back room where it will be quiet and she will be left alone to have babies. Still makes me nervous because neither of us (bunny guy) know anything about babies. They did this once before I got there but there was no complications. So I guess I will be reading up on this subject.

OH, and I got to name her! Hightlight of my day yesterday. We named her Carmella cause of her color. lol

1612564433671.JPG
1612564447754.JPG

[osprey]

Do you have a source for alfalfa hay?  Mom and soon enough the babies will need lots and lots of calories, and alfalfa is a good source.

 

[Hedi]

Right now we have a 25lb box of Timothy but no Alfalfa. I will ask the mgr tomorrow to go buy some that is only for her and the babies. It has been hard to get the shelter to understand how to care for different rabbits depending on age. She is due any time. Poor thing cant hardly get up. I did give her a box yesterday but I will need to make a better one tomorrow. I read that it needs to have a lip on the entrance so babies cant get out. I used a cardboard box so if it soils we can just throw it out and start over. I have given her tons of shredded newspaper and will do more tonight for her. The other problem is she is VERY overweight so she may not be able to pull any hair out for a nest. When I had her out monday she couldnt get both her paws to her face to wash.

I have read everything on rabbit.org and the Columbus HRS has offered to help with anything we need. We just need to make sure she is somewhere out of the way so she isnt bothered much. The place where our previous mom was who had babies before i was volunteering was put in the grooming room in the back. It is where all the linens are so people in and out all day long as well as peoples dogs they bring to work with them (pet peeve of mine).  Also the bathtub for bathing and where all the toys are kept.

I tried to talk my husband in to letting me bring her home and put her in the basement away from all our animals who are on our second floor but he said no.

[cookie627]

Wow porr little momma. But she is very cute!!!!!!

[Hedi]

I will post pics when she gives birth. I was there today and she was very irritable, swatting at me and not letting me clean her cage. I picked her up and put her down outside her cage, left the room and came back and she had jumped back in. lol So i think she knows its close and she is getting territorial. Im excited. These will be the first baby buns I have ever seen/cared for. She has a nesting box i made for her and she seems to understand what its for. So hopefully everything will go smooth for her.

[cookie627]

Ohh!!! I’m so happy for you and the soon-to-be-momy-bun!!!!!!!! I wonder how the babbies will look like!!! Oh rats!!! you live in OH. I would think i could foster some. Maybe even adopt!!! Poopy

[Hedi]

lol Well, you arent that far from me. It will be interesting to see what they end up looking like. Our last babies were a mix of an english spot and lop eared bunny so they were cute. Im excited to see what we have. She is so big we may have a lot of them.

[MooBunnay]

Thats so exciting! I just love my teeny little babies. That bunny is sooooo pretty, I can’t believe that no one is looking for her. I really don’t want to believe that someone would send a pregnant bunny out onto the streets alone

[BunMumTiff]

I would hope not, but you know as sad as it is someone probley wasnt smart and did not want babies people are just horrid like that

[BunMumTiff]

I would hope not, but you know as sad as it is someone probley wasnt smart and did not want babies people are just horrid like that

[Hedi]

The police found her in an animal trap they had set. From what the shelter told me this particular police force sets out these traps on  a regular basis in the same areas for loose cats and dogs.

Carmella is SO fat and so far along she has a hard time standing up and even walking far. So I just dont see how she ended up in that trap without some help! It just doesn’t make much sense to me.

Either way, I’m glad she is with us and I think she understands she is in good hands. She is actually litter trained from what I can tell-goes in one area only in her cage and she likes to lay half in/out of her nesting box. She hasnt soiled it at all. She even plays with her toys which is just so cute!

She really is sweet but just so uncomfortable-poor thing.

[BunMumTiff]

people like you are wonderful. Lucky bunny to be in such caring hand at thetime she needs love the most

[MooBunnay]

Yes I agree – that bunny is so fortunate that you started working with that humane society! She sounds like such a sweetie, and she’s so pretty! I can picture her walking around with a little line of teeny dutch buns behind her

[Hedi]

This has been one of those days!

Two vets said Carmella was pregnant and one in today said she was not pregnant. For some strange reason they decided to spay her today-have no idea why. They called me to tell me she made it thru surgery but her uterus was 2in in diameter all the way around. When I asked about cancer they said they didnt know? We have no idea how old this bun is but her stomach was hard as a rock.

Our shelter has no 24/7 staffing and if a cat or dog isnt doing well after 6pm they are moved to an emergency overnight clinic. None in this area take buns.

So I am gonna go here in an hour or so and pick Carmella up and bring her home overnight. With her being morbidly obese the surgery really shouldnt have been done and we have other rabbits that DO need to be fixed so not sure why they chose to do Carmella ahead of everyone else. I think they intended to abort the babies if she was pregnant but she wasnt.

SO, I will have a bun here overnight. I was instructed by HRS that if she isnt doing well when I go back to volunteer at the shelter in the morning that I will need to keep her an additional night. We were supposed to have a plan in place for this but not sure what happened. HOpefully she does ok tonight because we have no place to take her if she goes bad.

[BunMumTiff]

aww sorry to hear your poor buny is having a rough go. I am srue she will do amazing and pull through surgery is rough on some and nothing to others.

I wish u a safe and healthy night with Carm

[cookie627]

Hedi are you saying that a rock is in her stomach?

[Hedi]

There were no rocks in her stomach but it was just really really firm if you pushed on her tummy. Her uterus was enlarged and they said she is just full of fatty tissue inside. She is eating just a little and drinking and I finally got some urine out of her. Shes investigating my kitchen right now. lol

[wendyzski]

Awww poor thing – sounds like she was headed for uterine cancer if it wasn’t already.  Hopefully you can get her down to a healthier weight too.

[Hedi]

well, i am just so upset and aggrevated because we had another bun who has been at the shelter for months now who needs to be fixed and was healthy enough for surgery. This poor girl weighs 7.8lb and she is a dutch rabbit so she is 2-3lb overweight and for an animal shes twice her weight-she would be having gastric surgery if she was a person!

Ive been talking with the HRS here and the mgr of course was upset that surgery was even done but I was overruled by the director at the shelter-hopefully (and sadly) this will be a bunny lesson for him.

They said her uterus was big and when I asked if there was cancer the vet tech said, " I dont know? I think the vet would have said if she had it?" So who knows. HOpefully not. If she did and it was self contained she "should’ be fine from what HRS told me. But if it had already spread-something they should have been able to see-then we are in trouble.

Im having a hard time getting her to eat anything at all. I have forced some pellet ground up in water down her a few times. She ate a piece of lettuce and half a banana slice yesterday. I have gotten a total of 2 poos and 2 spots of pee out of her in a 21hr period. I have called and BOTH bunny vets in town are out for the day.

HRS website says as long as they are eating something, anything their bowels should continue to move. HOpefully the pellets I push down her will work.

Poor thing, overweight and abdominal surgery are a bad mix.

[Lucy]

i would suggest getting critical care from oxbow- I don’t know if there is someplace nearby that you can pick it up from. That’s what the vet gave me when Fujoe had GI Stasis- there’s just a lot of nutrients in it.

I know that you can buy it on-line, but I don’t know how long it would be for you to get it.

[MooBunnay]

When I brought in some girls from my shelter for spay surgery they did not eat for almost a full two days after. To keep them eating I mushed together pellets and water and kind “forced” it into their mouths by getting it on their lips and slipping it in their lips behind their front teeth. Also, I fed them some cilantro and broke it in half to get them to smell it. I’m sorry that the shelter didn’t listen to you – we have the same problem with pretty much every single shelter here in LA as well. I don’t know why they care so little for bunnies!

[Hedi]

I forcefed her just a little bit of pellets mashed in water thru a syringe. She started eating on her own last night. Shes gone to the bathroom several times yesterday and today.

She was oinking at my husband this morning when he was in the kitchen! lol

[Lucy]

how is she doing? were you able to make contact with a vet?

[Hedi]

One vets office was closed that day and the other the bunny vet out for the day. They took my name and # but never ever called me back.

Wed was the rough day since it was post op day #1. I started freaking out around 3pm because we were nearing that 24hr mark with no poo/pee and not eating. I did forcefeed her twice with the pellet mush with a syringe. By that evening she was eating just small strands of hay-but at least it was something! She did poo/pee for me before the 24th hour so Im glad I did force feed her. Thursday she ate a small piece of greens, raisins and a few pellets with her hay. I let her run around our kitchen and dining room and she had so much fun! She was getting into stuff, checking things out, became freinds with our vacuum (sat by it for a long time). I even had to chase her down to put her to bed. lol

I took her back to the shelter on Friday but I did kinda let the director know how I felt. Told them how bad she did, her risks outweight the benefit at that time and if she had been left at the shelter she would have died-no question in my mind.

I did call the mgr at the local HRS twice so at least I had someone to call for questions. She really needs to be fostered so that she has a place she can run to help get that weight off.

I am going to wait until she is one week out from surgery and start weaning her pellets down so we can get her on a diet and hopefully lose some weight before she is adopted out.

[MooBunnay]

Hi! I’m so glad to hear she is doing better!  I must have missed the part where your husband let you bring her home that was nice of him!  She’s such a pretty bunny and sounds so sweet.  Its so great that you were around to help her out.  It sounds like one of those "THANK GOODNESS FOR POOPS" moments that only bunny people seem to understand.

How did the director react when you talked to him/her? Was it OK? I know that out here one of the volunteer people got angry at a shelter for breaking up a bonded pair – and they were horrible to her after that.  They banned her from the shelters, sent animal control after, it was very sad because she had done so much work for bunnies

Anyways, keep us updated on this cute lil’ dutch girl! I’m so glad she pulled through!

[Hedi]

The director wasnt friendly and kinda curt with me when the day of surgery I said she HAD to go home with someone. Their cats and dogs they just leave or if they are not doing well they send them to after hrs vet clinic which doesnt take rabbits.

He asked about her when I brought her back and I really emphasized if she hadnt been with me seh probably would have died. Left alone in a shelter with people who do not know to look for bunny poos may have missed it. He is open to suggestion but I think he was so proud of himself that she was fixed and didnt understand why that wouldnt make us happy.

The mgr understands and I did email him explaining the situation and how it could have gone very wrong very fast. I just happened to have been there that morning. Otherwise I would have seen her in two days and by then it could have been bad, if she was even alive.

Its a learning curve for all of us. So I am hoping they do not do anymore spays/neuters until we have something figured out. HRS was apauled that the vet would even do her surgery. She is exactly 3lb overweight. I think they did it to abort babies to be honest.

[BinkyBunny]

I agree with MooBunnay that it can really be sketchy with some shelters, as politics and egos don’t escape even those that are working for or managing what you’d think would be a compassionate place. Walking on eggshells at some shelters seems to be the only way to get things done, but then there are others that are not that way.

I know I was absolutely amazed when you were able to go into that shelter and change so much. It says alot for their own willingness to change and lack of egos. I can’t tell you how incredible that is as many times shelters will be like…”and who do you think you are?!” And it doesn’t matter that you put in your time and $$, many times that goes unappreciated, so I am still impressed with the shelter you are working with so far even in spite of their own ignorance about this situation.

I also agree with you that it is a learning curve for all. The director may have felt proud of all the changes being made and felt good about what’s happening, and the fact that everyone seemed to be on board, and so without fully understanding how fragile a rabbit’s health can be, he may not have had full appreciation for the situation – so from his POV, by not understanding, he would see this as his efforts to make things happen were not being appreciated. Who knows, but it sounds you did a good job informing them about the risks, and even though there may have been some egos bugged, I bet they have heard and hopefully learned.

[MooBunnay]

Yes, working with shelters is definitely walking on eggshells! I’d recommend that your #1 priority be staying on their good side – obviously telling them things they do wrong diplomatically is important, but if you get on their bad side and they decide to give you the cold shoulder…it can be even worse for the poor buns!

I was surprised too actually that the Humane Society let you do so much for the buns around there – especially carrying bunny products.  I have a friend that is a shelter EMPLOYEE and they told her under no circumstance would they carry any hay products because hay is "messy."  Most of the shelters around here won’t spay/neuter either, thats why the Bunny Bunch rescue that I work with gets so many of the bunnies in shelters spayed and neutered…because otherwise it would never happen!

[Lucy]

so just curious again, is she all right?

[Hedi]

I kept Carmella for four days after surgery. By the fourth day she was running around my dining room looking into stuff to get into. lol

She actually got adopted out this past weekend to a lady who has had rabbits before. I wasnt there so I wasnt involved but I did email the lady to check up on Carmella. My husband thought she was just so cute and her oinking at him every morning while he ate his breakfast just made his day. lol

 

[Author]

Messages