Windy

Kim decided to get me a pet rabbit for my 21st birthday. Actually, she was thinking any kind of pet, so we considered a mouse, fish, hampster, guinea pig, and even a sugar glider, all possibilities when living in a dorm. One day, however, we were walking through a pet store and caught a glimpse of the rabbits. After playing with them for a few minutes, I decided that I really wanted a rabbit. They are more interactive than a fish or a rodent. At any rate, we picked a little brown and white bunny. I bought the cage, food, litter and some other necessities and brought the little guy to my place. Life was great having a cute bunny. Unfortunately, however, this was short-lived, as Chase, the bunny, died less than four days after I got him. While the jury is out as to his cause of death, we think that he was sick when we got him. Not knowing as much about rabbits as I should have, I failed to react quickly enough to his sniffles and sneezes. Perhaps it was an upper respiratory infection, perhaps it was something else. Needless to say, having him die while in my care was very sad.

The pet store that we got the rabbit at did have a "7-Day Guarantee" that we, unfortunately, had to utilize. So, we waited and waited, several weeks passing by, until they had more rabbits. After a couple of trips to the store, we finally were able to get another one. This little one looked similar to Chase, except was a female. We brought her home and did things right. I had spent many, many hours online trying to learn as much as I could about rabbits, all to make sure this new one lived a happy life. Being a weather-geek, I needed another weather-related name for her. The only legitimate feminine name that we could come up with was Windy.

Well, things are going well! Windy is growing fast and is healthy! In fact, she is quickly nearing time to be spayed. She loves to eat hay (as most rabbits do, and should) and finds great joy in munching on my homework papers. In fact, chances are for any given piece of paper in my room, there will likely be a little bite out of at least one of the corners! Below is a picture of her muching on a piece of Oat hay. Yum...

I'm adding pics as soon as I take/develop them... She's growing very quickly! Stay tuned! :-)

Windy had a 10:00am appointment Sunday morning (2/8/03) to get spayed. The vet called at about 1:00pm to say that everything had gone well, but he wanted to key an eye on her just to make sure. Well, he called back at about 9:00pm, and said that I could come pick her up. We were both concerned that she wasn't eating much, but decided that she was likely just too scared of the environment. She did have sevofluorane instead of isofluorane, which usually means should she 'wake up' faster. Additionally, she was given an injection of Torbutrol before the surgery to help minimize any pain immediately after the wakes up. Her not eating, however, was quite concerning, and we were hoping it was because of the unfamiliar enviornment. Hopefully, this would be the case.

Nope. I got her home and tried to entice her with some food, but she just wouldn't have any of it. Hay, pellets, parsley, cilantro, and even her Oxbow Cranberry Critter Berries that she normals loves and gets as a treat every now and then. I tried giving her pain pills, but it was very difficult as she just did not want to swallow them. The vet and I talked again and decided that the situation was becoming increasingly dangerous for Windy. I was just hoping she'd eat before morning.

Nope. Morning came and the vet called, inquiring about her condition. I told him that she had still not eaten anything. This means that she had gone without food, up to this point, for almost 24 hours. For those who know rabbits, GI statis can set in very quickly and cause significant (possibly lethal) health problems. I brought Windy in to the vet again Monday around noon. By this time, she was starting to hop around a little more and starting to be more of her normal self. At any rate, the vet gave her an injection of pain medicine, as well as an injection of Reglan, which helps induce hunger. I then took her home and hoped that she'd start eating. If she wasn't going to eat, I was going to have to start force feeding her baby food.

Well... She is starting to slowly eat. Her abdominal cavity is filling in more than it was after the spay, when all you could see were her ribs and hips. She is still jumping with her rear legs together, showing that there is still discomfort there (I'd bet you'd be uncomfortable too if someone took some of your organs). Here's to hoping she makes a healthy recovery! I'm going to go ahead and through a plug for Neel Vet, and particularly the vet I dealt with, Dr. Reeves. While the prices are relatively high, I have had good experiences with them. Additionally, Dr. Reeves has shown sincere interest and concern for Windy and the situation.