After a quick look over, the first order of business was a bath. She took both that and the blow dry in good humour and seemed to be happy with company.
Next came the phone calls to find a vet. Then the drive at night, in the rain, trying to navigate unfamiliar territory. She sat quietly in her box the whole time.
Luckily for us, the vet on call that night was from England and had dealt with rabbits quite a bit. He told us that not only did she had ear mite, mange, and body mite, but also she had spurs on her back teeth and was very undernourished. Whether the undernourishment was from her teeth problem or due to neglect was unclear. It is my opinion she had either been dumped or escaped, and had been fending for herself for quite some time.
After the examination we were given the option to have her euthanised. She wasn't our rabbit and her health problems were going to make her an expensive exercise in humanity. I looked at my husband, he looked at me, and we just couldn't do it.
She was given a shot of Ivermectin for the mite, we were given a referral for our vet with instruction to get her another shot in 3 days and sent on our way. My husband and I spent 3 hours that night trying to gently clean all the build up out of her ears. I had tears streaming down my face as she patiently sat there, while we extracted lumps that were inches long and thick. After, she sat quietly on my knees and lapped up the petting and cuddling.
Due to the mite we couldn't keep the two rabbits together. So while Sophie was in our garage, our new friend was housed on our back verandah. Every time I opened her cage, she would run to the open end and sit on her haunches waiting for a treat or pat. After, she would happily throw herself sideways to lay down, like she was the happiest bunny in the world. It was because of this behaviour that we named her 'Flop'.
During the next week or so Flop completed her course of Ivermectin, her coat was starting to look good and she was putting on weight. Because of her health problems I did a lot of web surfing on rabbits. I found out about behaviour, diseases, general health and care, you name it, I read it. I was horrified to read about the Calci Virus (RHD) and Myxomatosis. I had known about Myxomatosis for years, but always assumed there was a vaccine available for pet rabbits. There is, but to my knowledge, it's only available in England. Both the US and Australian Governments will not allow it use. I wrote to the RSPCA and the Agricultural Department asking if and when it would be available here. I was told that it was under review. To date, it still is.
One morning I went to give Flop her morning pat and noticed that her ears were looking a little red and swollen and felt warm to touch. The area around her eyes was also slightly red. I knew what it was. Myxomatosis. While waiting for the vet to open, I checked every website I could think of to find the latest information. The prognosis wasn't good. Basically there is no cure for Myxomatosis, and althought there have been reports of rabbits surviving, it wasn't a pleasant picture.
Flop and I were at the vet's door to greet him and after looking at her, he confirmed my suspicions. We think that she must have gotten bitten by a flea or mosquito while she was out on her own. He felt the best thing for her was to be euthanised. I have seen rabbits in the advanced stages of Myxomatosis and I couldn't put her through that. I stayed with her throughout the procedure, crying buckets. I went home and cried some more. In fact I cried most of that day and into the evening.
Myxomatosis is a horribly, cruel disease that is deliberately spread to control the wild rabbit population. It's a crime that pet owner's don't have the option of immunising their rabbits. The thinking that it will breed immunity among the wild population just isn't good enough and it's time that this vaccine was made available.
In memory of Flop, I'll be doing all that I can to make people aware of this disease and push the Government to lift it's ban on the vaccine.