Sophie was our first experience with rabbits. My daughter had begged for a rabbit for
quite a while and I finally relented under the condition that pay for the rabbit herself and
promised to look after it. Of course the majority of cleaning and feeding fell to me, as it
usually does with pets (one reason I think parents should ask themselves if they really want
a pet before they give into a child). I didn't really mind though as she was kind of cute. That was until a few
months later.
I really hate seeing animals cramped into small spaces, so as she grew we got bigger and bigger cages for her. Her last cage was so long I had to virtually lay down and put my whole arm in to clean it properly. During this procedure, she would hide in the covered section and we'd both get on with our own business. One particular day, I swore I heard her growl!! Of course everyone laughed when I mentioned it, and I didn't really believe what I heard. A few days later, I not only heard a growl, I got my hand nipped and punched for my troubles! The same thing happened the next day. She actually lunged out of her hidy hole and attacked my hand. I hate to admit it, but I was getting a little skittish around this 2lb rabbit. Thoughts of the 'Vorpal Bunny' from 'Monty Python' came to mind.
I got no sympathy from the family, in fact no-one could believe this darling little bunny was capable of acting in such a manner. That was, until the day I dared my husband to stick his arm in there. The look on his face was definitely a Kodak moment. Ahhhh... revenge is sweet.
After some research I realised that what we had was a teenager bunny, with rampant hormones.
The best way to deal with this is spaying. The vet didn't cover the stitches as he said Sophie would
keep them clean, we just had to watch that she didn't chew them. She came home, still groggy, and spent
a quiet night in her hutch.... or so I thought.
The following morning I checked her and was horrified to see she had chewed out every one of her stitches and the wound was gaping open. I took her to another vet, who restitched her (another $100 thank-you!) and fitted her with an Elizabethan collar. I was told to remove the collar at feed time or she wouldn't be able to eat. Despite being still under the effects of the anesthetic, she hated the collar. The look on her face was of pure indignation and, funny as her outrage was, I could see she was starting to stress. There had to be a better way. The House Rabbit Society's website came to the rescue again. I found an article that suggested wrapping the rabbit firmly in a crepe bandage, ensuring they could still breath comfortably. This worked wonderfully. I kept the bandage in place for about 3 days, until I was sure the wound had sealed, then let her care for herself.
Sophie isn't big on chewing or digging like the others. In fact, in late '99, I brought
both her and Sultan a cane basket to gnaw on. Sultan's was down to a base within two weeks, Sophie chinned
hers thoroughly then sat in it. Even now all the rabbits are in a communal group and they've
gone through quite a few different chew toys, Sophie's basket
doesn't have one tooth mark on it.
With the introduction of the other rabbits, Sophie has become the group mother. She's always
there for a quick groom or snuggle and she's the only one that is not intimidated in the least
by Sultan. Together with Apache, she keeps an eye on the house cleaning I do, and they can often be found
'loafing' together near the front of their run, serenely watching the neighbourhood go by.
The first night I got little sleep as I spent it sitting on the lounge with Sophie rolling and twisting in the basket. I found if I kept my hand on her it helped to keep her stabilised and seemed to offer comfort. She ate by me handing her titbits off a plate and syringing water. I spent some time on the net researching and ran across a number of articles stating that treatment with Fenbendazole or Albendazole (found in stock drenches) had shown very postive results. I was straight on the phone to the vet the following morning and, while he seemed sceptical, he was willing to order some in for me. Sophie commenced treatment on albendazole on the 27th October.
In the meantime I found that Sophie's down eye was becoming inflammed from the constant contact with the bedding. In an effort to help I cut up a cotton sheet and used that between her and the towel and started bathing the eye. Eventually I had to get some antibiotic cream from the vet to help keep the eye lubricated. As she also couldn't move in any controlled way she couldn't avoid contact with urine or faeces. I had to wash her and her bedding a number of times a day, so for anyone having to nurse a head tilt bun, my advice is have LOTS of changes for the bedding. I found steeping fresh lavendar in boiled water and diluting it into the bathing water helped keep the odours down as well. It was also around this time that I realised she couldn't reach her cecal pellets, so started offering her anything I thought looked close. Some she refused with a 'what do you think I AM!' look, others she munched up gratefully. Trying to sort out what was what made me think that she wasn't getting enough fluid with a syringe, so I purchased another Lixit bottle which allowed her to drink as much as she wanted.
Sophie continued to eat everything but hay. I was concerned about the lack of fibre so let her eat as many pellets as she liked and offered lots of fresh herbs. There were times when she got very frustrated with my choices from the plate and would turn her head away as I waved pieces in front of her. She would continue to turn her head until I got it right and then snatch it out of my hand as if to say 'About time!!'. Of course the favourite would change from day to day, and since I'm not a very good bunny telepath, I would never get it right first time, but I got very quick at digging out the next herb!
After the first 3 days, Sophie seemed to realise that movement caused her distress (rolling) so settled down a little. Since this happened in summer I was concerned about the heat so would lift her, in her bedding, to lay in front of the air cooler. I would sit next to her and massage her neck and back, paying particular attention to the side the head was tilted. Even though Sophie usually hates contact she seemed to enjoy the massages and actually relaxed as I was handling her. I don't know whether this had any bearing on her recovery but I believe we both benefitted from those times.
It took over two weeks of intensive care until one morning my husband woke me and pointed to Sophie's basket. I looked over and there she was, looking back at me! She was supporting herself on her front legs. She was still extremely wobbly and could only maintain it for a short period but I felt we had turned a huge corner. From then it was only a matter of days until she was moving around by herself and back out with the others. Within a week or so her head had straightened totally and you would never have guessed she had been so sick.
Below is a link and some more information on the fenbedazole/albendazole treatment. Unfortunately the original of Dr McAfee's treatment is not available on line due to a site restructure but the details are below.
"E. cuniculi are protozoa, so they are not killed off by antibiotics. The latest treatment shown to work anecdotally is Albendazole, a drug used in AIDS patients.
Albendazole is the key ingredient in Valbazen, a dewormer by Pfizer. We have used Valbazen 11.36% fairly successfully. Dosage is 5 mg. of Valbazen per kg of rabbit weight, two times daily, for 6 weeks. You must continue the dosage for 6 weeks due to the spore cycle of the E. cuniculi.
For example, a three pound rabbit would get .1 cc of Valbazen twice daily.
As Albendazole is said to be better absorbed in the presence of fat, a few pine nuts may be given to the rabbit before the medicine is administered."
And
My experiences, and those of others, have shown me that what was once a death sentence need be no longer. As more people are willing to seek treatment for their rabbits our knowledge will expand. With the wonderful resource of the internet available, no longer are we restricted by distance. There are many pages and groups dedicated to ensuring that information is shared and rabbit medicine continues to advances. I would urge every rabbit slave to seek out these groups. I have learnt so much from them as well as received much needed support during times of crisis and a sympathetic ear when things aren't going right. Some are included on the links page to help you start. From there I suggest you search with google.