Bunnies!

[chickadeedeedee]

Someone brought them in yesterday afternoon. One of their dogs killed the Mama bunny a day or two before. They were cold, wet, dehydrated so they got some warm fluids under the skin. I gave them 50% dextrose in the mouth to get their blood sugar up and of course warmed them up.

Since they haven't been fed for a while they need frequent little meals for a day or so while their tummies adjust to getting milk. Their eyes are *just* beginning to open.

They've already escaped from bed once. Now their bed is in a little wicker basket. Olive, the parrot, needed to know What's that? when I was setting up the bunny nursery. I showed her one of the bunnies and she said, Oooohhhh! HellLLLooo! Hi Sweetheart! Boy or girl? LOL!

So far so good with the bunnies. We needed something to do in our spare time! And, call me Miss CleOh, but I **KNEW** we would get another guest(s) this week. I just knew it!

They all got warmed fluids (LRS) under the skin this morning because they're still dehydrated and got warm milk in their bunny bellies. The smallest drank the most. The largest drank the least but he got out of his basket and moved away from the heating pad. Once he got warmed up he was drinking better.

Baby Cotton-tail bunnies are notorious for thriving and then sudden death. It is because Mama bunny's milk has a unique ingrediant that keeps down bacteria in the GI tract. Soooo even though, so far so good, we know this may turn into sadness at any moment. For now we enjoy the experience of giving bunnies a snuggle. ;D

Their little eyes are open more.

Been up since 4:00 AM! And Barry just started his morning song.


This mornings photo.

[chickadeedeedee]

Oh Heavens no! But he is my favourite and I do think he's watching over the little ones in our care.

Each year in October, on the Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi we take the dogs and who ever is in most need of additional help to get blessed.

[4pygmies]

Aw...aren't they beautiful?? (Even if they do eat everything in the vegetable garden....). I have done my fair share of looking after young babies and you never lose the thrill of it do you? I know you haven't, C3D, since you seem to have a constant collection of beasts and birds to nurture. I hope they make it - I'm sure they will - you have the magic touch, I think X

[chickadeedeedee]

*~*~*SIGH*~*~*

And then there was one.

The two larger bunnies became cold although in their crib, refused to eat and died yesterday. The tiniest bunny, who was the weakest of the three is (for now) thriving.

He's opened his eyes all the way, is warm, walks around and had his first tiny hop yesterday morning. :-) When he's drinking from his bottle tiny bunny feet kneeded my hand this morning. After he was done a tiny bunny tongue gave my finger a lick.

He was fed again about two hours later(about 7:45 AM) and drank almost as much as he did with the first swig of the morning.

Bunnies are notorious for doing well and then suddenly dying. I know this. I know this. I know this. Therefore I am remaining emotionally detached from this sweet precious little hopping, licking, kneeding bunnykins.


Baby Beebee is doing well today. He crawled almost out of the crib in search of dinner tonight! Ooooooooo! He's got tiny finger nails and teeny tiny teeth! A tiny tail to match. There's little bunny poops and pees without need of that stimulation stuff. Acting like a big bunny now!

Mike was feeding him about two hours ago and Olive asked Whatcha doing? Mike told her he was feeding the bunny. She asked again but Mike made the mistake to not bother to answer.

She yelled, YO! Whatcha doing Pretty Boy?

Pretty Boy told her he was feeding the baby bunny.

Very well. Baby birdy doing very well. HiiiiIIIIIIIiiiii, Sweetheart! Boy or girl? Are you a girl? followed by the sound of kisses. (She doesn't know the word BUNNY yet.)

LOL! Olive. What would we do without her help?

Hoping this little one survives!

C3D

[bogmyrtle]

Aah, shame about the two bunnies C3D.

Fingers crossed for the little one - Baby BeeBee I think you've called him!

[chickadeedeedee]

The morning bunny report:

All is well so far. OMG! When I looked in on him early this morning, he was washing his tiny leg! Gotta keep lookin' good AND cute! He doesn't need to put much effort into it though.

Beebee is eating very well. Two servings about two hours apart this morning. Poopin' and peeing on his own too! Such a big bunny.

Olive noticed OooooOOOOOOooo! Very well. Birdy doing VERY WELL!

You heard it from ~the one who knows!~

Here's lookin' at you baby:

[floweringcherry]

Hi C3D nice to meet you, I am new here. I read about the bird you rescued, do you run an animal sanctuary? I do hope the remaining bunny continues to do well. You are doing a great job.

[chickadeedeedee]

Hi Floweringcherry.

Thank you. Nice to meet you too!

It does seem we have an animal sanctuary but it is just our home full of refugees. I'm a veterinarian and my OH is a pediatric reconstructive surgeon. I never know what will come into the animal hospital that needs help. I never know what Mike or our children will bring home either! LOL!

Thankfully 90%-95% of the wildlife that comes here is released. There are some birds here that are ours forever because of various reasons which have made them unreleasable. The baby bunny will be released to make more bunnies in the wild when the time comes.

All anyone can do is try their best. The rest is up to God.

[floweringcherry]

Thanks for the explanation, you must find it very rewarding. You really are doing a great job.

[emseypop]

Well done 3cd. I love reading about your various house guests! Its not just the wonderful things you do, but the way you tell it ;D ;D I'm really pleased little bun is doing so well.x

[madonplants]

May 22, 2008 20:02:58 GMT 1 @floweringcherry said:

Thanks for the explanation, you must find it very rewarding. You really are doing a great job.

Ditto. What's the weirdest thing you have dealt with C3D?

[chickadeedeedee]

Oooo! Thank you for the kind compliments! Glad you enjoy this bunny diary, of sorts.

Weirdest thing to deal with? That's a thread all its own! LOL! I cared for a tarantula that fell and his abdomen split open. A common injury but I never treated a tarantula. I tucked the hairy spider's abdominal contents back inside and applied surgical adhesive to the wound to seal it. Otto survived his trauma and he was a popular patient for more than two years after the accident. I changed work places so don't know how long he lived.

I had to climb into the back of a pick up truck, straddle a six ft. alligator who had his snout duct taped shut so I could check his infected eye. The owner said the 'gator was an 'ornery cuss'! ;D

Tree frog with a concussion? Sea gull with two broken wings? Sea gull with one broken wing? Toad with maggots? Arrow through the chest of a cat? And on and on .......

This mornings bunny report is still a good one!

Little Beebee climbed out from under the towels and was perched atop waiting for breakfast to be served. She is eating well and the biggest problem is some of the milk runs down the fur under the neck making a sticky mess. It isn't easy to clean someone who is shorter than the length of my thumb!

The Olive report this morning remains good too. oooOOOOOOooo! Boy or girl? Pretty girl. Yep! Baby birdie doing very well! Yepper!

Sooooo..... Maybe Beebee is a girl? The little bunny parts are too small for me to tell at this point.

I phoned my avian vet friend and asked how best to insure Beebee will continue to survive. We don't want to have the thriving bunny today and sudden death a few hours later as so often happens. I had read that if the GI tract of the bunny can be inoculated with the bacteria that normally are in a bunny, the chances for survival increase. I had been adding a product that is a pro-biotic which contains beneficial bacteria for mammals in general.

I asked if he thought it would be a good idea to get some parasite free bunny poop, smash up a bit, mix in with a small amount of milk and feed it to Beebee. Sounds like a disgusting thing to do but it would inoculate Beebee's intestines with the kind of bacteria that BUNNIES need for their herbivore diet. He thought that actually would be the ideal inoculation.

Any other day we'd be tripping over bunny poop in the garden. Not a single nugget was to be found anywhere yesterday. I'll call a client who has a bunny and ask him to bring some inoculation materials. I'll first check to make sure there's no worms or other parasites and then we can give some to Beebee. She'd only need it once.

Please don't panic if you don't get a bunny report for the next few days. We are going to visit Mike's brother and his family and meet our new Niece who was born on Mother's Day. Beebee is coming too. Barry is being boarded so he will get his eye drops three times a day.

Kindest regards,

C3D

[chickadeedeedee]

Hi all.

And so our selfish struggle to keep BeeBee with us has come to an end as we feared it would. There is NO substitute to a Mother's love and care no matter how much we want to convince ourselves we can do it.

Sunday morning BeeBee was not sitting on top of the towels of her bed but was tucked inside. She was colder than usual and not very interested in eating. We gave her some warmed fluids under the skin, cranked up the heating pad to a higher setting and kept annoying her for about the next three hours to get her to eat. She ate a little each time she was offered and drank *very* nicely with the last feeding about 11:00AM.

OK. We were pleased we ~helped~ her again. Two hours later she was getting cold again, drank some milk and was tucked in with towels warmed from the dryer. BeeBee left us and went to be with her litter mates and Mum about an hour later. You just can't argue with a determined bunny.

I wish I knew why she made that downward spiral. A few days earlier she was content and washing her tiny leg. I think if it was the bunny poo juice she got, she would have been ill the next morning not two days later. Maybe it was? We never really will know why Beebee died but we cherish the time she spent with us.

She's buried in Tennessee at Mike's childhood home, where his younger brother and family still live. Aside from this event, everyone is doing fine, thanks.

Thanks for coming along on this latest rollercoaster ride. Sorry that it has come to an end as it did. Wonder who will come to visit us next?

C3D

[bogmyrtle]

That's sad news C3D, you did your best.

Thanks for trying.

[karenwl]

Sorry to hear the news C3D at least they had a bit of time in your loving care,

LOL Karen xx

[floweringcherry]

I'm so sorry the little bunny didn't make it. At least you made it's last days as comfortable as possible.

[debidoos]

I'm so sorry to hear about little BeeBee, You tried so hard for so long. At least you gave her and the others a chance!

[emseypop]

Such sad news Thanks for shareing the experience with us, its nice to know there are some lovely people out there

[madonplants]

May 27, 2008 20:18:00 GMT 1 @emseypop said:

Such sad news Thanks for shareing the experience with us, its nice to know there are some lovely people out there

Ditto. Took the words right out of my mouth