FIFI TINSEL FAIRY arrived 21st December 2011
Fifi, a friendly 6 year old dutch bunny, came into our lives following a call from our own vets. She had been brought in by her owner claiming that although she was healthy they were moving abroad and wanted her put to sleep. Thankfully our vet refused and we were able to offer her a place with us. Over those first few days, as we suspected, things started not to add up. It became apparent to us that Fifi did in fact have a few health issues although at that stage the cause was no known. Her tummy felt large yet her hips and back were bony from muscle wastage. She was eating fairly well but little was coming out the other end. She had some fatty lumps around her nipples and she refused to eat hay. In herself Fifi was remarkably lively yet understandably terrified for the first couple of days. There was little we could do to get a diagnosis during Fifi’s first week with us as it was Christmas but we made sure she was booked in as soon as the vets were back up and running. During that week, Fifi learnt that we were kind people that gave her good things and her wonderful personality started to shine. She ran to us for head rubs and was always on the look out for a tasty treat. Once back at the vets we had to risk an anaesthetic as a nasty molar spur was found at the very back of her mouth. It was growing into her cheek; no wonder the poor girl couldn’t eat hay. A manual examination of her abdomen under GA indicated a mass in her abdomen so of course we gave permission for x-rays to go ahead. The results were as we feared, a hugely enlarged uterus with a mass attached, most probably uterine cancer. It is completely heartbreaking that so many people do not neuter their bunnies at a younger age; this type of cancer is so preventable. In 10 days time (January 10th 2012) Fifi is going back to be opened up in order to discover the extent the cancer has spread. If it is contained in her uterus then she will spayed and hopefully make a good recovery. However if it has spread to other organs such as her liver or stomach we will have no choice but to let her go. As you can imagine these 10 days with Fifi will be filled with so much love, head rubs and treats so even if her time with us is short she will have happy memories to take with her to the Bridge. At the moment Fifi is completely unaware of her possible fate, she is now munching hay, and loving every minute of being a house bunny.
We will never know for certain what the truth is regarding her original owner but my belief is that they took her to another vet who told them that she needed treatment and they didn’t want to pay out. How anyone can turn their back on a beautiful friendly bunny who has given them 6 years of her life for the sake of a few hundred pounds I will never know. We are more than happy to pay what ever it takes to give Fifi the best possible chance of a happy future, or if the worst happens to have 10 happy love filled days.
Please, please think of Fifi on January 10th and pray that the news is the best we can possibly hope for and that we will go on to give her many more head rubs and cuddles.
UPDATE Fifi is still with us. She went in for her neuter on the 10th. Unfortunately uterine cancer was confirmed. To make matters worse it had spread to her ovaries and it is highly probably it has spread else where. The vet called us during the operation to give us the option of letting her go under GA but we decided to give her a chance. We are so glad that we did as Fifi has really bounced back. We can't believe that she has had such major surgery, she was up and about straight away. Keeping her amused while confined to cage rest was really difficult and it was a relief to both us and her when she was finally allowed out to play again. We have no idea how long Fifi has left, it could be weeks, a few months or a year but she is certainly making the best of what ever time she does have. She loves free ranging in the house and has started following me around. If I sit at the computer or stand to wash up she tries to climb up my leg. She also likes to watch the washing machine go round! The transformation in her in such a short time is nothing short of a miracle, especially as in that short time she has had two operations. Fifi is a very special girl x
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