WELCOME TO CURRENT BUN NEWS LOG
This is the place where news articles will be kept for future reference
17th April 2010
My goodness what a week, where to start! It has been a week of very sick bunnies. The 3 rabbits that arrived from Sundays rescue were in a terrified and neglected state. All 3 were too scared to eat for several days and are still not eating as well as they should even now. The two 9 year olds were also in particularly poor health and have ended up staying at the vets for 4 days. Poor Maisey has terrible breathing problems, and I could tell that her teeth were in a horrific state straight away. On Monday I tried to look in her mouth, but her she was so scared her breathing deteriorated so badly that her tongue went blue and I honestly thought she would die in my arms. The vets confirmed that she needed a dental and that with her terrible breathing and age her chance of survival was very slim. But we decided to give her a chance as having lived 9 years in the most appalling conditions she deserved the best possible care. Maisey amazed us all by pulling through, she is an absolute fighter. I guess she had to be to survive to the age of 9 without any love and care.
Renoir, Maisey's partner, turned out to be a little girl and has now been renamed Mini Mouse as she is such a tiny little thing. She also has slight breathing problems and awful dental problems. She too needed a dental and defied the odds by pulling through. Her teeth were so bad that as the vet tried to file them down they started falling out.
Both bunnies have been back with us since yesterday morning and have already enjoyed the sunshine during the day, and cosy vetbed indoors at night.
The third rabbit from the rescue also refused to eat due to stress. I have never come across such a terrified rabbit. We tried everything to tempt him and eventually got him nibbling some veg. We really wanted to avoid the vets if possible as it would add to his stress, but by Friday he was starting to become dehydrated so was admitted over night. He is home now and is eating better but is still very upset. Once he is well enough he will be travelling to a rescue centre where he will look for his forever home.
So we have had many days this week spent on edge waiting for the phone to ring with the worst news. Thankfully this call never came, and on Thursday I was out feeding the bunnies in the garden in a great mood thinking we were through the worst of it, when I discovered Mrs Brown collapsed in her run. She was rushed to the vets and they managed to make her comfortable. We brought her scheduled neuter forward in case this was the problem and she also needed a dental. Mrs Brown really struggled under the anaesthetic and we nearly lost her a few times, but she pulled herself through. She is still very sore and will have a slow recovery but is making progress.
So after a busy and stressful week we now have all our bunnies back home. Given the condition of them all, neither us or the vets honestly believed all of them would make it back to us. But they have all fought so hard to stay with us, and in return we will give them all the love and care they could possibly need.
11th April
It has been a very busy few days for us. We have been taking full advantage of the good weather and have been out in the garden putting our DIY skills to good use. We have made good progress on the Timmy Memorial Run and have been assembling new hutches.
Today we have also been rushing around to try to help some bunnies and guinea pigs in desperate need of rescue. As I type ( at 10.30pm) there are 3 rabbits and 4 piggies travelling round the M25 with Steve. We only found out about them this afternoon so we have desperately been reorganising accommodation for them. Two of the bunnies are an elderly pair so will be staying with us for the rest of their lives. The other rabbit and guinea pigs will only be with us until they can be got to a rescue centre who has offered them spaces and put up for rehoming. Hopefully they should be here in the next hour and we can get them settled in to some clean and warm cages where they can feel safe again.
7th April
Today has been yet another busy day here at the sanctuary. Firstly we are so relieved that Hedgehog and Spud-gun have come through their castration operations OK. Given Hedgehogs neurological problems we were very concerned about him having an anaesthetic but it was the only way we could keep the two boys together and they are so devoted to one another. They are staying with the vet tonight and will be home first thing in the morning.
Lettie was also given an anaesthetic today to enable the vets to x-ray her abdomen. Sadly they found a tumour, so it appears that cancer is the cause of her terrible weight loss. Lettie is taking a while to recover from her GA, but hopefully we will have her home tomorrow and will be able to make her comfortable for a little while longer.
We had a new arrival today, an 8 year old female bunny, who we have decided to name Mrs Brown! She is a gorgeous girl and seems very friendly, although understandably stressed from the journey. When she arrived we were very concerned about her distended stomach so got her straight to the vets. Her abdomen is full of fluid, but it is difficult to say why at this point. The vet recommended that we give her a couple of weeks to settle in, as long as she doesn't deteriorate further and then book her in for a spay. That way they can have a good look round inside to see exactly what is going on. Obviously this is going to be a big operation for such an elderly bunny, so we will make sure we spoil her over the next couple of weeks.
5th April
Unfortunately Roxanne has had another seizure today. Thankfully she has recovered well, but it does sadly mean that her original fit before she came to us was not a one off, and it is highly likely that she will continue to have problems with seizures.
We made and amazing discovery yesterday evening. Wesley, our tiny disabled boy, can jump on the sofa! We never thought this could be a possibility, but he made himself very cosy last night on our laps and his little teeth were purring away as he enjoyed lots of head rubs.
3rd April
Elwood had a trip to the vets today as his eye was a little runnier than usual, as was his nose. He has had these problems on and off all his life and baytril normally does the trick. His discharge is always clear and it never stops him eating or playing., so we assumed it would be the same today. But the vet has completely thrown us by saying she thinks he has a tumour in his nose. She has given him 10 days of baytril in the hopes that she is wrong. If there is no change after that he needs x-rays to confirm and obviously if he deteriorates we will get it done sooner. But if it is a tumour the anaesthetic Elwood will need for the x-rays will be a really big risk. Elwood is a very special bunny and takes a lot of the other special bunnies under his wing, despite his own problems. It will be a huge blow to us and the Sanctuary in general if Elwood is as poorly as we suspect.
We have also found that Lettie has continued to loose weight despite all our best efforts, she is now lower than she has every been. We have her booked in for an appointment on Tuesday evening to see if there is anything else we can try for her. The only good thing is that Lettie doesn't seem to know she is ill and is continuing to enjoy life despite her weight loss.
2nd April
We have both good news and bad news today. Firstly the good news. Our new little boy Wesley has decided that he wants to be friend with Elwood and Eddie. They have been getting on really well and are currently snuggled up together by the radiator. It never fails to amaze me how Eddie and Elwood accept every bunny into their home, they are very special boys. Also Summer and Revel seem to be getting on OK. It is hard to tell really as being 9 years old they both spend most of their time sleeping rather than interacting with each other!
The bad news - We had news that 3 different bunnies that were coming to our sanctuary over the next few weeks have passed away before we got the chance to meet them. Binky Free Loobie Lou, Snuggles and the 3rd little bunny who never had a name.
We have a new bunny arriving next week, an 8 year old girl. She is un neutered so once again we will have the worry of uterine cancer. But we are excited about her arrival as we have no idea what she looks like so it will be a real surprise when she finally arrives.
30th March
First let me apologise for not keeping up to date with Current Bun News. Our sanctuary has become busier than ever and with only myself looking after the bunnies and trying to keep up with paperwork and correspondence it is becoming a near impossible task.
We have had another hard week, loosing one of our new bunnies Hester during her spay operation due to undiagnosed health problems and also our little boy Maddox yesterday. It seems he had the same congenital heart defects that his brother and sister Melody and Newt suffered from. Hopefully they are now all reunited at Rainbow Bridge.
Brendan has been diagnosed with pneumonia but is still eating and fairly lively. However at 6 years old and with only 3 legs he already has enough to cope with in life.
We had a new little boy arrive on Sunday, he is such a cutie! Little Wesley has a badly splayed leg but at only 4 months old is extremely bright and full of life. Unfortunately his sister died very young of congenital kidney problems, so it is possible that Wesley also has internal congenital problems as well as his external ones. He will be seeing the vet for a check up next week once he has had a chance to recover from his long journey from Yorkshire.
Today I am attempting to bond our two oldies Revel and Summer. The vet feels Summer is suffering from depression since loosing Moses last month. She has been very withdrawn but is still finding the energy to give Revel a little nip if he gets too close! Hopefully it will work out and they will both get to have some company in the twilight stages of their lives.
9th December - 30th December 2009
Due the weather being so bad and trying to keep our cosy we have'nt had time to update this page as much as we liked to. Decmber was a bad month for us not only the freezing cold tempratures but we lost two of our favorite bun's to . Timmy went to the bridge on the 16th December , and then on the 30th of December little Ella went to the bridge to .
18th November - 1st December
Tegan went to the Bridge on the 18th November
17th November
Today we had to let Otto go to the bridge today . He will be missed
10th November
Unfortunately we had to let Jim go to the bridge on Saturday. His lung cancer had caused him to deteriorate and we couldn't let him suffer so made the difficult decision to let him go. We brought his body back for Ella to spend time with as they were so close. We feel this was definitely a benefit to her and she is currently managing very well on her own. We are hoping to bring her indoors and bond her to Revel in the next few days.
Today was another sad day, Fern had continued to deteriorate so was booked in for x-rays under anaesthetic this morning. They showed that she was in heart failure, it was also enlarged and and her chest cavity was filling with fluid. We also discovered that she had severe arthritis in her spine that was causing nerve damage, resulting in her incontinence. So we made the decision to reunite her with her beloved Flint at the bridge. She went peacefully while still under the anaesthetic. Fern will leave a huge hole in our lives. She had been with us for just over 7 years, since she was 4 months old.
On a happier note, Tegan has found a some company with Eddie and Elwood. Although she isn't living with them full time due to her disabilities, she is able to spend much of her time free ranging with them during the day. We are sure this is greatly improving the quality of her life, it is fantastic to see her along side some other bunnies again.
4th November
Otto had his dental and tests yesterday, and although he made it through the anaesthetic well the news still isn't good. X-rays revealed that his bladder is in the wrong position which is putting pressure on it and causing it to leak. It was also very empty which shows urine is going straight through him. Blood tests showed that his kidneys also aren't working properly. It seems unlikely that his weight loss is down to his dental problems so he is a very poorly boy. The vet has said that we should give him a few more weeks to see if we can make him comfortable and if we can't we will have to make a decision to help to the bridge. We do not want to give up on Otto, he has already had a tough start in life, but at the same time w cannot let him suffer. Both the vet and myself have never seen such an awful incontinence problem and that combined with his other problems means his outlook is very bleak.
On a more positive note, the bunny we collected on Sunday evening turned out to be a very happy healthy female. The so called abscess turned out to be nothing more than a developing dewlap in a hormonal female bunny! Not only that she isn't a French lop but a very pretty English lop, although he ears are shorted than the standard English lop, but that is a good thing in our book. We have named her Marnie. As she is so healthy she does not qualify to stay at our sanctuary, however we have fallen so in love with her we may decide to keep her as a pet, which means she will not be available for sponsorship. We have already had her myxi vaccinated and will be getting her neutered in 2 weeks time, then we shall decide whether she is staying.
1st November
It has been a very busy few days here at the sanctuary. Firstly, Otto has been to the vets. After weeks of remaining dry underneath he suddenly became extremely wet with urine. It is the worst we have ever seen it and really don't understand why it has suddenly started happening. Understandably he is very uncomfortable. The vet said he has a secondary skin infection from the urine, but this is unusual as he doesn't have the initial urine burn. We have been bathing him and applying cream regularly to stop this happening yet he has still become infected in a matter of a few days, it is very strange. Each day he is getting wetter despite being on pain relief and antibiotics, we feel so sorry for the poor boy. Unfortunately the vet also discovered he has dental problems, so Otto is booked in on Tuesday for a general anaesthetic for a dental and to have bladder x-rays taken to see if we can get to the bottom of his problems. If the x-rays reveal nothing he will have blood tests too.
We also had 2 new little arrivals on Friday. Newts brother and sister. The garden centre decided to hand them over to us as there is a possibility that they may also have internal birth defects. The vet thinks if they develop and remain healthy up until the age of 6 months then there is a good chance they will have a long happy life. So we have decided to keep them here at the sanctuary until they are 6 months old and if all is well, look to rehome them. This isn't something we normally do as we are useless at letting bunnies go, but we must be strong! We have named the new bunnies Melody and Maddox. They are already twice the size of Newt and are very happy, lively bunnies.
We had a new arrival this morning . He is 6 years old and appears to be in good health despite never being vaccinated and castrated. We haven't spent much time with him yet as we just wanted to give him some space to recover from his journey and explore his new home. Once we have thought of a name for him he will be added to our new arrivals page, but lets just say he is a very handsome boy.
We also have another bunny arriving in a couple of hours! He is a young French lop. We were directed to an advert that had been placed on the internet and asked to help out. His owner is rehoming him because he has a lump under his chin and they cannot afford the vet treatment! He is only situated a 10 minute drive away so we felt we had to get this poor bunny, despite our own huge vet bills. Once he is here we can assess his needs and see how urgently he needs vet treatment. If , once he has seen a vet, he seems in reasonably good health he will travel to another rescue who will take over his care until he can be rehomed. But if he is a very poorly boy or is likely to have serious on going problems it is highly likely he will stay with us. We will keep you posted once we know more.
28th October
Both Tegan and Fern have been to the vets with similar symptoms today. Both are drinking and weeing far too much as well as being constantly hungry. Both will be having blood tests early next week to test kidney and liver function. Fern also has some mild dental problems but the vet is reluctant to do anything about them as Ferns age and breed means she is a high risk for an anaesthetic. The vet was also shocked at the deterioration of Tegan's disabilities, but doesn't feel she is in any pain at the moment.
We also need to get another urine sample from Timmy! The lab were unable to test the last one so we need to get a fresh sample. We are going to wait until Monday before we start trying due to the postal strikes. Although if we start trying now the strikes will probably be over by the time we get one!
I know this isn't bunny news, but Morgan is one of our very special cats and we have had bad news about her today. We have had it confirmed that Morgan has a tumour in the roof of her mouth and there is nothing we can do. Morgan already has a range of health problems including Thyroid problems, a heart murmur and fits and has battled a severe skin condition all her life. She has dealt with everything so bravely when she has obviously been very uncomfortable at times so this seems so unfair for her.
24th October
We were devastated to find that Newt had passed to the bridge between 7.30 and 9am this morning. He had been so bright and lively the night before and had enjoyed running about on the sofa as well as some cuddle time. We had a post mortem carried out which showed that Newt's deformities spread to the inside of his body as well as being on the outside. His circulatory system had not formed properly and it wasn't supplying the heart and liver with enough blood for them to function properly. It was a miracle he was ever alive. At least his passing was quick and pain free, he also got the chance to know what it was like to be loved and have a home, rather than dying alone in the garden centre he was found in. Newt's tiny body held such a huge spirit that we will never forget him and he will always have a special place in our hearts.
21st October
We had a surprised arrival yesterday, little Newt. We were contacted by a worried bunny lover who had visited a garden centre in Oxfordshire and was very concerned for this tiny bunny. We immediately told her to get him and he arrived safely at the sanctuary last night. Newt is suppose to be 6 weeks old but looks more like 3 weeks as he only weighs 250g. He is badly disabled and we really do not know what the future holds for him. He has a splayed front leg with a club foot. He also has major problems with his entire rear end, whether this is neurological or damage to his spine/legs we are unsure of at the moment. He does try to get himself around but just falls on his side. We cannot believe this little fellow was for sale to the general public! Despite his major problems he is extremely bright and alert and loves his food. He has a vets appointment tomorrow so we should have a better idea of the extent of his problems after that. We named him Newt after the character from Hollyoaks as he is a young, handsome bunny with a lovely shiny black fur.
We are pleased to announce that we finally got a urine sample from Timmy on Monday evening, patience is a virtue! We are now waiting for the results from the lab.
18th October 2009
I have been busy bonding Larry and Leela for the past few days. It hasn't gone as smoothly as hoped but, fingers crossed, I think we are getting there!
I have also, unsuccessfully, been trying to get a urine sample for the lab from Timmy. For a bunny who wees so much he is certainly keeping his legs crossed when I am around.
We are getting a little concerned about Tegan's general condition. Since loosing Freddy, she became a little depressed. We moved her from the bunny room to the dining room so she would get more human interaction and this has really helped lift her mood. However, her disabilities appear to be deteriorating. Three of her legs are now badly affected and she is having trouble getting about. Tegan is still bright and has a good appetite but it is certainly something we are going to have to keep checking on a daily basis
13th October 2009
We are sad to announce the death of our special little bunny Freddy on October 1st, his disabled body had just become too tired and he died peacefully in my arms at 6.05pm
Elwood had his leg amputated after a bad fall at the end of September, yesterday he had his stitched removed and was given a clean bill of health. Elwood is gradually learning to cope with 3 legs and is starting to get around the house more easily.
Last week Jim was diagnosed with terminal cancer in his lungs, there is nothing we can do for him except make his final weeks as happy as possible.
Timmy was admitted to the vets last week for a range of tests. The results show that his lungs are compromised and not working properly, his liver and bile duct are also not working properly so Timmy is unable to extract all the nutrients he needs from his food, leading to rapid weight loss. We also discovered that Timmy has broken ribs which we think are an old injury, but strangely they have never attempted to heal. We think this is because of his body does not have the nutrients it needs to produce new bone growth. Timmy's time with us will now be very limited, but he is very happy in himself despite all his problems.
I am hoping to start bonding Larry our New Zealand White with Leela today. Larry has been alone since loosing Lola in September so fingers crossed it will be love at first sight
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