What's Worse Than a Pissed Off Bunny?

The answer is, of course, two pissed off bunnies.

[This post contains much blather about rabbits, medicine and pee. Consider yourself warned ahead of time.]

Bella looks much, much better after 5 days of treating her with medicine. Her eye is less swollen, though her face is still puffy. She's taken to hiding in her cage when I come and get her, but once she's inside with me she relaxes a little more. It's quite nice actually; rather than running off and sulking, she actually comes up and lets me have a little cuddle now. (Rabbit/Momma bonding! Who knew?)

She is hilarious when she has her meds; she makes it hard for me (but has never bitten, thank goodness) but eventually she gives in. When it goes in, out comes her tongue, and she sits up on her hind legs and swipes at her tongue with her paws. If I could speak bunny, I'm sure she'd be saying "What the FUCK was that? Get it off! Get if off!"

Bella goes back into the vet tomorrow morning, to show the vet the progress since the last visit and we see what happens next. I'm hoping it will be positive news, and that it won't require surgery because I? Am still paranoid about subjecting my wee rabbit to anaesthetic. Bah! (And this, folks, is why I never did finish my Veterinary Nursing course. Am a big sook.)

Lucy rabbit was always my favourite (Gasp! How rude! Favourites out of children? Naughty!) when she was a baby, because she was a dwarf lop who fit into the palm of one hand. As she grew up, she changed colours and grew a LOT (dwarf, my arse!) but was still just as adorable. She was very affectionate, she actually used to climb up on my chest and lick my cheeks - bunny kisses! Then she turned into moody, angsty teenager rabbit. Imagine a cranky teenager without the doors slamming, but with biting teeth instead. Yeow.

She was clever enough to figure out what a litter box was for. I don't use kitty litter, just line it with newspaper and shredded paper instead; and all of a sudden, they just started using it! Crazy, eh. All sounds wonderful, except for one thing. Lucy likes to sit in the litter box. The used litter box. Therefore, I have a cute rabbit who smells like pee. I've tried all sorts of things to get her out of it, putting in two litter boxes, having a hay corner. Nope. She quite likes sitting there, thankyouverymuch. Must be warm or something.

The downside to this (aside from the smelly pee feet, that is) is that her fur around her feet, butt and back is all matted. And also smelly, but that's not the point. I've soaked her butt in warm water to try and un-mat the fur, which works for a day but then goes right back to the way it was after she gets back in the hutch. I've trimmed clumps of matted fur off, but it grows right back. Gah!

Today it was time for Lucy's butt-check, and my poor silly rabbit looks quite worse for wear. Her tail used to be a white fluff ball, is now more like a stick. I spent the better part of an hour giving her butt a huge trim, but some spots are so matted that I had to carefully chop right down to the skin. And it's a bit irritated, quite red and sore looking in spots. See rabbit? That's why we don't sleep in our pee.

Anyone got any ideas about what I can do to soothe her legs? She's not bothered by it, she was her usual snarky self trying to bite the scissors as I was trimming her. Tomorrow when she's calmed down, I'll give her another warm soak and get the last bits off. Short of shaving her butt, I don't know what else to do! (And I'm so not game to do that. Hell no!) I've taken out the litter box completely, as well.

So now I have TWO rabbits that think I'm a horribly sadistic human.

Oh, and did I mention that the vet's office are looking to find a home for another bunny? It was found a couple of months ago in a random backyard being attacked by dogs, so it was rescued, healed and is now looking for a home. They told me about her last week (since they saw me there with Bella) and asked did I want her? (Note: Bad idea to ask me if I want a new animal baby for free. Psh.) I was too worried about Bella though, so I said that if she was still there next week, I'd think about it. See? A sucker for pets.

If she's still there, I'm thinking of giving her a home. My hutch is big enough for one more bun, my girls are friendly (if not to me!) and I'd hate to think of that poor rabbit being put to sleep simply because noone could find her a home. I'll let you know tomorrow. (She's a real Easter bun, white coloured but with evil red eyes. Squee!)


12 Comments • Labels:  

12 comments:

Mick said...

I have no bunny advice unfortunately! The kids have a bunbuns called Cocoa (boy or girl? I couldn't even tell you!)

But 3 sounds like a good number :)

If you do get him/her, can we name him/her?

heidikins said...

Haha, I love this post. Hilarious to think of you, armed with scissors and a butt-trimming mission fighting your dear bunny to save her from perpetual pee-stink. In my head you are a gorgeous, animated woman with big hair and enormous puppy-dog eyes - and the bunny has these thought bubbles coming out of its head with all the appropriate bunnyspeak cuss words. Ha! Classic!

LaLa said...

Sounds like she has a sort of nappy rash.

Cornflour and vaseline is what my Mum used to use on me....

kirby said...

I'd say try savlon cream, but I have no idea how that works on rabbits. I know it was ok to use when Wally got his allergic reaction to the wandering dew plant behind our shed, but I dunno about rabbits.

is it irritated from the pee or just because the fur was matted? Coz a lot of dogs *mostly annoying bitey maltese dogs or something*, will get massive knots in their fur and just get red underneath because the fur pulls their skin when they move. No.. furknots are not fun things.

Zandria said...

"What the FUCK was that? Get it off! Get if off!"

So says bunny, via Alynda, the Bunny-Whisperer. :)

Laurel said...

I know nothing about the rabbit kingdom... but somehow this story is so much funnier when you're nursing a bunny instead of a dog or cat. I'm not sure why!

Kait said...

I don't have any suggestions, but I would be wary of putting anything on its skin - bunnies do lick themselves, and it could make her sick.

You could ask the vet when you take the other one in for her check up.

I looove baby bunnies. I'm just not that good of an owner once they're not so cute and cuddly (except to my cats. I love my cats).

Pink Herring said...

I think we are kindred souls. We already know that I lack the ability to turn away a kitty with no home... you're like the bunny version of me! (Or I'm like the cat version of you!)

I have zero experience with bunnies, but I agree that the vet might have some kind of salve for the irritated skin. I had problems with Max compulsively licking himself (yes, my cat has OCD, what of it?) until he had sores all over his belly, and they offered me some salve stuff, but I didn't get any because the Happy Pills made him stop the licking.

We should start a Vet Visit Olympics or something. Number of vet visits, total dollars spent, total number of diseases, and number of times your own pet bites you can be the events. I need to find a way to put a positive spin on the fact that adopting Henry has cost me more than a month's mortgage!!

B said...

I have no sage advice about bunnies. If this were a cat problem, I'd probably be able to help. Good luck with the decision about the new bunny. I've decided 2 cats is all I can handle. I really want a dog....

Sassy Belle said...

GOOGLE IT!

I'm sure someone, somewhere has a bunny with the same problem!

angela said...

Perhaps you just need to teach her to wipe.

Aimee said...

when do we get to see pictures of this new bunny? :)





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