Tuesday, July 26, 2016

Update: Feeling better!

Does the little human give you yucky medicine too, mirror bun?
This is the place Simon would retreat to every time I gave him medicine or force-fed him.  He got progressively closer to mirror bun (and harder to extricate) with each passing dose to the point he attempted to pass through the looking glass by merging with his reflection.
Simon:  If I close my eyes hard enough, maybe the little human will go away.
River:  She's still here.  Hey, little human--you said I could come out and play after you were done with whatever you just did to Simon!
This pic pretty much captures the level of stink-eye River leveled at me for giving Simon medicine (which she discovered the hard way by cleaning his face and tasting it).
At this point, I was very worried about Simon because his ears were feeling cooler than normal (shock).  I set him on a heating pad (LOW setting) and wrapped him in his favorite purple towel to help stabilize his body temperature.
After getting Simon's temperature more regulated, I uncovered him so he could move freely if he wanted to (left the heating pad on low).  River wouldn't leave his side, gave him an ear hug and promptly fell asleep like this for the next hour.
At this point, I had the opportunity between giving Simon belly rubs and checking his ear temperature to review every article and link I had on rabbit GI stasis and bloat.  I was also going through every local exotic vet and emergency vet in the vicinity and ranking them by when they opened and how quickly I could get Simon there if I needed to.
This makes me a happy bunny caretaker!  Simon is eating on his own and has gone #2 (not even mad that it isn't in his litter box).
I had force-fed the little guy some pellet-flavored water (pellets aren't keen on staying in solution) at 2:30am and gave more tummy rubs.  He finally started to look more alert and even started cleaning a bit.  By around 4am I had coaxed him back into his cage and managed to get him to eat a mouthful of oats and some hay! 
I stayed up until 6am monitoring his progress and presenting every type of food in the house that was bunny-safe in hopes of him eating a bit more.  Took a short nap and captured this shot around 10am.  What a relief!
Thank you to everyone who sent their well-wishes!

12 comments:

Lydia said...

Longtime lurker here.

Thank you for the update! I'm so glad that Simon is feeling better. <3

Courtney said...

Hi Lydia!
You're very welcome and I'm sorry for the late post--it was a long night. I'll give Simon a noogie for you! :)

Anonymous said...

Dear Simon S. Bun, El Mirror Bun Supremo, and River Bun,

DO NOT scare me like that! I am glad you are feeling better. I have directed the elves to put a little something extra for you.

Love,

Santa

Courtney said...

Dear Santa,

We will try to not scare you (or the other humans) like that again. The little human has decreased our pellet ration a bit in hopes of forcing us to eat more hay. We already love our daily salads--too bad she won't give us unlimited of that instead of boring old hay! Sometimes being a healthy bun takes a bit of sacrifice and I guess it's worth it if I never have to taste that yucky medicine again.

Also, thanks for the something extra! That's very sweet of you.

Sincerely,

Simon J. Bun
Presidential candidate that's feelin' better and gettin' stuff done!

&
El Mirror Bun Supremo
(Who just repeated everything Simon just said, but backwards.)

&
River M. Bun
Presidential campaign manager extraordinaire, part-time bunny nurse and overall good little sister

Anxious Child said...

Got here when the crisis was already averted, glad he's fine now! We need his presidency!

Unknown said...

Awwww, poor Simon bun, I'm glad he is feeling better. Your a great bun mom!

Courtney said...

Hi Benny!
Thanks! I'll let Simon know and give the little guy a noogie for you! :)

Courtney said...

Hi Anthony!
Aww, thank you--that's sweet of you to say! Big human had Simon's back and brought his hanging out in the litter box to my attention (a sick bunny 'tell' around here), so it was a team effort on this one! I'll give the little munchkin a noogie for you. :)

Unknown said...

So glad all is well! Poor little guy, gives you such a fright every time something is not quite right with these little creatures.
I always keep some powdered Critical Care on hand now - so much easier than trying to syringe feed with anything else rabbit appropriate!

Courtney said...

Hi Kym!
Aww, thank you. Oh, they really do when you know how quickly things can go pear-shaped in the span of hours! We just got back from the vet's (as a precaution) and they both passed their check-ups with flying colors and made some new friends with the office staff. :)
I'm going to have to order some Critical Care with our next bunny supply shipment to have on hand just in case. Normal pellets are a pain to dissolve and fall out of solution to form a nice hockey puck in the feeding syringe.
I'll give them both a noogie for you!

Annette said...

Hi Courtney, I have heard from many bun lovers that pineapple juice helps with stimulating their gut and help them to recover from stasis. Have you heard about it? Glad to see Simon bun is pulling through.

Courtney said...

Hi Annette!
You know, I'd completely forgotten about the pineapple juice being something to try. Thanks for reminding me! :)