Despite the Best Efforts of Mice or Men

Edith

Born 2011, Died August 25, 2012

 

It is with a sad heart that I have to report that Edith died this morning at Dr. Layhe's office.

 

She seemed to be doing better last night. We got her to eat some romaine and some more pineapple juice. She spent the night on a heating pad to help keep her comfortable. Sean and I went to bed at 2 am, hopeful that she was on the road to recovery. I awoke at 6:30 am and couldn't get back to sleep. I did not want to disturb Sean so early, so I went upstairs to check on Edith and enjoy the stolen moments of solitude while they were mine to have.

 

Edith did not look good, but she did not look a lot worse, either. I gave her a gentle tummy massage, rubbed her ears and left her to rest while I checked my email. She startled me around an hour later when she jumped violently down from the top floor to the 2nd floor of her pen. While I watched, she jumped again into the bottom level and lay on her side in the litter pan. She didn't look good and I feared that despite all our efforts and care, she might die, anyway. I rushed downstairs to wake Sean. He agreed that Edith needed to visit our vet again immediately. With her so dehydrated, we felt at the best course of action was to have some sub q fluids infused. Edith was a young bunny. She had only come into our care within the last year and had been adopted only months before by her previous owner. The situation was certainly serious, but as I posted yesterday, bunnies do sometimes get these impactions and usually they can be helped. Our hope was that the infusions of fluids would rouse her and get her stabilized to the point where we could start her on a course of Reglan to help get her digestive tract moving. (This is the standard in treatment when the problem is located in the upper GI track, but it would do no good to try to dose her, limp and clearly sick. Think: inducing BM while completely exhausted and you get my point. No fun and certainly dangerous for a 5 lb bunny to suffer through.)

 

We did not wait for Dr. Layhe's office to open. Sean and I were there by 8am. It was too late, though. Just after bunny was examined and before an IV could be started, she was gone.

 

Even though we did not have her long, she will be missed by us all. I am dreading having to tell the girls what happened when they return from their Dad's house this evening. No matter how inevitable the eventual passing of a pet is, it still hurts when they leave us. We love them. Provide for them. Talk to them and they hold our hearts in ways words fail to express. Why do we (people who love animals and keep pets) put ourselves through this almost certain loss time and time again? The only reason I can think of is the unconditional love, joy, and devotion they give us while they are alive to do so.

 

I am glad that we met Edith. She was a good bunny. ♥

A Trip to the Vet

At the beginning of this week, we noticed that Edith had been eating very little of her food.  We were concerned that perhaps her ever-growing teeth were causing problems. Sean trimmed them for her, but that did not seem to help. Her food bowl remained suspiciously full. Over the next few days, her water intake diminished to next to nothing. A check in her pen showed very few waste pellets in the litter tray. She began acting strangely, leaning on the corners of her pen and being very listless. We became very alarmed when she started to grind her teeth loudly, which is a sign that a bunny is in real pain. Sean checked her belly and thought he felt a mass there. A visit to the vets was needed- immediately.

We called Dr. Layhe and rearranged our schedule so Sean could drop Edith off for examination and doctoring before going to work himself today. I had scheduled 3 interviews for potential new crew members and an orientation class for today, so I could not rearrange my morning. I am very grateful that Sean was capable of taking charge of this dilemma for us. He called me later to relieve my worried mind with Edith's update. She has an impacted cecal. We thought the blockage might have been in her bowels, but it was higher up in her digestive tract. Dr. Layhe administered an enema to relieve the blockage and using a syringe fed her some pineapple juice for both it's benefits towards hydration and it's diuretic properties and some kale. The course of action is to offer fibrous greens and pineapple for food, a warm heating pad for her to rest on, gentle tummy rubs, and exercise to help get things moving. Edith has not responded to the intervention as of yet. Though this is very serious condition and can be fatal, it is also a very common problem with bunnies. We are hopeful for a full recovery. Since, Sean went in late to work, I complimented his effort at juggling all things, by getting out of work in time to help retrieve our bunny and take over "nurse" duty for the evening. I love this team that I am part of- it just works. ♥

When I checked the main coop today, all 6 eggs were in the nest box, but no additional chick hatchings. Broody Wyandotte was off the nest picking at food in the yard. I will have to keep an eye out for this. If she has decided to be done with her sitting duties, then back to the incubator the eggs shall go. ♥

I checked the bag of tomatoes and though they are beginning to show signs of wanting to ripen, none of them have obliged us with doing so- yet. I really hope they will cooperate before Sunday, so we can get some salsa canned over the weekend. ♥

In anticipation of our work day tomorrow, I had some plywood sheathing, OSB, and 2x4's delivered. The roof of the stable section of the barn will be completed and the walls to the milk room will also get sheathed tomorrow morning. When those projects are done, it is our intention to finish setting the tile for the walls behind where the wood stove will live. If we can set the tile tomorrow, we might be able to get the grout applied this weekend, too. I am really excited about that prospect, despite the temperature still reading a steady 80 degrees each day. Winter will be here for it's yearly visit in just a few months, after all. Tomorrow's post will have picture updates of the barn and kitchen.

Remember the most romantic gift I posted about HERE ? Well, I finally got the time to take some pictures of my beauty. I am in LOVE with my new toy. ♥  This was the absolute best anniversary gift I could have been given. Every day when I drive into the yard, I stare hard at our yard, just willing the grass to hurry and grow- so I can mow it again! Color this country wife, happy!

Thanks for visiting!

The Twombly Family ♥