Pixie's Story
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Sadly not all of the rabbits I've taken on have been able to recover their previous mistreatment such as my rabbit Pixie.
Pixie was a mature rabbit of 4 1/2 years old when i got her and looked a rather scruffy picture. I take all of my animals for a veterinary check up when i get them. She had an upper respiratory infection and worms. I wormed her for a long 31 days using panacur and she was treated with antibiotics for her URI.
On several follow up appointments everything seemed to be improving and she seemed to thrive with the freedoms given to her but soon i realised something wasn't right.
She was eating fine, drinking fine but her behaviour was a little odd. She had nesting behaviours and her tummy was swollen. I hadn't spayed Pixie because of her age and her very small weight of 1.2kg. Surgery on such small bunnies is risky but even more so in very tiny breeds such as Netherland Dwarfs when older.
At first i thought it could have been a phantom pregnancy but soon realised it wasn't when she had a little bleeding from her vulva.
Having taken her to the vets, I decided with my vet that it would be best to give her an emergency spay.
During the procedure a tumour was found which had attached itself to her uterus and bladder making it impossible to remove. Her organs had also stuck together and although she had been eating, drinking and defecating perfectly well all of this was going on inside of her and it was only in the space of one week that her behaviour changed.
Pixie was a mature rabbit of 4 1/2 years old when i got her and looked a rather scruffy picture. I take all of my animals for a veterinary check up when i get them. She had an upper respiratory infection and worms. I wormed her for a long 31 days using panacur and she was treated with antibiotics for her URI.
On several follow up appointments everything seemed to be improving and she seemed to thrive with the freedoms given to her but soon i realised something wasn't right.
She was eating fine, drinking fine but her behaviour was a little odd. She had nesting behaviours and her tummy was swollen. I hadn't spayed Pixie because of her age and her very small weight of 1.2kg. Surgery on such small bunnies is risky but even more so in very tiny breeds such as Netherland Dwarfs when older.
At first i thought it could have been a phantom pregnancy but soon realised it wasn't when she had a little bleeding from her vulva.
Having taken her to the vets, I decided with my vet that it would be best to give her an emergency spay.
During the procedure a tumour was found which had attached itself to her uterus and bladder making it impossible to remove. Her organs had also stuck together and although she had been eating, drinking and defecating perfectly well all of this was going on inside of her and it was only in the space of one week that her behaviour changed.
Observation - Prevention is ALWAYS better than cure
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I pay very close attention to all of my bunnies and am constantly assessing their behaviour, stools and overall health. It really was only the last two days before her spay that Pixie showed any obvious sign of discomfort, prior to this it was just nesting behaviours and her not being quite herself that had raised alarm bells. To most people a female unspayed rabbit being grumpy wouldn't be of concern but knowing her personality so well, i had a gut instinct that something was seriously wrong.
This 'early' detection was not good enough. She had to be put to sleep. This is why all of my rabbits will be spayed/neutered before the age of three years old when the risk of cancer is dramatically increased.
Having been diagnosed with cervical cancer myself not long before rehoming Pixie, this of course really hit home how I had cancer growing inside of me without symptoms for years, as had Pixie, but sadly for Pixie it was too late and how fortunate I am for my cancer to be dealt with in time. This experience will stay with me forever and through it I have learnt that there is no such thing as being too careful!
This 'early' detection was not good enough. She had to be put to sleep. This is why all of my rabbits will be spayed/neutered before the age of three years old when the risk of cancer is dramatically increased.
Having been diagnosed with cervical cancer myself not long before rehoming Pixie, this of course really hit home how I had cancer growing inside of me without symptoms for years, as had Pixie, but sadly for Pixie it was too late and how fortunate I am for my cancer to be dealt with in time. This experience will stay with me forever and through it I have learnt that there is no such thing as being too careful!
Goodbye My Dear Pixie
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I miss Pixie massively and feel so guilty that it wasn't picked up earlier or that i hadn't risked having her spayed earlier, but there no promise that any effort would have helped. She really should have been spayed years prior.