Bunday Blog Business: Epinette's Battle with Pneumonia

It's been a long time since we did a Bunday Blog Business.  Most of the time, Epinette and I (Pippin) are just so busy with relaxing on the couch and eating hay that we really just can't get motivated to write a blog post.  The rest of the time I am busy doing audits, like garbage can audits and closet audits and hay feeder audits and audits under the couch.  It's exhausting.  The female hoomin bean (FHB) said we should do one anyway.  So, we are going to blog about a difficult subject today, and that is the subject of Epinette's health.

Sometime in early February, the FHB noticed that Epinette was sneezing a bit.  She thought it was because there was dust in the hay bale.  She took a close look at Epinette and there was nothing coming out of her nose, so the FHB didn't think it was too serious.  There was more sneezing.  The FHB thought maybe she had an allergy to a plant in the hay.  She looked at Epinette's nose again.  There was still nothing, but the FHB decided that Epinette was maybe starting to have a little trouble with breathing, so the FHB decided that it was time to go to the vet.

Epinette went to the vet on February 22, and she came home with some medication called Enrofloxacin, which is also called Baytril.  The FHB was putting it on fresh kale and snow peas, and feeding it to Epinette.  I wasn't getting any.  I didn't think this was fair.  Why wasn't I getting this treat on my snow peas?  The FHB said I didn't "need" it because I wasn't sick.  The vet had said that Epinette had a respiratory infection.  The Baytril was an antibiotic to make her get better.

She didn't get better.

The FHB took Epinette back to the vet after 2 weeks of Baytril.  By this time, Ivy the rat was also sick with pneumonia, but the vet said it was a different kind of pneumonia.  Ivy had a different medicine.  Epinette came back with Sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim.  The FHB put it on Epinette's snow peas and kale.  Epinette did not like it, and she stopped eating the snow peas and kale.  I wanted to eat them, but the FHB said I wasn't allowed.  So, the FHB had to start putting the medicine in a syringe and putting it into Epinette's mouth.  I can tell you, Epinette was not pleased by this turn of events.

By this time, Epinette was having a lot of trouble with her breathing, and she was sneezing and coughing a lot.  She had started to tilt her head upwards, to make it easier for her to breathe, and her nostrils were really flaring.  You can see her head is not in the normal position (like mine) in this picture.

The FHB noticed that Epinette's sides were really moving a lot when she was breathing, whereas my sides were just making small movements, like a normal rabbit.  The FHB gave her the new medicine for a week.

She didn't get better.  She was tipping her head more, and breathing through her mouth.

The FHB shook her head and said this wasn't good, so she took Epinette back to the vet again.

This time, they got serious and did some x-rays.  I bet most of you have not seen an x-ray of a rabbit before.  Here is your chance.  You can see in this x-ray, at the top of the area where her ribs start, there is a sort of a round-ish blob, and on the left side there is a sort of darker triangle-ish area.  That is her good lung.  The one on the other side, the right of the picture, is not dark and open looking, so it's collapsed, and overlaying the heart.  Also, you can see that the whole lung area is kind of speckled or mottled.  That's the pneumonia making fluid or mucus in the lungs.  You can also see that at the base of her ears, she has fairly bright loop structures in her head.  That is the ear infection.  It looks like two letter Vs at the bottom of her head. 

The vet in Moncton sees a lot of rabbits, and she looked at the x-rays and she noticed that Epinette's heart appeared to be extremely large.  I could have said this was because she has a lot of love in her, but the vet said this was because she likely had a heart condition.  The FHB was not pleased with this news because it meant that Epinette had maybe weeks or months to live.  The vet also said this was the reason why there wasn't any yucky stuff coming out of Epinette's nose.  Usually with rabbits, like humans, stuff comes out their nose, and you can see it on their front paws too, where they try to clean their nose.  Epinette had none of that.

The vet said that because it was an unusual case, she was submitting the x-rays to an international panel of consulting vets, to get another opinion.  The FHB liked this idea.

The very next day, a vet in Germany sent information to the vet in Moncton.  The amazing news was that Epinette did not have a heart condition.  What looked like an enlarged heart was actually a normal heart (still full of love) that was overlaid by a collapsed lung.  The lung and the heart together made it look like an enlarged heart.  So, the new diagnosis was that Epinette had pneumonia, and a collapsed lung.  This is quite serious, and in the meantime, Ivy the rat had died of pneumonia, so the FHB was really worried about Epinette.  We still don't know why she doesn't have any stuff coming out of her nose.

The vet in Germany also pointed out that Epinette had a very serious ear infection.  The treatment of rabbit ear infections is quite complicated because in some cases (like Epinette's), the infection is behind the ear drum, so it is hard to access.  The other problem is that the infection is in the ear canal, which is an air-filled space, so the blood vessels carrying any antibiotics do not reach into this space.

So, Epinette got a new medicine that the FHB has to give her using a big scary needle that she pokes into Epinette's back muscle, right next to her spine.  Fortunately, the FHB has had many years of administering sub-cuteaneous and intra-muscular injections to sheep and goats, so she was totally up for the job.  Epinette is less than impressed.

So the FHB gave Epinette an injection, once per week, for 3 weeks, of Duplocillin, which for the scientists out there is a combination of procaine benzylpenicillin and benzathine benzylpenicillin.  It is a strong antibiotic that isn't used in rabbits except in quite serious cases, but Epinette needed the "big guns" for this health problem, so that's what she has.  I am quite worried about her, but Epinette pats me on the head and says she'll be alright.

On Thursday of this past week, Epinette went to the vet for follow-up x-rays to see how things were going.  The FHB felt that her breathing was improving and that she was in less discomfort, although she is still sneezing a lot.  The x-rays showed the good news that Epinette's lung was now re-inflated and not collapsed.  In addition, much of the mottling in the lungs caused by the pneumonia was cleared, but there was still some at the upper portion of the lung, which is why Epinette is still sneezing and having some breathing trouble.  In the x-ray below, you can see that the lung on the right side of the picture is now more open, and there is much less speckling and mottling.  You can also see there is still an issue with her ears.

Epinette is now getting the Duplocillin injections for another 3 weeks.

The not-so-good news was that the antibiotic had essentially no effect on the ear infection.  This is very unfortunate.  At this time, Epinette is not showing any sign of vestibular distress (no head tilt, no excessive ear scratching) so the FHB thinks that she is not experiencing any pain or distress from the ear infection.  However, this could change, and the FHB is going to have to figure out what to do.  The vet said that the pneumonia is the first priority, and we are confident that is getting better and that after another 3 weeks with this antibiotic, she will probably be all better in her lungs.

Here is another picture of the ear infection from March 15...

...and April 5.

Those areas at the base of her ears should not be bright like they are on the x-rays. 

Sometimes dogs have inner ear infections like Epinette's.  Sometimes these dogs have surgery to remove part of the ear canal and they scrape out the infection and pack antibiotic into the space and then sew them up.  This has been done in some rabbits with mixed success.  The FHB will discuss the options with the vet in 3 weeks and will determine the best course of action.  The most important things are Epinette's quality of life and her comfort level.  The FHB does not want her to suffer.

The vet said that Epinette is "sassy" and that she was very grabby with the treats following the x-rays.  This is a positive thing because it shows she is in good spirits and has good energy levels.  I could have told the vet that she is sassy but nobody listens to me except when I am giving audit results.

So, the important thing is that we love Epinette very much and we are doing everything we can to help her get better and we hope that in time, her pneumonia will be all gone and also that her ear infection will subside.  We will keep you posted.

Bunday Business

Hello everybody!  It's Pippin reporting for Bunday Business.  Today, we need to talk about an embarrassing rabbit problem that plagues most of us, although on some of us it is more noticeable than on others.  The subject today is moulting.  By the way, we Canadian buns, and a lot of other buns around the world, spell it "moulting" but you American buns spell it "molting." It's the same thing.


The main thing is that it happens, and when it does, we can look pretty dreadful.  Sometimes people think we are not well, because we look like we might have mange or something.  There are lots of animals who moult.  Snakes shed their skins, horses shed their fluffier winter coats, chickens and other birds moult their feathers...so it's a totally normal thing, and buns should not be embarrassed about this normal phenomenon.


The female hoomin bean (FHB) had another bunny a long time ago named Thumper.  The FHB had him for 14 years!  He was a very senior bunny, but the FHB says she never saw him moult.  The FHB looked at Épinette Nutkin this week and she said "Hmmm...something odd is going on here."  She started to notice tufts of fur sticking this way and that out of Épinette Nutkin's back.  She brushed them away, and more of them showed up.  "Hmmm..." said the FHB.


Then, the FHB saw there was a bit of a bald spot forming on Épinette Nutkin's back, only it wasn't really bald, because there was new fur underneath.  "Pippin!" said the FHB, "you are a bad bunny! You have been pulling this fur out of Épinette Nutkin's back!"  I completely denied anything to do with it but she wasn't listening.


The next day, the bald spot was bigger and the FHB picked up Épinette Nutkin and inspected her.  As she did so, more fur began coming out in her fingers as she was doing the inspection.  "Ah-hah!" I said to her, "YOU have been pulling the fur out of Épinette Nutkin's back," but she wasn't listening again. She was sitting at her computer and using the Google thing to look up rabbit moulting.  "Hmmmm..." said the FHB.

Sure enough, she found out that some domestic rabbits do moult, and they look exactly like Épinette Nutkin in the pictures that Google showed her, and therefore it is not my fault at all, and possibly not the FHB's fault either, and just the fact that Épinette Nutkin is a very visible moulter.  Poor Épinette Nutkin thinks she might need a sweater to hide her funny fur until she is finished moulting, but I told her not to be so silly, it's just normal.


The FHB thinks that it might also be due to the fact that Épinette Nutkin wasn't in a very good place before she went to the SPCA where the hoomin beans got her, and maybe now that she is having proper nutrition and is settling in, she is having a very big moult to get rid of her former not-so-good fur.  The FHB learned that some rabbits have "mild" moults and "heavy" moults.  We'll have to see if this happens every time (rabbits can moult every 3 months) or if Épinette Nutkin is just having a special moult this time.


All rabbits moult to some extent, and some of us look worse than others when we do, but our lovely, soft, furry coats grow back and there is nothing wrong with moulting, so all of you bunnies who feel reclusive when you are moulting should moult with pride.  After all, the hoomin beans can't grow a whole new hairstyle every 3 months!

Friday's Hunt v 3.23

It's time for Friday's Hunt again!  Today we're getting close to the end of the alphabet.  Our prompts from Eden Hills are:  Starts with W, Week's Favourite, and Pastel.

Starts with W
The weather has not been all that good this spring.  We started with a very late spring, and then it got very, very wet.  It seems to be raining all the time over the past few weeks, far more than usual. Today is no exception.  It's been bucketing down, on and off, all day.  The rain has made a lot of areas of standing water in the woods and that has resulted in a bumper crop of mosquitoes.  We also had a recent episode of hail.  Here you can see the hail bouncing off the roof of my car.  I would really like it to warm up a bit, and dry out a bit, too!

Week's Favourite
Little Épinette Nutkin was sunning herself on the windowsill this week.  She looked so comfortable and content - I had to take her picture.  I think she is my week's favourite!

Pastel
There are many pastel shades in my garden right now - the tulips are continuing to put on a good show, and the forget-me-not is blooming like crazy.  There are also some pale lilac coloured allium blossoms.  One of the cranesbill geraniums has also started to bloom with pastel pink flowers.  Here are some blossom pictures.

Another type of pastel is the oil pastel.  I have a set of oil pastels and a matching sketchbook that I bought several years ago, but which I haven't yet used.  I would like to try them out soon.  I was attracted to the cute image on the package and the sketchbook, because I do have a fondness for hedgehogs.  Oil pastels are made with pigment and a non-drying oil, with a wax binder.

The colours are simply delightful and I think I would have fun playing with this set.  I just need to find the time!  So many things I'd like to do, but work comes first.

Bunday Blog Business

Hello everybody, it's Pippin here!  The female hoomin bean (FHB) finally let me use the computer. She has been really busy, or so she says.  Today she and the male hoomin bean (MHB) went out for a long time and came back complaining about hard work.  Something about scraping wallpaper off walls in another house.  I think it is a house the FHB used to live in.  They are "fixing it up" I think. I don't know why they are so slow.  I fix my house up all the time just by chewing on a cardboard box and leaving the pieces in an artful display.

Anyway, I'm sure you are wondering about my new companion, the Lady Épinette Nutkin of Dazzlewood Hill.  The FHB and MHB certainly made some very significant efforts to ensure we would be friends.

First, we began with the bathtub sessions.

No, we didn't get washed.  It was just a "confined area" for us to get to know each other.  The thing is, we rabbits are a bit fussy about our companions, and we tend to either ignore potential companions, or attack them.  The hoomin beans have determined that by putting us in the bathtub (not with water or rubber ducks), they can monitor us closely and separate us if necessary, but it also sort of forces us to pay attention to one another.  I admit, they might be right about this.

Then, we graduated to the "small bathroom" sessions, when we went from the bathtub time to the small confined room time.  During this time, we were still monitored, but not as constantly as we were while we were in the tub.  It turns out that the Lady Épinette Nutkin is rather nice, and most of the time, I'm quite happy to have her around.

The hoomin beans made a lot of cooing noises when they caught us grooming each other.  Honestly, you'd think they had never seen how to properly lick your partner's ears before.

Finally, the hoomin beans put us into a shared cage, once we were regularly grooming each other and not chasing or biting (which I may have done a few times in the first few sessions, because I was agitated, you know, at the disturbance to my routine!)  We now share one crate and the litter box in the crate and most of the time, everything is just lovely.  The hoomin beans haven't had time to put the other crate away yet, but we just stay in one of them.

They did try allowing us to have shared time in the home office, but that space is too large for us at this point, and I totally forget what she is doing there and sometimes I chase her and try to bite her because I forget that I'm supposed to be nice.  When they put us back into the confined space, I remember, and I calm down again.  It is still going to take a little time and getting used to this whole "being a couple" thing, but I think I'm getting the hang of it.

The FHB says we are "successfully bonded" whatever that means.  I don't see any glue.  Anyway, until next time, keep your ears clean.  Or have your partner help you with it.

Bunday Blog Business

Well, I am just flabbergasted this week.  I don't even know where to begin with telling you everything.  It is such a crazy story!  I guess I will begin at the beginning.

Last weekend, like I told you, the female hoomin bean (FHB) went on an unauthorized leave of absence to a "fibre arts retreat" which was totally not cleared by my department before she left.  I will not go into great detail but I will say that I peed on the footstool by her desk while she was gone to express my displeasure.  I do not normally do this.  I was very annoyed.

While the FHB was gone, the male hoomin bean (MHB) took me on an outing.  This outing was also unauthorized by my department, but he did not give me any say in the matter. He took me to a place that had a smell I kind of recognized, but I had forgotten exactly what it was about.  Then, all of a sudden, I was in this room, with another rabbit. Seriously.  What the heck?  I was completely out of my zone.  The other rabbit was sniffing me and following me around and I was kind of freaked out about it.  Then, just as quickly, the MHB took me back home again, after having had some discussions with somebody at a desk.  I figured maybe he was missing the FHB so he wanted to go hang out with me and another rabbit to feel better.

So then the FHB came home and it was a day called her birfday.  I don't know much about what a birfday is, but there was a bit of commotion about it.  I can tell you that a birfday doesn't happen all the time.  In fact, this was the first birfday I remember experiencing. 

On her birfday, the FHB went to be with her people who play with sticks and string and make stuff with the string.  While she was there, the MHB went out again.  And you are not going to believe this, but he came home with that very same rabbit that we hung out with on the weekend when the FHB was away.  And there I was thinking that she was only going to hang out with the string people and she would be back soon so why did we need to hang out with the other rabbit again?

And then, the FHB came home. Oh. My. Goodness.  You should have heard the squeals and squeaks that came out of the FHB when she came home to see that other rabbit.  I'm just sitting there, as usual, awaiting her complete attention, and she does not even notice me because "squeeeeeeeeeeeeee" and on and on it goes....because the MHB was hiding the other rabbit and this is what she saw when she came into the home office with her camera ready because he told her there would be something special and she thought he was making her a new bird house or something.  He turned around and there was THIS!

So now, here I am, a few days later, and this other rabbit is STILL here.  And now they have named her.  Her name is Lady Épinette Nutkin of Dazzlewood Hill, and I am now told that she is my "companion" and that we are to be friends.  Who asked ME??  I did NOT authorize this.  However, she is rather pretty, so I am considering my options.

You may know that rabbits can be a bit fussy about their companions and so the FHB and the MHB have done "research" about this and they are now subjecting me to the "introduction process" as they call it, and supposedly this is going to make me more inclined to accept this interloper rabbit who is possibly trying to usurp my position.  


And so we have side by side accommodation, to allow us time to "get to know each other" they said.  Hmpf.

Well. We shall see.  Indeed.  We shall see!  At least she cleans her ears.