i know i mentioned the rabbit tragedy already, but it got worse. the next day there was another non-living baby in the cage. it looked like its legs were hemorrhaged so i'm thinking mama smushed him or he was stuck in the birth canal for too long... sigh. then it got worse again. mama bunny ("fatty") was gasping for breath and not moving around at all, with her eyes mostly closed. there were strage pinkish drops of blood(?) around her whiskers.
we did some 'research' online and couldn't find anything, though i am versed enough in the hazards of birth to guess that she was either 1) still in labor, 2) hemorrhaging, or 3) suffering from an infection. we could only assume whatever it was must be birth-related..? but of course the vet was going to charge upwards of $200 for a visit and--cold and hard as it is--we just can't pay that for a rabbit we can replace for $15. i didn't want her to die or to suffer, but there's a limit to the extravagance we can bestow upon livestock at this point.
i decided the best chance she had was to get some penicillin from the feed store and give her the proper dose; if she did have an infection it would either cure it or not, but it was either that or nothing. (by the way it's not fun to stick bunnies with needles :(...) the next day she was the same, but we managed to check her out on the underside and there wasn't any unusual blood or other ick, which was a good sign.
today she actually seems slightly better--she is not so droopy and her breathing sounds a tiny bit easier. i'm really hoping the meds help because i hate losing animals! we're keeping a close watch on her. the more i see her the more i think she might actually have a purely coincidental respiratory infection...
in other animal news, i have cracked open five eggs with double-yokes in the last two weeks. five. that's almost a world record! being that the chances are 1 in 1000 for that to happen in the average dozen, i'm thinking one of our chickens is a hereditary double-yoker. it's novel and fun, but unfortunate because that means her chicks won't hatch. oh well.
and finally, mama is tired because babies are NOT SLEEPING AT NIGHT! why?!?!? liam woke up every hour last night. rowan woke twice. repeat for the last several days. these nights make me want to say things like "i hate my life" even though i don't. i'm just exhausted and not getting a break. in liam's case, i fear he is waking because it hurts to pee (more on that later). or he's teething. rowan, i cannot explain. it's so, so frustrating to finally climb back in bed and just drift off only to be startled out of it by wailing children. *cry*
i need a day off.
we did some 'research' online and couldn't find anything, though i am versed enough in the hazards of birth to guess that she was either 1) still in labor, 2) hemorrhaging, or 3) suffering from an infection. we could only assume whatever it was must be birth-related..? but of course the vet was going to charge upwards of $200 for a visit and--cold and hard as it is--we just can't pay that for a rabbit we can replace for $15. i didn't want her to die or to suffer, but there's a limit to the extravagance we can bestow upon livestock at this point.
i decided the best chance she had was to get some penicillin from the feed store and give her the proper dose; if she did have an infection it would either cure it or not, but it was either that or nothing. (by the way it's not fun to stick bunnies with needles :(...) the next day she was the same, but we managed to check her out on the underside and there wasn't any unusual blood or other ick, which was a good sign.
today she actually seems slightly better--she is not so droopy and her breathing sounds a tiny bit easier. i'm really hoping the meds help because i hate losing animals! we're keeping a close watch on her. the more i see her the more i think she might actually have a purely coincidental respiratory infection...
in other animal news, i have cracked open five eggs with double-yokes in the last two weeks. five. that's almost a world record! being that the chances are 1 in 1000 for that to happen in the average dozen, i'm thinking one of our chickens is a hereditary double-yoker. it's novel and fun, but unfortunate because that means her chicks won't hatch. oh well.
and finally, mama is tired because babies are NOT SLEEPING AT NIGHT! why?!?!? liam woke up every hour last night. rowan woke twice. repeat for the last several days. these nights make me want to say things like "i hate my life" even though i don't. i'm just exhausted and not getting a break. in liam's case, i fear he is waking because it hurts to pee (more on that later). or he's teething. rowan, i cannot explain. it's so, so frustrating to finally climb back in bed and just drift off only to be startled out of it by wailing children. *cry*
i need a day off.
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