Rabbit, Rabbit

Monday, January 24, 2011


On Saturday, I heard Terrance call Coco. He serves the morning salad, and usually both rabbits are standing next to the bowl looking, disapprovingly, at whatever piteous human is Late in serving them.

But on Saturday, Only Jackson was by the bowl.

At 10 a.m., I heard him call her again. Jackson had eaten ALL of the salad and Terrance was worried.

It was at the second call that I got worried too.

I won't bore you all with my description of how much I love this rabbit. I won't tell the story of how I found her in the basement, abandoned in darkness and in filthy litter with no water. I won't tell you of how she charmed me by thumping her back leg at me when I stopped rubbing her nose, or her ridiculously sweet temperament for an animal who had been mistreated and neglected by the other humans she had known.I don't need to tell you that she helped me during a depression, her kind and quiet presence sitting in bed with me, or licking my foot in the morning when I was late with the salad.

When I found her, hidden under the bed, I knew something was very wrong. She was listless. While still conscious, she let me flip her over in a trance position without fussing or kicking- something she has never, ever, ever done. I checked for wounds. Nothing. I listened for belly sounds. Nothing.

Her lips were blueish and she just stared at me.

I am fortunate to have a Vet for Coco who only treats "Exotics" - we pet owners who chose not dogs or cats, but Rabbits and Ferrets and Birds, and Reptiles and Hedgehogs and Lizards and Spiders. When I sit in the waiting room, I feel a funny sense of community. No one looks surprised to see people holding rats, or walking around with birds on their shoulders.

I got Coco to the vet in less than 30 minutes. They took her temperature, and immediately put her into the incubator. She was Cold for a rabbit, 35 degrees C.  39C is where she should have been and her lips were quite blue. I talked to her and comforted her, reminding her that she was my girl.

The vet spent less than 5 minutes with me. Coco was dying.  Her body was going into shock and her odds were very bad.  80% of the cases they see like her die within an hour or so.

I could take her home to die...Or I could OK the treatment, with no guarantees of her survival.

Do it, I said. Treat Her.


 I brought her home today.  As I picked her up, the Vets, the Vet techs, and the front desk Staff all smiled at us. She had made it, against all odds this 4 pound rabbit had pulled through.

As I packed her into the car, I looked down in the snow.  Someone had lost their Blackberry. I picked it up and walked it into the Vet's office.

One good Karmic turn deserves another.

( and I finished the rug tonight - It will always be associated with Coco coming home to us)

6 Baleful Regards:

Anonymous said...

I am super emotional today (I'm single parenting, over-tired, premenstrual, whatever) and as I'm reading this I'm thinking, this rabbit cannot die, not on my watch. Needless to say I'm putting down the kleenex box, relieved.

Amira said...

My heart sank when I read she was dying. What a relief she's okay. So happy she's well again!

Is she an older rabbit? Or was it a sudden thing?

Justin said...

Coco, the rabbit who lived.

Lea said...

I am so happy that Coco is doing better!

Dawn said...

Amira, she isn't Old, maybe 4 years or so. Rabbits can live 10 - 12 years.

And it is Bloat, as in the same thing with horses. They have very similar digestive systems so an imbalance in their belly can quickly cause the bacteria that Always lives in their gut to go toxic and start to poison them.

She is quiet today and annoyed that I keep grabbing her to check her color (by looking at her gums) or trapping her to give her the medicine. Not to mention Jackson is so happy to see her that he is chasing her around.

And mombshell - I was One day from my period when this happened, so I was SOBBING in the vet's office. It was a sad, sad sight.

Tree said...

Almost lost it as I read that. Totally understand what mombshell was saying.
So glad Coco made it

 
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