BENJI IS 10 YEARS OLD!

My beautiful boy Benji is 10 years old this month! I can't believe that it is this long since we got him... and he is still doing so very well!

Of course, Benji is not quite so energetic anymore, sleeps a bit more, but he still loves his run around, loves his food and veggies... What a little star he is! And long may he stay like this and give me the joy he does!

Piccies to follow shortly!

Update on Charlie and Benji

I never updated on Charlie. She started eating again fine and hasn't had a problem since.

Benji has been plagued by mites for a few weeks. I treated him with Advantage as advised by my vet's, but it made no difference. So I gave him a bath last week in a special anti-mite shampoo and things have improved. I think I will give him another bath this week just to make sure that every little mite has been killed on his body. At his age (9 1/2) he really doesn't need any freeloaders. :-)

Eating again

When I put the vegetables down earlier today, Charlie wasn't interested at all... but finally she has started eating them. I am going to pick some more fresh grass in a moment and will give her an injection again before I go to bed. I hope she continues to eat well.

Charlie back at the vets today

Charlie had not eaten again this morning so I brought her back to the vet. He couldn't find anything obvious, so gave her another motility injection (and I will give another tonight). I have also put her on metacam.

I have seen her eat some fresh grass I picked. I hope she will get her appetite back otherwise we will be off to see the vet yet again.

Charlie is eating well and doing great

Charlie is doing really well and tucking into her food like there is no tomorrow - she's back to her old self.

I had a chat with Paul today and he said he did not see anything unusual in her mouth... Perhaps that little growth has come off as Ian did say it had a very thin neck that was attached. Who knows... I will obviously keep an specially close eye on Charlie, but will not worry about it.

Charlie is eating again

I picked Charlie up last night and came home at 6.30 pm. She started eating more or less straight away, so she is definitely feeling more comfortable in her mouth already! I am glad it was something so simple to sort out... Go girl, catch up with your weight again now.

Charlie is fine

I dropped Charlie off at the vet's this morning at 8 am. I brought her in together with Magic to keep her company.

I called the vet at around 1 pm and they said Charlie was fine, still a bit sleepy but fine. They also said that the "lump" is nothing to worry about as it is part of the normal anatomy (can't remember the word the nurse used).

So I am happy that all went well and will pick the little girl up later today after work.

Charlie still eating well

Charlie has been eating so well that I haven't given her any injections today. The metacam is doing the trick and she will be in good condition to have the dental tomorrow. I am so glad it was easy to get her over today without having to syringe feed etc.

Charlie eating well...

I have just (1 am) given them the vegetables and earlier on they had the pellets and Charlie is tucking in well!

I will contact Steve (vet on call tomorrow) tomorrow morning whether I need to give Charlie the motility drugs if she is eating normally as there is no need for it really.

Poor Charlie - at vet's on Easter Sunday...

"Where is that Easter Bunny" said my vet when he called us into the surgery today... Yes, we had to go to the emergency vet today with - Charlie! She hasn't eaten last night, nor this morning and though didn't look particularly ill, but it worried me of course.

So off we went and Ian, our vet, looked at her and her teeth. One side of the jaw looked ok'ish ("I've seen worse" Ian said)... then he looked at her left side and didn't like what he saw: big spurs digging into her cheeks - and a very small growth.

Now, Charlie is 7 years old and has never been sick for even a day in her life. So it was a big surprise for me. It looks like the growth may be slightly uncomfortable (she moved away when Ian touched it) and may have caused her to chew unevenly because of it; hence the uneven wear of the teeth - as the diet certainly can't be a culprit with any of my rabbits.

Ian has given her a motility drug injection (and two more for me to do tomorrow) and I already had some metacam here. And thank god, Charlie is eating again now that the metacam has kicked in. So she will be fine until Tuesday morning when she will have the teeth filed down and the growth looked at.

As I said... not what you wish for an Easter Bunny - but for now, I am just glad that I know what it is and hopefully the growth turns out to be nothing too alarming either.


And here with her mate Magic

Charlie - had me really worried

Last Monday I didn't go into the animal room until about Midnight. I then spotted Charlie sitting in one corner and not moving. I picked her up and she let me - very unusual. She didn't want to eat either, not even the veg.

I wanted to give her till the morning and take her to the vet first thing if she was no better. But luckily, when I got up, she was up and about and ate her breakfast without problems.

I have no idea what was wrong with her... whatever it was luckily righted itself again!

Some new pictures of River, Dakota and Trystane (February 2008)

River





And Jesse saying hello to River


Dakota - isn't she beautiful now! (She is whiter in real life than she looks on pictures)







Trystane

Sunny's Ashes

Yesterday, I got Sunny's ashes back! As usual, he did things differently again... his casket is a lot smaller and the brass plaque with the name ingraved is at the front, not the top like all the others. It looks beautiful.

I miss you so much, Sunny! There's such a big hole in my bunny family... Love you forever.

I miss Sunny and River is moving

It is just over a week now that little Sunny has past away. I really miss him. I haven't got the ashes back yet.

On Sunday, I finally cleaned Sunny's cage all out and moved River in. He appreciates to have a lot more room now. I took some pictures of him yesterday...

It seems special that another grey bunny is moving in after Sunny, mostly grey, lived in that cage for almost 8 years...

Sunny at the vet's for Cremation

I brought Sunny to the vet first thing this morning for an individual cremation. I should be getting his ashes back within a week.

I am still really struggling the with reality that Sunny is not here anymore. For almost 8 years, he was our sunshine... a very special sunshine too. He was one of these animals that you just expect to go on forever!

I miss you so much, Sunny! Until we meet again.

Sunny has gone to the Bridge

My baby is gone... I can't believe that Sunny has really gone...

Last night, Sunny ate the whole bowl of vegetables, but when I gave him the pellets, he didn't touch them. I knew then, that Sunny wasn't well.

This morning, he hadn't touched any of the food and was very reluctant to move. I knew that we had to let him go today. Something stopped me from taking him to the vet first thing, I wanted to have a few more hours with him... I also had the thought that he didn't want to go to the vet to die... but I dismissed that immediately because I was of course not going to let him suffer.

In the afternoon, Cornel, my sister-in-law and I went out briefly. When we got back, I took the dogs out... And when I checked on Sunny after that, he had gone! I think he didn't want to go to the vet, he wanted to go at home. But I do wonder and feel guilty that I didn't take him in the morning... I guess, Sunny did it in his own way - like everything he did in life!

I will always love you my little boy - you were a very special bunny! Thanks for sharing your life with us.

Sunny is losing the battle

As Sunny's breathing didn't look right last night, I took him to the vet today. We saw Ian who was the vet that operated on his tumour last time.

Ian was devastated too when he saw the the tumour has grown back so quickly and he confirmed that it has now spread to Sunny's lungs too!

Unfortunately there is nothing more we can do for my little baby. So we put him on metacam (which I started yesterday anyway) to keep him comfortable; and we are hoping that we are having as much time together as possible! I will make sure that his remaining time will be happy and comfy for him...

I can't believe that this is happening to my little boy... Sunny has been through so much in his life - I never thought in a million years that I was going to lose him this early! He is not even 8 years old yet...

Here's some pictures I took today... he still loves his food, which is good!

Sunny: the cancer is back

The lump has grown quickly again, so it is definitely the cancer again. I have booked Sunny in for Monday, but will ask tomorrow whether I can bring him in tomorrow as an emergency if it continues to grow again till then.

It is only just a month since the last op... I don't know what the outcome with this will be...

Sunny: so far, so good

Sunny's wound has healed up very nicely and looks good. He is as happy as always and all seems to be well.

Last night, I felt a little lump right underneath the wound. I will check again tonight as I am not sure whether it's just the scar tissue, something that should be there (so will check with the other rabbits, I think it is a gland though) or something again to worry about.