Starlight's Rabbit Rescue

I will soon add a photo album of Brambles time here, from start to end. The difference is astonishing. 

Bramble first came to me in November (08). I got a phone call at around 10:30pm from someone claiming to have found a rabbit abandoned in a carrier on the side of the road, who had something wrong with its head. I told her to bring the bun straight over.

I had never seen such a neglected bun in my life, she had abscesses in both front paws, a crusty wound on her head that someone had tried to apply sudocrem to (in a "quick fix" attempt) several wounds on her body, and she had such a severe case of ear mites, that her ear lopped. She also had muscle wastage at her back end and could not walk properly, but with her legs slanting to the side.

 She needed to be admitted and sedated to have her ears cleaned as they were in such a severe state. They also cleaned and drained her abscesses, flushed her tear ducts and check all other wounds. My vet had never seen ears as bad as hers before. The poor girl was in so much discomfort and pain.

The wounds were found to be an infection, secondary to the mites, made worse by her scratching. She also had antibiotic capsules inserted into her abscesses. She was on metacam (painkiller), Baytril (anti bio), Zantac Syrup and Aloe Vera gel for her wounds. It was at this point i ran a fundraiser to name her, and got in contact with two local papers about her story.

She then had a little photoshoot once back from her vet trip.

 Two local papers then printed her story. The articles are below.

She then dropped from 7kg, to 5.8kg, and had to have a blood and faecal sample.

All the while, she had improved greatly in herself, and always ran over at food time! She learnt to love nose rubs and that not all people were nasty. All her wounds had started to heal nicely and her skin was not as inflammed. Her blood tests indicated Liver problems, but we did not know if these were secondary to another possible condition. The faecal tests come back clear. while we were still unsure what it could be, we decided to treat her for liver coccidia, with Septrin, in the hope that she started to put some weight back on.

She then unfortunately started to steadily lose weight, yet still showed no sign of being ill, always a naughty cheeky girl who loved to wander around upstairs while being fed, before coming back for her food!

This picture shows just how much she lost.

She then went in the vets to have X-rays done, and was found to have put a little weight on!

She was then kept in at the vets on iv fluids.
The X-rays showed she had a lot of fluid that had leaked from somewhere into the abdomen, they didn't know where it leaked from, she had a mass, but they didn't know whether it was a tumour/abscess etc

Also mentioned was peritinitis

The only way to find out what it was, and treat it, was to operate, though it was very high risk that she would even come through due to her weight, i had to call up and let them know whether to operate or not first thing, they said only other option is pts. What made it harder was when she came bounding over to me and sat on my lap after hearing the news!

I decided once i got in, i was not going to have her operate on, due to the fact my vet said it was highly unlikely she would make it through, and if she did, there was a high chance she would not live for much longer after. I decided i would take her in when it was her time, for her final journey. This was on the 9th January, 2009, after almost 2 months of being here. My vet gave her weeks to live. I decided to give up half of the kitchen for her to have the room to roam as she pleased.

Look at the difference!

That night, she managed to clear the 3ft barrier in the kitchen to get to me!! I don't think she knew how ill she was! It was so amazing as she has no muscle tone in her legs! The following day, whilst discussing things with a friend in the garden, i saw her first real binky! It meant so much. She was running all over the grass, with not a care in the world! Happy as anything. Sweetest little girl ever, if i walked behind her, she would bomb down the garden and back into the house! She loved to run through the garden and then plonk herself on the grass to eat.

She would go through syringes like anything, chewing through them at medication time!

She had so much attitude, you would not realise that she was at deaths door! She started to do more binkies out on the grass and get more active.

It had now been 3 weeks since i had been given an ultimatum, and my vets could not believe she was still so bright, lively, and putting on weight still! She was a true miracle bunny.

Brams was then taken back to the vet as she had a large wound on her back, later found to be a burst abscess, she went back on meds and had to have it bathed two times a day. If in a few days, it looked no better, she would have to have it removed under a general anaesthetic- the thing we were trying to avoid :( . Fortunately, the little miracle bunny, her scab had cleared up beautifully by the time she went back! she also had put on a little bit more weight!

At this point, i was considering a long term foster carer for her, so she could have the love and care of one on one attention! No one could believe how far she had came.

She had become so strong that she was even booked in for a mxyi vaccine! This was in May 09, 6 months since she had arrived, and 4 months since the ultimatum. She was proving all the vets wrong! She was well known at the practice, all the vets and nurses would come in the room to say help to her, or pop their heads round the door. She was loved by everyone.

Such a strong willed bun, she always loved her food! She loved noserubs, and if you dare stopped, she would headbutt you!! she would lay down purring for ages if she could have a little fuss.

She had her vaccine, and weighed 6.4KG!!

I then got the call , 15th May, i was at my partners, i got a call from mum saying Brams appeared to have a headtilt, did not want to eat, kept laying down, and had audible hearing, very wheezy. I told her get her in a carrier and pick me up, we were going to the vet, this was at 1am. We took her in and her breathing sounded Upper Respiratory, her temperature just about registered at 42 degrees celsius (extremely high). She had a fever, and her chin was dripping wet. She kept licking me, something she would never normally do. I know now, this was her way of saying goodbye. I got the call in the morning, the call you never want to recieve.

Bramble had passed away that morning.
They could not bring her fever down, despite draping wet towels over her.
She was on borrowed time, and got 6 months of life, that she should never have had.
6 months to be a bunny, and act like one, with no restrictions, no pain. Just to be happy and binky away to her hearts content.

Bramble, i will never forget you.
You were amazing.

 Look at how much better she looked.