Bun went through some things

Bun and fake bun under cover at 4am. Note uneaten rabbit pellets.

Yesterday Bun stopped eating. I spent the afternoon trying to coax her to eat all of her favorite things, to no avail. She didn’t seem to be in pain as in 2022 when one of her liver lobes torqued. Good. But her lethargy and lack of interest in food was extremely concerning. Some sources say that if a rabbit doesn’t eat or defecate in 6 or 8 hours or so, it is a medical emergency. Check and check. GI stasis is the name of the life-threatening bunny condition with these symptoms.

At 8pm, we took her to the Veterinary Emergency Group—VEG for short—where they took her vitals, doped her up, and then Xrayed her small body. Her abdomen was swollen and still contained food, which should have been processed hours ago. They offered to keep her overnight on IV fluids, but I decided to care for her at home. The treatment: push fluids, administer pain medication, and feed her Critical Care, a kind of bunny Ensure.

After a harrowing few hours overnight—would she recover or would I awake (if I was indeed able to fall asleep) to an expired Bun?—she ate a few (but not all) pellets and a rabbit cookie at around 4am. This morning at 8, her ears were up once again, and she spent some time in her box of hay. Hallelujah! Note empty food bowl in the following image from 8am.

The thing about rabbits is that all of their signals are extremely subtle. When they’re in distress, they hide. And of course, they make no sound. So if one is not paying close attention to their rabbit and what is normal or not, it’s easy to let a day or so go by. Which can be too late in some cases. Fortunately, I’ve learned to spot distress quickly. Still doesn’t make it easier.

---

On another note, Chris and I are celebrating our wedding anniversary today: 38 years this time. I wrote an article two years ago on our anniversary. Everything in that article—the importance of humor, commitment, and humor—still holds true.

Chris and I turned 36

Congratulations to us!