Wednesday, May 29, 2024

Oak's Injury

It's a good think we love these bunnies so much, because they can sometimes be trouble!

Guard came running upstairs last Friday morning in a panic. Oak was injured, badly. He didn't know what happened, but Oak was bleeding and Cedar and Honor were in different rooms in the Bunny Condo. (We assumed Cedar jumped into Oak's room through the 2 1/2 inch opening at the top, attacked Oak, and then Oak jumped into Honor's room. Unneutered male rabbits can be very vicious towards other males when they reach puberty.)

We immediately started calling vets in the area (our vet did not have any openings that day and Oak couldn't not wait through the weekend, plus Monday since it was Memorial Day). Rabbits are considered exotic animals in Utah, so it is difficult to find a clinic that will treat them. We finally found a vet in Lindon that treated rabbits and had an opening in the early afternoon.

We kept Oak as comfortable as possible until his appointment. He was quite a mess. Cedar had attacked his testicles and they were hanging out of his body. The vet, Dr. Hanson, was very concerned, rescheduled his later appointments, and took Oak in for emergency surgery. 

A couple of hours later, I picked him up. His surgery went well. His body temperature wasn't coming up as quickly as they would like, so they suggested I snuggle him until he was warm again. Guard and Greg were camping with Cahoons, so Kate and I were on bunny duty until the next morning. I held Oak all night and finally his temperature returned to normal. He recovered quickly, the worst part was his hatred of the cone (which only lasted two days), getting his medicine and food through a syringe, and having to live inside for two weeks. He's a fighter and we are so happy he is his happy self again!