The good news from Whisky's point of view is that he is back on the Metacam, which he considers a tasty treat. It is odd that it has come on so long after the surgery and of course there is a chance it isn't even related, but that is what it looks like. Touching that side around his nose causes him to flinch.Īfter his checkup last week, the vet now believes something is happening in the nerves in his face. His face is looking more crooked and uneven than usual, with his mouth pulled back on one side. When the vets examine him, lifting his head causes his tongue to turn blueish purple. More than a year on and recently Whisky has suddenly found himself with difficulty picking up his food. Thankfully, though he did indeed have problems, and his recovery was difficult for both him and me, his eye and mouth returned pretty much back to normal. The area of the surgery ran so close to the facial nerves that there was a high risk of him having temporary loss of movement in that side of his face, causing a droopy eye and mouth, and some risk of longer term damage. Last year Whisky had some pretty hefty surgery to remove a sizeable ear abscess, which effectively closed off his left ear and lost him the ability to move it. That said, there are other reasons why they don't immediately eat what is offered them. If they eat the snacks, it is usually safe to assume they don't feel very threatened, if not perhaps I'll try something different to reassure them.
Just because they act calm it doesn't mean they aren't just hiding their fear. One part of that is to have some distraction snacks on the table - not only will this help them understand that something good is happening, but you can gage how well they are coping by how they react to food. It can be a bit stressful being thrown (figuratively) into an unusual situation, suddenly on a strange table and the centre of attention, so I do all I can to make sure they feel safe and at home. So what I sometimes do is set up a table outside and ferry them out one at a time to have new and updated RabbitRehome profile shots done. Our barn where the singles and new arrivals hutches are located does not have great light - you can see fine in the daytime, sure, but it's not ideal for taking photographs without a flash. So sadly in the summer of 2013 he came back to the Rescue, where after some months of bachelordom he finally decided to make a go of it with recently widowed resident Mars. Houdini and Panda did then find their own home where they lived happily for several years, but following some health issues and vet trips they broke up and Panda decided she had had enough of him. Their personalities just seemed to fit together better and both of the new pairings saw increased levels of snuggling and mutual grooming! It seemed slightly cruel to take them from their original partners, but as well as giving Panda and Houdini a real chance of finding a home it also turned out that the new pairings were far better matches. Not wanting two healthy bunnies to miss out on finding their own family, Caroline took the unusual decision to do a wife swap, Panda moving in with Houdini, Tequila joining Heathcliff. In a similar situation were another resident pair, Panda (healthy) and her husbun Heathcliff (not so healthy). Houdini was perfectly healthy and desperate for his own family but because of Tequila's eye problems it looked like they would be permanent residents. Herding such a mischievous and energetic little scamp back to his own house was quite a challenge, but it certainly taught us a lot about his personality very quickly! One of my earliest memories of him was, in keeping with his name, being the first (but not the last) to outsmart my friend Helen, escaping from their enclosure for a jaunt around the Rescue. It is with a very heavy heart that I have to report that yesterday we said goodbye to our dear old Houdini, long time resident and the bunny whose tail currently decorates the heading of this blog.īack when I started volunteering at the Rescue in 2008, Houdini and his then partner Tequila were young and lively bunnies.
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