We visited Tameside Rabbit and Guinea Pig Rescue on Saturday 29th November 2008, the same
rescue where my guinea pig Beatrix came from. We wanted to bring home a neutered male rabbit as a cage-mate for our spayed female rabbit Thumper. If your wondering why we wanted a male rabbit, it is usually easier to bond rabbits of the opposite gender as long as they are both neutered/spayed.
I'm afraid not everything turned out as we expected. Prior to the visit to the rescue, I had telephoned Elaine who runs the rescue to ask if there were
any neutered boys and was pleased to hear there was. Arriving at the rescue, Elaine showed us 4 boys who were neutered and my daughter
Kathy decided to pick out the first male she was shown. Our new bunny was sent to the rescue by the RSPCA and we were told by the rescue that our bun had
been micro chipped and neutered but was not vaccinated. Anyway, before leaving the rescue with our new
bunny, Elaine scanned the chip and also sexed our bunny in front of us to make sure we was adopting a male. Now comes the twist in the tale.
On Sunday, the following day, we noticed our bun was sneezing and also developed a watery nose. This can happen when a number of rabbits are kept close by to each other. I suspected an upper respiratory
problem so I made an appointment to take our bun to Ashleigh Veterinary Centre on Monday morning. My usual vet Molly wasn't working in the afternoon so we saw Aiden who is also a very good rabbit/guinea pig vet.
It turned out that our new bunny did have an URI and was prescribed 1 x 1ml Marbocyl antibiotic. I also asked Aiden if he could give bunny a health check while we were there. After examining bunny underneath for a while, Aiden then told us that our bunny is a female not male! As you can imagine, we were shocked as I didn't
think a rescue would get the gender wrong.
During the evening, I rang the rescue and after talking to Elaine, the conclusion was that we bring the rabbit back to the rescue, no apology was given just an excuse that 'fixed rabbits are hard to sex' We had already grown very attached to
our new bunny, so taking our rabbit back was not an option. On tuesday I then left a telephone message asking Elaine if she could get the microchip details for me. The following day, Elaine left a message on my telephone answering machine to say she was too busy at work to get hold of the RSPCA office by telephone and was told that 'if I'm that bothered' I could 'bring it back' (Elaine's words). I kept a copy of the telephone message should Elaine ever try to dispute what she had said. At the time of the telephone message, I didn't even know if our bun had been spayed so I really needed the chip number.
A week later we took our new bunny back to our vets and our other vet Molly also confirmed that our bunny was defiantly female, so two vets had sexed our bunny. At this time, I still hadn't been given the chip
number by the rescue but Molly scanned the microchip for me so at least I now had the number. Molly also discovered that Penny had indeed been spayed because she felt some scar tissue.
In December 2008, I posted in a private rabbit group about how we were given the wrong gender. Elaine somehow found the group. Elaine left a message and was unhelpful to say the least and still continued to not say sorry for her mistake! Elaine's refusal to say sorry is what gets to me the most, it is the very least she could have done.
In my opinion, Elaine seemed aggressively defencive in her attitude towards me. Elaine was complaining how much work she has to do for the rescue, after I had mentioned how long she took to send me the chip number. In my opinion, getting me the chip number fairly quickly is the least she could have done. I recall a quote from Vedra of the Cavy Cambridge Hospital, 'When caring for your animals becomes a chore rather than a joy, then you are overstocked' Whilst I appreciate the wonderful job rescues do and how hard it must be for them to turn an animal away, I believe that this should be applied to rescues as well. For Elaine to say 'we all makes mistakes' or to come up with the excuse that 'fixed rabbits are hard to sex' is in my opinion inexcusable from a rescue that boasts to have had 100's of rabbits in their care over the years. Yes, we can all make mistakes but you should at least say sorry for a mistake.
I never thought I would now have to warn people about rescues, but please only rely on a vet to sex your rabbit or any other animal, plus have them sexed straight away. My story proves that even a rescue can get a gender wrong. Having said that, I have never heard of this happening before. In my opinion, a rescue should have known how to sex a rabbit correctly unlike pet stores who are known to makes mistakes. Considering the amount of rabbits Tameside Rabbit and Guinea Pig Rescue have, sexing them should be second nature to the rescue. I feel badly let down by the Rescue in Penny's case. We wanted to help a rabbit who needed a new home, rather than go to a pet store or breeder. What should have been a wonderful experience for us has been tainted by this mix up and how badly we was treated afterwards by Elaine..
Please know I never ever look upon Penny as a 'mistake' Penny is a wonderful rabbit and she has become a very much loved family member! Sadly so far, we have been unable to bond Thumper and Penny. They did had a more serious fight the last time we tried. We are now doing even more reserch to see if we can eventually bond them. I would also like to stress that I still support rescues 100% and haven't let the experience I had with Tameside Rabbit and Guinea Pig Rescue taint my view of most rescues. In future I will only ever rely on a vet to sex my animals. I am very experienced sexing guinea pigs but would still ask a vet to double check.
Penny's Health Update
Penny has also needed further tests as she started sneezing, a couple of weeks after finishing her antibiotic. On December 22nd, we visited Aiden our vet and he discovered Penny had white mucus in one of her nostrils. Aiden suspected she may have a hay seed or something lodged in her nasal passage. In order for Aiden to check Penny's nasal passage more thoroughly, she would have to be sedated. If it was found that there was nothing there, she could also have an x-ray to look at her teeth roots and if that didn't reveal anything, then swabs could be taken.
We had to leave Penny overnight so she could have the tests done first thing in the morning. I rang the vets after 2pm to see how Penny was and thankfully she was fine so off we went to find out the results then bring her home. Penny had to go through the third stage of tests as no object was found and the x-ray didn't reveal anything so swabs had been taken. Although Penny was bright in herself and ate very well once she was home, Aiden prescribed Metacam pain relief at 2mls daily for 5 days then 1ml daily for a further 5 days.
It actually took quite a few weeks for us to get the results back as Aiden said the bug was slow growing and was just getting updates from the lab. I was worried the bug would be Pasteurella or Bordatella, as other animals in the house are at risk too. So I mentioned my concerns to Aiden while waiting for the final result. Aiden said its very unlikely to be Pasteurella or Bordatella as they are fast growing. Penny's final results came through 22nd January 2009. They still don't know the name of the actual bug, only the bug family it comes from which is Moraxella and Alcaligenes.Aiden said its not contagious so was very relieved our other pets won't be at risk. Penny was then put on a course of antibiotic called Zithromax. It actually came in powder form and I just needed to add the correct measure of water. It also needed to be stored in the fridge. Penny had been taking 2mls once aday for 5 days, then 2mls every other day and then 2mls every third day and this was due to continue until April.
Unfortunately Penny started sneezing again more frequently, also producing the white mucus again. We took Penny back to see Aiden and she was precribed Duphapen antibiotic, 0.3ml via injection every two days for a month. I have had experience giving injections to rabbits as in the past our dear Fiver needed them. However, as a refresher course, Aiden showed me what to do. Hopefully this new antibiotic will help Penny.
Even though Penny has had this bug since we adopted her, she seems very happy in herself much of the time. Here is a video of Penny doing a very high 'Binky' also known as a 'Happy Bunny Dance' You can also see her do it in slow motion. As you'll see she loves to throw herself about, she is so funny lol
Squeekie and Beatrix Update
So glad to say my guinea pigs Squeekie and Beatrix are in good health. Time has flown by, its already been over a year since I adopted Beatrix back in late December 2007 and in early January it was 6 years ago when I adopted my Squeekie. I have a a few new pictures and video's so will post them soon. Meanwhile here is a Valentine picture of Squeekie and Beatrix.
Thumper's Health Update
Thumper also had to visit the vets again as her watery eye returned. She was prescribed Metacam at 2mls twice daily and then 1ml twice daily. Aiden thought Thumper may have some root inflammation and prescribed Metacam as its an anti-inflammatory. As suggested by Aiden, we are also cutting out vegetables that don't require alot of chewing like carrots unlike leafy type vegetables. We are also cutting back on her pellets for the same reason. She has unlimited Timothy hay in her home as well as meadow hay, plus a variety of leafy veg. Thumper may need an x-ray if her eye doesn't improve so her vet can take a close look at what her teeth roots are doing. Glad to say Thumper is very happy in herself. Here is a recent picture of Thumper. I will also upload some lovely movies of Thumper on our YouTube page.
1st March 2009
We'd like to wish our bunny Penny a very Happy 1st Birthday! Here are some pictures of darling Penny enjoying her birthday.
