Against the Odds

It’s not particularly cold today, but we decided to test the new heater, bought with Mabel in mind. It seems to be a success!

She is still enjoying life, especially sunshine, cuddles, and stealing my armchair:

It’s been over 6 weeks since she ate pellets or hay, defying every theory about rabbit health and also very hard work for us!! She is eating crushed watercress, puréed dried apple leaves, grated carrot, sunflower seeds, and bread. She can also eat various leaves from the garden such as strawberry and dandelion leaves, if they have been rolled between our fingers.

Rollercoaster days with Mabel

Since the last update, Mabel has certainly kept us on our toes. The food she will accept varies by the minute - and when our main winners of broccoli, sunflower seeds, banana, and crusts of bread started to fail, we thought we'd lost the battle. She was happy enough, still running for cuddles but just not interested in food.

Following a day when she had eaten only a tiny bite-size piece of bread, I bought some spinach and two potted herbs (basil and thyme) in desperate hope to tempt her. I crushed a tiny piece of basil between my fingers and to my amazement she ate it and begged for more! I continued then tried my luck with some other leaves. She ate strawberry, dandelion, evening primrose, and carrot leaves - as long as they were in tiny pieces and completely crushed. We had tried finely chopped leaves previously, but apparently the success is due to the crushing.

It's so good to see her enjoying her favourite leaves again, even if it is just for a short while.

Mabel Update

Mabel's abscess has grown quite large over the past few weeks, mostly down beneath her jaw but also slightly across under her throat. At times, we've noticed she has been quite wet around her mouth, but it has only lasted for a short while and - even when this has happened - she has enjoyed life as normal.

However, over the past few days her appetite has decreased. At first it appeared she was being picky, just begging for her favourite treats (especially during our mealtimes!), but then we noticed she was having difficulty chewing leaves and pellets, and just left them. She refused powdered or soaked pellets, but accepted certain foods if they were finely chopped - and also lots of sunflower seed hearts. Now, though, she is rapidly losing interest in any food. Yesterday she enjoyed several grapes, and some banana, both finely cut, grated carrot and also the sunflower hearts and small pieces of bread… not enough to sustain her, and she didn't even eat them hungrily, but she was happy. Today she is even less interested. 

She is still really enjoying her cuddles, and also relishing the sunshine. Here are some photos taken yesterday of her and Dijon in their favourite cuddle position - looks so uncomfortable for Mabel, but she never moves away from him so she obviously likes it! There is also a photo of her choosing the chopped banana from a plate of offerings yesterday. 

It is heartbreaking, especially to think about Dijon being left alone. Tomorrow will be exactly 7 years since we collected them, and we had been told twice by the vet in 2016 (once in August when she had a bad bout of stasis and again that November when the overgrown tooth root was diagnosed) that we should be prepared to say goodbye to her, yet we've enjoyed two bonus wonderful years.

 

Birthday Week

Dijon celebrated his 7th Birthday last Wednesday, and Mabel's was yesterday. They both received a special Birthday platter of treats to enjoy. 

They have been enjoying the long grass growing in the planters on the patio, and they are not always so good at sharing… what a face Dijon is pulling!!

Innocent until proven guilty...

Claw Clipping Day

Mabel and Dijon have been enjoying the Spring sunshine whenever they can, with Mabel sprawling on the box by the window even in the hottest rays. On the days when we've drawn the curtains to keep the room cool, she goes behind them to be in full sun!

Mabel's abscess is quite large beneath her jaw, but for now she is still enjoying her food - she eats her extra supply of pellets in her special place next to the piano keyboard, and demands fresh strawberry leaves on the days when it's warm enough to be on the patio. 

This morning they both had their claws clipped. Dijon squirmed so much that one was cut slightly too low, and he was left feeling very sorry for himself, with a slightly red nose from licking his 'wound' so much. 

However, he was still happy to pose for a post-manicure/pedicure photo shoot. 

Waiting for Spring

The bunnies have been relishing the recent few sunny days, settling wherever they find a sunny patch. On other days, they sprawl in front of the radiator as soon as the heating comes on. 

Dijon's Turn

It's always Mabel, taking all our time, attention, money... so today Dijon decided it was his turn to give us some grey hairs. He was looking even more sleepy than usual, but then we noticed his head and left ear were tilted towards the ground and his left eye was nearly closed, which rather alarmed us. We managed to look more closely at his eye, and found it was very red just under the lid. We were fortunate to book the last clinic appointment of the afternoon.

Apparently he has conjunctivitis, no other problems, and we've been given some antibiotic eye drops. She gave them both their second vaccinations (we took Mabel in the hope she would!). Dijon is still feeling very sorry for himself, and was very good about having the eye drop... but no doubt he will put up more of a fight tomorrow morning... and the drops have to be given twice a day for a whole week! 

Here are some photos taken in recent weeks. 

Piano tuner scurryfunge

The piano was once the heart of the home. These days the television has mostly taken its place in the living room as the main form of family entertainment. Some say that piano tuning is a dying art.

So I think I can safely assume that I was the only one in the world who spent a Sunday afternoon dismantling parts of my piano in order to clear out the mass of hay and crushed food pellets which have slipped beneath the keys. I didn't think my piano tuner would be impressed that Mabel uses the higher notes as her seat when she eats from the bowl on top of the cage.

Not only do we have a piano, and a piano tuner, and a bunny who jumps on the keys many times each day, but we also happen to use a piano tuner whose wife is seriously allergic to rabbit fur! So this morning, before he arrived, I had to put Mabel and Dijon in the cage, move the cage away from the piano, and thoroughly vacuum the whole area. They spent a couple of hours turning the contents of their cage upside-down in protest, whilst he tuned the piano.

Needless to say, as soon as he'd finished and they were out again, they were extremely cross and set about creating extra mischief.