Made Me Smile

Ok, it's an advert for an insurance company, but the idea of fixing all the bunnies who've lost feet made me smile.

Wobbly Worries

Last night we noticed that Mrs Wobbly had flystrike. She's had problems with her rear end for years, mainly because she's so old she can't bend enough to clean herself,  so is subject to daily inspections and bathing every other day.

We rushed her into the vet who immediately took her into surgery, knocked her out, and removed all traces of the parasites. Thankfully it looks like we've caught it early, but the next couple of days are critical to her survival, mainly due to potential secondary infection.

Starved To Death

BBC: Pet rabbit was starved to death

Not untypical I fear as most cases like this go unnoticed and ignored, but in my wildest dreams I'd like to hope that it's the Animal Welfare Act 2006 showing that it has some teeth when responsible people report abuse.

I hope Ms McMartin gets suitably punished and the case given wider exposure to waken people up to the problem of domesticated "pet" rabbits being treated so badly.

Erica Fights

Erica (or as she's known to Helen "Nipples" due to her mastitus) has had a rough week.

She showed signs of GI stasis on Sunday and so got rapidly taken to our "emergency" vet. They went through the normal checks and spotted nothing obvious, simply dispensing drugs (which we already had - why do we bother with "emergency" cover... they're generally useless and charge a fortune for very little.

Australian Fires

It's heartbreaking to see the devastation in Australia at the moment, but spare a thought for the wildlife that's been massacred too.

"It's heartbreaking," Pope said. "They're very endearing animals and to see them die right before our eyes is something that wildlife rescuers and carers just find appalling."

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Jamie Oliver is an Idiot

CHEF Jamie Oliver has angered animal campaigners over claims that British pigs are treated decently compared to those raised in Europe. Oliver called on the public to buy British pig meat in his latest film on pork production, Jamie Saves Our Bacon, which aired on Thursday evening (January 29) on Channel 4. Animal group Viva! are accusing him of putting jingoism over common sense and protecting pig farmers over pigs by glossing over the true horror of pig farming in the UK. Viva!

Catch Up

Like many in the UK we've been subject to snow and chilly weather in the last week. All the outdoor rabbits have been fine because in addition to their normal heated trays and suntubes I deployed some small (1.5kW) thermostatically controlled workshop heaters which are great for keeping the temperatures stable in the sheds. Only downside is that most of them like them so much they've not been going out much.

Bungle has been having a quiet few days. He's well over 10 years old now, so really starting to slow down.

Zonked

Almost had heart failure when I went over to enclosure D. Fear not, all is fine, just Squirt totally zonked out.

Sanctuary News

Shirl the girl is getting to be a worry. She had a GI stasis episode last week. She was depressed and flat. Hit her with Zantac and she responded virtually immediately. The odd thing is that she's done the same thing this week too. Weird because leading up to it her poohs are perfect... then stop. This time she went to the vet and they're as baffled. None of the usual signs of trouble; we're sent the poohs off for analysis to see if that sheds any light.

Catch Up

Well it's been a typically UK cold, damp and miserable weekend. All the outdoor residents have been snuggling up in their warm zones (which have proved a great hit I'm delighted to say). Some of the more adventurous ones have been spending time outside, but not for long.

Sooty continues to be a worry. She's now profoundly blind. When I was out doing my rounds the other night she didn't even notice the torch shining in her eyes.