Drama

Things have been wild around here this week.  We got Kate all packed and took her to Centre on Wednesday morning.  The college was great and the transition was far less traumatic than I anticipated.  Kate and her roommate seem to be hitting it off and her room -- although small -- looks lovely.  She's got several days of orientation before the rest of the school arrives on Sunday.  Last night, they got together in small groups and had dessert at their academic advisor's home and discussed the book they all were asked to read over the summer.  Kate seemed to enjoy it and she's very impressed with her advisor, Barbara Hall. 



Kate in her dorm room

When we got home from Centre on Wednesday night after dropping Kate, I found Andy the elderly angora rabbit lying prone in his cage -- still breathing, but obviously in distress.  We weren't sure what to do, but after making some calls, we found an emergency vet across town who deals with rabbits.  So, we loaded Andy into the car and took him to the animal emergency room. 

The diagnosis is that I inadvertantly poisoned him when I gave him a treatment for mites.  I gave Genny the same dose and she's fine, but Andy is old and thin and frail and it wreaked havoc with his system.   



Sick Andy -- he's looking a little better now



The emergency vet put him on IV fluids and several other medicines to keep his digestive system moving and to avoid other complications.  The next day, he was slightly better and I went across town to get him and take him to his normal rabbit vet.  He stayed one night on IV fluids at his normal vet and I brought him home yesterday night. 

When I picked him up yesterday, he still looked pretty sick and they sent practically the whole hospital home with him.  Here's his routine for the next week:

• Liquid feedings 4x a day
• Antinausea medicine 2x a day
• Liver medicine 2x a day
• Antibiotics 2x a day
• Sub-cutaneous fluids, 100 ml, once a day

This morning I woke up at 5 am for some reason and couldn't get back to sleep, so I finally got up and started my day.  I fixed Andy's liquid food, which looks a lot like baby cereal except green.  He was enthusiastic about eating it.  In fact, he ate two spoonfuls out of the spoon in addition to the 12 cc I fed him from the syringe.  

I was a little nervous about the subcutaneous fluids because I've never poked anyone with a needle before, but the veterinary assistant had showed me how and I didn't have any trouble with it.  Andy didn't seem to mind at all.  He sat in my lap and let me stroke his ears while we waited for the 100 mls to drip in. 

After he had been fed and had his medicines, I sat with him in my lap and stroked his head and ears and he went to sleep.  I had never seen him sleep before with his eyes closed -- I don't think rabbits usually do -- but I took it as a sign he was relaxed (or dopey with medicine).  He purred every now and then, so I don't think he was in distress.  Rabbits are harder to read than dogs. 

I wouldn't have wished this to happen in a thousand years, but there is a bright side to it.  Andy is giving me someone to fuss over and care for in this difficult transition when my girls are leaving for school.  Andy is warm and snuggley and he needs me right now.  That's a good feeling.