Warren is still alive. He bit me twice yesterday, refusing to take formula. He did, however, express an earnest intention to explore as far as he could drag his wounded back legs. The extent of his disability remains unclear; he can move his legs but chooses not to, can feel when I tickle his feet and responds when I wipe his tail, but he seems unable to get his feet under him. I think (hope) it's muscle damage; nothing feels broken.
Warren lost a quarter of an ounce today. That's...disconcerting, for a bunny. He should be making gains. His eyes are open, ears are erect, he's beginning to nibble at greens and wants very much to explore. But he won't eat, and without ingesting cecotrophes his gut won't function correctly to allow him to digest greens.
What are cecotrophes, you ask? Simply put, it's poop. Yes, rabbits eat their own poop. Their little systems require 55 separate organisms in order to function properly. Cecotrophes (sticky smelly night poops) provide these, and normally Mother Bunny would provide them from her own rich supply. I've been collecting from the neighbors' bunnies, mixing a dropping into Warren's formula, and trying to feed that way. And no, the poop is not keeping him from eating. It's pretty standard procedure, apparently.
This afternoon Warren had a change of heart. He drank almost .75cc in one go! Hopefully it's enough to put weight back on him. I need to continue the formula until he's pooping normally on his own. (He has yet to poop. While this worries me most of all, I'm calming myself with the knowledge that he also hasn't eaten and has much to overcome.)
If Warren does not begin evacuating soon he could die. The trauma to his midsection and hind end makes me suspicious that he may have sustained damage to the nerves that fire those impulses. Yet when I wipe his butt (another Mom Bunny thing), I see him strain.
Warren lost a quarter of an ounce today. That's...disconcerting, for a bunny. He should be making gains. His eyes are open, ears are erect, he's beginning to nibble at greens and wants very much to explore. But he won't eat, and without ingesting cecotrophes his gut won't function correctly to allow him to digest greens.
What are cecotrophes, you ask? Simply put, it's poop. Yes, rabbits eat their own poop. Their little systems require 55 separate organisms in order to function properly. Cecotrophes (sticky smelly night poops) provide these, and normally Mother Bunny would provide them from her own rich supply. I've been collecting from the neighbors' bunnies, mixing a dropping into Warren's formula, and trying to feed that way. And no, the poop is not keeping him from eating. It's pretty standard procedure, apparently.
This afternoon Warren had a change of heart. He drank almost .75cc in one go! Hopefully it's enough to put weight back on him. I need to continue the formula until he's pooping normally on his own. (He has yet to poop. While this worries me most of all, I'm calming myself with the knowledge that he also hasn't eaten and has much to overcome.)
If Warren does not begin evacuating soon he could die. The trauma to his midsection and hind end makes me suspicious that he may have sustained damage to the nerves that fire those impulses. Yet when I wipe his butt (another Mom Bunny thing), I see him strain.
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