Emergency Stomach Surgery Saved the Life of My Bunny

I am the proud owner of Otto, a netherland red dwarf rabbit who will celebrate his one year old birthday next month. He will definitely celebrate his first twelve months on this planet, the first of many to come since his lifespan can last for 10 years, because I made the decision for him to undergo stomach surgery last week.

The first sign of trouble is that he had not been eating. Otto is mostly a night eater so I wake up every morning to see his bowls empty that were full before going to sleep. Last Monday morning, his hay, pellets and veggie bowels remained untouched. Although out of character, I thought that he simply was not hungry. As this pattern remained through Tuesday, we marched to the veterinarian early Wednesday morning.

His vet was equally concerned about his loss of appetite. Yet X-rays indicated that his stomach was full. Wednesday evening, he still had rejected all of his favorite food. Thursday morning, back at the vet, we decided to undergo stomach surgery for little Otto, who normally weighs just 3 pounds, to help solve the problem. We could have tried a remedy to relieve constipation, but that may or may not have worked and it would have spanned valuable time of about 2 or 3 more days. Since he had stopped eating on Sunday, we could not waste more valuable time and risk a rapid decline in health right before surgery.

Leaving him there, facing surgery, was not easy but the clinic assured me that they would do the best they could to help him. I picked him up just a few hours later and he definitely looked like he just had surgery. The area around his eyes was red and he looked disheveled. Yet I was happy to see that he emerged from his operation at all.

The culprit appears to be Otto, himself. Bunnies typically do not ingest the bedding in their litter box, but he did for some reason unknown even to academics who were asked about it by my vet. The bedding is made from recycled newspaper, which expands with water, and left no room for food or anything else in his bloated stomach.

Now that the bedding has been removed, he is on the mend. Although he can only drink from a water dish instead of his water bottle, and is eating baby food instead of his normal food administered right to his mouth, it is a great relief to see him eating anything at all and noticing his energy levels grow higher every day.

As for the veterinarian, she left her clinic open beyond her normal closing time the day for the surgery, called me at home that evening to see how we were doing, and went over and beyond normal expectations to ensure a successful procedure and recovery. Luckily, we went in for a check up earlier this year so that Otto was already on record, and I was comfortable knowing that he had a doctor should anything like this arise.

Yes, the cost of the procedures was expensive and up to 5 times what I paid for the rabbit in the first place at a pet store, but I did not hesitate to make the decision to try to save his life. He is still a very young rabbit and has many years left to go.

As for the bedding, I have ordered a brand new cage which separates the animal from the bedding by coated wire which I will line with hay as recommended by his veterinarian. If he eats the hay, he will not run into this problem again.

Obviously being very busy with a full time job, etc. this stomach problem caught me by surprise. It is all part of being an animal owner and although I do not wish this experience on anyone or their pet, please do consider providing quality health care for emergency situations since their life is in your hands.

Last night, I relayed our ordeal to a friend who has a dog experiencing a diminished appetite. Although highly paid, she was not sure if she would opt to face the high cost of surgery for her dog, if needed. One can only hope that she will make the right decision. These things do happen, unfortunately, and if the scenario of paying for high medical costs for your pet does not seem appealing, then perhaps you should not be a pet owner in the first place.

After this experience, I will never take Otto's health for granted and be even more grateful once he fully recovers that he is all better. Yes, high costs for health care for pets is one factor of being a pet owner, but the rewards of actually saving a life far outweigh the upfront costs. As for Otto, being a bunny he cannot speak, or make hardly any noise for that matter, but I spoke for him and we chose life. By all accounts, we definitely made the right decision for us.