Mrs. Bun and Mr. Bun are two bunnies that DH came home with about 4 years ago. He got them at the sales barn in town for a dollar each, they were tiny baby buns at the time. After Mrs. Bun had a litter of "little buns" that didn't make it, I decided that Mr. Bun had to go and get a little operation :-)
Well, cut to several years later. Mr. and Mrs. Bun are still with us. They are outside in a hutch during the summer, with brief "playtimes" in a "on the ground" pen, where they can dig and do all sorts of Bun stuff that they enjoy. In the winter, when the temperatures get below 20*F, I bring them inside (still in a hutch) until Spring.
On Wednesday night, I noticed that Mrs. Bun was feeling pretty bony. In fact, it appears that she has lost quite a bit of weight. The vet in our town won't see chickens or rabbits, so the nearest "bun vet" is about an hour away and expensive. So I tried to go online to see what could be the problem.
It seems nobody ever told me that unspayed female Buns are almost guaranteed to develop uterine cancer by the age of 5. Like an 85% chance. I never knew. Nobody ever told me, and I guess I never thought to look into it....if I would've known that, it would've been Mrs. Bun going in for the operation, instead of, or in addition to, Mr. Bun.
She's eating and drinking and pooping just fine. In fact, she looks absolutely normal until you pet her. So I (yes, I know it probably won't help) gave her some extra peanuts and seed treats in hopes that maybe she just needs more fat in her diet, etc....but I'm afraid I might already know what the problem is.
I suspect I'll be bringing her in next week just to make sure, from what I've read, the tumors can be felt by a veterinarian.
I'm really sad about the prospect that Mr. Bun will lose his Mrs. They're really bonded and I hate the thought. So I hope that it's something else wrong, but I know from my previous buns, one of whom died following complications from spay surgery, medical care with buns is never easy.
Mrs. Bun and Mr. Bun are two bunnies that DH came home with about 4 years ago. He got them at the sales barn in town for a dollar each, they were tiny baby buns at the time. After Mrs. Bun had a litter of "little buns" that didn't make it, I decided that Mr. Bun had to go and get a little operation :-)
Well, cut to several years later. Mr. and Mrs. Bun are still with us. They are outside in a hutch during the summer, with brief "playtimes" in a "on the ground" pen, where they can dig and do all sorts of Bun stuff that they enjoy. In the winter, when the temperatures get below 20*F, I bring them inside (still in a hutch) until Spring.
On Wednesday night, I noticed that Mrs. Bun was feeling pretty bony. In fact, it appears that she has lost quite a bit of weight. The vet in our town won't see chickens or rabbits, so the nearest "bun vet" is about an hour away and expensive. So I tried to go online to see what could be the problem.
It seems nobody ever told me that unspayed female Buns are almost guaranteed to develop uterine cancer by the age of 5. Like an 85% chance. I never knew. Nobody ever told me, and I guess I never thought to look into it....if I would've known that, it would've been Mrs. Bun going in for the operation, instead of, or in addition to, Mr. Bun.
She's eating and drinking and pooping just fine. In fact, she looks absolutely normal until you pet her. So I (yes, I know it probably won't help) gave her some extra peanuts and seed treats in hopes that maybe she just needs more fat in her diet, etc....but I'm afraid I might already know what the problem is.
I suspect I'll be bringing her in next week just to make sure, from what I've read, the tumors can be felt by a veterinarian.
I'm really sad about the prospect that Mr. Bun will lose his Mrs. They're really bonded and I hate the thought. So I hope that it's something else wrong, but I know from my previous buns, one of whom died following complications from spay surgery, medical care with buns is never easy.