Been to see Brigitte Lord (Reusch)U/D - He's Gone

Sending Benji heaps of vibes, get well soon little chap. and loadsa for you Helen. x

Thank you Jo x

He's a fighter, obviously. I really feel for you all, it's very hard waiting like this. However, they clearly know what they are looking for and I pray that his problems are not insurmountable.
For someone at D1cks not to have seen a rabbit with low blood pressure is quite something, so he will be educating them for other buns in the future

Keeping everything crossed here Helen, and sending lots of vibes for the lovely Benji

Thanks Jay. x

Good news today - Benji is, in Brigitte's words, "doing very, very well".

His gut is moving well and he is pooing and producing caecotrophs, and his surgical wounds are healing well. She said he is bright and perky and has been back in with Paddy. They have been grooming each other.

They are to stay for one more night to continue Benji's pain relief, and we have an appointment with Brigitte tomorrow afternoon to collect them and bring them home.

Thanks again for your kind words everyone, will update tomorrow. x

Good Luck for tomorrow - i bet you will all feel better when the buns are home.

Let us know how you get on.

K x x

Thanks Katie. x

Thought I'd post a pic of my brave wee soldier. I haven't posted any for ages. Benji's in front, Paddy's the spottier one.

Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Synchro-bunnies.

They are soooooo cute :love

Thanks guys. When they were home at the weekend, Benji had had his whole tummy shaved and was generally not looking quite as gorgeously fluffy as in that pic (which is a few months old). But I love them to bits anyway, can't wait to get them home tomorrow.

Awww baldy benji!

They're so beautiful

Encouraging news from Brigitte, that's great

Thanks guys. Nickie - Benji is considerably more baldy now!!

Well, we have both bunnies home from the Vet Hospital today.

Benji has done incredibly well. Brigitte said as soon as he came round from the GA on Tuesday, he was fine and started eating hay.

He has a couple of surgical wounds on him tummy and has been severely shaved, so he doesn't look his best, but he's been behaving absolutely normally and eating hay and Critical Care. Paddy is fine and is also happy to be home.

I have been very impressed with Brigitte - she took ages with us today going through the discharge notes, and has been lovely throughout. I am certainly grateful for her surgical skills! Benji has been through a lot, and he (touch wood) is doing brilliantly.

She had a good look round his insides with the laparoscope, and was able to establish several things which would not otherwise have been possible from imaging techniques alone. So it has proved quite a useful procedure, thankfully!

We'll know more about the biopsy results from the liver, kidney and spleen in a week or two. Until then, he's on hay and Critical Care only, and is on Metacam, Domperidone, and Antepsin (for 5 days) as a precaution against stomach ulceration.

Thanks again everyone for thinking of us.

Glad to hear you have your boys home. You must feel so much better just having them back and I bet they are happy to be home too.

Sounds like Brigitte has been wonderful, and Im so pleased to hear that she is happy with Benji's progress.

Give them both nose rubs and cuddles from me. x x x x x

Thank you Katie, it IS lovely to have them home.

I have given them nose rubs from you and Daisy. xx

Just to update, sadly Benji has been struggling since we brought him home from the hospital last Thursday.

Initially he was fine, but he gradually began showing signs of pain and discomfort which got worse towards the end of the weekend. I spoke to Brigitte in Edinburgh by phone and we increased his Metacam dosage, but it didn't seem to help, and we took him to our vet first thing on Monday morning. She admitted him and he has been on strong pain relief and subcut fluids since then - he's still there.

Brigitte thinks the pain might be being caused by an internal abcess which they couldn't see with the laparoscope, so he has been started on Baytril and Metronidazole. It's a large dose, and he's to be on it for 4 weeks, as well as Metacam and Zantac. Our vet has also taken more blood to send to Brigitte who wants to test him for some rarer conditions related to his low blood pressure.

I just feel terrible that we put him through all the tests in Edinburgh and it may have caused him to deteriorate. We just wanted to do our best for him. Although we are trying the antibiotic therapy, we feel that if he is not responding to it, we may have to make some difficult decisions. It's all about his quality of life really.

He hasn't been 100% since the beginning of May, and he is not even a year old yet. I think the fact that he has a very small liver and that his other organs aren't completely normal probably mean that he was the runt in his litter. I don't know if his liver will be able to process all these drugs. His fur is also quite thin (meaning his hocks are sore), he is anaemic and has low blood pressure. The contrast with Paddy, who is lively and in great condition, is really marked.

He and Paddy may get home later today depending on how he is. We're hoping that the antibiotics will kick in and deal with any infection he may have. The vet will give us some oral Vetergesic in case he needs it.

Any spare vibes for our gorgeous wee boy would be much appreciated.

oh Helen, I'm so sorry to read this You mustn't beat yourself up about taking him, you're trying to get him well, and that's what we do.

Sending lots of vibes and for you all, I know how worried you must be xx

I'm so sorry to read this, it's not what we wanted to here at all.

As Jay said, please don't beat yourself up, all your decisions have been made based on what you all believe to be in his best interests, and I know that that is what you will continue to do.

Please continue to keep us updated, and sending lots of vibes for your little man.

Oh im so sorry to hear benji is not doing so well.

this really isnt your fault....you are trying to get him well.

Im sending loads of vibes and hoping that he gets well soon.

Thinking of you.

K x x

Thanks everyone for the vibes and hugs.

Just spoke to the vet, so the buns are to get home this evening. OH is picking them up after 6pm. The poor wee lambs have spent 7 nights now being hospitalised over the last few weeks.

If his pain is being caused by an abcess, the abx won't really kick in till tomorrow at the earliest, so I'm a bit nervous to be honest in case he seems in a lot of pain. But we have Vetergesic if we need to give it to him later tonight. And it will be lovely to have them home again.

Will keep you updated.

Poor Helen and Benji, you are both really going through the wringer. I hope that the treatment starts to work out for him. It is such a dreadful shame. sending lots of vibes. xxx

Aw no Lots and lots of healing vibes coming your way

Thinking of you - hope you are all okay and the Benji responds to his treatment.

K x x x

Thanks everyone.

The bunnies got home earlier and Benji has seemed OK-ish for much of the evening, eating hay and Critical Care, and drinking.

He has not been good for the last half hour though, and I may need to give him some Vetergesic before bed. I'm to speak to my vet tomorrow and also Brigitte, so we're just taking each day as it comes.

I find it so stressful having a sick bun, I'm wondering if everyone feels like this? I just have this knot in my stomach - I can't bear the thought of him being in any pain at all. I have so much respect for people who cope with sick animals all the time, I just couldn't do it.

how is he this morning honey?

I do understand how stressed you feel - it makes you feel sick doesnt it and the worry and helplessness is on your mind all the time. When daisy was really poorly I dont think I ate or slept for two weeks.

We are all thinking of you hun, as well as Benji and we all understand how horrible it is for you right now. So im sending more vibes for Benji and all the love in the world to you.

Having an ill bunny is very stressful, everytime Berts got sick I thought my whole life was on hold, and I couldn't operate normally, it's awful. I think we all know that feeling Helen, I wish I could just take it away and make him well.

Give the little fella a cuddle from us, I'm thinking of you