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| Name: |
Luffy
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Age: |
Four months old
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| Gender: |
Male
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Kind: |
Mini Holland Lop Rabbit
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| Home: |
Neumünster, Germany
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Hello,
I am so excited to share my pet with you and his story ... I know
everybody thinks their pet is the best, as is Luffy for me too. Let me
tell you the story of this little boy:
Baby fluffy Luffy was adopted especially to be a friend to our third
bunny, Teddy, who didn't get any affection from the two older bunnies we
have. It was really sad to see him trying with no success, they were so
unfriendly to him. So we got Luffy and from day one I knew this little
cute ball of fur was something special! I had a gut feeling that that
bunny wasn't eight weeks old and was younger instead. I also noticed that
his nose was always full of dirt, which wasn't normal at all. Also just
one week later he got diarrhea, which was treated immediately and gone in
two days.
Teddy and Luffy were like blood brothers, always together, until the day
that Teddy reached his sexual maturity and started to be very bossy, and
agressive to Luffy, biting him. Once Luffy was so nastily bitten that we
had to take him immediately to the vet. He ended up getting five stitches,
it was really bad and it broke my heart, but amazingly he was behaving
like nothing happened. That fight was lighting fast, I was trying to
separate them but honestly I had never expected that two bunnies could
fight that wildly. It was scary! And little Luffy was fighting back like
crazy instead of letting it go or just showing Teddy "ok, you are the
strongest, I surrender" by getting flat on the floor, which is how they
say "okay, you won." Instead, he was there in the fight until I could get
them apart from each other.
After that, we decided to house them in separate cages, so this could
never happen again. All was fine, his wound was healing quickly and he was
eating and drinking a lot, enjoying being petted like a dog and being held
by me anytime - he really is one of a kind! Most bunnies normally don't
like to be held, they panic and stress quickly, which I think everybody
should respect! If a rabbit doesn't want it, please don't do it - thanks.
One day, I was on holidays in my hometown visitng my parents, while our
bunnies stayed at home with my boyfriend. When he was at work (we still do
not know how that could happen) Luffy broke out the cage, and when my
boyfriend arrived home he saw him laying down so pathetically. But he
thought Luffy was just exhausted from playing hard all those hours alone
outside the cage. Then Luffy stopped eating and drinking, he couldn't
stand up by himself, and it looked like his left-front leg was injured. My
boyfriend took him to the vet and he checked the bones and said all was
fine. He suggested to let him recover, maybe the muscle was a bit sore
from breaking out the cage and he just hurt himself. So my boyfriend did
so. Luffy slowly started to drink and eat again, so he guessed things were
getting back to normal.
When I came back home from the holidays. I picked him up and I realized
that something was wrong in a second. I knew inside myself that something
was totally wrong. Honestly, my boyfriend is really amazed at my Bunny-mom
sixth sense, I always spot every little thing in a second with all my
bunnies. Well, I asked and asked my boyfriend how all happened, what the
vet said, and I was totally not convinced.
So a couple of days later I picked him up and I saw that my little finger
could slip inside his fur ... and that it was dry and stiff. So I decided
to go immediatly to the vet to show him and out what that was. He checked
it and there was a huge infection on the live skin under the fur, the fur
was completely dead, you could remove it like it was a coat. It was really
schocking, my eyes filled up with tears seeing that. And that vet told me:
"That's a really bad nasty infection caused by some parasite, and he is
gonna loose all the fur, and he is gonna be in pain and suffer so much, I
will give him some antibiotics and see how he is in the next three days,
but most likely we will have to put him down, this cannot be treated."
This was devastating news. I felt totally helpless, like something was
breaking inside me. I drove all the way home crying. I couldn't accept
that I had to put him down. So my boyfriend quickly searched for another
vet for a second opinion, and he found a rabbit specialist. The next day I
went there with Luffy - I must add here that Luffy was behaving totally
normal, which is really impressive, considering how badly he was injured.
So the new vet checked it and I explained the whole story to him.
Here is what I need to mention that I learned from the visit to that
second vet:
- This bunny wasn't eight weeks old when we got him.
- His inmune system wasn't as strong as a healthy bunny would have. I think it is because he should have been with his mother longer.
- The veterinarian who wanted to put him down was crazy.
- His infection was very nasty and it would be a very slow process to heal, but it was treatable.
- The infection likely came from old wound that nobody noticed and got infected as was never treated (no thanks to the first vet!).
You can imagine how good I felt after hearing that could be cured! This
little fighter was gonna make make it, I was sure!
So the treatment was that every day he needed injections of antibiotics,
and medicine by mouth, and every three hours the wound needed to be
cleaned with a special liquid. He had to staying only on towels, making
sure he was clean all the time, so no pee and poo around him.
Luffy was taking it all like the best bunny ever. He also had to go for a
check with the vet every five to six days, which can be stressful for an
animal, but he took it well, always being so nice, calm and brave! I feel
so proud of this little fluffy guy! I bet he was hating me for all the
daily "medicines-torture," but he never scratched me or bit me. I think if
he could talk, he would have said: "Okay, do it... if that is what it takes."
So slowly the wound was getting smaller and smaller. His skin had to grow
a new layer, so fur could grow again. By one month later baby Luffy was
totally recovered. He has now gained 500 grams and is enjoying his life to
the fullest! Of course he is very spoiled by me and my boyfriend, I am
sure he knows it. Funny enough I have to be careful because he still wants
to fight with the older bunny we have, as if he didn't have enough with
being wounded!
I love him so much and he is the sweetest and fearless bunny I ever met.
He has been through so much and he is still here standing like a warrior,
I am so proud of him. I feel so lucky I found him, and I hope he feels
lucky to be ours too.
Hope you enjoyed this little sad story with a very happy ending, that
actually is happy beginning for Luffy, I am sure after all his inmune
system became stronger, too, once he got the correct veterinary care and
medicines. He is now perfectly fine.
Sending out so much bunny love,
Diana and Luffy
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