World without…

Two weeks ago it was black Tuesday, at least for us. And as it later turned out – it was just a bad beginning. Monday evening didn’t announce anything bad was going to happen. As usually cats got their supper, Marcel and Pola got a big carrot which they sniffed right after I put it in their cage. We went to sleep as Tuesday for me was suppose to start with classes at school, then shift in the clinic and homecoming around 9 p.m. to serve cat & bunny supper.

We are not rally morning birds so our mornings are usually in a hurry. Get up, get stuff together meanwhile feed the cats, bunnies and go to work. But this time When I went in the room where bunnies cage is – I froze… Marcel was huddled in the corner and Pola was laying on the other side. She didn’t react on me, breakfast time… slowly I got a hunch something bad has happened, but I still called her name. They sometimes fall asleep in this stupid position and scare me out but when I call them, they lift the head and stare at me like I’m paranoid. But not this time. This time Pola didn’t move at all… before I dared to touch her I yelled for Tomek who was on the phone with someone. Pola was cold, stiffed… Pola was gone…

We took her away, I cleaned and disinfected the cage. I tried to comfort Marcel but he didn’t feel like cuddling, just run away to his corner and sat there… We didn’t know what had hapened, so I called my close friend – DVM Paula Dziubińska – Bartylak from Sowa Egzotica vet clinic in Bydgoszcz, and ask her for necropsy of Pola. (I love our bunnies but in veterinary i’m not l exactly that good with this species as I am with cats.) It wasn’t easy but we had to do this for Marcel. If there were no symptoms and nothing worrying for what happened with Pola, we didn’t the cause. We were worried about Marcel and wanted to know if there is anything we can to protect him.

After cleaning the bottom of the cage and washing with boiling water the bottom, food bowls etc. I’ve put some fresh hay. I’ve also put electric pillow to the rabbits house so Marcel can warm up with is since Pola is no longer there to comfort him… I checked him from the nose to tail but there was nothing suspicious. But Pola also didn’t have any signs the day before. I took the cage out of the cat room so Marcel can see everything going on in the house. Until now Marcel and Pola preferred their own company and didn’t feel like socializing with cats or even get out of the cage. Once we tried to convince them to explore the house so they can around and play but as they didn’t seem interested at all we left them in their own little world. Now Marcel was left alone so I didnt want him to feel lonely. Warm pillow got him company of Elmirka who came to sit with him at his house. Trying to manage everything at home I didn’t get to school on time, missing first classes with the kids. On my shift at the clinic I called home between visits to check if everything is ok with our only bunny…

After getting back home I examined Marcel once again. Around his nose I spotted a little amount of secretion, I didnt like what I could hear while listening to his chest. I called my friend again. First results of Polas necropsy suggested pneumonia. This comes sneaky to bunnies, can have no symptoms and take them away within hours.  The only good thing about it that its not contagious to cats.) Decision made up – Marcel will receive antibiotics and anti inflammatory drugs. Tomek specially drove for those to the clinic at night. Meanwhile I gave our bunny some immunostymulants and vitamins. Luckily he got appetite and there was no other problems. But still I was worried.

Few days of treatment had passed, Marcel appeared to function very well, sneezing was gone, his lungs sounded better. He had good appetite, he ate both dry and fresh herbs, veggies and fruits. But on Friday his tummy seemed a bit enlarged, hard during palpation. After examination I suspected bloated stomach. I consulted with doctor Paula what to give him but in the end I also visited her clinic. Luckily medicines did the work and it came back to normal. I hope this was the end of the problem, but life turned out different that expected again. Marcel kept his appetite and ate same as usual but he stopped pooping. On Saturday Marcel was diagnosed with atony of intestines by doctor Paula – it was terrifying silent in the abdomen instead of normal burbling and overflowing sounds. Ultrasound confirmed that there was no movement in the gastric tract. Decision was made that Marcel will stay in the hospital for few hours. He got medicines, fluids and company of a female bunny in the cage next to his.

For the night he came back home. As soon as he arrived I’ve put stethoscope to his belly. I was able to hear slow movement sounds, much better than this awful silence. Around 4 a.m. I spotted first droppings in the litterbox. I never thought I will be so happy to see a bunny droppings like that time…

Everything was looking as it gets back to normal. Slowly we’ve put away the antibiotics, only stayed with immunostymulants and vitamins, emergency food from time to time and herbs. Marcel started to leave his house and come out more often to lay outside. He chased away Elma when she came inside his house. He had warm pillow just in case and Elma loved to used it on her own when Marcel was not there. And he wasn’t happy about it.

We hoped that the worst is behind us and slowly tried to get use to a life with just one bunny. We went for Cat Show in Toruń last weekend. Marcel stayed with Whisper and Dziabąg to keep him some sort of company. Whisper was coming to him from time to time to drink water from his bowl and Dziabąg totally ignored the cage. Maybe except for few situations when he came to rub his chin against it. Os Saturday evening, as we got back from the show, it seemed to me that Marcel leaves a bit less droppings than usual. I listened to his abdomen back then and also did that on Sunday morning. There were rumbling and gurgling sounds as it should. I thought that maybe I got paranoid. Maybe he seemed upset because we were gone for most of the weekend?

Marcel loneliness was depressing also for me. He wasn’t sociable enough to become friends and play with cats. He wasn’t much interested in being close to us either. That was also a reason we’ve got Pola – to keep him company. And now I had to watch him trying to get along this world alone again… We didn’t plan to have any more bunnies but I was starting to break and considered getting him a new friend when all this is settled down.

For now we wanted to get him all better before we provide new positive experiences. On Monday I wanted to consult my worries about Marcels’ depression/worse mood. When I had to be at work, Tomek went with him to doctor Paula. It turned out that probably the teeth problems are going on again even despite the fact we had this settled once six months before (you can read about it HERE). We planned correction soon enough. I calmed a bit cuz at least we knew what was wrong (and that I dont’ have delusions).

Before I got to get out of work Tomek called. After returning home Marcel got neurological disorders. He couldn’t stand, was falling on a side, his head was turning to sides and he got nystagmus. They got right back to the clinic. I didn’t know yet if Marcel had some kind of allergic reaction to the medicine he received previously or if the nightmare from the past – the one we had to face in 2013 – came back. I suspected the second. I was about to finish my shift so I packed drugs for EC just in case, closed the clinic and joined them as soon as I could. Thanks to the care in Sowa Egzotica clinic the seizure was under control but Marcel had to stay in the covered carrier as the light would trigger the attacks again. Our little bunny was facing Encephalitozoonosis (EC) once again. After all these stress, sickness and immune deficiency (although we tried to improve it all the time) called out this monster. First time when it happened four years ago, except antibiotics we also imported medicine from Germany (it wasn’t available in Poland) and had to wait for it to arrive. This time I had it here and that was what I took from my work. Marcel got first dose right away. He also got antibiotics in case of a returning pneumonia.

During the night we slept apart – Tomek in the living room, me and Marcel in bedroom – he in the covered carrier on a pillow next to me. The lights were on all night so I can check on him anytime. I cannot say I’ve slept, because I was waking up from time to time to give Marcel something to eat or drink. Luckily this time he didn’t have any problems with that. Last EC didn’t let him even lay because his little body was twisted. Now he could even sit sometimes on his own. Previously he wasn’t able to get food himself and it had to be handed to his mouth. Now he could get herbs and veggies when he wanted. Whisper was also watching over him and coming to see him from time to time. She also used to wake me up when she did. Because all that I got up a bit later than planned but before getting to school Marcel got all his meds. I didn’t feel well before when we got back from the cat show but sleepless night added to it. That Tuesday started for an antibiotic also for me. Still it was hell of a better start than a week before when I found Pola…

I got immpression that Marcel felt a bit better than a day before and his sickness didn’t proceed as acute as in 2013. Nystagmus was completely gone. Maybe because this time I was prepared better with medicines cuz I knew Marcel was EC+ (which I wasn’t aware of the first time). Tomek was working at home those days so he could watch over Marcel when I was gone. He got him herbs and checked if he’s eatingm drinking and leaving some droppings. Luckily the bunny still had appetite, he ate on his own, drink from handed bowl with water and did everything else as should. Except that he didn’t get out of the carried cuz he had problems with keeping balance.  Night from Tuesday to Wednesday we slept the same combination as the one before. Again I was waking up from time to time to get Marcel some fresh herbs and water. Everything was ok. I started to think that we can manage it and it won’t last 9 weeks as it did four years ago.

On Wednesday before noon I left for school. I had only two hours of classes but during break I called Tomek to check if all is ok. Short before we talked he fed him nettle and currant leafs and Marcle ate those tasteful. On my way home I got to the market to get him some fresh parsley. But when I got back Marcel was breathing very fast. I put stethoscope and listened to his chest and I really didn’t like what I got. What I could hear sounded like pulmonary oedema. It looked like pneumonia was back against the medicine he was receiving. I gave him first drugs at home and hurried up to Sowa Egzotica clinic to give him oxygen. Already there he got more shots to among others decrease fluid in the lungs, prevent shock, help with breathing and two more antibiotics. But prognostics were poor – Marcel had 20% chances to survive. We had to wait for drugs to start to work… All the time he was getting oxygen. After two hours it looked like he was breathing slower he got calm but when I listen to his chest, but sadly there was no improvement there. We hoped that maybe it takes more time for his body to manage all that with the help of medicines he got. And so we waited further… Meantime some other bunny got to the clinic – it also was diagnosed with pneumonia. During visit she stopped breathing. From the opposite room we heard clinic staff trying to save the little patient. Unfortunately despite all the effort and medicines given it didn’t work. Another bunny was gone because of this terrible pneumonia that comes out of nowhere and takes a little life within hours.

We sat by Marcel hoping (deluding?) that maybe in some miracle way he will improve and make it. But to be honest I was starting to lose hope seeing him struggle for breath… 3 p.m. turned out to be 9:30 p.m. I was afraid to listen to Marcel’s chest again, but I did. And I heard the same thing as twice before. There was no improvement. From Marcel’s behavior I could conclude that it’s even getting worse. He wasn’t able to lay properly, his front paws started to slide aside and head was down on the blanket. I knew we had won few battles before but this time we’ve lost… Even doctor Paula couldn’t save him. We ran out of options to help him but one…

And that’s how unhappily our world became a bit smaller, we’ve lost two family members in such a short time… All this is still fresh and new and hurts. But slowly we learn to go on without the, still this isn’t easy. While making dinner I catch myself on putting aside a piece of cauliflower or parsley for the bunnies but I realize a bit later that this is pointless. Carrots in the fridge are there waiting for nothing. At the point I don’t keep any fresh herbs cuz I would look at them and think these would be only for our cooking, noone else… We have few busy weeks ahead so maybe it will keep my mind occupied and keep sad thoughts away for a while.

In all this sadness I “like” to think they are together now… that Marcel just couldn’t live without Pola…

P.S.

We’d like to sincerely thank doctor Paula Dziubińska – Bartylak and whole crew of Sowa Egzotica veterinary clinic in Bydgoszcz, for their help commitment and support in this difficult time for us.  Magda, Agnieszka, Magda, Ala, Paula – thank You for being there with us, trying to keep up the spirit when our world fell a part.