Sanctuary Rabbits: Glenna Would Like to Fang All of You!

 

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They're they are! Those are Glenna's incisors! They're out and they're not causing her trouble anymore fangs to all of you!

Well everyone, Glenna is home from the hospital and she is glad to be! I picked her up today. Before I went to pick her up, I swung by Nancy Schroer's house who donated $700 worth of supplies (Oxbow hay, Oxbow pellets, Carefresh litter, Oxbow treats) to Bright Eyes Sanctuary! Thank you Nancy!!! How can we thank you? Not good enough, I'm sure but Glenna 'fangs' you too!

Then leaving there, I headed over to SEAVS but went the wrong direction on 66 and ended up driving around the Pentagon about five or six times. My GPS is horrible, and Arlington is definitely the acid test of any GPS (I miss my Tom Tom!) but finally got onto 66 in the right direction and picked up little Glenna. And they gave me her incisors which is what you see pictured above. Most of them are roots and normally hidden under the gum, it's amazing how such little things can cause so much trouble for a little sweetheart like Glenna. I have quite a collection of rabbit teeth now that have been pulled from buns over the years. Thinking of a rabbit tooth necklace, hmmm. Kinda weird, yea, but when something so small causes so much work, you don't just want to toss it in the trash.

Glenna was really stressed, she doesn't like being away from home. She didn't know what was going on. She didn't accept very much assist feeding in the hospital, it turns out. So we headed right over for her acupuncture appointment and she got all that stress right out of her thanks to the excellent and wonderful Cynthia Clarke who dearly loves Glenna almost as much as Glenna loves Cynthia. Sometimes I wonder if Glenna just wants to be adopted by Cynthia or if Cynthia wants to adopt Glenna, they are so bonded. I have to carefully consider everything Glenna wants.

So our little gal then came home, a long, long ride and I fixed her up nice and cozy in her little spot. She started drinking lots of water right away. She has to make the place smell like Glenna and let everyone know she's back! Some rabbits will drink a lot so they can make their presence known with the smell of their urine which only rabbits can really smell. We use Carefresh (and LOTS of it) and it has the best odor control of any litter. But the rabbits can smell each other even though we can't. And it makes awesome compost. We are re-landscaping our yard with it. It fills in muddy quagmires made by the snow very well.

She ate quite a bit of her slop, too, after coming home and resting up. She just looks so happy to be home. As soon as Cynthia had started giving her some energy healing, Glenna calmed down and felt much better. And then she got a little acupuncture. Glenna is moving her mouth a lot but she's not really ready for anything like hay yet. But she will be soon! We've got to take baby steps. Glenna is still on pain meds and anti-biotics and must go back in for a recheck in not too long. She is still sore and will be for a little while longer. Then she'll be able to start experimenting with moving her jaw some more.

We'll keep you posted on everything going on with Glenna! I'm pretty pooped right now though with such a long day and hauling stuff out to the shed. So we'll fill you in more later.

Oh by the way, the typo in the description of that carved rabbit? It says it is the 'essence of lupine motion' - uh, hello, lupine is a wolf! It should say lapine.

Thank you all again who helped out Glenna with contributions and thank you to everyone who sent her well wishes. She is basking in them now that she is back in her domain.

Sanctuary Rabbits: Glenna's Molar Trim - Good News!

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Here is a photo of little Glenna, or "Glens," as I call her a lot, sitting in her acupuncture appointment. We go back tomorrow morning for another, her third treatment. She is just doing so wonderful with all the help she's getting!

Glenna went back to Dr. Scott Stahl of SEAVS at their beautiful new hospital in Fairfax, Virginia, yesterday for a second molar trim with him since the previous vet was unable to open her mouth for several trims prior to that. He said her mouth was a little easier to open this time and this is no doubt thanks to her acupuncture treatments with the wonderful Cynthia Clarke of Hands on Health in Rockville, Maryland. Dr. Stahl was really excited because Glenna has gained a whole pound in the last month!

So much for that vet who said she was starving to death! And that's not all the good news either, little Glenna's molars weren't as bad as last time either! She cna now go from having her molars trimmed every 3-4 weeks to every 6-8 weeks! This is fantastic! This is quite frankly amazing considering that Glenna can't chew and hasn't eaten any hay (or pellets) in the last month. All that she is eating (or can eat since she can't open her mouth to chew), is Oxbow's Critical Care (her favorite flavor is Anise - she doesn't like the Apple/Banana). Glenna would not allow herself to be assist fed with a syringe. She would just swish the Critical Care (CC) around in her mouth and then spit it out. So, to tempt her, I put in a can of Gerber organic baby carrot food and voila! she slurps it out of a shallow cat food bowl without any coersion whatsoever.

In addition to this, the phytonutrients I've added to this little 'slop mix' are definitely the reason her molars are not as overgrown. It has been my experience with some of these little small animals such as guinea pigs and rabbits, whose teeth grow all the time, that some of them don't absorb nutrients correctly and their body channels all the nutrients to their teeth causing the teeth to grow faster than the little animal can file them down through mastication or chewing of the food. This is entirely my own theory but it is based on some pretty incredible anecdotal evidence. On March 16, I will commemorate a very special guinea pig who taught me about this.

Why might these animals' bodies do that? Channel all nutrients to their teeth? Well, possibly when they were babies, they were the runt of the litter and didn't get enough colostrum which sets their digestive tract on the right path for life. I've used bovine colostrum to help heal sick animals (especially cats) and reset their immune system and they never got their yearly sniffles again. Or maybe these little animals' bodies didn't get the right balance of nutrients before they were even born because their mother was malnourished and they are born with their nutrient distribution all out of whack from the start. The phytonutrients, given consistently, I believe, helps their bodies to reprogram and distribute nutrients in a normal manner instead of in a triage manner. What the heck are these phytonutrients? Well, in Glenna's case, I am talking about Dr. Schulze's Superfood which comes in a powder form. It is spirulina blue-green algae, chlorella algae, alfalfa grass, barley grass, wheat grass, purple dulse seaweed, beet root, spinach leaf, rose hips, orange and lemon peels and non-active Saccharomyces cervisiae nutritional yeast.

Glenna's little tummy is absorbing these nutrients very well. Considering that she is ingesting a huge amount of Critical Care every day and 2 little boxes of Gerber carrots, plus the superfood, many buns would have very messy poop! But she has great looking poop. However, she does have a green moustache most of the time. It's hard to keep her little face and feet clean.

So I'll write more about that superfood later. Her incisors are still a problem and those are growing too fast still. Eventually, Dr. Stahl might remove them. But for now, we're just glad to be on an even keel. The only thing threatening Glenna at the moment is the possibility of becoming obese. She might get a really big butt dewlap.

She also is not needing meloxicam every day! She only needs it 2-3 times a week and that is a direct result of her acupuncture treatments too. Well, have to hit they hay because we have an early appointment with Cynthia in the morning. Stay tuned for the ongoing saga of Earless Glenna!

So little Glenna's molars are getting better. If she were any other bunny, the doctor

Sanctuary Rabbits: Glenna Gets Acupuncture!

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Here is our darling rabbit heroine, Glenna, in her carrier after she has just finished her first acupuncture treatment on Wednesday, January 13 with the wonderful and gracious Cynthia Clarke at Hands on Health in Rockville, Maryland. Cynthia holds a Maryland Certification in Animal Acupuncture. She was wonderful with the little Miss Glenna and it was also wonderful for Glenna to have a positive experience associated with a trip in the car. I must say that I am astounded at how relaxed Glenna seems since her appointment. She had seemed to not be eating quite as much but since the appointment, she is back to heartily eating her Critical Care recipe which includes phytonutrients (Dr. Schulze's superfood in this case), crushed Oxbow Barley Biscuits, and Organic Gerber carrot food. And so she continues to put weight back on after her initial weight loss.
Glenna will go back again next week for another appointment and she will go in as necessary for as long as she needs. Cynthia gave Bright Eyes Sanctuary a generous rescue discount for her services and who could meet Glenna and not have their heart go out to her? Glenna, of course, soaks it up. I softly mentioned to the acupuncturist that Glenna appears to love to be petted and will sit in your lap for an hour or more soaking up the pets, but this is really a type of alpha behavior. Just like a little dog who sits in your lap and wants you to have your hand on top of his head all the time, this is perceived by the little dog as you kaotaoing to him.

Glenna is the same way and I realized this rather quickly upon first meeting her. I would have her, a small dog who behaves the same way, and a big cat who is the same way as well, all sitting on the bed with me while watching TV and each one wanted my hand on their head the whole time. That's fine except I only have two hands.

I have to say though that Glenna is the first rabbit I've met who acts like this. Usually, alpha rabbits don't demand pets this way but she does. She probably thinks she's a dog.

Anyway, back to the acupuncture, I am really excited about this for Glenna and she has a molar trim scheduled for the Monday after her next acupuncture appointment and I am anxious to hear what the vet will have to say about things at that point. Keep your fingers crossed for little Glenna!