i love watching bernie & mimi when they're having a grooming session but both want to be the one getting groomed, so they just freeze and wait with their eyes closed and their heads snuggled against each other ;)

bun update

it's been a really long time since i've posted any bunny pictures on this blog. mostly cos i never take my phone/camera when i go outside to their area (and that they're always moving around and hard to take pics of..) 

news since the last time:
- Bernie is actually a girl. i've never bothered to look at her genitals ever since the previous owner told me (4 years ago) that she was a boy and that he's been desexed.. i assume this desexing history is accurate, since she's not moody/aggressive like girl bunnies and she doesn't have a dewlap, which my friend told me is a secondary sex characteristic (ie. needs oestrogen to maintain).
- Mimi got desexed cos i got paranoid ever since our exotics lecturer told us how common uterine cancers were in rabbits as they get older. but then this was followed by TWO bouts of gut stasis and inappetence (ie. super stressful time for her and me). had to force feed her five times a day with special food and give her a gut motility thing (which made me feel like a drug dealer cos i had to empty the capsule and divide the powder into one-fifth portions using a name card). obviously i thought often whether i would have gotten her desexed if i had the chance to go back in time, and if i was advising a pet owner i would really warn them about having to make an effort to feed them every few hours and staying calm when you wait for the medicine to work. she even gained weight after this (cos she only lost 0.01g when i took her back to the vet, and i'm sure the uterus they took out was much heavier - apparently it was big and took longer than usual to take out). i was so grateful she was still willing to swallow the food that i squirted to the back of her mouth... but yeah. it's been nearly a month since the operation and she is a different bunny! less anxious / trying to assert her dominance on Bernie/her area - which means that she's not humping Bernie, more willing to come to me and be patted on the head (though having her wrapped in a towel and on my lap while getting force fed several times a day probably got her used to me -_-"), and generally seems calmer and enjoying life more (obviously i'm just guessing..).

ok. finally pics-time!

short bun feet XD

same colour!

bernie looks like a grandpa haha big eyebrow area

mimi's been licking my toes since yesterday. i don't know why.

Mimi just licked my toes. thanks?

if you like Biscotti, you are a good person in my mind. and if Biscotti doesn't run away from you, then you get a star!

just got an email from the uni internal mail about guinea pig pups somebody is giving away. and thinking about it, i just realised that there isn't really anywhere indoors in this new house to place a guinea pig enclosure. i could let them run outside where the bunnies are now, but then i can't hv bunnies too.. unless they get along.. aaaargh..

so frustrating hearing about (dog) breed-specific legislation - THEY DON'T WORK! (feel free to ask for links to resources if ur interested in the topic). i broke my pen lid whilst writing notes on it.

hah, take THAT, stupid doctor who won't listen to me and insisted that my eczema was ringworm just because i said i owned rabbits (who did NOT have ringworm, thank you very much). NOW I HAVE PRESCRIPTION ANTIFUNGAL CREAM THAT I CAN USE ON BISCOTTI MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. ok.

spent the day giving free vet checks at the Paws in the Park event :) i miss companion animal medicine so much!

cat behaviour question - sudden biting, seemingly no trigger

so far i haven't been able to explain this well to other people / heard of cat owners encountering the same thing, but i'll try and describe it again in this post...

as an introduction, Biscotti (my cat) is not an agressive cat, she's very much a "flight" response type of cat in the "fight/flight" dichotomy when animals are stressed/scared. 

anyhoo. sometimes when i'm with her (eg. sitting next to her, her on my lap, patting her, or not patting her - basically not any one particular scenario) i can feel like her personality or mood "flips", and she suddenly looks at me with non-blinking eyes, pauses and seem to be concentrating on biting me. now, i have to explain that when she's doing this, her ears and tail are in normal position (not like when cats are in a fight), and her bites are not quick and penetrating, it's more of a gnaw...freeze/pause... gnaw... freeze/pause. So basically when it happens i just feel really weird and uncomfortable, cos it's not like i can feel her being angry and scared, it's just a zombie-like/action that doesn't seem to have a clear motivation. (it's hard to explain an 'intuition' / a feeling...)

and usually when i say no and point my finger sternly towards her nose she backs away/flattens her ears/looks away, but when she's in this "mode" she doesn't show any fear and just remains put in her spot with the same stance and still maintaining eye contact with me. and another thing that scared me when i first noticed this behaviour was that she'll even start to raise her body up and move in sudden movements towards me - like trying to dominate the situation (but her ears are normal! i can't tell what she's thinking!). as her owner, this is very uncharacteristic - she is NEVER bite-y. and though she's a really flighty cat, it's never when it's just me around her. 

and similar to how it started, she also snaps out of this unusual behaviour without any obvious environmental triggers either... and just resumes to being her normal, relaxed self.

so yeah, i'm just wondering if anybody knows any other information regarding this weird behaviour? it just suddenly happens seemingly without any trigger. and it happens quite infrequently - probably 3-4 times in the last 1-2 years. 

fyi vets in Australia do not earn as much money as most people think due to the 'expensive' fees clients encounter. yes, i have to agree the fees are high, but compared to other health services they are way lower. most services are undercharged and practices have to pay to buy the equipment, drugs and pay to maintain the property and pay employees etc etc etc. they are basically a small business with no subsidies from the govt.

here is a picture of a newspaper article comparing the costs of human v's veterinary vet care. 
(click for a larger picture)

most people don't realise how much things cost cos their health insurance takes care of it, but it's ridiculously expensive! i was also surprised the first time i heard about the consultation fee for my cousin's paediatrician - it was $300! most vet practices i know charge $60-90, and though they may not have the specialist title, they also do their own procedures like dermatologists, surgeons, radiographers, radiologists, etc etc etc do..

it's only been 3 days since Biscotti started using PlaqueOff, and her smelly breath is already gone! now i just have to wait to see if her teeth become whiter. i heard that it softens gunk off the teeth so that u can scrape it off... hopefully it does; then it can be called CalculusOff! 

pleasant breath = happy cat + owner :D!

biscotti photos - part 2

 

biscotti photos - part 1

'cotti wearing hats i got from SarabiRose's etsy shop: puss in boots and fez - the fez is for a friend, but i can't not take a photo of it X)

Camden Avian, Reptile & Exotic Pet Hospital

go here for cute baby wombat photos: http://macarthur-chronicle-camden.whereilive.com.au/photos/gallery/baby-wombats/


(but the real message is: slow down when driving in country roads at night so crossing wildlife are not hit)


this is the vet next to the uni btw! they've stopped receiving university funding, and so are in desperate need of donations. especially since they treat n care for wildlife (with no owners to pay for medical n husbandry costs). please help if you can - donate or be their client! they do have really good vets :)


>> Avian, Reptile and Exotic Pet Hospital

chocolate toxicity in dogs - toxic dose table

here's a table to determine whether u should start panicking or not, after ur dog's eaten some chocolate. the data is based on the ChocTox app - the numbers it uses are the same as the one i've been taught at uni, so they should be reliable. (click on image to enlarge)





1. on the left of the table = severity of clinical signs (like "too much coffee": restless, un-coordinated, heart arrhythmia, seizures; vomit, diarrhoea)
2. along the top = type of chocolate & its theobromine (the toxic substance) concentration
3. numbers on the table = grams of the chocolate type producing the various severity of clinical signs


(change the numbers according to your dog's weight - this one's for a 10kg dog)

an update: biscotti probably has FLUTD (feline lower urinary tract disease) instead of a bladder "infection" - ie. a non-specific lower urinary tract syndrome that cats get... the vet (a different one who seemed to be a better listener, thank goodness) ultrasound-ed her bladder and cysto'd some urine out. it's still very crystally and alkaline, but there's also some protein DDDD: which wasn't there before... the urine was also very concentrated (USG 1.050) which may be a cause or a result of the crystals... anyway, for now the urine will be cultured to see if there is bacteria in it or not, and i'll get the results by tuesday or so. 


i found this article which explains the disease simply


she may have to go on (expensive) prescription food from now on :S (the only thing i can think of that has changed in the last few months is: me leaving home, her changing to senior cat food.. there isn't much nutritional info on the food box so maybe the components are imbalanced and made her pee more basic). wet food is also better than dry food...but her teeth are already smelly :( 

and the saga continues. 


i submitted more of biscotti's urine for testing last sunday to check that her infection has resolved after the course of antibiotics (fyi, the vet didn't even recommend this recheck - she said, "you can, if you want to," in regards to me resubmitting a urine sample - just like she did when i first brought biscotti in for her initial consultation). and surprise surprise, after a whole week of no calls/follow-up, i call up the vet asking about the results, and she said that the analysis revealed no change. ie, the antibiotics didn't resolve whatever was the problem in the first place. and she said now she wants to do a urine culture to figure out what the problem was. EVEN THOUGH SHE TOLD ME IN THE FIRST PLACE (3-4weeks ago!!) THAT THE URINE WAS ALREADY GOING TO BE CULTURED AND THAT I WAS PAYING FOR THAT. she didn't do what she told me she was going to do! i wonder how many animal patients go home undiagnosed because of this 'veterinarian' - if i didn't hint to her the diagnostics that i wanted to have done, she would have totally ignored it and biscotti would be considered as healthy as the healthiest cat in the world! seriously, it should NOT take four weeks to come up with the revelation of "oh, um, we need to do tests to find out." i feel so bad for letting the problem go on for this long!! i thought of the option of taking her to another vet clinic, but then it'll take even longer cos then the new hospital would have to get the medical records transferred and i also run the risk of getting another incompetent vet. so again, tomorrow i will be spending money and contributing to the salary of this incompetent person.


OHHHH MMYYYYYY GODDDDDDDDDDDDD!!!!!!


(oh yeah, she also enlightened me this morning on the phone to the fact that she prescribed antibiotics based on a presumptive diagnosis of a urinary tract infection - she didn't know "exactly" that there was a bladder infection -, cos she said the urine samples i sent her could have been "contaminated". UMMMMM A HEAP OF WHITE BLOOD CELLS (so much so that there was a clump of white stuff on the bottom of the collection tube) DON'T JUST MAGICALLY APPEAR INSIDE URINE. THEY DON'T LIVE IN THE EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT OUTSIDE THE BODY.)


and guess what my assignment that i'm working is about? it's about VETERINARIAN MALPRACTICE AND COMPLAINTS!! i really don't appreciate the forces of the world aligning up my study subjects and real life like this!! (last time i studied about hypersensitivities, i got my first really bad case of eczema!!)


PLEEAAASSSEEE LET MY KITTY GET BETTERRRRR :((((((!

Dear vet who works at my local clinic, I wonder what magical skills you have, that makes you able to tell that my cat is "fine" by just looking at her & not running tests? First, you didn't want to take a urine sample until I asked you for one - even though, the reason I came to the clinic was because of problems with peeing / the pee. ie, iF THERE'S A PROBLEM WITH SOMETHING, DON'T TALK ABOUT EVERY OTHER PROBLEM EXCEPT THAT ONE! And now over the phone, you tell me that, again, she should be fine, because usually they are. UMMM NOOO! If i'm calling, it means that things are not 'fine' yet!! And you send urine to be cultured (which I paid for), but don't tell me the results?? Seriously, sometimes I wish that clinic was more money hungry and actually followed up on patients.

funny how things work out. turns out that biscotti has a bladder infection (the pee was alkaline instead of acidic and there were WBCs).. thank goodness i had the uni mid-sem break now so i could be at home to notice that she has been peeing more! anyway, now they're getting the urine sample cultured (so they know wat bugs are involved and whether they're susceptible to the drugs) and in the meantime she's gonna get antibiotics twice a day for a week. the only slight trouble is that i'll be away on weekdays so i hv to get someone else to give the meds to her. hopefully it clears after the drug course. (but good news, her kidneys are fine! (i also got her blood tested))

i am always surprised every single time that biscotti doesn't get mad when i bring her home from the vet. as soon as i get into the house & let her out of the carrier, she's instantly relaxed and walking with her tail up again and making eye contact with me! (i should note that she is so stressed when she's in that carrier and out of the house that she meows non-stop and doesn't try to struggle from strangers, which is unusual). yeah weird how she doesn't hold grudges, even short-term ones, for me putting her through that!