So our little Barnaby has been waiting for us for awhile.
Long story short, I was involved in a rescue of a wild cottontail baby rabbit that did not end well
and it was super traumatizing for me (more on that later perhaps)
but since we were going to make room in our home for this wild bunny had they survived,
We realized we had room for the little bunny that a woman at the vet knew was being severely neglected and who needed a home. She had been asking us to take this bun for over a year now.
So the day after I had to decide to euthanize the wild bun,
we called the woman and said we'll take the bun.
We didn't know what too expect, just a 2 year old girl.
We didn't have any need to meet the people who were neglecting this animal.
We set it up so the woman at the clinic picked her up for us
and we met at the animal hospital to pick up our new baby.
(didn't he look like a baby wookie!)
He was a ball of mats and knots, we couldn't even feel his body underneath all of it.
I have never seen matting this bad.
Before we got there, the woman at the vet cut the fur around his eyes because apparently he couldn't even see whatsoever either and his nails were all curled in on themselves so they cut the nails too.
He looked so so scared and just so so tired.
We realized that he couldn't move the front legs without it pulling on the back end so we decided to start shaving off the mess right away. It took about 5-6 hours that first day to release him from his fur prison. The poor little soul was covered in sores and rashes underneath it all
because the matting was so bad.
At this point we didn't consider him just a neglect case, to us this was a case of abuse.
Than shaving very very carefully around the bum area....one little testicle popped out than the other!
Our little bean had beans!
It wasn't a girl at all, it was very clearly a boy.
We originally, when we thought he was a girl, called him "Mimzy" so a name change was due.
The poor little guy was running into things, he just wasn't used to his proper eyesight.
He was also having a hard time with balance because he was just so used to being in a tight coat of knots that kept his mobility limited...even now about a month later, he still wobbles a bit.
At first he was a complete ball of nerves.
He shuddered when we touched him.
But it seemed as though he instantly understood that we were trying to help him
and he was so so good and patient for the shaving off of his fur.
Apparently he was never handled, just stuck in a small cage in the corner, forgotten.
He lived in that cage every day, he never got out!
Why on earth would anyone think an animal wants to live like that!
(just like our poor Lydia).
They want the freedom to move and express a joy for life just as we do...exactly as we do.
Unfortunately about the 3rd day after he came home, he almost died!
He was never given veggies or hay!
So we know to give new bunnies very small portions and only the basics at first.
Well even the tiny amount of veg we gave him was too much for his malnourished tum.
He went into full blown super bad stasis!
After what I just went through with the wild bunny, not being able to save him,
if I had lost Barnaby, I never would have forgiven myself.
My life would have changed forever, I don't know that I would have trusted myself with rescue again.
Thankfully, 2 sleepless night later, 3 emergency vet visits &
almost 1 grand later, he started eating again!
We still need to get him neutered.
He hasn't been fixed and as much as I don't want to put him through a surgery,
it's crucial for his best emotional well being and for his health
because unaltered rabbits have a very high risk of cancer.
So we've been giving him a chance to settle in, fatten up abit and than we'll book his surgery soon.
When he first came home, about a month ago now, we could feel every single rib.
Every single precious segment of his spine...like a little row of pearls.
We could even feel individual cecotrops in this track! That's how skinny he was.
No animal deserves to be treated or kept in this way.
I just don't understand people, I just don't.
But I am just thankful that this woman at the vet recognized he needed out of that place
and that they agreed to give him over...I'd say give him up, but they clearly didn't care for him.
Am I hard on people?
Yes, absolutely because animals deserve so fucken more than what most people dole out to them.
Rescue life is amazing and rewarding but it's super hard too...
it's hard to keep positive about people and not hate everyone after you see what we see.
So this is Barnaby all shaved up.
He's possibly not a rabbit but some magical fluff of a mystical creature, part wooky, part magwai!
It's been an honor to watch him learn to trust his body.
To learn that he can move his body.
To watch him learn to play.
To trust us in taking treats.
Learning to eat hay.
He flies like lightening around the house like a race car driver, again and again for hours,
it's really pretty hilarious and all kinds of wonderful.
He's very very smart.
He's very affectionate.
He likes all of the buns in the house, except for Flynn and especially Higgins!
He just has an effervescent personality...hence the "Fizz"...our little Fizzy Pop.
We absolutely adore him...so so much.
He was meant to join our furry crew.
Maybe that cottontail came into my life every so brilliantly but briefly so that he could come home!
Welcome home Barnaby Fizz...welcome home you all kinds of wonderful baby you XO.
