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austin_dern) wrote2018-06-07 12:10 am
Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind
With Penelope adopted it was time for us to take our rabbits to the vet's for a proper checkup. This was our first trip to the vet's since we returned Columbo's unused medicines in December. They've been doing some renovations since then, particularly expanding the little room that had hosted Stephen for the laser treatment that we could never be quite sure was really helping his arthritis.
In the waiting room, once we were confident there weren't dogs around or likely to pop in unexpectedly, we opened Penelope's cage a little, expecting that the grumpy and suspicious Californian would poke her head out and carefully explore our legs. Not so; she did poke out, but after getting her wits about her she barrelled over to the receptionists and started poking behind. We didn't think she'd be anything like so curious and exploratory a rabbit.
We had expected Sunshine to be the outgoing and sociable one. That's the way she always is. But no; she sat very still, nose twitching furiously, while Penelope prowled around confident and sure about things. We did notice that the two were not particularly hostile. It might reflect that they knew each other a bit better now. Might reflect that they were in neutral territory that neither of them felt was home. Might reflect that they were combined in really not approving at all this whole strange veterinarian's place. Hard to say.
The good news is both rabbits are in basically quite good shape. Penelope's a bit overweight, though not badly. Sunshine's a bit underweight, but that should be cleared up soon. The one thing worth checking on: Sunshine's cataract. It might reflect an infection. It might just irritate her. It might get worse in time. There was a vet in town who specialized in eye care. The woman running rescue we'd gotten Penelope from also mentioned that eye doctor. So we got a referral and figured Sunshine could take another car ride to another vet's, the next week.
This place --- near a sidewalk theater we keep meaning to go to more --- was surprisingly large and spacious considering its specialty in animal eye problems. On the other hand, there's not a lot of other places to go for that, and it's less than an hour from a lot of the state's population. It seems like they do a lot with dogs. I was delighted beyond belief by seeing dog tails poking out under exam room doors and wagging.
Sunshine was more poised this time. The vet determined pretty fast that she had cataracts in both eyes, with the one in the right much harder to notice except in bright light. And that they're congenital, with her from birth; they don't seem to reflect any illness. There might be good news: sometimes rabbits reabsorb cataracts. She might heal on her own and get to full, normal-healthy eyes without any particular intervention needed. We'll reinspect in a year to see how it's changed.
And in the meanwhile she's to get an eyedrop twice a day. The cataract may be swelling her left eye, making it a steady irritation. The eyedrop should help with that. We're not sure if it's helping her feel better. But she's gotten into our rhythm of twice a day my brushing her shoulders and gently holding her in place, while bunny_hugger drops something into the left eye. But the mini wheat thin given as reward after? She's very into that.
So, we'll hope and we'll see. Meanwhile, we have a couple bunnies we don't have any particular need to worry about.
Trivia: In 1424 the Count of Holland threatened to prosecute any fisherman who cured herring left out of the water more than 24 hours. Source: Salt: A World History, Mark Kurlansky.
Currently Reading: Neither Snow Nor Rain: A History of the United States Postal Service, Devin Leonard.
PS: What's something grand and spectacular at Rye Playland that we were lucky to see?
Rye Playland's antique Grand Carousel, a 1915 Magnels-Carmel piece. It's adjacent to the arcade and was visible through the door in the picture of bunny_hugger at the Twilight Zone game. A couple weeks after our visit the building would be damaged in a fire, and the ride was closed the rest of the season.
Rye Playland's Grand Carousel in motion.
Hero shot of the Grand Carousel in action, with a lot of view of the building canopy.