in which I learn to shoot my rabbit

[wendyzski]

Little Bunny SnotFace wasn't getting any better on the usual treatments so I made an vet appointment for her last week. They are doing a culture but given that she's already immunocompromised we thought it best to bring out the "big guns" so to speak.

So for the next 3 weeks we are alternating days between a nebulizer treatment with teh amakacin and .65ml of PenG injected subQ. The vet tech showed me what to do, and while I;m still a bit woogy about the idea of poking sharp things into my bunny I figured I'd pull up my big-girl panties and manage it somehow.

As expected, the hardest part is proving to be catching the little bugger!

I missed my initial grab and she got UnderTheBed. I proceeded to poke at her with a stick for some time while she snorted and growled and boxed and grrphed and squeaked and growled at me while remaining firmly lodged in place. I finally managed to lift the mattress and nab her feom above before she realized what was happening.

I wrapped her up in the towel as I was supposed to, and once I got her head all wrapped she mostly settled down. I got the skin tented up and the needle in just fine, and she only wiggled a little about halfway through the injection - I'm thinking maybe it was cold? Then after a nutriberry treat she ran off to sulk under the couch for a few hours but by evening she was out and asking for pettins again.

I was down with a nasty cold most of New Years weekend, so the two of us sounded hilariously pathetic - soggy sneezes coming from on top of as well as under the couch. After a few days of treatment she seems to have a bit more energy although she is still pretty sneezy. But she is still coming up for bedtime pets so she is seemingly willing to forgive me so far.

Comments

[stealthbunny.livejournal.com]

I was afraid she'd catch on and make each one progressively harder for you. Could you try giving her a bowl of pumpkin or applesauce for her to work on while you are giving her the shot? She's so food-obsessive, that she might be so busy eating, she might not give you much struggle while you're ... um... poking.

[wendyzski.livejournal.com]

It wasn't that she was struggling - I just couldn't get the needle in! Tried tenting the skin in three slightly different places, and it barely went in. That's why I was wondering about a bum needle

She got a blob of organic apple-peach-sauce (laced with probiotic) with dinner. It was butt-twitching' good!

[katexxxxxx.livejournal.com]

Ugh! Poor bun!

Only times I've had to do injections, Himself was the victim! One was a flu jab and the other was a shot of GlucaGen. he said I did the flu shot better than the nurse the year before, and he was out of it for the other, but it didn't bruise, so the paramedics said I did OK!

[stealthbunny.livejournal.com]

I used to have to give myself shots of migraine medicine, but it came in a little gun thingie, so all I had to do was push a button. The noise it made however always made me jump. I'm sure doing a plunger thingie would make me a little more oozie about it.

When I was little, I had a pet duck, who got respitory infections really seriously twice. Try finding a vet who would cater to a duck in the 70s! We found one, and the end result was that we had to give her shots twice a day in the breast muscle. Which meant turning her upside down. Dad did it on the hood of our station wagon. And then snuggled her afterwards. A big 6'2' lanky farmer-type guy... snuggling a duck against his shoulder as she lovingly ran her bill up and down his neck and made little kwuckeling noises. That image will stay with me forever.