Told You So

"Told you so."  It's something that moms get to say every once in a while.  I got to say it again today.  Fortunately.

So, Charlotte starts the tears again this morning.  She can't help it.  She is very conscientious about checking all her rabbits and their kits and she loves each one of them as if it were the last remaining rabbit on the planet.

Tootsie has been a bit listless for the past few days.  But to my eyes, nothing seemed to be too off.  Her seven kits are now one month old and she has been weaning them.  I weaned my children at about 18 months.  Put me in a small room with seven eighteen-month old children and I think I'd be a little listless at best. 

But this is Charlotte and Tootsie we're talking about.  Charlotte can accept death, but only if there's nothing she can do about it.  Otherwise, we have to get help (within financial reason, of course).  And Tootsie?  Well, she really was pretty listless.  Normally, she's got a bit of an attitude.  She scares off my husband and sons.  Maybe she doesn't like men.  Maybe they're just scared because she grunts and is very chatty.  She really does talk.  And she'll warn people off if they need to go away.  But she wasn't doing anything like that today.  Her teeth didn't look great, her bottom was a bit messy, and so on.  Oh, and two or three kits had messy bottoms, too.  I told Charlotte that I thought it was all related to weaning.  At least as far as the kits were concerned, I was sure it was related to weaning. 

A good brood doe with seven month old kits is kind of valuable, financially speaking (from a teen's point of view), so it was off to the vet.

We are fortunate to have a vet who actually focused on exotics in her training.  She trained in England, where rabbits are a much bigger deal, so she has been a great help to us.  (I really don't recommend going to a vet who didn't spend much time on rabbits.  There is really no point.  It would just be a waste of money.)  We had a good visit and Dr. Plateman spent quite a bit of time checking Tootsie out--heart, lungs, intestines, temperature, teeth, abdomen, bottom--the works.  Her conclusion?  Tootsie's a little worn out from having seven kits!  She recommended some herbal supplement--I can't remember the name of it now (it's all the way in the kitchen, and I am dressed for bed).  If Tootsie's not looking much better in a week, then we should consider some lab work or cultures, but not yet. 

And the kits?  They are definitely just weaning.  And they can have some of the supplement, too. 

Told you so.  But it was good to hear it from Dr. Plateman.