What a relief! I’m finally back out in my normal spot in the living room. And…breathing is a lot easier! It’s been quite the morning, and an interesting few days at that. They’ve been exhausting, so I’m going to let you know what’s been going on then try rest up. Mama will probably do something weird again soon. I’ve just come from her bathroom. She moved my condo in there and I had to endure the loud, steamy conditions while she showered “to help me breathe.” Now I have to admit, I can actually breathe better, so I guess the trauma was worth it. I may have eventually gotten used to the water noise (she was in there forever), but she wouldn’t shut up (“How we doing, Bun-Bun?…I love you…Is the steam helping?…”), so I just laid there in a loaf position in my condo, trying (and failing) to relax.
So, I’ve developed this annoying whistling sound when I breathe. At first it wasn’t very often, and I’d occasionally sneeze, and Mama would come flapping over to me fussing, but I’d show her how I was fine and we left it at that. Well, the whistling started getting worse, and I started coughing once in a while. In the meantime Mama and Little Girl really whipped the house into shape. It’s been really clean, and we’ve had people coming over every week. Since Mama properly instructs everyone that my condo is my domain, we’ve had no problems, and I’ve even come out to visit with some of our guests (much to their delight, of course).
Recently I began to not feel great, and wasn’t as social as I usually am. Then I started coughing more like once a day, and it wasn’t just a little cough. Mama wasn’t sure the loud noise was me on Thursday. When she came over to check, I was innocently (and quietly) laying in my condo. But on Friday Big Rabbit was on the couch when I coughed and he was concerned enough to call Mama while she was out grocery shopping. I did get quite a lot of attention when she got home. She kept saying to Big Rabbit that she’s been concerned, but her research said I should have a runny nose or watery eyes (gross!) if I had an infection, and if it was something to do with my teeth, it would affect my eating. Affect my eating? What an awful thing to say. I’d be much grumpier if I wasn’t eating.
Saturday came and I unfortunately coughed once in front of Mama and that was it. She got a hold of a friend who’s a vet (but not an exotic vet – I’m exotic, you know), then she tracked down friends from church that have bunnies and got the number of a vet to… take me to.
While I didn’t care for the suddenness of being scooped up, put in my carrier, and driven somewhere with no notice, it was interesting to ride on Mama’s lap, and get such a good view of Big Rabbit driving. Mama babbled at me, telling me to be a good bunny and to not hate her.
We arrived in the rain, but Little Girl let me borrow her rain coat (she’s the best), and Mama draped it over my carrier for the walk to the building. I’ve never been to a vet before. The picture below is of me about to be taken out of my carrier and weighed. Mama’s always said I’m two and a half pounds. Well, I’m here to tell you I’m not. I’m a whopping three pounds, two ounces! Oh yeah!
I was very apprehensive. I could hear meowing, barking, and bleeting. If the predators got loose I hoped they’d go for the sheep. To my surprise, the visit really wasn’t that bad. I wouldn’t volunteer to do it again, but the two ladies that looked at me were pretty nice, and Mama stayed right by my side, praising me constantly. It also pleased me that Big Rabbit and Little Girl were right there, too, sitting on a bench in my own personal exam room. It was clear this was all about me. The worst part was when the doctor stuck something in my mouth! I chomped on that thing, trying to break it in two, but she kept moving it around on me. There were chuckles from the bench, and afterward Little Girl asked the doctor if she could see the bite marks I left on the probe. She cracked up when she saw it, and I always love hearing Little Girl laugh, so I relaxed some.
Soon I was returned to my carrier and the doctor said I have a healthy heart, lungs and mouth. She called my whistling “wheezing”, and said she thinks I have allergies or asthma, and that while Mama should keep cleaning, she needs to separate me from the cleaning smells until they’re gone. That didn’t sound so bad. The vet said Mama could give me a slice of pineapple or papaya to help my cough, and that a lot of rabbits love it as a special treat. That sounded intriguing. And the last piece of advice – put me in the bathroom when showers are happening so I can breathe in the steam. Hmmm.
It’s been weird being moved all over the house, especially several different times a day, but I don’t miss the cleaning smells. I like the house being clean, but it’s more fun to have it just magically get cleaned. I go away, and when I return, boom! Clean.
As I said before, the whole shower situation isn’t exactly relaxing, but it is great being able to breathe easier again. I’m hoping with being removed from the cleaning smells that I won’t be forever sentenced to the shower scene. I love Mama, but sometimes she talks too much.
The pineapple was the biggest disappointment. Big Rabbit even stopped on the way home to pick it up. Little Girl was excited we’d be buying pineapple every week for me, and Mama told her she could have the rest since I only get a slice. Well, she can have it all. I was greatly offended that that was being offered as a treat! It was slimy, sticky, and smelled disgusting! I wouldn’t touch it! When Mama tried again I gave her bunny butt and ran away. I was pleased she gave up and washed that stink out of my food bowl.
Now, time for me to rest – doctor’s orders.
