Pepper here is a beautiful Tan breed rabbit that came to the shelter back in December 2021. She was found outside and someone caught her and brought her to the shelter. Little did we know what kind of journey she would take us on.
After being at the shelter for almost a month, was spayed, the volunteers and I just felt like something was off. Since she's at a shelter it's hard to observe her 24/7 and the shelter workers never provided any care for the rabbits. Every day we had 2 or more volunteers care for the rabbits.
We noticed after being fixed that she was still not peeing in her litterbox, pooping EVERYWHERE, and when you picked her up she would pee on you. She would wasn't hopping with her back legs, for like a waddle (moving one leg than the other.) Her urine was thick, white, and had a milky consistency. One day the team at the shelter saw zero pee, she could not pee without being picked up! And instantly thought red flag and called the vet. I drove her to the rescue's vet, raised money since the shelter only pays for spays and neuters. She spent a few hours there and had spent a few days with a volunteer until she can get her back to the shelter.
The vet concluded that she has bladder sludge, to change from the oxbow pellets to Sherwood pellets as well as daily urinary tablet supplements from Sherwood. For veggies to give veggies that are low in calcium. To increase her water intake by adding fruit to the water to encourage more drinking and we may have to expel her bladder if we notice no pee. Also, check her groin area to ensure she doesn't get urine stains or to turn to urine scald. (Check post on Bladder Sludge.)
The volunteers became even more concerend about her gait. My thought was please not E.C, I asked if the volunteers just to observe her movement, as well as her poops, appeared to be cecal dysbiosis. Well, she began to wobble more so we brought her back to the vet. The prognosis was that her X-rays were clear and suspected a healed over spine fracture. She tends to favor one side due to this. This also causes more pressure on her bladder. Pepper also has megacolon. ( More info on our post about Megacolon).
So Pepper is now a special needs bun. Her balance began to become even worse, slowly losing use of both her back legs. Volunteers expelled her bladder every day, every few days a butt bath, and extra cushion in her pen to provide comfort. A volunteer decided to adopt Pepper, as the shelter was not the place for her, especially with all her needs.
She now has an amazing home, a wheelchair, and is very loved. She still isn't fond of moving around in her wheelchair, but she loves to clean herself as the wheelchair allows her to keep her balance. Being in the wheel chair relieves pressure off of her back legs.
Her diet has changed since the shelter. She is on Sherwood Pellets and urinary support tablets, no veggies, and her treat options are extremely limited. The treats she was getting her bun mom was not thrilled with the ingredients, as it had sugars. Both Brittany and I have a mega soft spot for Pepper and wanted to create a treat for her, creating our Pepper BUNdle! Her treats (Pepper Mint Patties) are beyond small so she can get spoiled! Made with ingredients for her megacolon and bladder sludge needs. For her forage (UR-INe Love) has herbs and flowers that focus on urinary health, digestive help and pain relief.
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