Start of blood testing next week!

[farthing]

Well, wish me luck, I start the run of getting all the cats tested for FIV after losing Triger a month ago. Samson and Spice are in on monday, Smudge and Misty-tuesday, Mustard and Sooty-wednesday and Candy-Friday. Pumpkin is getting the op on his left kneecap at the beginning of next month, so he will be blood tested then- he has a lux patella, the right was fixed a year ago when he had his cruciate ligament fixed at the same time.
I suspect a couple will need to be sedated, but we will try them without first, on Friday we also have Kizzy, a rescued rabbit in to have her teeth checked and her left tear duct flushed, so to say this will be a stressful week will be an understatement!

[yola]

Oh good luck! It's probably just as stressful for you as it is for the poor kitties.

[angieh]

Indeed - good luck farthing! Probably more stressful, because you know what's coming up! Hope all the cats' blood tests are OK.

[calismum]

fingers crossed all works out. Do let us know what the results are.

CM

[farthing]

Thanks, well Samson and Spice are negative, which is great news- 2 down another 6 to go!
Not so good, is one of our rabbits has developed an abscess in her mouth, which is not as easy to clear up as in cats. She had an abscess before in her mouth and was on antibiotic injections, every other day for 7 weeks. The biggest worry is that she is off her food, a rabbit off its food,even for a day is serious.
Its just typical, Mike is away today until Wednesday, and if you have to syringe feed a rabbit its much easier with 2!
I wonder why I do this to myself, sometimes.

[calismum]

great about the first two results.

don't know anything about rabbits, but I know their back legs are very poweful and it can be extremely sore if they catch you with the back claws.

good luck

[angieh]

Is there a neighbour that could help you with the rabbit, farthing? I sort of have got the impression, rightly or wrongly that you live in the middle of nowhere???

Very glad about the results for Samson and Spice.

[dandysmom]

Good news about the first tests, may it be so for the others! Fingers and paws crossed here.....

[pinklizzy]

Glad to hear about Spice and Samson, hope the others all get a negative result too.
I hope your bunny recovers quickly from her abscess, what are you syringe-feeding her? We use the awful recovery which looks and smells like pureed grass and is almost impossible to get through a syringe but recently have started giving rabbits baby food! It sounds odd but it's really only pureed apple and pear (anything with banana is a big no no) which we buy in pots from the supermarket and send them home with after dentals etc. They really seem to like it-just as a short-term measure. You can even mix it with the recovery sachets.

[farthing]

Hi pinklizzy, I agree about the science recovery, but we bought a big syringe, used for stomach tubing lambs and it has a bigger nozzle so lets the "food" out. Mind you the rabbits don't seem to enjoy it anyway, I usually rely on dandilion leaves and fibreplex. I have heard of using baby food, but haven't tried it yet. I gave her a wee drop of the recovery, but she wasn't keen, but she was tucking into grated carrots when I left her, hopefully the painkiller is starting to take effect. She is getting betamox injections every second day, luckily I can do them myself. Its such a shame, we got her when she was 4 ( about a year ago) and she had lost her eye to an abscess, we then had to get her front teeth removed as they were misallined. She then developed an abscess in her lower jaw. She's come through all that and been bonded with 2 other bunnies and they all get on brilliantly, its the happiest I've seen her. I really hope we can get her through this.