The Bunnies had their annual checkup with Dr. Davis, who is the best rabbit vet I have ever met. When I told her about Lola's weeping eyes, she suggested it could be tooth problems, and felt under her jaw.
"Yeah, it feels a little rough under here," she said.
"What does that mean?" I asked.
"I'm going to check her teeth. They may need trimming."
Dr. Davis works on the rabbits by making what she calls a "bunny burrito," wrapping them snugly in a towel with just their head showing.
When she returned, she confirmed that Lola had had some points, including one that was digging into her cheek. She'd also trimmed her nails, which is good because my attempts usually result in a transformation into The Amazing Twelve-Legged Kicking Rabbit. My sad technique is to sneak up on her while she's eating and snag as many toes as possible before she clues in and hurtles away.
"I'd like her to come back once a month for now to keep an eye on her teeth. Their teeth keep growing, as you know, and if they overgrow to the point where there's an infection in the jaw, that's bad. You can't really do anything about it, the infection doesn't go away, and you're pretty much looking at euthanasia. I'd like to be overly cautious for now."
I wasn't going to argue. "Euthansia" isn't a word anyone likes to hear when talking about their pet.
She also old me that chewing hay was the preventative, that they don't need to be fed pellets, and I should stop the pellets to encourage even more hay-chewing.
I wasn't aware of this. I wasn't aware that pellets aren't recommended for pet rabbits. I felt like an idiot, but on the bright side, this changes my life. This means petsitters need only come by once a day, saving me huge money on their services when I go away. Never have I gone to the vet and come away thinking about the money I'd save!
She put Lola in front of the carrier. Lola hopped in and rendered her opinion of it all by raising her tail and letting loose a stream of urine. Rudy, sitting next to this, gave me A Look. He is bonded to her for life and I know he adores her, but at times like this I get an impression of Niles Crane married to Courtney Love. Lola is not what you'd call delicate; if she were human she'd be a trash-talking, Vantage-smoking truckstop waitress. Fortunately, I had foreseen something like this and had put material in the bottom of the carrier.
Rudy was next; he gets bloodwork done, and he gave me a resigned stare of doom as his burrito'd self was carried through the rear door. When he returned he looked grim and stoic, like someone who'd survived a probe during an alien abduction. He'd also gotten a nail trim. He was released from his towel and joined Lola in the carrier.
"My faviorite is the Bunny Finger," Dr. Davis said. "They can't really flip you off, so they just jut out one paw at you."
It's true. They do.
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