Throwback: The day a piece of Mabel’s ear fell off

Back in 2016, on a very hot day towards the end of August, Mabel went into stasis. X-rays revealed bloat but no blockage – it was probably a slow-down due to her relentless carpet pulling and heavy moult, exasperated by the hot weather. 

Abdominal X-rays.

During consulation, the vet told us the bloat was severe, and odds of recovery were low, but we were not ready to give up on Mabel, and she was admitted that so intravenous fluids could be administered via a catheter in her ear. 

We visited the next evening to see her, and saw she was clearly bothered by the drip tube. The following evening when we visited, we were upset to find she was wearing an Elizabethan collar. 

Mabel with her bandaged ear and collar.

When questioned about this, the nurse said Mabel had been chewing her drip tube, setting the alarm off at frequent intervals. We said we were concerned that Mabel wouldn’t be able to eat her caecotrophs – the nurse looked blank and said she’d ask someone, and called a more senior nurse; that nurse assured us that Mabel could move freely, eat without any problem, and that rabbits only produced one caecotroph, once a day, in the morning, and that she would manage to eat it because animals usually find a way of doing what they want whilst wearing the collars! 

This experience demonstrated to us the importance of ensuring our rabbits were treated not only by a rabbit-savvy vet but also a rabbit-savvy vet nurse! 

For rabbits, E-collars should only be used when there really is no alternative – and even then, they should be soft collars, not hard plastic ones with a tab which irritates a rabbit’s neck. Collars can cause stress, limit mobility, and are more likely to increase anorexia (see Chapter 3, 3.14, ‘Elizabethan collars’ in Frances Harcourt-Brown’s Textbook of Rabbit Medicine).  

Mabel had already spent three nights at the practice, and the vet advised us to leave her there for longer, as she still hadn’t made a full recovery, but we thought she stood a better chance back home. Also, we hadn’t taken Dijon to be with her for company, and he was missing her – and there was a risk their bond would be broken. 

Thankfully, Mabel soon recovered at home. Her ear was lopped over for a couple of days, but we thought nothing of it… 

Mabel with her limp ear.

…Until a fortnight later: Her ear looked increasingly scabby where the catheter had been inserted, and felt dry, but she wouldn’t keep still enough for me to look closely, so I picked her up to examine it. There was a scar-like line, on the edge, near the base of the ear. I'd barely touched it when an inch long slither of her ear fell into my hand, and then – as I recoiled in horror – to the ground! 

The slither of ear.

It was completely hard. There was no blood, and Mabel showed no sign of pain and didn't even wash her ear when I put her back on the floor. In fact it was Dijon who showed the greater interest, looking as though he was going to eat the piece of ear! 

 

There was no blood.

Mabel was unperturbed.

The piece of ear which fell off was necrotic tissue. It had died because of the drip – the vet said they’d had difficulty finding a vein, and of course we knew Mabel had fought to remove it. It may have meant that some of the fluids weren't even getting into her system, which would explain why she hadn’t made a full recovery, and was extremely thirsty when she returned home. 

Fortunately, Mabel lost no further bits of ear, and continued to look beautiful, even with her modification!

Curtain call

Ebony displaying one of the curtains.

Today was curtain washing day, which always creates a bit of excitement for the bunnies. They like to 'help' to take the curtains down, then make sure the condition of the exposed wall is up to their standards, before assisting with the rehanging of the washed curtains. The video below captures the key moments.

 Watch here for video accompanied by appropriate music!

As the years have gone by – and that’s 27 years, to date – there has been less and less of the curtain material to wash. But why? Moths? Shrinkage? Or could it be due to the occupation of eight houserabbits over those years…

Lupin was our first houserabbit, and came to live in our recently-renovated house in 1998 – she was more interested in chewing the sofa than the curtains, and we were highly protective of our new curtains, so she didn’t have much opportunity to make her mark.  

Lupin admiring the new curtains.

Charlie, our next bunny, joined us in 1999, and showed little interest in curtains – he was more interested in other fabrics. 

Charlie would never harm a curtain...

... but thought the towel looked tasty.

The curtains still had an un-nibbled hemline in 2001, when we adopted Neroli.

Princess Neroli using the curtain to compliment her colour.

... but was she hiding a frayed hemline?

Rosie joined us in 2003, but she was a good girl... well, at least her only interest was in tormenting Neroli, and she had little time for bunstruction.

Rosie showed no interest in the curtains.

By 2009, the hem had mysteriously come unstitched… but Neroli denied the accusations, and there was no hard evidence.

Why are the curtains behind Neroli touching the floor?

When baby bunnies, Mabel and Dijon, came to live in our home (2011), the igloo hide was placed strategically in front of one curtain – with three young children in the house by then, we didn’t always have time to ensure the upholstery remained unscathed.

Mabel and Dijon, always up to no good. 

By 2016, holes were beginning to appear.

Spot the hole in the curtain.

Mabel was chief seamstress, although she preferred to work without spectators.

Mabel taking a break from her work.

Ebony inherited the post of chief seamstress when she became Dijon’s new pawtner in 2018.
Here she is, hard at work, in 2022.

Dijon was usually too busy sleeping or eating to help with the curtain bunstruction project

Dijon contemplating his next snack.

He preferred just to sit behind them in full sun, if they were closed to keep the house cool on a hot day.

Dijon had nothing to do with the new nibbles appearing.

But when Snoop arrived, in 2023, the curtain destruction reached a new level... literally. From the day he was introduced to the living room, he was obsessed (note at this point the right curtain was still mostly floor length, and there was little damage to the left curtain).

He would argue that some of the damage was caused by us, which is true – when we spotted a hole, like the one in this video, which we thought was a risk to the bunnies, we cut through so they couldn’t become trapped.

However, one way or another, the bunnies are entirely responsible for the current curtain design, and they are very proud of their work.

 

And that’s why we still have our 27-year-old curtains.