Seabert
or the story of a special newborn rabbit
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(Lose translation, with the permission of
bunnybunch.nl)
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She is born on July 16, 2008,
her mother is Pip and her father is Kerel 2. Seabert, this name
reminds a seal in an animated televised series of the years 1980... You will soon discover why...
The litter turned out to be one single newborn. This
alone may have consequences for the doe. But in this case, the doe fed and
took care of her newborn too well. The latter grew fast, to the point where
its legs could no longer support her body weight. She was unable to move
around properly. This problem is uncommon. I have raised this breed of
rabbits for 23 years and this is the first time I've observed this. I once
saw a 6 month old rabbit with the same problem, and I cannot consider Seabert's life with this splay-leg handicap without
trying to treat it.
As a
consequence, rather than keep her limbs under her body, they give away and
spay to the side of her body.
When Seabert would find
herself on her back, she could not turn back onto her feet. Neighbors would
regularly check the condition of this little rabbit while I was at work, and
turn her over if she was on her back. In this way many people have been
involved with Seabert. When Seabert tried to hop,
she crawled on the side of her paws with her belly on the floor. I then
contacted my veterinarian to find out what could be done to straighten her
limbs under her body. According to him, it would be very difficult, as it is
impossible to put the limbs of such a young animal in a cast. I then talked about
it to my friend Mireille, who also raises rabbits. What could be done ? During our research, we discovered the splay-leg or
legs spread in hens, and how this could be treated. Here, Seaburt at the worst
time, with her anterior and posterior limbs are spread on the side of the
body.
Here, I have already managed to straighten her hind legs
under her body. The anterior limbs are, however, still oriented towards the
outside.
At
the age of 20 days, Seabert weighed 200 grams
(0.441 pound) !!! Here we can see that these legs
splayed outwards, leading to the development of an eschar.
We
must now act quickly, in the interest of Seabert,
in order to give her the best possible future despite her handicap. At the age
of 3 weeks, her anterior and posterior limbs were tied, in order to force
them back under the body, in their normal position. The young rabbit accepted
this without problems. Every third day, the distance between the limbs was
narrowed. See the
photo:
The
posterior limbs are now properly aligned. Now it's time to treat his front
paws that continue to splay on the sides.
A special bond was created between us. She was
always happy, content, full of joie de vivre, and did not appear bothered by
the treatment. A super nice character, licking my hand right away, and
managing well with her handicap. This encouraged me to fight for her, to try
to reposition her legs as best as possible. Seabert now, at
the age of 5 weeks.
Despite the
rope straps that hold the front limbs, their distance has become larger.
Despite her handicap, Seabert remained content and joyful. She has a real
positive attitude towards life. Meanwhile,
she uses her hind legs and can even stand up !!!
Her
front paws gave more worry. A rope passing around her back connects the ties
attached to her limbs, to hold them in place and not to hinder her movements.
The distance between
the limbs gradually narrowed.
Here, Seabert at the age of 7 weeks. Last attempt to try to
improve the situation. A bandage is used to bring the limbs together under
her body and slowly decrease their distance. In spite of this, she could move
around easily.
The relation with the doe is
excellent.
At the age
of 8 weeks, Seabert remains a very happy rabbit and
there is hope for improvement and a good future...
Pictures showing Seabert speak by themselves.
Seabert can now
live with her handicap and live a happy life as a pet rabbit. She has become a
special rabbit for me. She is now 12 weeks old. Together with her mother Pip.
It was
hard to separate them, but at one point the mother started to get herself over
her little one, but Seabert's limbs did not bear the
weight. I'm very proud of Seabert, and want the
best for her. When she was 12 weeks old, I decided to get her a good home,
because here I have little to offer her in my rabbit herd because of her
disability. And I cannot bear the idea of leaving her alone in a cage. Last week,
a nice person came here to see and adopt a rabbit and take her home. She came
for another rabbit, but when she saw Seabert, she
fell under her spell. She came to this person, tried to get into contact with
her and turned her around. It was all happiness. Adaptations
in the cage and living environment will be required, e.g., a non-slippery
ground, to allow Seabert to move easily. Yet, she
will have a wonderful future, perhaps with a male castrated companion. She
now lives nearby, and I would go see her from time to time. I wanted to share this wonderful story with you,
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