Blog
Welcome to the newest page of our website which will keep you upto date with the animals coming in to EMOR and will let you watch as they recuperate and progress towards being ready to begin looking for loving new homes.
Monday 29th June - Zeb visits the vet
Zeb, the bald zebra finch, visited the vet today so that he could begin a course of Ivermectin for the treatment of scaly face. Scaly face is a term used for an infestation of Knemidokoptes pilae mites, which are invisible to the naked eye. These mites most commonly occur on budgerigars and can be found around the cere, beak, eyes, vent and on the legs. Birds infected with Knemidokoptes pilae mites experience severe itching and become restless and if left untreated it may result in permanent disfigurement. Because Zeb is so tiny he only requires one drop of Ivermectin onto the back of his neck once a week. We will keep you posted on his progress.
Sunday 28th June - Rabbit rescue
Having received a phone call about five abandoned rabbits, this evening we headed to a local allotment to see what we could do to help. We found five beautiful rabbits being kept in filthy hutches that had been dumped with them so we set about health checking them all and clipping their claws before turning our attention to their accommodation. The hutches were absolutely filthy and crawling with flies and bugs - even maggots were found in one of the hutches. It was nothing short of a miracle that the rabbits were still in reasonably good health and not suffering from fly strike after being kept in such conditions. It was decided that three of the rabbits were to come away with us and two to be kept by the people that had found them. Having put all of the rabbits safely in to runs, we started on the mission of cleaning out the hutches as we would not have been happy putting any animal back into those conditions. It took us several hours, lots of scrubbing and quantities of hibiscrub but eventually the hutches were bug free and in a habitable condition.
The two rabbits that we were leaving behind were treated with a fly repellent spray designed to prevent flystrike, before returning to their now clean hutches. The three rabbits that were coming away with us were carefully transferred into pet carriers before being transported to another sanctuary where they will be vaccinated, neutered and then rehomed.
It is always important to keep any animal in clean and comfortable surroundings and for rabbits a thorough clean out is required once-twice a week, while smaller 'spot' cleans should be done twice a day. This is so important for preserving the good health of your rabbit, and for rabbits living in hutches this is particularly vital. By the nature of hutch design, outdoor rabbits have limited ventilation allowing smells, which can burn a rabbits respiratory tract and very quickly attract flies, to build up easily. Wood is also extremely absorbant meaning that if a hutch is not cleaned out often enough it will absorb urine, become permeated with the smell and eventually rot. Hutches are also virtually impossible to sterilise so thorough, frequent cleaning is needed to prevent a build up of bacteria.
The two rabbits that we were leaving behind were treated with a fly repellent spray designed to prevent flystrike, before returning to their now clean hutches. The three rabbits that were coming away with us were carefully transferred into pet carriers before being transported to another sanctuary where they will be vaccinated, neutered and then rehomed.
It is always important to keep any animal in clean and comfortable surroundings and for rabbits a thorough clean out is required once-twice a week, while smaller 'spot' cleans should be done twice a day. This is so important for preserving the good health of your rabbit, and for rabbits living in hutches this is particularly vital. By the nature of hutch design, outdoor rabbits have limited ventilation allowing smells, which can burn a rabbits respiratory tract and very quickly attract flies, to build up easily. Wood is also extremely absorbant meaning that if a hutch is not cleaned out often enough it will absorb urine, become permeated with the smell and eventually rot. Hutches are also virtually impossible to sterilise so thorough, frequent cleaning is needed to prevent a build up of bacteria.
Monday 22nd June - Lots of good news and, once again, Rosie is being a little tinker
Snowdrops treatment of his sore finishes today. He has made great progress with the wound healing wonderfully. He has settled in to his foster home really well and is enjoying having access to an outdoor run. Snowdrop will soon be ready to be vaccinated and then he will be looking for a new home!
Archie, the lovely heinz 57 who was found abandoned in a city park, has found a new home! Archies foster family have fallen in love with him and have now decided that they would like to offer him a permanent home. This is fantastic news and we are so pleased that Archie will be staying in the home where he has been spoilt rotten! Archie has also been upgraded from the large indoor cage that he was being fostered with into a huge two storey bunny mansion! This is ideal accommodation for a rabbit of Archies size and we are sure that he will be very happy in his new home.
Rosie was collected from the vets this afternoon now complete with three layers of stitches to prevent her from opening the wound again. However, within a few minutes of arriving back at EMOR she was already pulling at her stitches again, so it was a quick trip to the vets again to have her fitted with a tiny buster collar which will keep her from damaging the wound while it heals.
Archie, the lovely heinz 57 who was found abandoned in a city park, has found a new home! Archies foster family have fallen in love with him and have now decided that they would like to offer him a permanent home. This is fantastic news and we are so pleased that Archie will be staying in the home where he has been spoilt rotten! Archie has also been upgraded from the large indoor cage that he was being fostered with into a huge two storey bunny mansion! This is ideal accommodation for a rabbit of Archies size and we are sure that he will be very happy in his new home.
Rosie was collected from the vets this afternoon now complete with three layers of stitches to prevent her from opening the wound again. However, within a few minutes of arriving back at EMOR she was already pulling at her stitches again, so it was a quick trip to the vets again to have her fitted with a tiny buster collar which will keep her from damaging the wound while it heals.
Sunday 21st June - Rosie is a little tinker and a new arrival
Today, in the space of a couple of hours, Rosie managed to pull out all of her stitches! Obviously having such a large open wound is extremely dangerous as the risk of infection is so high. We rushed Rosie to the out of hours emergency vet where they admitted her and kept her overnight to be operated on again in the morning. It was extremely important for her to be transferred to an entirely sterile facility as quickly as possible as the depth of a surgical wound is such that any infection could quickly become life threatening.
This evening we had a beautiful young budgie brought in who had been found flying loose. The people who brought him in had taken very good care of him while they tried to find his owner but unfortunately they had no success. The little boy only appears to be around 3-4 months old and is very friendly and chirpy. As he has been ringed by his breeder we are hopeful that we will be able to track down his owner who we are sure must be missing him greatly. For the time being this lovely little guy is being looked after by Lisa and her family who are also taking care of Dennis.
This evening we had a beautiful young budgie brought in who had been found flying loose. The people who brought him in had taken very good care of him while they tried to find his owner but unfortunately they had no success. The little boy only appears to be around 3-4 months old and is very friendly and chirpy. As he has been ringed by his breeder we are hopeful that we will be able to track down his owner who we are sure must be missing him greatly. For the time being this lovely little guy is being looked after by Lisa and her family who are also taking care of Dennis.
Thursday 18th June - Rosie is neutered
Rosie visited the vets today to be neutered. She came round well from the anaesthetic and although a little drowsy we are pleased as she is eating and drinking already. It is important to have rabbits neutered to prevent unexpected new arrivals and to enable them to live together more peacefully, however it is essential for the long term health of female rabbits as uterine and ovarian cancers are common - 60% of unspayed female rabbits over the age of 6 will develop uterine and/or ovarian cancer.
Spaying of female animals is an invasive and stressful procedure and so it is extremely important to limit activity for upto two weeks afterwards depending on their rate of recovery. When returning home from the vets it is best to keep neutered animals indoors in a quiet room where you can closely monitor their progress and ensure that they will not be exposed to any extremes of temperature or weather. We keep our neutered rabbits on fresh towels that are changed frequently to ensure that the wound stays clean and initially hay is provided in a hay rack or ball and shredded tissue bedding is provided in their nesting area to make sure that the healing skin will be kept free from irritation.
Spaying of female animals is an invasive and stressful procedure and so it is extremely important to limit activity for upto two weeks afterwards depending on their rate of recovery. When returning home from the vets it is best to keep neutered animals indoors in a quiet room where you can closely monitor their progress and ensure that they will not be exposed to any extremes of temperature or weather. We keep our neutered rabbits on fresh towels that are changed frequently to ensure that the wound stays clean and initially hay is provided in a hay rack or ball and shredded tissue bedding is provided in their nesting area to make sure that the healing skin will be kept free from irritation.
Sunday 14th June - Kobe is introduced to the great outdoors!
As the weather has been so lovely this weekend we decided to introduce Kobe, our leopard tortoise, to the great outdoors and let him enjoy the sunshine. This is most likely the first time he has ever been allowed to venture out of doors and so understandably he was at first a little nervous and stayed very close to us for reasurance, but it didn't take long for him to overcome his nerves and start exploring! Kobe had a great time wandering around the garden and foraging for weeds and clover in amongst the grass.
Saturday 13th June - Snowdrop takes a trip to the vets
Snowdrop visited the vets this morning so that we can start to treat his sore and have his teeth and toe examined. It appears that Snowdrops toe is not broken, however due to an untreated injury the ligaments have snapped, bunched up and hardened. As a result, Snowdrop has a hard lump around one of his joints and his toe is held at a peculiar angle. As this is the result of an old injury and fortunately Snowdrop is in no pain with it, there is no treatment required for this.
After examining the inside of Snowdrops mouth he was found to have burrs on his teeth which are irritating his cheek lining and causing him to drool. This is quite common in rabbits that are being fed on a diet lacking in roughage as when they eat they do not wear down their teeth. By changing Snowdrops diet to include a much higher percentage of hay he should begin to gradually wear these burrs down.
Snowdrop has been prescribed Fuciderm for his sore. A small amount of this has to be rubbed into the affected area twice a day for seven days. We will have to be extremely fastidious in keeping Snowdrops hutch immaculately clean and will be on permanent look out for flies as at this time of year instances of fly strike in rabbits are extremely common, especially in individuals with messy bottoms or open wounds like Snowdrop. At this time of year especially it is really important to clean out any soiled wood shavings twice a day so as to keep from encouraging flies into the hutch. Outdoor rabbits,especially large lops like Snowdrop, often fall victim to fly strike during warmer weather and so it is extremely important to keep their hutch as clean as possible, to check for the presence of flies regularly and to examine your rabbit for signs of fly strike everyday. When checking Snowdrop we ensure that his bottom is both dry and clean, as a wet or dirty bottom will attract flies, and look around his bottom for any sign of flies eggs within the fur. If you ever find flies eggs on your rabbit it is important to get them to a vet immediately. It is possible to treat your rabbit with a repellent spray which discourages flies from landing on them. If you have an outdoor rabbit we would very much recommend treating them. The sprays are available from your vets and from most pet shops. Always buy a good quality spray and carefully follow the recommended dosages.
After examining the inside of Snowdrops mouth he was found to have burrs on his teeth which are irritating his cheek lining and causing him to drool. This is quite common in rabbits that are being fed on a diet lacking in roughage as when they eat they do not wear down their teeth. By changing Snowdrops diet to include a much higher percentage of hay he should begin to gradually wear these burrs down.
Snowdrop has been prescribed Fuciderm for his sore. A small amount of this has to be rubbed into the affected area twice a day for seven days. We will have to be extremely fastidious in keeping Snowdrops hutch immaculately clean and will be on permanent look out for flies as at this time of year instances of fly strike in rabbits are extremely common, especially in individuals with messy bottoms or open wounds like Snowdrop. At this time of year especially it is really important to clean out any soiled wood shavings twice a day so as to keep from encouraging flies into the hutch. Outdoor rabbits,especially large lops like Snowdrop, often fall victim to fly strike during warmer weather and so it is extremely important to keep their hutch as clean as possible, to check for the presence of flies regularly and to examine your rabbit for signs of fly strike everyday. When checking Snowdrop we ensure that his bottom is both dry and clean, as a wet or dirty bottom will attract flies, and look around his bottom for any sign of flies eggs within the fur. If you ever find flies eggs on your rabbit it is important to get them to a vet immediately. It is possible to treat your rabbit with a repellent spray which discourages flies from landing on them. If you have an outdoor rabbit we would very much recommend treating them. The sprays are available from your vets and from most pet shops. Always buy a good quality spray and carefully follow the recommended dosages.
Here you can see a picture of the rabbit feed that Snowdrop was being fed on; his poor diet has caused the burrs on his teeth. The bright colours show that it is full of unnecessary man-made additives, which are not good for your rabbit. Muesli is not the best thing to feed rabbits and guinea pigs on as it enables them to pick out their favourite bits (like sunflower seeds) and leave the bits that they don’t like so much. This means that they end up getting an unbalanced diet that is often too high in fat. A good quality pelleted feed (see photo below) is much better as they can’t pick and choose what to eat and they tend to be of a better quality and have a higher vitamin and mineral content. We will begin to mix a small amount of pelleted food in with Snowdrops muesli and then build the quantity of pellets up over a period of ten days. This will give him a couple of days to settle in before his food changes and by changing it gradually we can avoid upsetting his stomach.
At EMOR we feed our rabbits a small handful of pelleted food a day and the rest of their diet is made up of hay and fresh veg. A rabbits diet should be 10% dry food, 60% hay and 30% veg, so our rabbits receive a handful of dried food and a portion of veggies in the morning which they eat pretty much straight away and they are left with a plentiful supply of hay to last them all day. In the evening they receive another portion of veggies and a top up on their hay. It is important that rabbits always have a plentiful supply of fresh hay available to them as they have an extremely fast metabolism and need constant access to food; the fibre is essential for their digestive system to function effectively; and hay is very good for their teeth, helping to keep them in good condition.
At EMOR we feed our rabbits a small handful of pelleted food a day and the rest of their diet is made up of hay and fresh veg. A rabbits diet should be 10% dry food, 60% hay and 30% veg, so our rabbits receive a handful of dried food and a portion of veggies in the morning which they eat pretty much straight away and they are left with a plentiful supply of hay to last them all day. In the evening they receive another portion of veggies and a top up on their hay. It is important that rabbits always have a plentiful supply of fresh hay available to them as they have an extremely fast metabolism and need constant access to food; the fibre is essential for their digestive system to function effectively; and hay is very good for their teeth, helping to keep them in good condition.
Friday 12th June - The arrival of Snowdrop
This evening brought Snowdrop, a very large dwarf lop, to EMOR. Snowdrops story is quite a sad one. He is six years old and came from an animal sanctuary when he was a baby, only to end up at EMOR later on in life now that his owners have grown up and are no longer able to give him the time that he needs. After admitting Snowdrop we set about giving him a thorough health check and found several worrying things. On removing Snowdrop from his box we found that the entire back third of his body was very matted and stained with urine and on turning Snowdrop over we could see that his bottom was very dirty and caked with faeces. We found Snowdrops claws to be very overgrown, he appears to have a broken toe and the fur around his mouth and beneath his chin was very wet - typically a sign of dental problems caused by an inadequate diet. We set to work cutting Snowdrops claws and clipping away his patches of dirty and matted fur, only to find that beneath his tangle of fur he had an open sore that had gone unnoticed and was full of dirt and fur. We managed to clean the area of debris before bathing it, so by the end of the evening poor Snowdrop was feeling quite sorry for himself but he stayed so calm and sweet natured throughout. After being cleaned up Snowdrop made a short trip to his new foster home with Debbie and her family where he will be very well looked after and thoroughly spoilt.
Thursday 4th June - Very sad news
We were all extremely saddened this morning to find that Albert, the injured budgie who came into EMOR last week, had passed away during the night. Despite a promising initial response to antibiotics and the special care that he was receiving, it seems that the infection was too established for him to recover. We are very sorry to have lost Albert so early on as we were very hopeful that he would make a recovery.
Wednesday 3rd June - Rehoming and a new intake
We're very happy to say that one of our Chinese hamsters, Winko Wavy Whiskers (to use his full name!), has found a lovely new home! This evening we took him to his new home with Sarah where we hope he will be very happy. We would like to say a big thank you to our junior foster carers, Max and Mia, for taking such good care of Winko while he was looking for a new home and we very much hope that Winkos five brothers will find homes as nice as he has.
This afternoon we welcomed a new guest to EMOR - Kobe the tortoise. Kobe will be a long term resident here and we look forward to keeping you posted on his progress.
Tuesday 2nd June - A trip to the vets
Oscar and George both visited the vet today to be neutered. Their operations went really well and although they were a little dozy when arriving back home at EMOR they are both now making a good recovery.
Here at EMOR we ensure that all of our rabbits are neutered before being rehomed because, as well as being beneficial to the rabbits long term health, there are so many rabbits in sanctuaries like ours waiting for loving homes that we must ensure that we do not add to this ever growing problem. We would not want to find in the future that the babies of one of our rabbits are unwanted, unloved and back with us trying to find a new home.
Here at EMOR we ensure that all of our rabbits are neutered before being rehomed because, as well as being beneficial to the rabbits long term health, there are so many rabbits in sanctuaries like ours waiting for loving homes that we must ensure that we do not add to this ever growing problem. We would not want to find in the future that the babies of one of our rabbits are unwanted, unloved and back with us trying to find a new home.
Rosie also visited the vet today for her VHD vaccination. All pet rabbits should be vaccinated annually against both myxomatosis and viral haemorrhagic disease, and twice yearly against myxomatosis if you live in a high risk area. Both outdoor rabbits and house rabbits are susceptible to these diseasesas as they are not only spread through direct contact with an infected individual but also through insect bites (myxomatosis) and contact with contaminated objects (VHD). An information sheet on these diseases will be available online shortly but if you would like any more information in the mean time, please contact your local vets practice who will be happy to help.
Friday 29th - New intakes
This week we have had three birds released to us by a small Midlands based pet shop. We had been watching the progress of a feather pecked male zebra finch for some weeks and on us making a second request for him to be released to us for treatment, the petshop agreed. He had been moved from the main cage to a small cage by himself where he sat huddled up with his eyes closed looking very sorry for himself. After being bullied by the canary that he was sharing a cage with his head is completely bold except for a little patch of brown feathers on each cheek. In response to the repeated peckings that he had been subjected to, his head has built up layers of scabs and thickened, crusty skin so we may find that the feather follicles have recieved permaent damage and his feathers may not regrow.
After being checked over by a vet and being found to be in otherwise good general health the finch, now named Zeb, will be having Echinacea to boost his immune system and grape seed extract, to improve his skin condition and aid the regrowth of his feathers, added to his water on a daily basis. Zebs diet is changing to a good quality finch seed and is supplemented with fresh veg and a millet spray as a tasty treat. Never having seen veggies before it will take Zeb a little while to work out what to do with it but we're confident that he won't be able to resist grated carrot, diced cucumber and shredded lettuce for long!
Zeb is settling in really well and is proving himself to be a proper little character. He is very inquisitive and curious and always wants to know what is going on around him.
After being checked over by a vet and being found to be in otherwise good general health the finch, now named Zeb, will be having Echinacea to boost his immune system and grape seed extract, to improve his skin condition and aid the regrowth of his feathers, added to his water on a daily basis. Zebs diet is changing to a good quality finch seed and is supplemented with fresh veg and a millet spray as a tasty treat. Never having seen veggies before it will take Zeb a little while to work out what to do with it but we're confident that he won't be able to resist grated carrot, diced cucumber and shredded lettuce for long!
Zeb is settling in really well and is proving himself to be a proper little character. He is very inquisitive and curious and always wants to know what is going on around him.
While collecting Zeb from the pet shop we were told that they had two budgies that we could also take. We took Zeb home, settled him in and set up a cage for the budgies before returning to collect them the next day. The first budgie is a beautiful healthy male of four years old, now named Dennis, however the second budgie was in a very sorry state. His right eye is very swollen and infected leaving him blind on that side. Due to the swelling it is difficult to tell what the cause of the problem is so he has been prescribed a course of antibiotics to be given orally twice a day and once the infection is under control hopefully we will be able to diagnose the origin of the complaint and determine how we can treat it. Despite being in obvious pain, Albert as he is now known, is eating and drinking well and so we are hopeful that he will make a recovery although we will not know the extent of the damage to his eye for some time. Albert is a gorgeous boy and is a beautiful blue and white budgie.
Dennis is a very healthy, handsome male and has gone to a loving foster home where he has settled in really well and is enjoying being thoroughly spoilt while he looks for a permanent home.
