Hops'N'Lops Rabbit Stud

A tribute to the best angora a gal could ever have.....

Watching Lamby being born, and taken care of by her mum for a couple of days, then taking over as foster mum, you tend to get close to the bunny.....

Watching Lamby get kicked by her mum Skye, and flying through the air at 4 days of age......  such a fighter

Watching Lamby every day for three weeks put up with my cleaning out of her absecs and being happy.......  such a fighter

Watching Lamby fight to get her first litter out, and failing.......  such a fighter

Watching Lamby get operated on, a caesarian, and comming out of it slowly......  such a fighter

Watching Lamby recover from her opp, no attitude, just kisses......  such a fighter

Watching paralysis take hold, and my baby not letting the lights dim......  such a fighter

Watching her say goodbye to the world, and going to bunny heaven, if there is such a thing........ 

My baby may be gone, but she will live on in her brothers and sisters...

Her final resting place, beside her mum, at least she will have some company in bunny heaven....

RIP my baby 5th May, 2008, just shy of two years of age.

 

See her full story below

 

 

THE STORY OF MY BEST GIRL, HOPS'N'LOPS LAMB CHOP.......

Hops'N'Lops Lamb Chop, Born 12th May, 2006, to Jessie Lee Skye (REW) and Nemesis Toblerone (Chocolate)

after a nice birth, 10 babies born, Skye put them all nicely in a nest, but after 4 days disaster struck, can only think that one of the babies died in the nest as when i went out to check on her, she was destroying the nest, and chucking babies everywhere.....

Luckily i appear to have come at the right time, as the babies alive, were still warm and fed, very healthy specimens....

The babies all got taken away from mum, and nested in mums wool, that i had plucked earlier....  in a carry cage, left sitting on my bed on the electric blanket to keep them warm, while i went out looking for a heat mat for them..........

Found a heating disc, that you stick in the microwave and put under the babies nest, which kept them toasty and warm for 12 hours a day......  worked really well for them!

every day skye was bought inside and flipped upside down in my arms, and babies attached, and reattached, and reattached for about half and hour a day so they could feed.

The babies...

As their eyes started to open, they realised what they were doing, and managed to stay in one place for more than a couple of minutes at a time.....

Skye being a first time mum seemed ok with this arrangement, except for this one baby that kept walking up on her face, and sitting on her nose (like she was trying to smother her, lol)

Introducing Lamb Chop, the mum wanna be killer, lol!  Skye took exception to this baby on the second feed, and kicked her powerful back legs, and sent babies flying across the room, two went in different directions, and flew through the air about 3 metres and hit the carpet and bounced a few times......  They both survived their ordeal, one of these being lamb chop, the other being neville, who suffered no lasting effects of her flying lesson......

Lamb Chop about 24 hours after learning to fly, came up with a tiny little growth under her chin.......

After popping a hole in it, i noticed this gross looking stuff that looked like toothpaste, coming out, which i later learned was an abscess....

Trip to vets when she was about 12 days old revealed an abscess which vet said they could really treat any better than what i was currently doing, squeezing the muck out and spraying it with debrisol, every morning and night......  they prescribed bactrim, as she was so young, she had a tiny amount each day to fight any infection that might spread inside her system......

Lamb Chop making a run for it at about 10 days of age...

4 weeks later, one nicely healing Lamb Chop  very bonded with me, her new mum.....  she would climb up onto my shoulder and sit their quite happily while i watched tv......

5 untimate survivors after the initial ordeal, Lamb Chop, Choppa Reid, Chop Suey, Pork Chop and Neville all REW's except Neville, who is an agouti.

The babies at about 3-4 weeks of age...

Lamb Chop, Neville and Choppa stayed at Hops'N'Lops, Chop Suey going to Jessie Lee Stud...

Lamb Chop had a happy time after her ordeal as a baby.....  doing well on the show table, having a massive 20 cm coat!!!!  Being a bit of a pig, never getting close enough to that elusive Best in Show.....

 

We come up to breeding time, not working very well, she just didn't take with the bucks she was bred to....

Finally her boyfriend Riccadonna, manages to get the elusive Lamby.....

Not a normal preganancy, Lamby trashed her cage a few times, but made no effort to build a nest, preffering to eat the nesting materials.....

Checking her one day about 2 and a half weeks into her pregnancy, she was hunched up tight, and didn't look like a happy camper....

Picking her up, notice swelling and not nice looking holes very near her private parts......

Bringing her inside to get a better look, its worse than i first thought...... one nice tear just above her private parts and one to the side, near her butt bone.......

first hole size of 20 cent piece, other one a tear with a lot of swelling......

Off to vets for checkup...

Vet gave me antibiotics for her, and said you know what you are doing, just clean it out daily and watch for an abscess forming, as that will cost you $250 in surgery to fix.......

no worries, having been there before, lamby is a very good girl, puts up with everything i have to do.......  such a good girl, even though preggers, grunts at me a bit, but lets me do what needs to be done.....

Her abscess, slowly healing....

So we get to 31 days, get home from work, and no babies......  feeling lamby, pretty sure there are at least 2 babies in there, can feel them moving.....

tried to give her lavender, as have used this with success before, to get the womb going, hoping to bring on labour, as was told by vet not to give her antibiotics until she gives birth....  so want to get her healthy asap....

no go, lamby just lies around, starting to look like a blimp......

after a stressful weekend, with me and lamby having a lot of talks, she still doesn't go into labour...

35 days, Monday 14th January, 2008, call the vets to check they have the drugs to help her, on our way to the vets again......

Lamby gets given oxytocin, to bring on pregnancy, 4 times, yay, finally she is in labour.....

An hour later, vet calls me, says its not working babies wont come out, i bolt back to the vets to talk about options, as if there is one......

Cesarian is the way to go, those babies just wern't going to come out naturally.......

After getting there at 11.30am, surgery commences at 3.00pm....  Maria (from Bunny beauties) to give me moral support and myself watching my baby get cut open to remove her babies......  now i know lamb chop inside and out!!!  bet most people cant say that about their babies........

Sadly the two babies I predicted were dead by this time......

One very groggy Lamb Chop came out of surgery, took her a while to get her body temperature back up, but about 2 hours after, i was allowed to take her home, wrapped tightly in a blanket, she sat, looking smashed of her head, on Maria's lap for the trip home......

As we had a rabbit club meeting that night which we were late for, i couldn't leave her alone, so she came with us for the trip......

she had a drink of water along the way, which is a very good sign, and just sat placidly wrapped like a mummy in her blanket till we got there......

24 hours later the glazed look to her eye was gone, and she was eating celery and other yummy veges, eating a little pellets etc....  but she was on the water, so definitely on the mend.....

I get my revenge though, antibiotics by needle every day! 

So lamby got sewn back up....  check out her new belly look...

Hopefully she will heal ok, 3 days after surgery, she appears to be fine, and is being a very good girl, leaving her stitches alone, even though the vet put them inside as much as possible, hopefully she will leave them alone.......

Here is a piccie of her 3 days after her surgery, back looking happy and healthy, despite her ordeal...

6th Feb, 2008....

The story continues....

Lamb Chop has gone back to the vet today (yes i wrote this straight away!!!  have to share!!!)  to get her 2nd absecs removed.....   I knew she had it, just was putting it off as long as possible after her surgery less than a month ago.....  Ben, great vet that he is, let me hold her through the process...

1st he shaved her butt once again, and pin pricked a hole near her absecs to check that it was what i thought it was....

2nd, he cut a 2cm long cut to get all the puss out......

3rd, Lamby lay there like the trooper she is and let Ben pull and tug the tissue surrounding the absecs and cut it out, all without anesthetic or anything to numb the pain........  My baby must have a very high pain threshold, or she just realises it all for the best in the end

One tough bunny pulled through yet another day in the life of Lamb Chop.......

The vet nurses that were chatting to me while Lamby was being chopped couldn't believe that i was holding her and she was so good.....  they kept checking she was still breathing, and asked me if i wanted a spew bucket, or felt like passing out!!!  Turns out i am pretty tough too, lol!

Lamby has taken it all in her stride, and is happily munching on celery at the moment....

Hows that Visa card add go, something like

Spending

$200, vet bill, Lamby has a absecs

$60, vet bill, Lamby tears herself to pieces

$560, Vet Bill!!!, Lamby has a cesarian.....

$60 vet bill, Lamby gets her second absecs removed

Seeing Lamby up and about after her ordeal.......

Priceless.........

This bill is being framed and will be put on her cage when she makes it back outside, i think i have the most expensive bunny in Australia!!!

For a nearly 2 year old, she has certainly been through a lot!!!  Watch this space for more news on Lamby, the most expensive bunny in Australia!!!!