As a direct result of our supporters 68 rabbits and rodents have already found the help and support they needed in the first quarter of 2021. Our supporters are the only reason we've been able to help all of these animals. Nibbles wouldn't be here without our animal heroes making a small monthly pledge towards our running costs. Over the last 3 months it's cost well over £5,000 to keep the rescue open, and we will have another large vet bill to pay at the end of April, on top of our running costs. To continue to offer rabbits and rodents with the care, attention and veterinary treatment they need, we urgently need wonderful people, like you, to join our animal heroes and sign up to make a small monthly pledge today. It's through your support that we are able to help rabbits and rodents when they need it the most.
Here's a little about some of the rabbits and rodents our supporters have helped over the last 3 months…..
Honey, Violet, Arthur and Merlin were the first rabbits to join us this year. They came to us via a rabbit rescue network after being left in a shed which had become overrun with wild rats. Thankfully, all 4 arrived in good health, but they all required neutering and vaccination before they could look for new homes. They were very nervous on arrival, obviously not having been used to human contact or seeing the outside world and activity around them. It took a little while for them to settle but they soon realised that our welfare team and volunteers were friends and most importantly had treats! Honey and Violet have already been snapped up, to find a wonderful forever home as free range house rabbits and our lovely Arthur is also reserved, to be collected once his hormones have settled post neutering. He's off to meet a lovely lady bunny and we have everything crossed that love will blossom and he'll find his very own hoppily ever after as a free range house rabbit too. This just leaves the sweet little Merlin still on the hunt for his new family.
In February we received a message regarding a group of mixed sex mice urgently in need of help. These little guys had been saved from being fed to a ferret, but were now stranded and living in a small wooden box. Knowing just how serious this situation was, we made the 6 hour round trip to collect them
from Pontypool and get them to the safety of Nibbles. There were 38 in total, but sadly one passed away on the first night as we were simply too late to help her. All of the mice were suffering from a respiratory infection and many of the males had horrible injuries from continual fighting. They all needed a trip to the vet and a course of antibiotics. Sadly, we lost another 2 over the first few days, but the remaining mice continued to improve and respond to the antibiotics. We've had a total of 17 babies born at Nibbles and a total of 29 have been transferred to other rescues via Animal Lifeline UK. The 23 remaining with us are all doing really well and we are getting the males booked in for neutering. So far 3 have been neutered with another 5 waiting for their turn. Once the boys have recovered and given time for their hormones to settle, we will group them back together in a large cage and start looking for homes in pairs or small groups. Mice may not be everyone's cup of tea, but they still deserve our help when needed. This has been a huge rescue effort and lots of little lives have been saved because of our wonderful supporters.
March saw the arrival of 10 further rabbits, 7 of which came from a single household. Of these 7, 5 arrived needing urgent veterinary attention; 4 requiring emergency dental work and the 5th needing investigation into why she was limping. Had these rabbits waited any longer, there would likely have been a very different story to tell. Lindy arrived seriously underweight and the cause was obvious! Georgie was also suffering and eating was becoming more and more difficult for her. Both of these girls have a misalignment of their incisors, preventing them from meeting and wearing themselves down, as a result they continued to grow. They have both had their incisors trimmed down to allow them to gain sufficient weight to undergo the much longer procedure of having their incisors removed permanently. Both girls are now eating without difficulty and have been transformed from depressed and shut down to happy, active and full of binkies. Most importantly they are putting on the grams ready for their next op.
Jack and Tim both required dental treatment to remove spurs from their cheek teeth. These were some of the worst spurs our vet had ever seen and had actually grown up into their cheeks, creating little pockets. Jack has recovered really well but sadly this hasn't been the case with Tim. Although initially he came round well from the anaesthesia and ate and pooped on Wednesday night, by Thursday afternoon he had completely crashed and was rushed back into the vet where he was placed on a drip overnight. At the time of writing he still isn't eating by himself and therefore on syringe feeds throughout the day and night. While there has been some improvement, he isn't out of the woods yet and it's still very touch and go. Thankfully he is taking the syringe feeds very well and there is gut activity, so we remain cautiously hopeful for a positive outcome. Jack also arrived with an eye infection and we are pleased to say that he's responded really well to treatment and his eye has greatly improved.
Katie has had x-rays to investigate her limp and the strange angle at which she held her right hind leg. The x-rays have shown a partial hip dysplasia, which the vet believes is the result of a trauma. There are already arthritic changes to the joint, meaning that this wasn't a recent injury. The next step for her is a specialist consultation to discuss the best way to manage her condition going forward.
It has been an incredibly heart-breaking and distressing experience for all of the Nibbles team to have so many bunnies arrive in such pain and discomfort. We are doing everything we can to get these buns the help they urgently needed and turn their lives around. We are keeping everything crossed that Tim turns a corner and starts to eat by himself in the next 48 hours. It is only through your support that we are able to do this and we can't thank our animal heroes enough for allowing us to help not only these bunnies, but all the animals we've been able to help to date. Together, lots of little lives have changed and lots of bright and happy futures created.
You can change the world for the next rabbit or rodent urgently in need of help by quickly and easily signing up to make a small monthly pledge via Direct Debit, PayPal Subscription, or Standing Order. So please join our animal heroes today, because your support is vital for rabbits like Lindy and mice like Bobo. Together we can change their lives and give them bright and happy futures and put the binky back in there hop.... Here's Lindy the day after her dental, showing just how grateful she is for your support
Thank You!