9:47 a.m. - 2004-06-30
Loki's Arthritis
Ok, all of Loki's buddies can breath a very tentative sigh of relief.
Very, very tentative, because we haven't gotten his blood tests back yet. But he went to see Alvin last night, and it appears that he may have had a shock reaction from pain due to arthritis.
It was a scary visit for me, and I'm sure for Loki as well. As soon as he heard Loki's history, Alvin wanted to draw blood, which meant Loki had to be anesthetised. Rabbits are anesthetised with gas, which is pretty safe as these things go.
I'd never actually seen the process though, and when I wound up back in the procedure room, I suddenly realised why I'm not one of those pet caretakers who insists on being in the surgery room whenever their pet is put under.
You know why? 'Cuz I freak out, that's why!! So not only do the vet and his assistant have to deal with the anesthetised animal, they have to deal with me, freaking out!!
Actually, I managed to stifle the rising tide of panic, as Loki was put into a plastic aquarium with a tight fitting lid. The lid had a hole with a hose connection on it, and the hose connected to the isoflorine dispenser.
A couple of minutes after Alvin turned on the gas, Loki started looking agitated. His eyes bugged out, and he made little jerking movements.
"Is he having seizures?" I asked, trying to keep my voice level.
"No, that's the excitement stage" said the assistant. "They go through a period where they get excitable, because they know something really strange is happening. It's really normal."
Normal, but hard to watch. I looked up at the ceiling, the wall, anywhere except at my little three pound ray of sunshine jerking in the aquarium. A sign above the exam table read, in bold print: "The anesthetised animal is the most important animal in this hospital!!"
Finally Loki's head started to bob and his eyes started to close. "You are getting very sleeeepy! You're eyelids are getting heeeeavier and heeeeavier!!" joked Alvin, wiggling his fingers at Loki as he slowly collapsed forward onto a towel.
They took him out of the aquarium and drew a blood sample from his neck. The assistant wrapped him in a towel and handed him to me, and I put my fingers on his chest to make sure his heart kept beating.
I have to confess, he was cute under anesthesia. He looked like a little Beatrice Potter bunny, all wrapped up in that towel.
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When we got back in the exam room, Alvin sent his assitant to look for Loki's x ray from this past march. Almost immediately after she left we heard a terrible wailing from the next exam room. It was the wail of a woman who is having her heart ripped out.
Alvin slumped in his chair. "We just put her dog to sleep." he mumbled. "It was planned...he was real sick...she had made an appointment....it's still hard....she loved that dog...I hate this part of the job....it's so hard...." he trailed off.
We were silent for a few minutes. The wailing finally died to normal crying sounds.
I put my hand on Alvin's wrist. "I promise when the time comes I'll be a quiet crier." I said. "I won't put you through that."
He suddenly grinned. "Heck, when the time comes for any of your animals, I'm leaving the country!! I don't want to be anywhere near here!!!"
Am I that bad, folks?!! Yes, I know, I'm that bad!! I'll be wailing like a banshee!!
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After looking at Loki's x rays, Alvin realised he did, in fact, have arthritis. At several points along his spine, the vertebrae have started to form spurs. It's possible one of these is causing him enough pain to spark a shock reaction. Rabbits are prey animals, and pain is not something they handle well.
So the little guy is now on some anti-steroidal anti-inflammatory grugs. Just like his mom!! I gave him his dose this morning as I was taking mine!!
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