Hi everyone,

As some may already know, our bunny has been suffering a string of related health issues over the past few weeks. After weeks of intensive care and veterinary bills, we’ve reached a point where we are coming to you humbly to ask for your help in keeping up the fight, and bringing our baby home.

This is Tilly’s story:

It was November 30th, 2019. My husband and I walked around the local SPCA looking at all the adorable rabbits while telling ourselves the biggest lie everyone tells themselves while visiting the rescue; “we’re not looking to adopt.” I walked barely a couple steps into the exotic pet section and there she was, a big white rabbit who grabbed my attention by pressing her head towards the cage bars, wanting nothing but love and affection. As soon as I met her, I knew she chose me and that her days would be filled with all the love and cuddles she wanted.

Since then, she’s been free roaming in our bunny-proofed apartment and often choosing to sleep at the foot of our bed. We discovered she loves running after us for romaine lettuce and pellets. She loves getting cuddles right before flooping over next to us to get belly rubs and stretch her legs out comfortably. She gets excited at the mere sound of me opening her supplement treat jar and will jump into bed with me to get them every morning and at night. Supplement treat time is often followed by cuddles and kisses on the bed for as long as she wants.

But then the nightmare began…

First Hospitalization:

I noticed Tilly wasn't feeling too well. It started with the usual signs of rabbit health issues; eating a bit less, a bit more tired and producing less stools. We had our little rabbit care kit and used Critical Care & gas medication as we have in the past. It seemed to help a little so we waited. Until one day, I noticed Tilly would jump up for the supplement treat she loves… but didn’t want to eat it. Red flag! We took her to the emergency vet for exotic animals where they hospitalized her for the night. By the morning, we had a treatment plan: antibiotics, antacid and force feeding.

Second Hospitalization:

She was very slowly getting better until around 1 week later, we noticed a couple of big ups and downs. Back to the emergency vet we go. It was that night that the vets discovered there was a mistake in the antacid dosage which could have disrupted her digestive system and made her prone to an infection. They stabilized her after 5 nights of hospitalization. She was stressed and tired of being there. So despite her lack of stools, they thought it would be best if she came back home with us to minimize the stress.

Third Hospitalization:

The day she came back home, she was so happy and started looking like her old self again. She still had no interest in the supplement treat but she was eating hay and herbs again. After barely 2 days of being back with us, we noticed her appetite was decreasing and she still hadn’t produced any stools. As recommended by the vet, we waited 48hrs for stool production but had no luck. We brought her back to the vet concerned. They ran more blood tests and checked her vitals. Other than producing no stools, everything was looking better. The vet said that as long as she’s still stable, we may just need more time and that the recovery may not be linear. We took her home with hope in our hearts and booked a follow-up appointment in the near future to cut on emergency visit costs. The next morning, disaster struck… hours of non-stop diarrhea and discomfort. We administered her meds, force feeding and most importantly subcutaneous fluids and then rushed her to the emergency vet again. She has been in critical condition with very slight improvement since September 26th.

September Summary:

Since early September, Tilly has had to be hospitalized at an emergency vet clinic 3 times for a total of 10 days so far. We visit her as much as we can, despite how far it is, because we miss her so much and her health is still very critical right now. Every evening, we’re told that even on the days where she looks like she’s improving, her health could still take a turn for the worse because a sick rabbit’s health is so delicate. Every minute is filled with fear that we might get an urgent call telling us to come in. But we choose to fight for her and endure because the best bunny and friend deserves the best caretakers.

As many rabbit caretakers know, the medical research on rabbit care isn’t as advanced as it is for dogs and cats. Financial help, like insurance, also isn’t available to us. As a result, the process for treating rabbits is very long and very expensive.

We have been so very lucky and blessed to have had the help of kind people from within and outside of the bunny community by providing cecotrope donations, advice, resources, rides, and just offering to help in any way they can.

The ask:

With so many people rallying behind Tilly’s recovery, it feels unfair to ask for even more help. But after several weeks of hospitalization and bouncing from one costly treatment plan to another, we are putting aside our pride and asking for your help financially. We’ll never turn down her care, and we’ll fight for her as long as she’s willing to keep fighting, but we would be eternally grateful to have your help fighting alongside us.

Every dollar & share counts!

Every 10$ helps us cover the price of syringes we've needed to give her subcutaneous injections.

Every 20$ helps us cover the cost of a pack of Emeraid/Critical Care and a few butterfly needles for fluid injections.

Every 30$ helps us cover the cost of the vet/vet tech administer oral medicine once and an injection.

Every 50$ helps us cover the cost of 1 round of force feeding and IV fluids.

There's also costs for the medicine we've brought home before, blood tests, stool sample analysis, ultrasounds and other exams I may not be remembering right now.

Every night in the hospital can vary in costs depending on the treatment needed but in general it's been between 600$ to 1000$+ a night.

So far, Tilly’s vet bills have reached 10k, and climbing. We’ve been moving money around, dipping into savings, and balancing credit to give her the strongest fighting chance, but continued care is expensive and we could use some help. Every dollar is greatly appreciated, and directly funds Tilly’s fight to come back home.

With much love,

Mélissa, Tristan & Tilly