Save Calliope! (Rabbit needs urgent surgery!)

A few weeks ago, I took my rabbit (Calliope) to the vet over a vague suspicion that something might be wrong with one of her paws. It all began when started having accidents outside of her litter box. Calliope is an 11-year-old rabbit with arthritis, so my initial response was to get her a litter box with a lower entrance that would be easier to hop into. I didn’t spot any other changes in her behavior or habits, so I thought that was that.

It wasn't until I happened to catch Calliope cleaning her ears on an otherwise uneventful Sunday afternoon that I realized something more serious might be going on. After a lifetime of skillfully cleaning her ears with two paws, she was suddenly using just one. As she uncomfortably strained to reach her left ear with her right paw, her left paw was firmly planted on the mat below her, not doing much besides providing a tiny bit of extra support. When I slowly approached her to try to get a better look, she immediately responded with her fiercest growl and hopped away. The next day, we were off to the vet.

I was concerned, but I wasn't expecting it to be anything even close to life-threatening. I've had Calliope since the Fall of 2012. She has survived Hurricane Sandy, a Mayan apocalypse, a global pandemic, territorial disputes with cats, and even a gas leak. Calliope was basically immortal.

So when the vet examined her, I wasn't expecting to hear him say the words "massive tumor," and I definitely wasn't expecting to feel a sudden sense of dread I haven't felt outside of something like a nightmare before.

The following weeks dragged on like months. Painful tests, stressful car rides, mounting vet bills, frantic research, anxiety, debt, uncertainty, and fear. Between dealing with all of that and the heat wave (which presented its own set of dangers to Calliope), I felt like I was fighting a war on multiple fronts. I was exhausted – physically, mentally, and financially.

The test results confirmed that the tumor on Calliope's front leg is malignant.

The x-rays uncovered a bone fracture in the same general area, making the possibility of removing the tumor without doing further damage a lot less likely.

Fortunately, there is hope.

Copied-and-pasted from Calliope's latest report:

“The heart, lungs, mediastinum and pleural space are normal.”

“The liver, GI tract, kidneys and visible bladder (cranial) are normal.”

“No metastatic change is noted in the lungs.”

The vet explained that they haven’t found any indication that the cancer has spread beyond Calliope’s front leg. He strongly recommended amputating the leg as soon as possible to maximize Calliope's chances of survival and recovery.

I struggled to pay for the previous vet bills, but I was able to get by with the help of my family and friends, whose generosity and outpouring of support have been profoundly humbling.

However, the cost of the amputation (estimated to be between $3,200 and $3,300) is substantially higher than the previous bills, and every day the procedure is delayed increases the risk that the cancer will spread.

The vet has assured me that this cost will include testing, anesthesia, several days/nights of monitoring at the clinic, medication, antibiotics, and everything else associated with the surgery and recovery.

Despite her limited mobility, Calliope hasn't showed any signs of giving up. She hops in and out of her new litter box with confidence and ease, lounges around by the fan on her dog mats, and continues to impress me with sudden feats of strength and flexibility in the presence of raspberries. She still has plenty of life to live. There are still plenty of baseboards to gnaw on, furniture to destroy, and a security deposit to jeopardize.

I would be incredibly grateful for any contribution to the cost of the procedure that could save Calliope’s life.

Calliope has declined to comment, but I’m sure she would be grateful too.

(Thanks to the kindness of a few early donors, we have already made some progress towards the vet bill, and the goal has been set with this in mind.)