CHAPTER 182 – A Relapse
It was Wednesday. Over a week had passed since Abigail came home from her hospital visit. Abigail was back to being her normal rabbit self, eating, drinking, pooping, napping, and running around her territory.
Following the prescription, Dad stopped her pain medication and just continued with the antibiotics. Fortunately, Abigail liked her medicine-laced banana mash, so giving her medication wasn’t an unpleasant experience for both of them.
On Thursday night, Dad noticed Abigail twitching her head. He laid down on the floor in front of her and asked, “Are you OK, Abigail?” Abigail twitched and made a clicking sound. “Hmmm,” said Dad. He kept an eye on her throughout the evening.
Abigail continued about her business. She ate her dinner. She hopped onto the coffee table for a treat. Everything seemed normal except when she sat in her spot, she kept twitching her head.
The next morning, Dad came into the living room and asked, “How’s my little girl today?”
Abigail sat by the window, her head twitching even more violently now. “Oh, baby. This doesn’t look good. I think we’re going back to the vet.” Abigail thought, “Oh no. Not the vet!” She ran and hid.
Once again, Superhero Vet Dr. Stern squeezed Abigail into her busy schedule for an emergency visit at the end of Friday – once again – right before the weekend. As they arrived at the vet’s office, Abigail thought, “I don’t want to spend the weekend with the vet again! I’m a rabbit. I’m just going to act like everything is fine!” Abigail stopped twitching her head.
Dr. Stern examined her thoroughly and pronounced, “She seems OK. I don’t see anything life-threatening. I took a blood sample so we can test for e-cuniculi, just in case. Just keep an eye on her for now.”
Once they were home, Abigail went back to twitching her head. Was it a nerve thing? Was she developing head tilt again? Dad was worried. By Sunday, her twitching had become more severe and the clicking was louder. Since the vet was still closed, Dad took a video of it and sent it to the Rabbit Haven’s “bunny nurse,”Kim.
Kim texted right back, “Looks like she’s grinding her teeth in pain.” Dad had read that bunnies grind their teeth in pain, but he had never seen it before. It was definitely different than her tooth purring when she was happy. “Put her back on pain meds,” recommended Kim. Dad resumed her pain medication. But he wondered, “What was causing the pain?”
On Monday, Abigail was twitching less but still twitching. Since Enzo was scheduled for a check-up on his leg, Dad bundled Abigail up in her carrier as well, and over the mountains they all went to see Dr. Stern.
“Other than the twitching and clicking, she acts pretty normal,” reported Dad, as they watched Abigail explore the examination room and mark her new territory. Dr. Stern pulled out Abigail’s x-rays and showed Dad her teeth. She explained, “She’s probably in pain from her teeth. The roots are pressing against her jawbone. I don’t see any signs of injury in her mouth, and her teeth are now smooth. Just keep her on pain meds for a while and see how it goes.”
Abigail thought, “I do not like coming to the vet.” After she went home, she stopped twitching her head. The pain meds were working, and it wasn’t bothering her anymore.
A couple of nights later, Abigail asked Dad to play tag. “Bet you can’t catch me!” she thought, as she ran over to him and then ran off. “You must be feeling better if you want to play!” observed Dad. Happily, he chased after her around the living room. He was thrilled to see his little girl was back to normal!
Dad is concerned. Abigail has developed a twitch. It's back to see the vet.
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