#njord

Ao Guang: You are a hazard to society

Talay Han: And a coward

Talay Han: Do twenty

Poseidon: Alright!

Ao Guang: ...

Gosh, I realize it's been ages since I updated. Guys, this summer has been a lot.

Well, basically... my poor boy Njord contracted E. Cuniculi. :(

I'm gonna say right away that he's mostly fine now though!!

For those of you who don't know, E. Cuniculi is a parasite that rabbits can get. It basically attaches itself to the balance center in the brain and knocks out their balance. In very severe cases, bunnies will carry their heads at a 90 degree angle and just roll around, unable to walk. If you're curious how this manifests, you can google it, but fair warning: it's quite distressing to see.

Luckily Njord never got symptoms that bad. He only got a very small, barely noticeable head tilt, and he was able to walk, just a bit wobbily, and he had a hard time raising his head and would fall over if trying to stand on his hind legs.

He started showing signs on Midsummer's Eve, a Friday. Of course, Midsummer is a major holiday here in Sweden, and the vet was closed on both Friday and Saturday, so I wasn't able to bring him in until Sunday morning. I initially thought it was just an ear infection, since they also affect the balance and he's had a few of them before. Luckily, our regular bunny savvy vet was working that day and determined pretty quickly that it was in fact EC.

So home we went for a 4 week treatment in quarantine. It spreads through spores in urine, so poor Njord had to be kept isolated from Idun. I put him in a pen, and they were at least allowed to hang out through the bars.

As for how Njord contracted it? Well, a lot of bunnies carry it their whole lives without ever showing symptoms, but if you're unlucky you might get an outbreak.

Anyway, the initial treatment showed some improvement, but he didn't get all the way better, so we started another medication, adding another 10 days to his treatment. This didn't really result in any more improvement, though. Our vet says that he should be properly treated now, and the lasting effects might be permanent. There's a chance he might get better over time as his brain readjusts and continues healing, but he also might stay like this for the rest of his life.

Luckily, his symptoms now are pretty mild. He can run in a straight line and clean himself properly. He's still a bit wobbly though, and might fall over if he makes too sharp a turn or stands up on his hind legs without resting his front legs on something. All in all, he's a lot luckier than many other rabbits who catch this parasite, and he should still have a great quality of life.

This Friday Njord and Idun were finally able to be reunited after one and a half month. I was scared I might have to re-bond them after having been apart so long (rabbits are very territorial!), but it worked out fine. There was some tension for the first 20 minutes or so, but once Idun had established that she was still the boss, they went back to acting like normal again with LOTS of kisses. The above video was taken shortly after they were reunited.

Just seeing them together again makes me so happy. Njord seems so much happier now too. Obviously, it was a bit boring for him to be alone in a pen for 5.5 weeks, when he's used to free-roaming with a friend.

Anyway, I just wanted to fill you guys in on what's been going on with the kiddos. Thanks for reading. ❤️

ArtFight revenge on @trunswicked of Njord, looking at some lovely mountain scenery!

see the video:

check it out: