More tales from the pet store: For the longest time we had a pair of adult rabbits at the pet store. Both mini rex, and in case you didn't know, when a rabbit has the word "mini" in it's name, it doesn't necessarily mean it is going to be tiny. The small baby rabbits always sell quickly because they are cute, fluffy and no one thinks about how large they are going to become. In reality, if you wanted a pet rabbit, getting a fully grown one would be much more wise because you know what your in for, besides, the babies don't stay tiny for long, so you barely get to enjoy their miniature cuteness. Regardless of this fact, selling the adult rabbits is tricky. We had a grey one, and a black one. They were pretty much identical, except for the colour of course. We keep them in the same display tank with a divider down the center. The grey is female, the black a male, and the divider keeps them from creating a black/grey bunny that looks just like them. One morning, I arrived at the pet at the bright and early hour of 7:00 to clean out the animals for the coming day. First thing I noticed was that the cage which held the adult rabbits had it's top open, and the grey rabbit was gone! Myself and the other person opening that morning decided not to think much of it and let the rabbit find us if it had indeed escaped. Low and behold, it came hoping towards us as we were cleaning out the hamsters.
We chased it for a while, and eventually cornered it, captured it, and returned it to it's cage. As we set it down in it's side of the tank I noticed that the black rabbit was actually on the side that the grey one usually stays in. The question was, did the black rabbit jump over to the grey ones side after the grey rabbit escaped, or did the black rabbit jump into the grey ones side and then proceed to get it's freak on? We decided not to take any chances. We put the grey rabbit into our back room where we treat the sick animals and keep the million-zillion hamster that they send us and we don't have display room for. The rabbit stayed there, and waited there, and stayed there, and waited there. Eventually we got around to researching the rabbits reproductive cycle. It seems that the gestation period of a rabbit is only 1 month, I guess there is reason the expression "fucking like rabbits" came about. Apparently the rabbit shows no signs of pregnancy until two weeks, and then the babies rapidly develop and are born in the following two weeks. We kept the rabbit back there for a little over a month, and since there was no signs of pregnancy after the period which it was suppose to give birth, we decided to return it to the display cage. We then forgot about the event altogether.
Today I was working the cash at the store. A new guy was working the livestock section and had been coming to me all day with questions that customers were asking about the animals. While ringing in some silly dog toy or some such thing, Phil, the new guy, came rushing up to my cash, half laughing, half frightened and said "Those girls over there say one of the rabbits is eating it's own guts". It case you can't tell what this story is about yet, it was the grey bunny. I call the manager up, she goes to the cage and then turns around gagging. There is a lot of blood. The new guy doesn't know what to do and the manager is too grossed out to see what the hell is going on. So I get the manager to watch my cash and I make my way to the velvety mini rex who I have come to know, raise and love. Working at a pet store tends to result in emotional attachments to the animals whether you want to or not. Looking at the rabbit it indeed appeared like there was a hole it its stomach and that it's intestines had fallen out. A think cord of bloody flesh lay crossed the cage as the rabbit licked and tugged at it. I ran to the back room to get a cardboard box to transport the rabbit out of the cage. I didn't get a good look at the damage until I had the rabbit in the back of our grooming station. I pulled the rabbit out and laid it on it's back. Believe it or not, rabbits can be sedated in this way. I then tugged at the intestine to discover that it was merely stuck to the rabbits stomach, because it probably laid down on it, and not pouring forth from it's stomach at all. The bloody string was coming out of it's genitals, and was not any kind of organ, but rather the conjoined remnants of several baby rabbit fetuses.
The rabbit had miscarried. Most of the components of the fetus were not distinguishable, just bits of bone and skin, but one tiny glob of pink flesh took the form of a small bunny, two long ears and all, and it was sufficiently stuck inside of the rabbit. This was going to take a bit of work. I called in the manager to hold down the rabbit while I removed the fetus, but she couldn't handle it, the blood and graphic nature of the unborn baby bunny was simply too much for her. So I called in the new guy. He could deal. I showed him how to relax the rabbit and he got it to settle down on it's back. I put on a pair of latex gloves and set to work. It took a while, and wasn't easy. I was hoping I could simply pull it out by tugging on the long string that tumbled out of the rabbit, but alas, no avail. Instead, I pushed by hand down into the rabbits abdomen and felt for the fetus inside. Once I had a grip on it, I started working it out and squeezing it through the genitals, kind of like pushing out tooth paste. Yes, it really was as unpleasant as it sounds. After 15 minutes or so, I got it all out. Once I had finished the job, I was rewarded by a squirt of brown fluid in the face. In all honesty, I think this sucked more for the rabbit, I got off easy. I cleaned up the mess, and wiped down the rabbit. I then took her to the back room where she had already spent a great deal of time, and put her in her own cage where she could be alone and rest for a while. I love my job, really I do. At least I managed to pull it all off without hurting the rabbit. She seems fine, just a little shook up. I am glade that I could help her. I feel sorry for her, but relieved that she is safe and healthy. Damn the development of emotional bonds.
While I am not sure what one must have inside themselves to do something like this, I still must say, I didn't know I had it in me.
And yes, I did just write several paragraphs to tell you all this when I could have just as easily said "today a rabbit miscarried and I had to pull out it's unborn children from it's genitals", but where the drama in that? I hope I didn't gross you out too much. Since I live a boring life, this seemed like something unique and worth writing about. Besides this, today was uneventful.
We chased it for a while, and eventually cornered it, captured it, and returned it to it's cage. As we set it down in it's side of the tank I noticed that the black rabbit was actually on the side that the grey one usually stays in. The question was, did the black rabbit jump over to the grey ones side after the grey rabbit escaped, or did the black rabbit jump into the grey ones side and then proceed to get it's freak on? We decided not to take any chances. We put the grey rabbit into our back room where we treat the sick animals and keep the million-zillion hamster that they send us and we don't have display room for. The rabbit stayed there, and waited there, and stayed there, and waited there. Eventually we got around to researching the rabbits reproductive cycle. It seems that the gestation period of a rabbit is only 1 month, I guess there is reason the expression "fucking like rabbits" came about. Apparently the rabbit shows no signs of pregnancy until two weeks, and then the babies rapidly develop and are born in the following two weeks. We kept the rabbit back there for a little over a month, and since there was no signs of pregnancy after the period which it was suppose to give birth, we decided to return it to the display cage. We then forgot about the event altogether.
Today I was working the cash at the store. A new guy was working the livestock section and had been coming to me all day with questions that customers were asking about the animals. While ringing in some silly dog toy or some such thing, Phil, the new guy, came rushing up to my cash, half laughing, half frightened and said "Those girls over there say one of the rabbits is eating it's own guts". It case you can't tell what this story is about yet, it was the grey bunny. I call the manager up, she goes to the cage and then turns around gagging. There is a lot of blood. The new guy doesn't know what to do and the manager is too grossed out to see what the hell is going on. So I get the manager to watch my cash and I make my way to the velvety mini rex who I have come to know, raise and love. Working at a pet store tends to result in emotional attachments to the animals whether you want to or not. Looking at the rabbit it indeed appeared like there was a hole it its stomach and that it's intestines had fallen out. A think cord of bloody flesh lay crossed the cage as the rabbit licked and tugged at it. I ran to the back room to get a cardboard box to transport the rabbit out of the cage. I didn't get a good look at the damage until I had the rabbit in the back of our grooming station. I pulled the rabbit out and laid it on it's back. Believe it or not, rabbits can be sedated in this way. I then tugged at the intestine to discover that it was merely stuck to the rabbits stomach, because it probably laid down on it, and not pouring forth from it's stomach at all. The bloody string was coming out of it's genitals, and was not any kind of organ, but rather the conjoined remnants of several baby rabbit fetuses.
The rabbit had miscarried. Most of the components of the fetus were not distinguishable, just bits of bone and skin, but one tiny glob of pink flesh took the form of a small bunny, two long ears and all, and it was sufficiently stuck inside of the rabbit. This was going to take a bit of work. I called in the manager to hold down the rabbit while I removed the fetus, but she couldn't handle it, the blood and graphic nature of the unborn baby bunny was simply too much for her. So I called in the new guy. He could deal. I showed him how to relax the rabbit and he got it to settle down on it's back. I put on a pair of latex gloves and set to work. It took a while, and wasn't easy. I was hoping I could simply pull it out by tugging on the long string that tumbled out of the rabbit, but alas, no avail. Instead, I pushed by hand down into the rabbits abdomen and felt for the fetus inside. Once I had a grip on it, I started working it out and squeezing it through the genitals, kind of like pushing out tooth paste. Yes, it really was as unpleasant as it sounds. After 15 minutes or so, I got it all out. Once I had finished the job, I was rewarded by a squirt of brown fluid in the face. In all honesty, I think this sucked more for the rabbit, I got off easy. I cleaned up the mess, and wiped down the rabbit. I then took her to the back room where she had already spent a great deal of time, and put her in her own cage where she could be alone and rest for a while. I love my job, really I do. At least I managed to pull it all off without hurting the rabbit. She seems fine, just a little shook up. I am glade that I could help her. I feel sorry for her, but relieved that she is safe and healthy. Damn the development of emotional bonds.
While I am not sure what one must have inside themselves to do something like this, I still must say, I didn't know I had it in me.
And yes, I did just write several paragraphs to tell you all this when I could have just as easily said "today a rabbit miscarried and I had to pull out it's unborn children from it's genitals", but where the drama in that? I hope I didn't gross you out too much. Since I live a boring life, this seemed like something unique and worth writing about. Besides this, today was uneventful.
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Ever thought of becoming a vet? That was my dream as a child.
BTW I'm his ^^^ friend.
And my dear friend above did tell me about you. Tis very nice to meet your aquintence.