02/07/2025
Here is the story of Vinnie’s ER trip on Sunday. Fair warning, some of the attached photos may be considered graphic to some.
Sunday evening just before 9pm, Vinnie was attempting to clean himself and bit his left testicle open. He currently has very little to no sensation in that area, so he had no idea he had injured himself and luckily I was with him at the time, and was able to stop him. The closest ER that was willing to see him was an hour away, so we packed him up and headed down. Due to accidents and traffic, it took us nearly two hours to arrive. We were able to send photos to the vet prior to our arrival and after talking about his injury as well as his pre-existing spinal injury, we came to the determination that best case scenario would be gluing him shut, with the worst case scenario being an emergency neuter. The main concern was if Vinnie bit into his testicle bad enough to have opened access to his inguinal ring, then we would be looking at the emergency neuter.
Now what is the inguinal ring? The inguinal ring is the opening through which the testicles pass through the abdomen. In most mammals (like humans), once the testicles are formed, they travel through the inguinal canal, pass through the inguinal ring and distend outside the body. Once this happens, the inguinal ring closes. However in some mammals, like rabbits, the inguinal ring never closes. That is why male rabbits can quite literally “pull” their testicles back into their abdomen. Our main concern with Vinnie’s injury was if injured himself in a way which opened the inguinal ring, since that would then create a clear pathway for bacteria and possible infection straight into his abdomen.
Thankfully, he did not open his inguinal ring. In fact he missed it by millimeters. It turns out that he did not bite the actual testicle, but rather the skin around it, exposing the actual testicle. If you have ever had one of those peelable gummies, that is what this resembled. He bit the skin, or outer layer and exposed the testicle. The way in which he bit the skin did not make gluing it back together an option, so he has a series of stitches that will dissolve on their own in several weeks. In addition to his normal pain medications, Vinnie is also now on a course of antibiotics for the next few weeks.
Vinnie is doing very well after his adventure on Sunday. Immediately upon getting home at 4:30am on Sunday, I gave him critical care which he readily accepted, followed by a big handful of salad and he was happily munching away as I (finally) went to bed just before 5am. He has continued this trend and is eating a ton, has normal bowel production, and his temperature is great.
I am so grateful to Dr. McGonigle and the staff at Veterinary Emergency Group for the care they showed Vinnie. VEG is unique in that you are never separated from your animal. So I was able to stay with Vinnie the entire time, holding him after he was sedated, observing his procedure, and even holding him afterwards. I was the first thing he saw when he woke up from his sedation. I feel like this was a huge comfort to both of us, since I was anxious about anyone handling him due to his injury and Vinnie hasn’t been handled by anyone else but me really in the past month since his injury.
Vinnie’s emergency visit came to $800 after our rescue discount. If you can help with that expense in anyway, you can follow any of the below links.
Zeffy (no fees!)
https://www.zeffy.com/donation-form/f6932a25-a4b5-4281-8763-93cf4f22d52c
Donate through Paypal:
paypal.me/Bunlandia
Donate through Venmo:
venmo.com/BunlandiaRabbitRescue
