Candy’s left eye has been teary and I haven’t been able to solve the dry, irritated ear-skin problem, so I took her to the vet last night. Luckily, Dr. Mead has evening hours when it’s cooler and less stressful to transport a rabbit. I have a small dog crate that I fill with her favorite fragrant timothy hay and she travels quite nicely in it.

Although Candy likes to be pet, it is all on her terms. When she wants a head scratch, she’ll sit at the edge of her hutch near the door. If she doesn’t want to be bothered, she’ll let you know with a growl (yes, rabbits vocalize) and a scratch. Candy has never liked to be picked up. So what does a vet do when he needs to hold a rabbit still and probe around her eyelid? He puts her in a special bunny sock.

Candy was comfortable, secure, quiet and showed no signs of distress.

The diagnosis? Something has irritated her eye, and although it isn’t scratched, it still needs to have ointment applied twice a day. The ears are a bit of a mystery. You’d think that where they drag on the ground would be where the issues are, but the eczema is at the base. So, I have an emollient to apply twice a day. It combines several drugs, including an anti-fungal and an antibiotic and we’re sure to fix whatever the problem is.

So far this morning, I was able to apply both medicines without having to put Candy in a sock. Dr. Mead is an expert, but I know Candy will be annoyed with my fumbling.

Unfortunately for Hencam Candy-watchers, she has to be kept in her hutch to be kept clean (dirt sticks to the ointments.) Candy has a parrot toy in her hutch. It has blocks of wood to gnaw on and a bell at the bottom. When Candy gets annoyed or wants to be let out she rings the bell – not genteelly, but with much flinging about. I expect to hear a lot of bell ringing in the next week.