going to the vet, dutch style

may2008 047
Originally uploaded by dutchlop.

A week ago, I noticed a lump on Rosie's back (Rosie is the one on the right), that hadn't been there the day before. I was very worried, since I know that rabbits can get abscesses extremely quickly, and die from them very quickly. But she was still acting normal, as normal as she can be. Thursday, after I got home, it was red and sort of crusty like a scab. So, we decided to take her to the vet. Luckily, our vet has an open appointment hour on Thursday nights, from 630-730 (literally an hour). Thursday nights are the only nights in the Netherlands where shops are open past 6pm (only til 9pm). Its called 'koopavond', or shopping night, and sometimes other offices are open a bit later as well. Luckily for us, it was Thursday, and it was 6pm, so we had time to get there before they opened. Things are usually made to be pretty difficult and very inconvenient on purpose here.

So, you know, to get the vet, you have two options, as a non-car owner/non license holder....the bus, or the bike. Since the bus is usually full of stupid annoying people, and it costs money and time (you have to change once at the station)...we went by bike. Luckily it was not raining (anymore). So we got little Rosie into her carrier, put that in a big IKEA bag, and M carried her with one hand on his bike carrier. I should have taken a picture to illustrate this!

We got to the vet, and she was pretty scared, after having just endured a 25 minute bouncy bike ride over brick roads and busy streets. The vet found that it wasn't an abscess, thankfully, but he wasn't sure what it was! He thought maybe a reaction to a vaccination she had 2 weeks earlier, or maybe a bite (from Japie). So, no meds given out (also Dutch fashion) for now, and if it stays this way or gets worse after a week's time, we should go back again. Its been almost a week and it looks the same still, but luckily did not get bigger.

When he was done looking at her, she jumped up on M's shoulders to get away! That's a pretty big jump for a bunny on an examination table! When she was put back in her cage, she started thumping--she was really mad at us!

But little did she know, she had to endure another ride back home. But since we were already out, we had another errand to run with her in tow. We had to go pick up our wedding rings at the jewelers in the city center. So we were in a nice jewelry store will a little scared bunny. Of course we look like homeless people carrying around a big IKEA bag in a nice jewelry store, but once they realized it was a rabbit...they were nicer to us. And interested in seeing her.

So little Rosie had the honor of being with us when we picked up our rings. She is the honorary bunny ring-barer.

And I hope we won't have to make too many more trips to the vet in the near future. Especially on the back of a bike.