Tongue piercing for rabbits

Wait til she finds out about the tattoo

 My first rabbit, Oreo, was a learning experience. Even though I had done the research first, all the books in the world can’t prepare you for everything.

 One Sunday (these things always happen on Sunday mornings and after-hours) Oreo stopped eating. Rabbits, like small teenagers, will eat at any given moment. They spend much of their waking hours eating (both the rabbits and the teenagers). Not eating for 12-24 hours is very serious in a rabbit*; they must be taken to the veterinarian immediately if this occurs, or they can die. Oreo does stop eating on occasion; this causes me to get up several times during the night and offer her a treat to see if she is eating yet. (Her roommate bunny is usually happy to eat both treats if Oreo is not interested). I figured she would eat the next morning. She did not.

I took her in to Dr. Emily on Monday, and she gave Oreo medications and fluids, and took an x-ray of her abdomen. By Wednesday Oreo was no better and the vet was not sure what was going on. I was a wreck; I asked my church to pray for her, citing Luke 3:12 "Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies, and yet the Lord God has not forgotten them" and the part in Matthew where “He knows when even the smallest sparrow falls”. So they prayed....

The veterinarian called the next morning - while syringe feeding Oreo she found a needle lodged in Oreo's tongue, angling up towards Oreo's eye - when she looked again she could not see the needle. An X-ray showed the needle was lodged near major blood vessels; the surgery was of course extremely risky, but had to be performed.
Dr Emily said God was already answering our prayers in that He showed her what was wrong with Oreo. She said to keep praying that she could find the needle and remove it.

I spent my time in between prayers beating myself up over this, although I could not imagine where she got the needle. I do not do that much sewing, and as far as I knew my sewing needles were always accounted for.

The vet called back right after she’d begun surgery – my heart sank; it had only been 15 minutes. To my indescribable relief, the doctor said the needle was removed and there had been no bleeding; it had gone "eye first" into the cheek pouch only.

She asked what church I went to.

Turns out I’d been crafting with a  needle with fishing line on it. I had carefully taped this down onto the coffee table so it would not get knocked to the floor (and thus endanger the rabbits). Oreo apparently stood up on her back legs and managed to reach the fishing line, which she chewed on like a big strand of linguine, and ended up with the needle in her mouth.

Oreo was given antibiotics and something for pain and made a speedy recovery. I made a new rule about no needles in the living room.

*this never occurs in teenagers of any size, near as I can tell