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BigEars Incorp
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Animal Updates
2012
WE URGENTLY REQUIRE CAT FOOD BOTH TINNED AND DRY
January
31/1/12 Said goodbye to our beautiful Gorky the cockatoo who had beak and feather disease.
Sherlock and Moriarty were vaccinated and de-sexed
Took in Declan the rooster and Polly the rabbit
Rehomed Bert and Ernie the goats
Rehomed Blossom the pony and welcomed Piglet the pig.
Rehomed Mummy and Bessie the goats, they have gone to a wonderful forever home.
Maurice Jr the rooster had to have surgery after he raced under the car and came off second best. He is on antibiotics and doing well.
1 guinea pig named Bazil has joined the other girls at the Sanctuary.
17 rabbits vaccinated against calici
Brambles the rabbit has been spayed
Sophie the rabbit had a cancerous growth removed from her third eyelid
Buttons the rabbit is being treated for suspected cancer on her nose, however she has responded well to the ointment and may not need surgery.
Tippy the rabbit had a tear duct infection which has now cleared up.
2011 intake summary
You can now purchase food at Pet Barn - Bathurst St Launceston and put it in the Big Ears container
Both feral kittens are now tame and have been named Sherlock and Moriarty. Thanks to Kerryne both have been sponsored and have had their vaccinations on 19 December 2011.
Freyline's two kits that were attacked by a rat have had to return to the vet to have their abscesses dealt with. Bings had to have an ear removed and Snoop has a nasty wound on her side that was stitched up.
On 13 Decmeber Big Ears took in 2 rats (not the ones that attacked the baby buns, these are pet rats), 2 love birds and one cockateil.
First week of December and we have take in one feral cat and 2 feral kittens
Captain Cocoa had 3 more teeth removed
last week of November we took in 7 guinea pig males
We took in 2 roosters named Coconut and Forest.
We recently took in a guinea pig that has now given birth to 3 lovely babies.
Freyline the rabbit has also had 7 babies. She came into the Sanctuary already pregnant.
Captain Cocoa had 2 more teeth removed
The 5 baby bunnies have been vaccinated.
Milo, Cuddle-pie and Beez the cats have had their vaccination
Thanks to the Jackson's Big Ears now has a portable outside toilet for the volunteers and visitors to use.
5 baby buns due their vaccination this week
Captain Cocoa and Toggle the bunnies are being neutered this week.
Big Ears welcomed Finn the mini pony. We're expecting his son Dundee in a few weeks. All bunnies are up to date with their vaccinations.
Big Ears welcomed 5 baby bunnies and 2 more rabbits late October.
Connor had his annual canine vaccination
The farrier did Pedro, Kelly and Molly's hooves.
The sheep were sheared and are all happy to be wool free.
George and Mialto have now moved into their temporary new enclosure kindly donated by the Jackson's. Both cats are loving the serenity - and all the food 'just for them'.
Tulip, and Pudding both had their annual feline vaccination. George the cat has a rash that the vet says is stress related. We will need to build him a new enclosure to live in, possibly with Tulip and Mialto so he doesn't feel as stressed as he does now living with 9 other cats. If you would like to help please go to the How To Help page and make a donation.
October - we welcomed Rita the rabbit and said goodbye to two hens and Peanut the guinea pig that passed away.
We have 20 rabbits due their vacination and 5 cats due their vaccination also.
AUGUST/SEPTEMBER
As some of you would be aware Big Ears co-founder Jacqui Steele has been diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer which has spread to various parts of her body. As a result Big Ears will not be receiving visitors for the next few months whilst Jacqui undergoes treatment. The Big Ears animals continue to call the Sanctuary home and nothing changes for them in this regard. The only difference is we are unable to take in any more animals for the time being.
There may also be some delays in responses to your enquiries and we ask for your patience, we will definitely be in contact with you when we can regarding your sponsorships or other queries. Once again thankyou to everyone for your support and offers to help. It is wonderful to see a number of animals have been sponsored over the last few weeks. This certainly helps ease the load for us and to concentrate on getting Jacqui back to her best so she can again do what she loves the most - caring for the animals.
We did hear some of the animals braying and squarking the other day only to find Jacqui out of bed and slowly walking around the farm saying hello to the animals. It was a sight to behold with chickens, geese, rabbits and turkeys all around her while she stood there in her pj's tears streaming down her face with happpiness at seeing everyone again.
September is shaping up to be a big vaccination and health check month for 20 rabbits and 4 cats. If you would like to help out please see the How to Help page to make a donation or to sponsor and individual animal
This has been held over until October due to Jacqui's treatment and we are slowly working through the list for vaccinations.
August we took in approximately 12 hens and 4 roosters, 3 guinea pigs and 1 rabbit and 1 pig named Fonzy.
25 July 2011 we took Nickel the lamb to the vet as her eye infection has not improved. Now on a different eye oinment so hopefully this will clear it up. We also took in Daffy the duck who was having balance problems which we now think is due to his sight impairment and we had a hen put to sleep due to egg yolk peritonitis.
It has been a busy time at the vet with Frankie staying in for 3 nights with a prolapsed bowel, one of the lambs has an eye infection and is on antiobiotic injections as well as eye cream. 3 rabbits have been de-sexed and 4 cats.
We have welcomed 3 roosters, 2 lambs, a feral cat captured here on the property, 2 rabbits, 1 which gave birth to 5 kits.
July has been a very sad month, we have said goodbye to 6 rabbits for various health reasons, 1 guinea pig, 1 chicken, 1 rooster and 1 parrot and Annie the german shepherd.
Thankyou to Orion tanks and the Murray's for helping us to provide new housing for the pigs. Go to the Gallery page for pictures.
June
Annie went to the vet on 27th June and now weighs 26 kilograms. The vet performed an ultrasound and it was found that Annie does look to have cancer and also part of her vertebrae is fused which explains why she has been limping. Annie is now on pain relief medication.
Frankie the pig also went to the vet to have the site of his wound drained and a vaccination. Frankie is currently on antibiotics.
29 June Alexander the cat went to the vet to be castrated as well as having a lump in his chest checked.
we welcomed 2 doves, 2 kittens and a cockatoo and a cat.
25th June saw another productive working bee. Thanks to everyone that helped with the new dog running areas, this will help minimize the amount of dirt the dogs get covered in and makes it easier for them to come inside.
we said goodbye to Lily the pony who had to be PTS after developing a stomach blockage. We also said farewell to Rascal Scampini and Doogal the rabbits.
we welcomed George the cat and 7 guinea pigs.
rescued a chicken from a hawk and she is in the hospital receiving treatment after a visit to the vet.
Flashie and Jimmy the rabbits were neutered thanks to someone sponsoring them.
we took in a piglet and have named him Frankie
May
This week (23rd May 2011) we said goodbye to Major Tom and Miss Mog the cats. They were both put to sleep due to ill health and age.
We welcomed Nina and Paddy the rabbits.
Who's in the hospital - Bosco is still receiving his daily medications and flushing. The wound is looking clean and appears to be healing. Back to the vet for a visit this week.
Annie is still struggling to put on weight.
Lucas's ears appear to be clearing up. He still recieves daily medication as well as daily ear cleaning.
Mojo the rabbit is unwell, perhaps teeth? off to the vet for a consult
Ally the chicken has a sore foot and is off to the vet this week
Chewy, Scratchy and Jumpy the rabbits had their spay and neuter last week. Stitches due out in 14 days
Julia is due her calici vaccination and is off to the vet this week
Thanks to a sponsorship both Butterscotch and Sophie the rabbits are booked in for their spay this week.
Vet to visit to castrate Wilbur the mini pig
Connor the dog is having some problems with his ears again, will have a check up when the vet visits.
Meldrick the turkey appears to have his eye infection back - check up when vet visits.
So far for May we have taken in 6 birds, 1 pig, 1 turkey and 1 cat and 2 ponies
Summary for April, the Sanctuary took in 1 dog, 3 cats, 2 ponies, 1 kitten, 1 cow, and 1 duck.
Who's in the hospital - Bosco the rabbit has had an operation to remove an abscess in his nasal cavity. The wound needs to be flushed daily, antibiotics injected and pain medication provided daily. Annie the GSD is too thin to have her spay or to have the mammory lumps looked at, she will also need an X-ray. We have to get Annie to put on some weight. Vanilla the rabbit is also thin and needs to have more weight on her frame before the vet can look at what has caused the second lump to appear under her jaw where she recently had a jaw abscess. Lucas-Bear the GSD had an operation to allow the vet to clean his ears. His ears had a major infection. He is now on antibiotics daily, and ear cleaning and flushing daily.
Easter Saturday saw the arrival of a beautiful old dairy cow named Blossom. She is 18 years old and will live out her days here at the Sanctuary.
Early April we took in Sunny and Pixie 2 beautiful mini ponies who will now call the Sanctuary home.
Last week we had to take Hemmingway to the vet, he had an abscess on the side of his face, possibly caused by a grass seed.
In March the Sanctuary took in 6 roosters, 2 rabbits, 1 kitten, 1 dog, 15 geese, 1 duckling, 1 pony and 1 goat.
15 Geese have joined the Big Ears family as well as Lucas our new German Shepherd rescued by NSW GSD rescue. He is extremely emaciated, missing hair and has an ear infection.
Billy the sheep and pebbles the cat were both rehomed to wonderful new families.
we took in 3 young roosters and a 7 week old kitten that had been hit by a car and has a broken jaw.
2nd March 2011 saw the end of an era with our old gent of the farm Kevin the Rooster passing away. Kevin was our first rooster and joined the sanctuary in 2006. He was always such a gentleman and the hens loved him very much. He is dearly missed by all that had the pleasure to know him. He was approximately 10 years old.
12 February 2011 the Sanctuary featured in the Tasmanian Mercury newspaper
11 February 2011, Pudding the cat is having her spay and microchip today thanks to the sponsorship by Ann Cook.
1st week of February we welcomed Charli the cockatoo and TomTom the long billed corella
The months of Janaury and February saw Big ears provide a forever home to 8 rabbits, 3 roosters and 4 birds.
11th January 2011 Southern Cross Television came out to take footage of our animal family for a commercial about Big Ears. The commercial is being made free of charge and will also air free of charge. Keep an eye out for the Big Ears commercial coming soon. A Big Thankyou to Southern Cross Television
2010
December saw the Sanctuary take in 1 bird, 11 rabbits, 1 guinea pig, 37 hens, 5 roosters and 1 turkey.
It has been a very busy few months leading up to the NY. We have welcomed a group of 50 hens/roosters, 2 guinea pigs, 5 rabbits. We have also said goodbye to some dear friends including our rabbit friends Holly and Mopsy, and Spencer who fought a long hard battle against jaw absesses.
We also welcomed Gobbler the Turkey and Marvin the budgie.
November 2010 saw the arrival of 1 rooster, 7 rabbits, 1 chick and 1 guinea pig
October 2010 the Sanctuary took in 3 rabbits, 5 roosters, 12 hens, 4 geese, 1 dog, 1 goat, 1 sheep and 1 guinea pig.
We welcomed Connor the GSD into our family as well as 2 lop ear rabbits, 4 geese and hens and roosters.
August and September have been very very busy. 2 new born lambs arrived, roosters, rabbits and 2 corellas and a ferret (now rehomed). The pregnant guinea pig ended up not being pregnant whch was good news. It has also been a sad time with a number of animals passing away, including Guzzle-Bug, whose loss is felt every moment of every day.
So far in July we have taken in 3 roosters, 3 rabbits, 1 one-eyed cat and 1 pregnant guinea pig (see the animals page). We have said goodbye to 3 rabbits, one of which was Teddy who was 10 years old and had lived in our bathroom for over 12 months to recover from pneumonia (se the In Memoriam page).
We have had a wonderful person come forward to sponsor 4 of our rabbits to be spayed.
In June we took in 2 old sheep aged over 10 years, 7 ducks, 2 geese and 2 older goats aged 9 and 10 years.
May was a good month. We welcomed a new rabbit named Roger and all other animals are happy and healthy. We hope to resume our Spay In May campaign but it now may be called a Spay in June. If you would like to help us spay some of our lovely rabbits and thus reduce their risk of cancer then please see our How to Help Page to donate.
April is the hardest month of my life so far. We had our darling boy Zeus the german shehperd put to sleep after 14 fabulous years together. We miss him very much.
We have had more myxo heartbreak with Gracie, Bullwinkle and Hazel-rah PTS on 13th. On 14th April I found Velvet dead and Rascal very ill. Rascal has since recovered (not myxo related). 2 chickens have passed away - ex battery hens so the vet could not say what the illness was, could be any number of reasons.
On the same day that we said goodbye to Zeus we had 5 more bunnies PTS for Myxo - Pumpkin, Clover, Dandelion, PawPaw and Stanley. A few hours later I found a kit that must be the offspring of Dandy after she went on an adventure some weeks ago. The kit is doing well, I am bottle feeding him and his eyes are yet to open, perhaps 5 days old.
Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, Crackers the 36 year old horse we agisted here had to be PTS on Sunday 18th April.
The sadness hasn't ended yet with a few more rabbits looking like they have myxo symptoms.
Thankyou to those who have made donations to assist with me buying cages to move the bunnies inside in an attempt to reduce the myxo outbreak.
In honour of all our wonderful animal friends I am creating a memorial page to celebrate the wonderful lives we were lucky enough to be a part of.
March has brough much heartache with the virus myxomatosis infecting a number of our bunnies. This is a cruel and unnecessary disease as there is a vaccination available yet the Australian Government has made it illegal as they fear it would interfere with immunity rates in the 'wild' population. in total 5 rabbits had to be put to sleep because of this revolting deliberately spread disease.
Coming Soon - I am in the process of making greeting cards using a variety of pictures of our Big Ears rescued animal friends. All the cards will feature an animal on the front and will be blank inside. If you would like to order some of these cards please email me and see our payment details on the "How to Help" page. Please see the Shop page for examples.
March has started with Sweetpea the rabbit finally having eye surgery and having her eye removed. This has happened after a number of months of trying various medicines and therapy for her. The highly risky surgery went well although her eye area is still infected. Any donation will greatly assist in Sweetpea's ongoing recovery. She is featured on the Rabbit Resuce page.
February has been another busy month for Big Ears. We have taken in a variety of chickens and roosters, birds and guinea pigs. Please visit the gallery for photos.
We have also successfully re-homed 2 of our beautiful bunnies to wonderful indoor homes.
We need your help. We have just taken in 9 female bunnies that may be pregnant (one with half her ear cut off). They will need to have their de-sexing operation and vaccinations. If you are able to make a donation to assist us with the operation costs please do so at the How to Help page. Thank you.
Please see the bottom of this page for a photo of them all sharing the litterbox.
Since the last update we have had a number of animals pass away. Princess and Queenie the old sows, Ringo the guinea pig, Rory the cockatoo, Dolly the dove, Mimi the goat, Toffee and Blackberry the rabbits.
We have also welcomed 7 new roosters, 2 which were dearly loved pets but needed to be re-homed. They are named Louie and Rusty and are beautiful birds. The other roosters are named Herman and Sherman, Bruce, Sylvester and Albert.
We have also welcomed 3 new rabbits, named Stanley, Sullivan and Faith and a cockatoo named Magic.
In October we welcomed 3 meat rabbits, Herbie, Mischief and Mayhem. Their stories will be added shortly.
We have been busy looking after a number of high needs animals, particularly two rabbits named Teddy who developed pneumonia and Sweetpea who has a chronic tear duct infection. These illnesses are on going and need lots of attention and medication.
Late September we welcomed 4 rabbits named Bosco, Wigglesworth, Giggles and Sophie and 3 pigeons named Razzle, Dazzle and Jazz.
In August 4 roosters were dumped on our property and unfortunately they ran onto the neighbours property and were extremely hard to catch. After a month I was able to lure them over to our hen area and 3 of the 4 have now moved in and are becoming friendly. We have named them Mustafa, Saladin and Yossi. The fourth illusive rooster is named Giovanni.
In July the sanctuary took in 4 pigs. 2 are miniatures now named Winkerbean and Applesauce that had been with an animal hoarder.
The other 2 pigs came from a family that needed to re-home them. They are called Tibby and Lena. We suspect, as did the previous family, that Lena has hearing difficulties.
Pumpkin the rabbit was de-sexed and had his eye treated. He will soon be able to move in with his sisters whom he has lived next to since he arrived.
Baxter the guinea pig died. Taupie the guinea pig became very unwell and we treated him for possible vitamin C deficiency and he has recovered.
13th July 2009 - Vet amputated Bulwinkles toe because of an abcess we discovered, but he is still in good spirits.
12th July 2009 - Brett was in the pig shed when he was charged and headbutted by Princess, the 300kg plus sow. Princess has never been very 'people friendly' most likely due to poor treatment by humans in her past. As a result of the headbutt Brett received 6 stitches and is cut and bruised on the face. He is recovering well.
8th July 2009 - Bullwinkle and Jaffa were de-sexed, clipped and vaccinated - both recovering well.
4th July 2009 - we received 2 English Angora rabbits. We have named them Bullwinkle and Jaffa. Please see the How to Help page for photo and other details.
We have been treating Pumpkin the rabbit for an eye infection as well as Sergeant Pepper who had a nasty grass seed in his eye. We noticed his eye looked a bit sore and red and upon closer examination we were able to remove the seed and started him on some eye ointment (under Vet guidance).
Lily the duck has also had a sore eye, we are flushing and treating this daily. She has moved in with Dusty so we can administer to her more easily.
We believe all the eye problems are as a result of some heavy winds we have had blowing the hay around.
28th June 2009 we took in 2 guinea pigs we have named Taupie and Gustav. They are both happy, healthy little boys with no signs of the skin infection that had plagued Gustav in the past. They have moved in with Gracie the rabbit which has been a win win for all, as she has some company (she wont accept other rabbits) and they have a nice bunny mummy to look after them.
Clarence the pig is recovering well after his operation on his front leg. He is an excellent patient, putting up with injections, wound dressings and irrigation and being made to move several times a day. He keeps his good humour and constantly chatters (oinks) away while being attended to.
Humphrey is like a new kitten after being de-sexed. He is less feisty but far more smoochy - getting lots of cuddles and kisses.
Nancy the guinea pig has recovered after her operation on her hind leg where she had a tumour. Her partner Sid was very pleased to have her back in their paddock.
Sergeant Pepper and Spencer the rabbits have had stitches removed after their successful neuter operations. Sergeant Pepper has moved into the paddock with his bunwife Butterscotch and children Vanilla and Blueberry. He is very happy to have all the female attention and grooming.
The sanctuary has received two new rabbits - Sweet William and his mother Amanda Rabbit. They came from Brightside Farm Sanctuary after being rescued from a dirty small hutch. Both were extremely underweight but Jacqui believes she can soon fix that. Big Ears has had Amanda Rabbit de-sexed and an abcess operated on and both are out of quarantine, vaccinated, wormed, flea/tic treated.
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