I live in the UK and 5 months ago I picked up a baby rabbit at the side if the road. It had blood coming out of one ear and it could not sit/stand. I thought it would die buti thought at least it would die in a dark quiet place and not at side of rpad or being mauled by some animal that found it. I got a pipette and fed it water and it gradually tarted propping itsenf up and started eating etc. It gradually was able to sit up, make a few stumbling steps etc until it could walk properly. It did have a big watery blister type thing on the top of hishead under the skin - a bit like a water balloon which I thought must be to do with head trauma from being hit by a car. He also had a slight head tilt and when he was able to run ran slightly in that direction. Anyway he gradually made a recivery with his head watery thing going down and the head tilt lessening os he could run straight etc. By this time he was very tame and I spoke to some welfare organisations to see if there was a kind o half way house/sanctuary for rabbits that can't go back in the wild but where they can be with their own kind but they all said no so I decded to keep him as a pet and call him Wobbles as that was all he could do when I first found him!
He ate loads, grew, chased the cats, sat on the sofa, ate all the dandelions in sight etc and seemed virtually 100%. He had a couple of bouts of seizures 1-2 months apart in which he drooled, eyes rolled, he went stiff and fell backwards, went to the loo and kind of bit the air with his mouth. He seemed to have a fit for about 20 seconds then have few, a quiet few minutes and then return to normal. The first time this happened I thought he had poisoned himself on a plant. The 2nd time I thought it must be a side effect from his head trauma and as it lasted such a short amount of time (too short to get him to the vets and show them) and he seemed to have these every month or two with full recovery I thought little of it.
I had him neutered (he had a slightly pronounced head tilt as he came round from the anaesthetic the nurses told me) and had his mixo jab etc and all went well.
Then this Saturday just gone I got up to find that Wobbles was again having fits (I had also woken at 4am to hear him crasing about as he sleeps indoors and is often trashing the place but I realise now that this must have been at fit as well). This time the fits were different as they did not stop after 10 minutes or half an hour and I realised they must have bene going on for some hours - from at least 4am. I took him to the vets who kept him in and gave him Diazepam and also a steroid injection and Baytrill. His fits were the same but this time after the falling backwards his eyes would flick from side to side - like eyes do when you are in a train watching things go past. The vet said that if the fits didn't stop we'd have to put him down but the fits sems to subside so I collected him together with some more Baytrill and a paste wormer to treat for the parasite that rabbits get that can cause seizures(a 9 day course of treatment).
He seemed find and ate a load of food and water etc but sadly 2-3 hours after collecting him the fits started again. I was in a bit of a state of shock as when I took him to the vets I thought they would give him a steroid jab or something and the fits would stop and then we could look for a cause but things were suddenley happening really fast. All night he had fits with periods of calm in between when he'd eat something and almost look normaly and they seemed to be getting stronger with the addition of lying on his side and 'running' with his legs and one time actually running out of the hutch in a circle.You could tell when a fit was coming on as his he would start breathing rapidly. As soon as morning came I knew I had no choice but to have him put to sleep as he couldn't go through the terrible seizures thrashing about etc anymore so I took him to the vets.
I am writing to you because I am finding it so hard to come to terms with that this rabbit who I found when he was a fluffy tennis ball had overcome all obstacles and was such a fighter and seemed to be home and dry had suddenley gone from a happy healthy rabbit to no longer there is a period of 24 hours. And no-one seemed to be able to give any answers or provide any solutions.
I know it is too late to provide solutions and cure Wobbles but I would still like to try and find an answer as to what was wrong with him and I wondered if in your knowledge you think my outline of his symptoms point to anything? The vets thought it may be related to his head trauma eg be a brain lesion but at the same time when I suggested poisoning etc she had to get a book out so I am worried that perhaps it was something that if I had known about I could have told the vets about it and perhaps with the right treatment Wobbles would be cured. I am just looking for answers as to what Wobbles had rather than having 100s of questions running through my head so that I can have closure.
I never thought when I got Wobbles that I would be so devastated at his loss or of the emptiness there would be in the house without him there. I even miss his raisins that he dropped all over the carpet that we were always swearing about and I would give a million pounds to have him back chewing through the furniture! Anyone got any ideas?
He ate loads, grew, chased the cats, sat on the sofa, ate all the dandelions in sight etc and seemed virtually 100%. He had a couple of bouts of seizures 1-2 months apart in which he drooled, eyes rolled, he went stiff and fell backwards, went to the loo and kind of bit the air with his mouth. He seemed to have a fit for about 20 seconds then have few, a quiet few minutes and then return to normal. The first time this happened I thought he had poisoned himself on a plant. The 2nd time I thought it must be a side effect from his head trauma and as it lasted such a short amount of time (too short to get him to the vets and show them) and he seemed to have these every month or two with full recovery I thought little of it.
I had him neutered (he had a slightly pronounced head tilt as he came round from the anaesthetic the nurses told me) and had his mixo jab etc and all went well.
Then this Saturday just gone I got up to find that Wobbles was again having fits (I had also woken at 4am to hear him crasing about as he sleeps indoors and is often trashing the place but I realise now that this must have been at fit as well). This time the fits were different as they did not stop after 10 minutes or half an hour and I realised they must have bene going on for some hours - from at least 4am. I took him to the vets who kept him in and gave him Diazepam and also a steroid injection and Baytrill. His fits were the same but this time after the falling backwards his eyes would flick from side to side - like eyes do when you are in a train watching things go past. The vet said that if the fits didn't stop we'd have to put him down but the fits sems to subside so I collected him together with some more Baytrill and a paste wormer to treat for the parasite that rabbits get that can cause seizures(a 9 day course of treatment).
He seemed find and ate a load of food and water etc but sadly 2-3 hours after collecting him the fits started again. I was in a bit of a state of shock as when I took him to the vets I thought they would give him a steroid jab or something and the fits would stop and then we could look for a cause but things were suddenley happening really fast. All night he had fits with periods of calm in between when he'd eat something and almost look normaly and they seemed to be getting stronger with the addition of lying on his side and 'running' with his legs and one time actually running out of the hutch in a circle.You could tell when a fit was coming on as his he would start breathing rapidly. As soon as morning came I knew I had no choice but to have him put to sleep as he couldn't go through the terrible seizures thrashing about etc anymore so I took him to the vets.
I am writing to you because I am finding it so hard to come to terms with that this rabbit who I found when he was a fluffy tennis ball had overcome all obstacles and was such a fighter and seemed to be home and dry had suddenley gone from a happy healthy rabbit to no longer there is a period of 24 hours. And no-one seemed to be able to give any answers or provide any solutions.
I know it is too late to provide solutions and cure Wobbles but I would still like to try and find an answer as to what was wrong with him and I wondered if in your knowledge you think my outline of his symptoms point to anything? The vets thought it may be related to his head trauma eg be a brain lesion but at the same time when I suggested poisoning etc she had to get a book out so I am worried that perhaps it was something that if I had known about I could have told the vets about it and perhaps with the right treatment Wobbles would be cured. I am just looking for answers as to what Wobbles had rather than having 100s of questions running through my head so that I can have closure.
I never thought when I got Wobbles that I would be so devastated at his loss or of the emptiness there would be in the house without him there. I even miss his raisins that he dropped all over the carpet that we were always swearing about and I would give a million pounds to have him back chewing through the furniture! Anyone got any ideas?
