Could the vet have done more?

Liquorice stoppped eating sometime during early hours saturday morning (his pellets from previous night were gone but veg was left).

After 5 hrs of having his breakfast next day (12noon) he still hadnt eaten any. He was lethargic and looked uncomfortable. He wasnt running around much but that was quite noirmal for that time of day.

I was worried and managed to get him an emergancy appointment at another vets.

The vet did the folowing:

- Checked his stomach with a stethascope
- Checked temp which she said was ok
- Gave a examination of abdominals and when she moved towards the top he let out an awful noise of pain
- Said she could feel an enlarged liver/splien and said she could feel feceas
- Injected him with 160ml of saline as she said he was slightly dehydrated
- Gave him shot of: Marbocyl and Zantac syrup and gave us them to administer at home from next day
- Gave us Science recovery liquid feed to feed him by syringe.

SHE DID NOT administer pain relief (unless those drugs which ive mentioned are) or check for any blockage...is it right that we shouldnt force feed if there is a blockage?

Liqey died after the third attempt to feed by syringe. When we put him down afterwards he either went into shock or had a heartattack/fit???

Could she have done more? Does it sound like Statis to you?

i dont know anything about that treatment and i understand that you want to know what happened to your bun but please dont beat yourself up about it, it was his time to go to the bridge

kelzuna said:

Liquorice stoppped eating sometime during early hours saturday morning (his pellets from previous night were gone but veg was left).

After 5 hrs of having his breakfast next day (12noon) he still hadnt eaten any. He was lethargic and looked uncomfortable. He wasnt running around much but that was quite noirmal for that time of day.

I was worried and managed to get him an emergancy appointment at another vets.

The vet did the folowing:

- Checked his stomach with a stethascope
- Checked temp which she said was ok
- Gave a examination of abdominals and when she moved towards the top he let out an awful noise of pain
- Said she could feel an enlarged liver/splien and said she could feel feceas
- Injected him with 160ml of saline as she said he was slightly dehydrated
- Gave ma

Could she have done more? Does it sound like Statis to you?

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I think in these cases it is best not to try and find a reason as to why this happened because you only wind up feeling guilty, wishing you could have done something differently, seen a different vet etc....

It sounds like your vet did a relatively thorough examination and if there had been a blockage suspected she would have felt it when she examined his abdomen. The only other thing they could possible have done at that point was an x-ray but it doesn't always prove conclusive of anything. It worries me that she said she could feel feces which may indicate a blockage and then advised you to force feed. Also I would certainly have expected her to have administered pain relief at the surgery as well as prescribed some for home.
I really am sorry about Liquorice, and I hope that in time you will learn to forget how things ended and think about the good times. x

My first bun died a week after her spey She had been eating following her op but she hd a particularly bad vet nurse check her roughly 48 hrs before she died. I spent months agonising over what had happened, did she go into stasis? Did the vet or vet nurse mess up? The vets did a pm free of charge (I truly believe it was their fault)
All these thoughts destroyed my memories of miffy as she had been, whilst I realise how important it feels to try and know all, a lot of the time with bunnies it is not always possible.
About 6 months after losing miffy I decided to put all that energy into something....
I now have 12 bunnies here, most of whom would not have found a home otherwise.

Yes it is important to have learnings from our experiences, but I hope you can remember Liquorice as the beautiful bunny he was and maybe, in time, you could love another.

montyflossy said:

My first bun died a week after her spey She had been eating following her op but she hd a particularly bad vet nurse check her roughly 48 hrs before she died. I spent months agonising over what had happened, did she go into stasis? Did the vet or vet nurse mess up? The vets did a pm free of charge (I truly believe it was their fault)
All these thoughts destroyed my memories of miffy as she had been, whilst I realise how important it feels to try and know all, a lot of the time with bunnies it is not always possible.
About 6 months after losing miffy I decided to put all that energy into something....
I now have 12 bunnies here, most of whom would not have found a home otherwise.

Yes it is important to have learnings from our experiences, but I hope you can remember Liquorice as the beautiful bunny he was and maybe, in time, you could love another.

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I agree, I spent about six months trying to resolve 'who was at fault' when I lost my first house rabbit to an incompetent vet and battled with guilt. I turned my energy elsewhere and ended up with all the wonderful bunnies I have now, as well as helping others that come my way. All of this is because of Charlie, what she meant to me and what she taught me. I think she came to me for a reason and left me for one so I could help a lot of other rabbits.

I dont think anyone other than the vet who examined Liq is qualified to answer that question. The vet is the only person who had an opportunity to observe what may or may not have been wrong with him.

A PM would have given the only conclusive answers and 'what if's' are an awful lot of wasted energy (says the person who still mentally beats herself 10 weeks later). I made a formal complaint to a vet and it really didn't absolve anything.

Remember him for who he was to you, the life you shared and move on with only the good times in your mind. Its all thts left to be done.

I just want to send you some (((Hugs))) I know it is natural to question why this happend don't blame yourself x

When my bun was seriously injured I blamed myself, I woke up in the night sometimes thinking 'if I had just done this' or wished I could have turned back the clock... I Know this is how you are feeling x There isn't anything we can say. YOU did everything for Liquorice you could x

I don't know if it was wrong but I am sure a few syringes of food didn't hurt anymore He sounded so poorly x x It's hard to accept that there wasn't 'more' you could do - don't be hard on yourself hun x x

It's so sad and when I look at your little picture I know you must be lost without him x Stay strong x x

When Bunnie was in Stasis the vet hospital took her in as she was not eating anything and had a very low temperture, dehydrated and was in alot of pain. They gave her iv fluids, painkiller, antibiotic and force feed fibreplex. She cam out 2 1/2 days later after passing poops and eating hay on her own and we had to continue treatment which was not pleasant 3 times a day for 4 more days! It must not of been her time to go.

I can only imagine how distraught you must feel,but like people said it was your buns time to go to bunny heaven and for the time was here had you loving them and when the time came you were there with them. Hugs to you x

By the sounds of it the vet did as much as they could, but only the vet could really answer that. None of us can really judge their course of action as I don't think there are any qualified vets on here.

The thing is with rabbits is, when they become very ill they go downhill very quickly and you can have the best veterinary care in the world and you'll still lose them. Don't beat yourself up about it, and don't go looking for blame as it was no one's fault.

I was mortified when we lost Skid and convinced myself it was my fault, but the truth is there was nothing I could have done or the vet could have done to make him well again, so we had to say goodbye.

*hugs* I'm sure Liquorice is happy bunny heaven.