Any ideas about poor fern?

Fern hasn't been herself for about 10 days now. She is a French lop who will be 6 in August.

The weekend before last she went into stasis but has gradually started eating again over the last week. She still isn't eating normally but enough to get by. It is also taking her hours to eat what would normally take her minutes as she keeps lying down and then going back to it.

She has had all the usual meds including a course of baytril. Metacam doesn't seem to be helping. Her teeth have been checked by 3 different people, they are fine and her jaw line seems smooth.

She has stayed lively in herself through out the whole thing. She had bloods done and the results came back normal yesterday, so I decided it would be ok to get her Myxi vac done yesterday.

This morning she wouldn't come out of her hutch for her breakfast and wouldn't eat it when I took in to her, but she did wolf down some greens.

I don't know what else to do for her, i will keep a careful eye on her today in case the vaccination has affected her.

The only other suggestion I can think of is x rays but want to avoid these if I can due to her age. Plus I'm not sure what they would show up that a blood test wouldn't.

Anyone have any ideas, I am really worried as this has been going on so long.

Hi,


Not sure what it could be, I have a 6 year old Frenchie as well. I know they say they can have weak hearts has the vet checked this?

I would give her what she likes to eat and see if she improves, do you think it could be the heat is she a rather large Frenchie?

Wishing her all the best, it's a bit of a mystery!

Maureen

Hi Liz

I have encountered the exact same problem in Maya, a 6.5 year old Doe.
It has been established that Maya has osteoporosis in her jaw which has allowed her tooth roots to overgrow and cause pain. NO LUMPY JAW THOUGH !! Maya has never had Dental problems and has always been a good hay eater. My Vet says she is starting to see this problem alot in older Buns. They suddenly develope Dental problems and pain associated with tooth root elongation/ general 'mechanics' of the jaw.

Although the use of steroids in Rabbits is usualy a 'no no' when all else failed ( Metacam/opiates/abx......... ) my Vet agreed to give a Long Acting Steroid a go. IT WORKED !! Obviously Maya now has a chronic problem with her jaw but shots of DEXAMETHASONE every 14 days and Dentals every 8 weeks means that she is much more comfortable and has not had any more bouts of reduced GI motility.

Dexamethasone is really a 'last resort' but if all else fails and no 'tests' come up with anything else then maybe your Vet might consider giving it a go. Obviously not yet though as she's just had the Myxi vacc

Janex

They have listened to her heart and felt all around her stomach, all seems normal. She usually likes the sun and is quite small for her breed

Thanks Jane, my initial thought was dental problems as she seemed to be a bit awkward when chewing on her back teeth. But the vets ruled it out.

Should I ask for dental x rays? and she currently isn't on any meds should I give her Metacam? I tried before but it didn't seem to help maybe I didn't give her enough, she is a small French lop only 4kg I gave her 8 drops 2 times daily last time.

I'm feel like the vets think I'm paranoid and she is perfectly fine as she has remained lively, but I know there is something wrong

Hi,


Jane to the rescue again!!!!:lol::lol::lol:

Not sure where you are in Bedfordshire but there is a very good rabbit vet in
Watford at Medivet call Guy Carter. He has loads of experience with bunnies and teeth problems.

Just and idea


Maureen

MoBunny said:

Hi,


Jane to the rescue again!!!!:lol::lol::lol:

Not sure where you are in Bedfordshire but there is a very good rabbit vet in
Watford at Medivet call Guy Carter. He has loads of experience with bunnies and teeth problems.

Just and idea


Maureen

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Thanks Maureen, I know of Guy Carter but wasn't sure he still worked there. It's good to know he is still fairly close by if I need him

i don't know whats causing the problem but until you find out I think giving her the food she will eat like greens should hoefully keep her going.....is she still eating hay?

Hugo's There said:

They have listened to her heart and felt all around her stomach, all seems normal. She usually likes the sun and is quite small for her breed

Thanks Jane, my initial thought was dental problems as she seemed to be a bit awkward when chewing on her back teeth. But the vets ruled it out.

Should I ask for dental x rays? and she currently isn't on any meds should I give her Metacam? I tried before but it didn't seem to help maybe I didn't give her enough, she is a small French lop only 4kg I gave her 8 drops 2 times daily last time.

I'm feel like the vets think I'm paranoid and she is perfectly fine as she has remained lively, but I know there is something wrong

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A Skull Xray might give some clues but I wonder if its worth risking a GA............:?:?

For some reason I find that injectable Metacam is more effective than when given orally. My Vet says the highest dose that can be given is 0.6mg/kg. It used to be thought that only up to 0.3mg/kg was 'safe'.

It would be interesting to see how she responded to a high dose of injectable Metacam for a few days. I'd also ask the Vet about giving her Ranitidine to reduce the risk of GI ulceration whilst on the Metacam.

All you describe sounds so much like Maya. She lost almost half her body weight at one point. She would try to eat but just couldn't and she kept following me about begging for food The pain in her jaws made chewing impossible yet she was starving hungry.

Janex

Thanks, I'll see how she eats this afternoon and go from there. She still hasn't come out of her hutch today which is very unusual for her

Hugo's There said:

They have listened to her heart and felt all around her stomach, all seems normal. She usually likes the sun and is quite small for her breed

Thanks Jane, my initial thought was dental problems as she seemed to be a bit awkward when chewing on her back teeth. But the vets ruled it out.

Should I ask for dental x rays? and she currently isn't on any meds should I give her Metacam? I tried before but it didn't seem to help maybe I didn't give her enough, she is a small French lop only 4kg I gave her 8 drops 2 times daily last time.

I'm feel like the vets think I'm paranoid and she is perfectly fine as she has remained lively, but I know there is something wrong

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4kg is small for a frenchie isn't it.B is 4.6kg[10lb 12oz] and at first i began to wonder if she was a french lop as shes so small!Reading this thread has been lovely cos i was told when i bought Willow that frenchies only live 4-5years and Will lived til she was almost 7[and she was big weighing in at 15lbs]and obviously alot of other people have older french lops which is nice to know.

Has she always been small or has she lost alot of weight as shes got older?B didn't have a good start to life so i guess that could be why shes small[and with a muscle weakness].

She's always been small, I think she must have been the runt of the litter. A breeder gave her away because of her size

I'm hoping that because she is small she will have a longer life span than a normal size Frenchie

She ate all her greens tonight and picked at a bit of dry food, but hasn't touched her carrot. Basically what use to take her 10 minutes to polish off is now taking hours. I've been watching her eat and she doesn't appear to be having any problems chewing. She just lays down a lot inbetween mouthfuls.

Does anyone know if heart problems would show an abnormality in her bloods?
Also she had a basic health check yesterday with her vaccinations, would they be able to pick up a heart problem easily during a basic check?

I will be ringing the vet again in the morning.

Hugo's There said:

She's always been small, I think she must have been the runt of the litter. A breeder gave her away because of her size

I'm hoping that because she is small she will have a longer life span than a normal size Frenchie

She ate all her greens tonight and picked at a bit of dry food, but hasn't touched her carrot. Basically what use to take her 10 minutes to polish off is now taking hours. I've been watching her eat and she doesn't appear to be having any problems chewing. She just lays down a lot inbetween mouthfuls.

Does anyone know if heart problems would show an abnormality in her bloods?
Also she had a basic health check yesterday with her vaccinations, would they be able to pick up a heart problem easily during a basic check?

I will be ringing the vet again in the morning.

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Heart problems are not easy to diagnose just by listening to the heart with a stethescope. A chest Xray would show if the heart was enlarged and if there was a fluid build-up around the heart/in the abdomen. An ultra-sound of the heart and an ECG would give more information.
Blood Tests would probably not be that helpful unless there was secondary renal function problems related to Heart Failure.

I hope the Vet can shed some light on what may be wrong as the 'not knowing' is often more of a worry than the 'knowing'

Janex

Thanks Jane,

She seems much brighter this morning, I don't know what to do now, whether to bother the vets or leave it a bit longer

Hugo's There said:

Thanks Jane,

She seems much brighter this morning, I don't know what to do now, whether to bother the vets or leave it a bit longer

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Well personally I'd wait and see. She may have had a reaction to the Myxi Vac that made her feel off colour for 24 hours. If you take her back to the Vets the stress may set her back again. Obviously if she were to deteriorate or if she had not perked up then a Vet trip may be necessary. But she sounds to be picking up again so I'd give it another 24 hours and review the situation tomorrow.

I know for a fact that some of my Buns pick up on my anxieties about them. The more I check on them and fuss over them the more likely it is that they stop eating etc. With some I have been known to set up a mirror so as I can watch them without them knowing !! The next step will have to be a webcam but I am trying not to go that far ........yet...:roll:

Janex

I am going to wait and see how she goes today.

I was only going to request to speak to a vet about what to do next rather than take Fern to the vets. She is so heavy to carry up there and hey only saw her Tuesday. But I'm worried that they will think I am completely paranoid about her, but you know me I need to know whats going on

Hugo's There said:

I am going to wait and see how she goes today.

I was only going to request to speak to a vet about what to do next rather than take Fern to the vets. She is so heavy to carry up there and hey only saw her Tuesday. But I'm worried that they will think I am completely paranoid about her, but you know me I need to know whats going on

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I hope that Fern continues to improve today. Bunnies, they really do cause us two-foots mega stress at times........:roll:

Janex