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  • Please Note - Medical Advice

    Please keep in mind that posts on this forum are from members of the public sharing personal opinions. It is not a replacement for qualified medical advice from a veterinarian. Many illnesses share similar symptoms but require different treatments. A medical exam is necessary for an accurate diagnosis, without which appropriate treatment cannot be given.

    You should always consult your vet before following any suggestions for medication or treatment you have read about. The wrong treatment could make your rabbit worse or mean your vet is unable to give the correct treatment because of drug interactions. Even non prescription drugs can do harm if given inappropriately.

    We are very grateful to members who take time to answer other members questions, but please do be clear in your replies that you are sharing personal experience and not giving instructions on what must be done.

    Urgent Medical Advice: If you need, or think you might need, urgent medical advice you should contact a vet. If it is out of working hours phone your vet's normal number and there should be an answer phone message with instructions on what to do.

What to do....

PearlyGirl

Mama Doe
Re my other thread about Stew,i'm in turmoil what to do for the best.....
The vet wants to give up on her (only been a week), i want to fight for her but today she seems worse...still eating, drinking etc but legs no better, i've made everything easy for her to reach, made slippy surfaces unslippy but i don't know anymore what to do for the best. I hate to see her like this and she's still so young, i just don't want to think her quality of life is less than it should be or that she is in pain.
I'm doing everything i can, keeping her clean etc etc, am i being cruel keeping her going and how long do i do it for, how will i know when enough is enough?:(:(
 
What you have to ask yourself is: Is Stew in pain? Is she happy? Is she alert? Is she eating and drinking? Is she taking notice of other things around and about her?

If the answer is yes to these questions then it's not time to let her go :D

It could be the fall that she had a couple of weeks back and she may get movement back properly. Has the vet done the pain and reflex tests on her legs and feet? If so, what where they like?

If she is alert and eating then pts is not an option. I could take her if your vet insists on pts. We specialise in buns like this - but I can't promise that she will walk or hop again, but she may regain some movement and hop in a strange way :D:love::love:

Have a good think - if you don't feel she's ready then she's not :D
 
i agree jaypot. if she seems inquisitive, she's not ready to give up yet. from what i gather (been on hol so missed a lot of recent posts, sorry), the vet isn't sure what is causing the problems with stew? if that's the case - and she doesn't appear to be miserable or in pain - why pts? many many humans live with problems, as do some of the animals i know, but quality of life is the main factor.

don't feel pressured by your vet to do something you're not totally sure about. stew is your baby and you know her better than anyone.

x
 
I'm so up and down, everyday i hope to see her better and when she isn't it makes me sad :(, i'm going to fight for her though.:)
The vets are very vague about everything tbh, as long as she isn't in pain i am happy, she still tries to get about and is still alert and eating, just a bit quiet sometimes (especially when dumps in binkying around her :?)
That's a very kind offer....i will def. contact you if things don't improve!!
She is my tiny baby and is going to get through this!!!!:love:
 
I would definitely agree with Jay - we've been through something similar with our Wilson where one vet was trying to convince us putting him to sleep was the best option

Wilson started with headtilt (different to Stew's problems I know) on 2nd April & if one vet at our practice had her way, he would be gone now :evil: She wasn't prepared to listen to me, when I said I'd done some research & wanted to try a different drug that wasn't licensed in animals. She basically told me I was being cruel keeping him going. Now I know my rabbits better than any vet & as Wilson was still eating, drinking, pooing & washing himself best he could - I knew he wasn't ready to give up just yet. Therefore neither was I!

Our normal vet agreed with me & we put him on the drug I'd researched about & he has improved no end. He's gone from being a bunny confined to a cage, because of severe rolling episodes to one where he is able to live comfortably in a big pen with his partner Alice. He still has rolling episodes every now & again, & his head is still tilted quite badly - but he's adapted & copes remarkably. I'll know in my heart when the time is right to let him go, but for now whilst he's still fighting then so I am :)

Go with your heart, not what the vet is telling you - although they are the professionals, they don't always necessarily give advice that is the best :?

If it was me, I would be asking to see if you could be referred to Frances Harcourt Brown in Harrogate for a 2nd opinion. You can't get any more of an expert opinion than hers - I know Bunny Buddy on here uses her as her vet, you could pm her & see what her recommendation of FHB is :)

Good luck Claire & keep us posted on little Stew xxx
 
I am def. going to ask for a referral or at least for them to ring him. My hubby said if needs be we will try and get an appointment ourselves and take her up there, i will pm bunnybuddy and ask her....thanks again everyone, just wanted to know i wasn't doing the wrong thing by her :)
 
They will see you Claire on a referral basis :) I rang them about Wilson & they said they could arrange an appointment to see him - all they needed was our vets details to contact them for his notes & history, plus out of courtesy to let them know they would be seeing him :)

We never actually got to the stage of taking him up to FHB, because we managed to sort things through our normal vet - but I definitely wouldn't hesitate to contact them again if needs be.

You're definitely not doing the wrong thing by her, she will show signs if it's her time to leave. It's great that she's got such a caring mummy to help her fight this.

How's little Stew doing now? Please give her a snuggle from me :love:
 
She is enjoying some nice grass in the garden right now with Dumpling, shes actually a lot cleaner today, brown feet but not bum, which i'm pleased about!
She seems to be moving differently now, we think it's because she is working out how to do it best for herself, she sort of moves one leg at a time instead of trying to do them both at once.
She is getting lots of cuddles and fuss ( i said to my hubby this morning it's like having a newborn baby all the cleaning and syringing etc :lol:), i think Dumpling is a bit jealous tbh!!!
We are back at the vets wednesday afternoon, hopefully my hubby will get the afternoon off to come too, i am researching lots on the net to see if i can find out what else it could be etc, but will def. be taking FHB's number with me!!!
Thanks to everyone for your help and support, we wouldn't have got this far without it! xxxxxxxxxxxxx:):)
When photobucket decides to play fair i have a great photo of her snuggled up last night in her bed:love:
 
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I hope this works now.....my lovely girl Stew :love:
CIMG2630.jpg


and not forgetting Dumps (stew is not impressed with him being in her bed!, this one was before she got wobbly)
CIMG2571.jpg
 
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Aww they are both gorgeous :love:

I had a similar problem with my 6 year old boy Flynn. An emergency vet told me to get him PTS and when i refused she told me he would only have 8 - 9 weeks left :(. She also told me to give a 9 day course of panacur and *I* had to correct her and tell her he needed a 28 days course :roll:.

About 2 weeks in Flynn was miserable, constantly being wet, then washed/cleaned was getting to him. After the 2nd day of him being miserable, i cried my way through work, knowing it was decision time. HOWEVER i got home from work and he was trying to walk :D. He was wobbly, but managing to support himself. It truly was like he knew :love:. This was with panacur, metacam and phsio twice a day.

He came on tremendously in the following few days, but sadly he needed a dental. My vet warned me of the dangers, especially when he was weak, but he has always reacted ok to anaesthetic, and i felt he deserved the chance. He came through the dental with no problems :D.

He has now been finished treatment for a week and he has full mobility back :D he even did a string of binkies in the garden a couple of days ago :D. He has not came out unscarred though, he gets tired very easily, so he now lives as a house rabbit.

I just wanted to share this with you. Vets only see our pets for 10 minutes, and in that 10 minutes it is impossible to get an idea of how the bunnies mental state is. When i told my usual vet about the reaction emergency vet gave me, he said, had he not known me and known how dedicated i am, he would have suggested the same. Vets will offer what they think is best, as not everyone has the knowledge, time or dedication to keep a disabled bunny going. In the wrong hands a disabled bun could suffer. However, your knowledgeable and have a huge network of experienced support behind you (members of RU). Therefore do not let your vet influence your decision, you will know when enough is enough. I truly hope it does not come to that though.

Vet bed is incredible stuff too, so comfortable and while it is dear, it is worth it as it washes over and over and over.

Sorry for rambling, i hope my experience helps though.
 
It does, thanks so much, that makes me feel much better, so glad your bun is doing well :love:
I had to ask for more panacur as i had only been given a 9 day course, she is still on baytril and metacam too for the moment. What does the physio involve?
 
Yeah its best to do the 28 day panacur course :D

For the physio i lay Flynn on his back on my lap and gently pulled his leg out and moved it back in, using the motion they would use to walk/hop. It just meant his legs would not cease up. But be careful, if they are very stiff or sore you dont want to hurt her.
 
Oh bless her Claire - she looks so adorable :love: Loving the pic of them both together :love:

So glad she's fighting & that you are too xx
 
"sniper stew' is her new nickname as she looks like she is leopard crawling, has just been for a crawl around the garden, while we were trampolining (don't ask :lol:), she's tired and going to bed now though ...she says thanks for all the aww's and loves the attention :love:
 
I was about to recommend FHB especially seeing you are at Doncaster but Denise (Bunnyaddict) beat me to it!!

I'm so glad you haven't given up on her, the brilliant thing about using a specialist rabbit vet is knowing they are with you on getting the rabbit better rather than assuming you will go for the cheapest option (it being 'only a rabbit' and all that).

I just can't recommend Frances highly enough, let me know if you want any more information.
 
Clare - I tried to send you a PM but I got this message:

"claireb1 has chosen not to receive private messages or may not be allowed to receive private messages. Therefore you may not send your message to him/her."

So I haven't been able to send it.


... the jist of it however was that you might need to go via referral if you want to do it through insurance as they may need to know it's not repeat treatment and is continuation of treatment, thought I don't have insurance so that's guesswork. I definitely recommend seeing FHB though, it would be well worth the trip. (Not sure when Great Yorkshire Show is on though, I'd check the dates for that before going to Harrogate!! Edit to add: 14 - 16 July.)

Another thing I've just thought of - if you go direct you'd probably need to travel for a consultation, possibly with a referral all you'd need is the notes to be passed on for an expert opinion (guesswork again though)

Good luck with it all.
 
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Thanks!!! i will get onto it, will speak to the vet on Wednesday, will ring Fhb surgery first and go from there!
can receive messages again now - my settings seem to keep changing themselves!!:?
 
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