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chelsea worried age 11yrs u/d 15/10

bunlover

Warren Veteran
hi guys, not been on a lot recently i know but ineed you now.

chelsea has been eating less the last few days and yesterday didnt eat ehr breakfast and only a little of her tea she was yesterday pooing and weeing ok and grazing eating leaves etc, she is 11.5yrs old roughly. she has arthritus and was grinding her teeth a bit as if in pain so was given metacam at home.

today she ate some food again but not what she normally does and she has not eaten her tea.. this evening she was taken to vets by mum who said that her kidneys felt fine but her left abdomen had a lump she could feel she didnt know if it was a blockage or a tumour etc and chelsea hates being handeled and was very stressed, vet prescribed metaclopromide aand renatidine has checked teeth too. she ahs lost a little weight but is drinking as little as she normally does, as most of her moisture comes from grazing etc, she said that a blood test could be done but to be honest chelsea was stressed and squeaking etc so mum decided against for now.

unfortunatly the rabbit savvy mr burgess our norma lvet (jason) was not ther and so she was seen by a diff vet. she is coming up and sniffing food but not eating oh and vet siad lymph nodes are up.

mum has given the renitidine ranitidine (300ml per ml 0.41 ml by mouth twice a day)
but we havent given metoclopramide (10mg crush i tablet and add to 10 mls water then give 1.5ml of mixture in syringe by mouth 2x daily 2hrs after the ramitidine was what we were told) as we were worried if it was a blockage it may cause stomach to rupture....
x rays were a possibility but vet wanted to sedeate her for them and chelsea normally has x rays sat still without sedation with jason because of her age and good nature of jsut sitting while on table.

mum has gone to tesco now to get parsley and corriander and mint etc stuff to tempt her but she wont eat apple or dried food which she normally loves. we are worried about her but apart form the grinding and not eating her behaviour is normal.
any ideas guys? also are we right to not give metoclopramide? not sure if doing right thing as think she going into stasis as eating less and less and her poos are now smaller than before, she has dropped from 3.25 to 3.10 kg adn her weight is usually around 3.2 though she was 3kg when younger

if its a tumour should we operate? if it is a blockage what should we be doing? if its something else what can we do... my thoughts are that due to lymph nodes being up her throat is sore and she cant swallow easily therefore isnt eating due to painfuol throat have treid mushed pellets etc too and baby food.
 
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also does the metoclopramide have to be exactly 2 hours apart from the ranitidine as vet we saw today stressed that it must be given exactly 2 hours apart else wont work if thats case we need to give soon if we decide to give it.
those with older buns especially please reply xx
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Is it possible she has gas? I was advised to buy some Infacol from the supermarket which helps to break up gas. Someone else mentioned cooled peppermint tea which my Honey drank no problem when she has stasis last week. Honey had to have an Xray done when she started on meds (Zantac and metaclopramide) as she still wasn't eating at all.

I guess with her being stressed with handling massages are not an option?

Forgot to say our vet didn't say we had to give the two meds any time apart but then I'm not sure how up on rabbits he was.
 
Is it possible she has gas? I was advised to buy some Infacol from the supermarket which helps to break up gas. Someone else mentioned cooled peppermint tea which my Honey drank no problem when she has stasis last week. Honey had to have an Xray done when she started on meds (Zantac and metaclopramide) as she still wasn't eating at all.

I guess with her being stressed with handling massages are not an option?

Forgot to say our vet didn't say we had to give the two meds any time apart but then I'm not sure how up on rabbits he was.

i felt her stomach as did vet not gassy from what we could tell. and yes maassageing tum would be stressful though could be done if needed not doing this at moment as not sure it would help.
 
Hi

You are in a bit of a tough situation,
Is her tummy gurgling a lot more than normal?
Is her tummy distended? Can you feel a lot of 'bubbles moving through?
You are right, if you give her anything to 'stimulte' her gut like the meds then if it is a blockage it could make everything a lot worse.
Is she shedding at the moment?
I am not an expert but I would be a bit concerned about operating on a bunny of 11.5 years.

Sorry for all the questions.
 
I hope Chelsea feels better soon.

Is she still on pain relief?

Additional fluid, either subcut or iv may help to rehydrate the gut contents and help them to pass, and is very helpful in stasis cases.
Xrays or ultrasounds may be useful to get to the bottom of the problem.

It's difficult to advise what to do as regards the meds without more information, but I would be inclined to trust the vet.
 
she is on metacam already, not had any fluids as didnt seem dehydrated,

she is nibbling little bits.

no sounds of gurgling or funnny noises and nothing feels distended. hmm its so hard.. will update if anything changes.x
 
It's good that she is eating a little anyway. Keep offering fresh juicy green things like grass, dandelion leaves, herbs, fruit leaves.
I would give a probiotic such as fibreplex too if you have any.
 
Hi this is bunlovers mum-Chelsea has eaten a very small amount of dried food while I was out buying fresh herbs for her. She has also had a bit of curly kale and a spoonful of grated carrot. I doubt she will eat any more tonight as she usually settles down to sleep for the night.
I will have a look at her in the morning as she looks settled now.
Thank you all for your advice and good wishes-sue:wave:
 
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Sorry I did not see this last night.

How is Chelsea doing now ?

The 'lump' may have been a very full caecum. Intensive fluids both oral and SQ/IV would be an essential part of treatment if it were. After 24 hours of fluid therapy/analgesia and Lactulose some Liquid Paraffin can be given. LP should NOT be given without first hydrating the contents of the caecum.

Ranitidine is useful for its prokinetic effects on the lower GI tract

Maybe you could mention this possibility to the Vet ?

An impacted caecum can take up to a week of treatment before it resolves
 
i have spoken to the vet via phone this morning (mum took chelsea in) and she is going to have an x ray and blood tests taken though im not sure they will show much to be fair. the lump is not hard like a tumour and is in the centre of the abdomen (i just should add chelsea is spayed for those wondering) she says she isnt sure what it is but doesnt really want to keep giving metacam if chelsea has kidney function problems (of which there is no indication) but alternative pain relif she says there is only 1 which is very strong like morphine and would probebly supress her appetite.... which obviousyl is the last thing we need, so we are sticking with metacam for now pain relief wise, and also she is having ranititidine and metacloprimide as well as vet thinks it isnt a blockage as says full blockages are rare and not think it big enough lump to do that. lump is painful or discomfortable when pressed and sqeezed she apparently is not showing typical stasis signs as still pooping and weeing and nibbling bits and pieces (even though both are less) it is not bloat and she is not gassy, vet says not think it her throat sore as she not mind that being touched but lymph glands still up (she didnt say where lypmh glands were but i was assuming in throat?)
 
Sounds very much like an impacted caecum to me :?

Hope the Vet can help Chelsea feel better xx

well she had her blood test and her urine test and x rays today,
a different vet (agian not our normal rabbit savvy one)

catherine is loverly and probebly second best to jason and said that all the tests came back fine she is fighting fit according to everything from her heart to her kidneys but she is stil only eating green stuff and not pellets or hay, sshe is still pooing and weeing though the poos are noticibly smaller than they would normally be.

vet said there is definatly no blockages and catherine couldnt find the lump the other vet was talking about but did say maybe it was a hard bit of poop inthe caecum, jason is back tommorow and mum has an appointment to se him with chelsea so fingers crossed also i am back in gloucester tommorrow evening to help with meds etc as i have a funeral to attend on thursday :(

no one can tell us why her lyph glands are up either which seems odd we are hoping that jason can do or suggest something tommorrow, if we did go with the suggestion of liquid parrafin as you said jane is there a set amount to use and is it something the vet should be advising on? or will it cause probs with her other medications?we will speak to jason about it tommorrow will give her baby food by syringe if she continues to not eat tonight. thankyou for advice x
 
i got it wrong the vet appointment with jason is tommorrow, but today we have progress she started eating pelelted food again. fingers crossed she continues to imrpove thankyou to all for advice. xx
 
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