Hi All
I would like some advice regarding my rabbit. I have had him for 10 years and he came from the RSPCA so I'm not sure exactly how old he is. He has had a degenerative eye/teeth probelm for some years now (an X-ray some years ago confirmed this) but just before Christmas his eyes got very bad always weeping and with white discharge. The vet (who specialises in exotic animal practice) put him on two weeks of injected antibiotics but this has done nothing. He has had his eyes flushed out many times before and last time he had it done it made no difference so the vet and I agreed flushing out this time would have no effect. He didn't think there would be anything else he could do with it being a degenerative problem and it would just be a matter of bathing them with tea and keeping them as clean and painless as possible. However over the last few days he won't let me touch them to keep them clean. He lets me know in no uncertain terms that he doesn't want to be bothered anymore with this.
He is completely blind in one eye with a cattarch and in his other eye he is nearly blind also. On top of all this his back legs have been giving him some jip for a few years and he has been on metacam for them. At the weekend his back right leg gave up completely and today it seems like his back end has now given up. He sits in his house all day and doesnt move very much and when he does move he is struggling to keep balance because of his back end.
The vet thinks it's time to euthanize him as his quality of life is now not good. He is still eating and cleaning himself (although not very well as he can't get to his back end) but I noticed yesterday he hadn't been drinking and I realised it's probably because he can't get to it on his own very well.
I'm struggling to know whether euthanizing him is best for him. Even though his quality of life is not good I don't really know if he is in pain. He certainly isn't grinding his teeth, although he has gone off his food a little and his eyes must be sore.
For all of you who are extremely experienced rabbit owners, would you think that euthanasia is the best option or should I let him continue and pass away naturally on his own?
I would like some advice regarding my rabbit. I have had him for 10 years and he came from the RSPCA so I'm not sure exactly how old he is. He has had a degenerative eye/teeth probelm for some years now (an X-ray some years ago confirmed this) but just before Christmas his eyes got very bad always weeping and with white discharge. The vet (who specialises in exotic animal practice) put him on two weeks of injected antibiotics but this has done nothing. He has had his eyes flushed out many times before and last time he had it done it made no difference so the vet and I agreed flushing out this time would have no effect. He didn't think there would be anything else he could do with it being a degenerative problem and it would just be a matter of bathing them with tea and keeping them as clean and painless as possible. However over the last few days he won't let me touch them to keep them clean. He lets me know in no uncertain terms that he doesn't want to be bothered anymore with this.
He is completely blind in one eye with a cattarch and in his other eye he is nearly blind also. On top of all this his back legs have been giving him some jip for a few years and he has been on metacam for them. At the weekend his back right leg gave up completely and today it seems like his back end has now given up. He sits in his house all day and doesnt move very much and when he does move he is struggling to keep balance because of his back end.
The vet thinks it's time to euthanize him as his quality of life is now not good. He is still eating and cleaning himself (although not very well as he can't get to his back end) but I noticed yesterday he hadn't been drinking and I realised it's probably because he can't get to it on his own very well.
I'm struggling to know whether euthanizing him is best for him. Even though his quality of life is not good I don't really know if he is in pain. He certainly isn't grinding his teeth, although he has gone off his food a little and his eyes must be sore.
For all of you who are extremely experienced rabbit owners, would you think that euthanasia is the best option or should I let him continue and pass away naturally on his own?