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What do you do when all the tests reveal nothing, but you know something is wrong?

S

Sky-O

Wise Old Thumper
Because that's where I'm at with Badger.

Something is wrong, but they don't know what it is medically wise and there is no obvious circumstantial cause or any other obvious cause at all.

I don't know what to do next to help him. The vet said that she feels he is in no immediate danger, but I can't shift the feeling that actually he is still not right and still not ok and he IS in danger.

(his issue has been very laboured breathing and coughing- at points mouth breathig but that has settled now).
 
What tests has he had?

Remember that lots of tests can give false negatives, especially when testing for presence of parasites or bacteria
 
Just to add that IMO it's best to treat for bacterial infection unless there is evidence to suggest an alternative cause, especially in multi-rabbit households.
 
Not much actually, x-rays is it. Hisd chest is clear when it wasn't previously. They were not confident it was wise to get a culture, but they could see there were no obvious areas of infection in his lungs.

I asked about a blood test and she felt it wasn't necessary. I'm not sure what other options there are.
 
Does he have any other symptoms apart from the laboured breathing? Can the vet tell if it's an upper or lower respiratory problem?

X-rays should be able to rule out pneumonia and enlarged heart.

Blood tests would tell you if he's fighting infection, but probably not much more with those symptoms.

If he had lung congestion previously, could the breathing difficulties be due to scarring/damage rather than active infection maybe?
 
I wish I had the answer to this one too. I have the same problem with Larry, his breathing seems laboured at times and he has sneezing fits and choking episodes. X-rays and bloods revealed nothing. He stayed at the vets for observation and showed no symptoms what so ever. So now my vet just thinks I am paranoid and slightly mad :? But I know something isn't right and have no idea what to do now.

I hope Badger is feeling better soon :wave:
 
What about an allergy, don't think it would show up on an x-ray ( thumps might know). Possibly a blood test would give an idea if the eosinophils were high that could indicate an allergy. Have you tried bronchiodilators and inhaled steroids, these helped with Smokey- suspected asthma or lung damage to a previous infection, but the vets thought it was an allergic reaction to something.
 
keep going back till a decent vet diagnoses whats up. next time i find myself in a situation of knowing something is wrong but noone else seeing it i will ask for a referal to a better bunny vet, who RU will point me in the direction of (i hope)

Pearls issue was there for anyone with bunny heart problem experience to see, guess it depends who looks at the xray.

im sure with Katies lionel his first Xray was clear then months later an xray showed stuff on the lungs which lead to the diagnosis of phenumonia (sp).

keep going back is all i can suggest until you get your diagnosis, i was made to feel paranoid by the few vets that cared for Pearl (she was hospitilised for a day right at the start and they didnt see the snorts) and it wasnt until i got the new vet someone else actually saw what i saw. next time i will push harder.

loads of vibes for your little angel, i hope you get a diagnosis soon or the symptoms disappear xxxxx
 
Thanks guys, sorry, hadn't realised that anyone had replied :oops:

I think I'm going to watch and see what happens over Easter given he has now had some of his meds retracted. The vet sai the next step would be a consultation of some sort with a specialist (not sure whether she meant her or me and Badge). I'd I'm not seeing an improvement within a week or so I may ask if a specialist could review the x-rays possibly.

We are so lacking in decent vets in our area. I see the best vets around (the others are truly horrific) but the bunny knowledge is not as hot as it is in some areas.
 
halfpenny said:
What about an allergy, don't think it would show up on an x-ray ( thumps might know). Possibly a blood test would give an idea if the eosinophils were high that could indicate an allergy. Have you tried bronchiodilators and inhaled steroids, these helped with Smokey- suspected asthma or lung damage to a previous infection, but the vets thought it was an allergic reaction to something.
Click to expand...

We've been trying to look at all the different options, allergy being one of them but I have NO idea what he might be allergic too, to be honest.
 
I think it would be hard to identify and then I suppose you are left with treating the symptoms. Blood tests can be sent away for dogs to get infomation on allergies they have, perhaps it might be worth asking if it can be done for rabbits too.
I wish I'd thought of that when we still had Smokey.:(
 
abbymarysmokey said:
Does he have any other symptoms apart from the laboured breathing? Can the vet tell if it's an upper or lower respiratory problem?

X-rays should be able to rule out pneumonia and enlarged heart.

Blood tests would tell you if he's fighting infection, but probably not much more with those symptoms.

If he had lung congestion previously, could the breathing difficulties be due to scarring/damage rather than active infection maybe?
Click to expand...

Hi...not sure if you saw my Qs? :wave:
 
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