Old arthritic rabbit Part 2

I said a little while ago about Bandit's arthritis and how I got a snugglesafe heatpad and how they decided against giving her treatment. Well, her condition got worse and she was squeaking and crying so yesterday I took her back to the vets. He said that she needed a tooth burring down and that he could feel a lump in her abdomen, so he'd have her in, do a dental, and x-ray her abdomen and hips. She went in today and is home now, with me £250 lighter.

Good news- the dental went well and there was nothing obvious in the abdomen.
Bad news- she'll need more dentals every 3-4 months.
Good news- Bandit doesn't in fact have arthritis, her joints are all clear.
Bad news- Bandit has some kind of spinal disease. It could be something like spondylosis in her lumbar vertibrae.
More bad news- she needs medicating straight away.
Even more bad news- looks like she could be on it for life, so paying for they estimate a bottle every two months.
Even even more bad news- the medicine is metacam (the same as for arthritis) which he says isn't licensed for long term use in rabbits and could produce side effects. We agreed quality over quantity and it's worth trying.

So that's how today's vet visit went.

Hi Bindi, read this with interest as that's what Brody had (you could clearly see the degeneration of the discs inbetween her vertebrae). She was also on Metacam permanently and that didn't cause her any problems. What did affect her was that because of her spinal problem, she couldn't reach her bum. So she couldn't eat her cecals and keep herself clean. I'm wondering if she missed out on nutrients because of this. She managed for a few years but got progressively worse and it was a real struggle to keep her bum clean and dry

Not sure if it's possible to feed a bun their cecals when they can't eat them themselves (yeuck).

Good luck x

Inky is on Metacam for joint problems and he is fine with it.

You may want to try glucosamine (if you search the forum, there should be a thread), it has really helped with him (and Smokey).

FC x

Daisy has been on metacam for 22 months and has had no adverse symptoms. It prolonged her life for this additional time.

Im sure she will feel more comfortable on metacam.

I ahve had rabbits with spondylosis and they have all been on metacam for several years without any problems at all

My Inca is also on Metacam for the rest of her life.

Although its not licenced, its been widely used in bunnies long term. If it gives your bun a qood quality of life then the benefits far outweigh any unknown risks x

Thanks you guys, that's made me feel better

She's already having problems keeping herself clean, I ended up having to trim off lumps of hardened fur because I couldn't get the knots out any other way. But that was pre-meds so maybe she might be more able to do it after some metacam.

As for glucosamine, I've got Burgess Supa Rabbit Mature, which contains cranberry, ginseng and glucosamine. I don't know if that's a sufficient amount or if I should find additional supplements.

Hello everyone,

I'm new to the forum and joined to seek some advice.

My rabbit Skippy is almost 8 and until about 2 months ago was incredibly active until one day his back right leg started to wobble and he'd run and just fall over. We took him to the vets and he was given Metacam on the grounds of possible nerve damage. He improved quite well then after the treatment stopped got dramatically worse. On our return to the vets it was suggested due to his age it is more than likely arthritis. He has no head tilt so it couldn't be EC. Anyhow, this was about 3 weeks ago and even on the Metacam he can't stand and just lays down and uses his back legs to spin himself around, we've had to start taking his water bottle to his mouth as he can't position himself to reach it.

I just want to know what people think and how I should deal with him. He's extremely bright and excitable apart from not being able to walk, he has a healthy apetite also.

Any advice/opinions gratefully recieved.

Thanks.

stacy this is all to common and no one seems to be able to diagnose what it could be other than athritis and suggest metacam, it's heart breaking to hear he can't walk at all especially when he's still sprightly. I have the same problem with Ling Jai, one back leg the bigger culprit

Are they considering taking an x-ray to look at the bones for arthritis or related conditions?