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UPDATE flippy has gone limp and cant walk again. this is the third time in 6 weeks

barbara forster

barbara forster

Warren Scout
6 weeks ago flippy went very limp. he couldnt move anything except lift his head a little. Vet said it looked like flippy had an abscess down his ear. gave him steriod (sorry cant remember the name), laprizole and marbosil. After a few days flippy was back to normal.
4 weeks later it happened again but not as bad. Flippy had had 33 days of laprizole. Again he was given steriod at the emergency vets and they said they could see pus down his ear. a couple of days later he was back to normal again.
Flippy finished a ten day course of marbosil on friday and today he went all wobbly and off his feet again. he isnt as bad as the 1st or 2nd time . He is still upright and eating but its as though his muscles have lost their strength. his temp is also lower than it should be.
Tomorrow we have been referred to a bunny specialist in Cheshire.
We are accepting that it could be EC, Floppy rabbit, recurring ear problems.
A trainee vet today said that low calcuim could be the cause of the problem and low temperature. Flippy had an op in Feb to clean out his bladder from sludge.
any advice would be appreciated
thanks
 
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Have you tried giving vitamin E? I don't know if there is any literature from a reputable source on that, but that's supposed to help FRS, so it might be worth looking into with your vet.
 
thanks skyo. I will discuss it with the referral vet tomorrow. Reading up on FRS it says it could be lack of potassium magnesium. I have syringed him with some tomato passata which is supposed to have these in it and is good for the nervous system. he has picked up the last hour or so but is still not right. Luckily he is still eating himself though i aint taking any chances so giving him some oxbowand water. What has vit e in please ?
 
You can get liquid vit E from health food shops.it does need to be given with the potassium/tomato etc for both to be taken up by the rabbit to get the full benefit.
 
I was also going to mention vitamin K. I'm wondering if that is potassium something because K is potassium on the chemical table (whose name completely scapes me).
 
thanks again. I am noting all these down for tomorrow. My friend says that EC can cause middle ear infections though so i am still not ruling that out.
However, today he has not had any wormer or antibiotics except for 0.8ml steriod (usual dose 3ml), and he is picking up again. Could it be the tomatoes that are helping him ? I dont know ! will let you know how we get on tomorrow. Betta get some sleep now as flippy is in a small dog cage in the lounge and i am spending the night on the sofa with him just set clock for 2.30 . zzzzz
night x
 
we have been to see the referral vet , Molly, this morning. she is really good and appears to know her stuff. She has written papers for these http://www.vetstream.com/ on e-c, floppy rabbit syndrome, Vit e and vit K.
She has kept flippy in to do some blood tests to check his calcum and potassium levels and do some xrays to see if he has problems deep down in his ears. I am waiting for her to ring me this afternoon. Vibes for flippy please x
 
it would be good if we could have a proper diagnosis of what is happening to the poor little chap.


here is a photo of him
th_flippy.jpg
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never mind , can anyone tell me how to post pics please , i am not very computer minded
 
YOu need to upload the picture to something like photobucket or tinypic and then paste the IMG code.

Yes, a diagnosis will hopefully be very helpful. At least you know what you're dealing with.
 
barbara forster said:
we have been to see the referral vet , Molly, this morning. she is really good and appears to know her stuff.
She has kept flippy in to do some blood tests to check his calcum and potassium levels and do some xrays to see if he has problems deep down in his ears.
Click to expand...

Molly is an excellent vet and is a specialist in rabbits and other 'exotic' species so Flippy is in very good hands. I really hope that Molly is able to work out what is wrong with your little one and help to fix him xxx
 
thanks to everyone who has responded. I have had a look at the site and the more i read the more i am convinced it is floppy rabbit syndrome. Molly processed some blood samples and did x rays. The x rays were clear and she said his bladder was clear too (he had an op in feb to clean it out). She couldnt come to an answer for certain so has sent more bloods off for analysis. Molly is going with the fact that flippys kidneys arnt processing the calcuim as they should so has put him on Fortekor tablets. We will hopefully have the results of the other bloods early next week.
In the meantime Flippy is back on his feet and eating well. i am paranoid about leaving him now though. Luckily up to now I have been around when its happened and caught it straight away.

for those who havent heard of Molly have a look at this site www.cheshirepet.co.uk
 
yeah me too. Will spend another night on the sofa to keep an eye of flippy. I think he will be well enough to go back out tomorrow . i wont have to feed him or anything during the night , i just set my alarm a few times to check on him. thank for your support x
 
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