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Dave's video - opinions please, really worried U/D P41 bad news all round/ U/D P51

Hugo's There

Wise Old Thumper
At last I think I have uploaded Dave's video :? I would be really grateful for opinions as we are getting so concerned as it is getting worse as the week progresses ( he is at the vets tomorrow and we are taking the video with us)

It is 4 minutes long but this is how long each drinking episode lasts. You need to watch it with the sound as it is the noise which is the main concern, but it also means you can here my voice and there are a few choice words as I was getting very worried about him choking :oops: (The slight groaning noise is because it was hurting my knees as I filmed!) The noise starts once he has taken his head from the water not while he is drinking it. At one point he is resting it completely on the floor :(

Its is strange because he eats for England and has no problems, he is a great hay eater and binkies like crazy :D The same thing happened about 20 minutes later and can happen continually throughout the day

Its also looks a bit weird because it went into night vision despite having all the lights on :?

Please let me know what you think :? :? Hope it works...

 
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sorry I dont have any advice, but how strange, poor little boy. Does it happen if he drinks from a bottle rather than a bowl

Im really interested in what the vet says, hope he is ok
 
Can't quite work out where the noise is coming from from, is it his throat or nose? is he snorting the water back up his nose, cos he can't get the angle right? :?
 
Awwwhh, bless him. I wonder if the water's kind of going 'down the wrong hole' as he'd got a tippy head or something - kind of like when you swallow something and it feels like it's gone the wrong way.

Do you think using a bottle or raising his bowl up a little so he has to lift his head more would help?
 
He wont drink from a bottle.

I'm not sure what the actual noise is either, Its like he is chewing on the water and his jaw is grinding, it is very odd
 
Awwwhh, bless him. I wonder if the water's kind of going 'down the wrong hole' as he'd got a tippy head or something - kind of like when you swallow something and it feels like it's gone the wrong way.

Do you think using a bottle or raising his bowl up a little so he has to lift his head more would help?

But he has always had a tippy head and it has only started in the past 10 days and got gradually worse. He has another bowl raised upon a brick but only chooses to drink from the one on the floor. And he has no problems with eating :?
 
Sorry I don't know about Dave. Is he on any meds and has he had blood tests lately. Is it the fact he is drinking so much or just the noise that is worrying you.
 
He is on zantac because his stomch isn;t emptying as it should but thats it. He eats and drinks far too much and always has. I think he was blood tested before his castration but will have to check :?

It is the noise and actions that are concerning me as this is new in the last couple of weeks and is getting worse :(
 
But he has always had a tippy head and it has only started in the past 10 days and got gradually worse. He has another bowl raised upon a brick but only chooses to drink from the one on the floor. And he has no problems with eating :?

His tilt's not got any worse?!

I'm afraid I have no idea then. :oops: I hope he'll stop doing it soon though! :wave:
 
Is it just when he drinks, not when he eats from a similar position?

I would be wondering dental and he can't cope with the amount of fluid in his mouth possible. Badger gives us a series of funny noises when he needs a dental. Also, with head tilt bunnies being more prone to dental issues it might tie in.

The other thing I wondered but purely because of Badger, was some sort of larygeal issue where the soft pallet is not wokring as it should to block off the lungs. Maybe just a tiny issue hence why water may cause the problem as opposed to food (if food doesn't cause a problem).

By the way, all shooting in the dark.
 
I think my main concern would be his kidneys, if he is feeling very thirsty he may be gulping it down and having to step back and 'slurp'.
 
not being an expert, i am not 100% sure obviously, but it sounds almost as if his tongue is going upwards in his mouth. If you do it with yours, then try and suck air in through your mouth, its the same kind of sound. I know skeletally we are nothing like rabbits, but the tongue in the jaw is the same principal, almost like he's pulling his tongue back and pointing it upwards.

If that makes any sense? :roll:

Hope the vet can make some kind of sense of it though.
 
Thanks for your suggestions :wave:

It is only with water, he wolfs his food down no problems. He has always drunk large amounts but never seemed to have any problems until recently. His head ends up flat on the floor as he sort of chews on the water :? :( His head tilt is no worse, in fact it is better than when he first arrived and he had no problems then.

He has regular dental checks as his incisors need burring every few weeks. I know his front teeth are Ok at the moment but I never attempt to check his back teeth myself because of the tilt
 
Thanks for your suggestions :wave:

It is only with water, he wolfs his food down no problems. He has always drunk large amounts but never seemed to have any problems until recently. His head ends up flat on the floor as he sort of chews on the water :? :( His head tilt is no worse, in fact it is better than when he first arrived and he had no problems then.

He has regular dental checks as his incisors need burring every few weeks. I know his front teeth are Ok at the moment but I never attempt to check his back teeth myself because of the tilt

Sometimes head tilt bunnies don't grow spurs, as such. If you think the average rabbit with their head up would ideally have all teeth horizontal (i.e. parallel with the floor). With a head tilt bunny their teeth can also become parallel to the floor, but thats not horizontal in the same way it would be for an untilted rabbit. They can wear down very evenly, just not in the line the should be. Tilly's were comfortable at a very wonky angle. Maybe his angle is too steep? I don't know if that made any sense so if not, please say :lol: I know what I mean though.
 
Sometimes head tilt bunnies don't grow spurs, as such. If you think the average rabbit with their head up would ideally have all teeth horizontal (i.e. parallel with the floor). With a head tilt bunny their teeth can also become parallel to the floor, but thats not horizontal in the same way it would be for an untilted rabbit. They can wear down very evenly, just not in the line the should be. Tilly's were comfortable at a very wonky angle. Maybe his angle is too steep? I don't know if that made any sense so if not, please say :lol: I know what I mean though.

I know what you mean as that is a bit like how his incisors have grown.

Although he is drinking a fair bit of water he isn;t drink huge amounts. Him and Daisy between them drink about a bowl to a bowl and a half every day and they are both fairly large bunnies:? Whereas Sinbad is drinking over 2 bowls a day on his own and he weighs 2.5kg, now that i am really worried about :( I don;t think dave isn't actually getting that much down him during each session because he is doing this through out the day for same length of time each time and the bowl isn't going down that quickly :?
 
I only watched part of the video-poor Dave.:cry:

My only thought is that he may be lowering his head to make it easier to swallow? He seems to me to be lapping up lots of sips of water then trying to swallow them in one gulp- tipping his head back first then lowering it to complete the process.?

When one of my children had so severe a throat infection they were unable to swallow enough water to take the tablets, the doctor suggested I crush the tablet in a spoonful of jam and surprisingly this worked. So maybe Dave finds it easier to swallow food than gulp water?

Also a chemist told me to place the tablet as far back on the tongue as possible (with a mouthful of water) then tip my head forward as much as possible, as it opens up the throat more with your chin on your neck.
I was sceptical but it did work.
This leaning the head back of Dave's may be his way of getting the water to the back of his throat, and then him lowering his head to actually swallow?

I really don't know and am just throwing ideas to the wind here.

Perhaps he would find it easier to have some of his water intake as wet leaves or fruity baby food?

I do hope you find a solution soon.
sue:wave:
 
Only just seen this sorry :oops:

Poor Dave :cry: Erm..... to me it sounds like he is sucking it through his teeth when he makes those noises? I don't have a dental bun and never have, but Judy tells me that Thumper drinks noisily when his spurs/mouth is sore. I wonder if he gets an anaesthetic effect from swishing the water across his spurs/sore mouth? It sounds like a behavioural trait he has mastered to compensate for something clinical going on.... if you know what I mean?!

I hope your vet can figure it out. x

ETA just reading the post above mine - yes I also think it could be this. That he sucks/laps it up, and then sucks it through his teeth as a slow way to swallow it rather than gulping it - perhaps his head tilt is obstructing his oesophagus?
 
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