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Arthritis.... or what else? UD post 19

coco1200

Warren Veteran
While I was at uni, my dad that Osacar was hobbling and couldn't stand up at all. Now, my dad said it's been getting progressively worse over the past couple of weeks. My initial thought was EC and I honestly thought the worst. My dad took him to the vets last week and he saw Sam who is a brilliant bunny vet. I told my dad to ask her if it looks like EC and Sam told him it doesn't seem like it is :? She also said it doesn't appear to be broken either...

She thinks it's most likely to be arthritis as he is a giant and he is getting on a bit (he is only 3 :( ) so in hindsight, she has put him on metacam to help ease any pains. His appetite hasn't been affected at all, and he is eating, drinking and pooing well. Noisette is by his side 24/7 now so I am sure she can sense something is wrong.

I have come back to visit and I saw Oscar yesterday properly for the first time in nearly 2/3 weeks. It's as if he is hobbling and can't stand up properly. It's not both back legs, it's only the left one, like he's limping on it? Like I said, he's not stopped eating or anything and pain is now at ease with the metacam.

I would love to know what everyone else thinks... treat for arthritis and get some supplements? I just don't know what to do :(
 
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thank you both :( I just don't understand him, he is out in the garden attempting to hop around and eating grass?! I just saw him trying to clean himself but toppled over :( It's like he is trying to do things normally even though obviously is something wrong with his back end?

I've even picked him up and poked and prodded his legs for breaks and he didn't even flinch.... just wish I knew what was wrong :cry:
 
thank you Nat :love:

Just been to the vets and arrrrrrrrghhhhhhhh!!!! This new vet I saw seems more competent than I thought she was going to be to be honest :oops: She feels it's less likely to be arthritis as his mobility of his joints seem good and they are not stiff. However, his muscles are very tense. Sam who saw Oscar last week assumed I had panacured the bunnies for 28 days (which I didn't, I did for 10) so she ruled out EC completely!!!!! New vet Holly has put EC back on the table and says it might be a possiblity!!

He has been kept in for observations now and Holly is going off to do some research and get a second opinion. He's having a sedation and xray later too :(
 
At least this vet is open to the the different options and is doing the tests. Is she going to do bloods too?

Good luck for today, I hope it is nothing too serious.
 
At least this vet is open to the the different options and is doing the tests. Is she going to do bloods too?

Good luck for today, I hope it is nothing too serious.

thank you :( Vet is going to call me later on to ask me what my options are and if I want to go ahead with a GA and xray. I've given her permission for that, but I will talk to her about bloods too :)

I hope it's nothing serious too, hopefully it's not been too long and is treatable :(
 
thank you :( Vet is going to call me later on to ask me what my options are and if I want to go ahead with a GA and xray. I've given her permission for that, but I will talk to her about bloods too :)

I hope it's nothing serious too, hopefully it's not been too long and is treatable :(

I hope so too, we have all fingers and paws crossed here.
 
Could he have pulled something in his back?! Eddie ended up immobile due to a soft tissue injury. It's relitively common in giants as they have such weak backs, so twisting can do much damage! Unfortunately soft tissue damage doesn't come up on an x-ray so they'll probably give him a course of metacam for pain and to loosen his joints, and go from there.

Vibes for your big man! Xx
 
Thank you... the thing is, he is incontinent now and his back is completely wet. It just all seems to tie into EC at the moment :(

especially reading this here - http://wildlife1.wildlifeinformation.org/S/00dis/Parasitic/Encephalitozoonosis.htm

he's showing these signs here (quoted off the website) - Ataxia, Hindlimb paresis, Urinary incontinence, Stiff rear limb gait... but then again, these could all add up to something else too.

He's already on a 12kg dose twice a day of canine metacam to help ease the pain :( He's didn't even get up yesterday evening or this morning when I tried letting them out, he's just looking so poorly.
 
Thank you... the thing is, he is incontinent now and his back is completely wet. It just all seems to tie into EC at the moment :(

especially reading this here - http://wildlife1.wildlifeinformation.org/S/00dis/Parasitic/Encephalitozoonosis.htm

he's showing these signs here (quoted off the website) - Ataxia, Hindlimb paresis, Urinary incontinence, Stiff rear limb gait... but then again, these could all add up to something else too.

He's already on a 12kg dose twice a day of canine metacam to help ease the pain :( He's didn't even get up yesterday evening or this morning when I tried letting them out, he's just looking so poorly.

Is he incontinent, or can he just not get in the right position to wee?

Eddie didn't move for about two weeks! Just moped on his vet bed. Put something like puppy pads and vet bed under him so he isn't sitting in his wee, so he doesn't get urine scald, and sudocream his sore bits.

Hope it's nothing too bad!
 
Is he incontinent, or can he just not get in the right position to wee?

Eddie didn't move for about two weeks! Just moped on his vet bed. Put something like puppy pads and vet bed under him so he isn't sitting in his wee, so he doesn't get urine scald, and sudocream his sore bits.

Hope it's nothing too bad!

I'm not quite sure, I think he was incontinent yesterday as he just couldn't get up to wee :? He's bedded on towels which I'm changing daily so hopefully it will make him more comfortable :)

But I didn't get the chance to update after yesterday's second vet visit. Well, after being kept in for observations, the vet thinks as his motility is so good she doesn't think he has severe arthritis. She didn't do xray as she said something about the xray not picking up on early stage of synovial fluid degeneration so there wouldn't be any point, which I thought was fair enough. But we can't rule out arthritis so it was still a possibility. However, she can only think the problem is either a muscle injury (like you were saying Ali!) or EC. She has instead sent off bloods to the labs, where I should get an answer by Tuesday.

So, at the moment, we are looking at first stage of arthritis, muscle injury or EC (or a combination!)

The vet has put Oscar on a low dose of vetergesic injections to see if he the problem is musculoskeletal and to see if he responds to the stronger pain relief. He and Noisette have started Lapizole for 28 days now to rule this out too, but if bloods come back that EC levels are normal then the next step would be to xray. Also, he is getting put on some liquid glucosamine to help joints too. Basically the vet is trying to knock each condition off one by one and see if we can reach and verdict.

Oscar is looking better today though and his hopping seems to be getting better too for some reason, I don't know if this is him responding to the pain relief?! He is a baffling bunny!
 
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