New here. Have a sick Bunny

Hi Guys

I am new here. I have a very poorley bunny with Pasturella/ e caniculli (even though they were wormed on the summer)

Wondered if any one can reccomend a pro rabbit vet in the North Somerset/Bath/Mendip/Bristol area???

Even though I am new here, can I requst some positive vibes for my Peanut?

I will post in furthur detail tomorrow, but very tired now as been syringe feeding every 3 hours 24/7 for 3 days now! YAWN!!!!

Sending lots of vibes. Have you tried the Bristol vet school. I was offered a referral there a while back.

Hello

I am really sorry to hear how unwell Peanut is

What about the Rabbit Clinic a Langford

http://www.langfordvets.co.uk/rabbit_team.htm

Poor Peanut - sending vibes for bun-bun xx

sending a lot of vibes for Peanut. There are a lot of bunnies on here with pasteurella and EC so I'm sure someone will have some helpful information for you and a good vet recommendation

Vibes for Peanut. Hope he is better soon and you find a rabbit-savvy vet near to you.

Sorry to hear about Peanut's illness. Is he on any treatment at present?

Hope peanut pulls through.

Just wanted to say that sometimes it seems like hard work and you may feel like giving up, but bunnies are tough little cookies and can pull through the toughest illnesses.

I have had 2 buns with EC, so i know how hard it can be to nurse them.

Hugs & Vibes from me x

Sending lots of vibes for Peanut xxx

I use Golden Valley vets in Nailsea. Both David and Claire are very good with bunnies. My normal vet is David, but Claire is doing an excellent job with Bluebell my respitory bun at the mo.

Hi Guys, thanks for your replies, was really nice to see this morning, I wasn't expecting any!

Here is my rather rambling discription of Peanut and his problems:


Peanut, who is a castrated male, pair bonded to Gizmo, another castrated male, is not well.

He had been loosing weight, so I got them into the warmth of the shed in December, then, when he went for his VHD jab at start of Jan, he was still the same weight (2.4kg I think. He was around 3kg last summer). 2 weeks after VHD jab, last saturday, I had to take him the vets as he was really ill. vet wanted to put him sleep. was now 1.6kg!, and showing signs pasturella, with head tilt and tremors, and no poos. Very very weak.

I said I wanted to give him a go, and syringe fed him all over that weekend, vet gave me baytril too, one of those glass pippette bottles, and said one pippette once a day.

He picked up, really well and started pooing and eating by the monday. So back to the vet for a reasses, and home with panacur for 28 days for both of them, and to continue baytril for another week.

Well this weekend he is not so good. Head tilt is really bad, and he is tumbling around, and was sat in his own wee just! :-(. I have been syringe feeding soaked pellets mixed with carrot based baby food. 30ml, every 3 hours times since Saturday, He nibbles rocket, parsley, corrinader and grated carrot, but not much else. also syringing water and bio lapis. I started giving him 4 drops of metacam once day ( I have cat metacam), on Saturday.

He showed an improvement and could get about if supported at his back end. I ould see he was really fighting. his eyes were clean and bright, his poos are formed, but a bit small and he was weeing fine. So I felt I didn't want to give up on him yet, not while he is fighting.

So, Tuesday came, and he was still improving but had developed a sore eye on his down side of his face due to his head tilt. Had to take him to the vet for some eye drops. she weighd him and had lost 200g again. but she could see that his fighting and is happy for me to carry on. she gave more baytril - one of the glass dropper bottles, which never seems very accurate, he has one dropper full once a day. She also gave the dose for the cat metacam, a 2 unit dose once a day. so wev'e to carry on with all that plus the panacur and syringe feed as much as possible.

have been syringe feeeding all through the night and he is taking it well, along with bio lapis & water. but he won't eat for himself.

This morning, he is stronger again, but still not get any balance. he is really trying, but occaisionally flips right over. He can get about if I support him.

So anyway, we have an appointment tonight with Langford for them to see what they think.

will update.

He could take a while to get over it, and sometimes seem like he is going backwards, but honestly if he is eating, drinking etc and trying to get about then he is trying to fight this.

Hopefully he will get through it.

Lots of vibes for Peanut, hope Langford can get to the bottom of it.

I'm surprised your vet only gave you a glass pipet, my vets give me syringes and accurate doses for meds. Perhaps it may be a good idea to source another local vet for future as I think Langford only do referals so you may need somewhere else to go for routine things like vaccs.

I don't have any advice but I wanted to send millions of get well vibes to Peanut.

xxx

Sounds like a pasteurella related ear infection. One of my buns, Dominic, recently recovered from head tilt caused by an ear infection. This is what I did:

Put him in an indoor cage fully lined with soft fabric so that he won't hurt himself when he rolls. I used a Ferplast 140 and lined it with a large piece of vet bed cut a bit bigger than the cage floor so that it went part way up the walls too.

I fed him pretty much anything he wanted to eat, which was mainly veg and greens from the garden, but also a few pellets and a bit of readigrass. On bad days I also fed him recovery food with baby food mixed in with it. I put his food and water in shallow dishes so that he could reach them easily. A probiotic in his food or water is a good idea too.

Dom's medication was as follows:

- Metacam (around 0.8ml orally per day as far as I can remember)
- Stemetil/Prochlorperazine (0.5ml orally twice per day)
- Zithromax, which is an antibiotic (around 1 ml orally once per day...again I can't remember the exact dosage but I could find out if you need it)
- Panacur/Fenbendazole (0.5ml orally once per day to cover in case of EC)

well. We have been to langford, which has a normal small animal pratice as well as the refferal one. We went the small animal practice. We saw a vet there who is doing his rabbit certifictae, so very knowledgeable. We also saw a student vet first who took the history and did the initail exam. Was really intresting as got here the vet teaching the student vet at the same time as doing peanuts colsultaion.

Peanut was a very good boy, and showed how can stand on 4 feet, unaided, if only a short while.

So we now have 10% baytril solution (he was on 2.5%) the dose is now 0.3ml once a day. Also been given the DOG metacam, 0.5ml once a day. and Zantac, 0.4ml twice day. To carry on with the panacur once a day fucilthalmic for eye. To continue syringe feeding pureed pellets with critical care powder and the baby food to keep it tasty. To carry on syringing water with bio lapis.

he is going in for the day on Friday for bloods, and depending on those, a head xray. If he has pus filled inner ears, then vet says will need surgey. I wouldn't put Peanut through this. If x ray shows bad teeth, the vet will do dental. Probably do some dental work anyway as he says there are sharp edges. Thats annoyed me cos other vet always says teeth are fine, i knew they weren't cos of his tooth grinding.

So i do feel a bit better now that I have proper plan rather than the "non" plan from other vet.

Just feeling worried about him been away from me for the day, and him having a sedation/GA. But I feel happy that Langford know what they are doing. at least this way we will know if we can help or if I am just prolonging his suffering with something that cannot be fixed, in which case, I will have put to sleep.

Thanks for the advice about the cage. I have him in smal one, with towles rolled up around sides and vet bed with an inco pad, so he staying nice and padded and dry with no horrid shavings to get in his sore eyes.

Thanks for all the encouragement. really appreciated ! x

Sending lots of vibes for your poorly bunny. I know what you are going through, I have a bunny with the same problem. In her case the problem appears to by a combination of an ear infection and E.c.

Don't give up too soon- many bunnies recovery from head tilt- the loss of balance and rolling is a stage they go through but the majority will recover their balance given time, and are able to run around, even if left with a permanent tilt.

If there is an inner ear infection your bunny is likely to need a change of antibiotic. Most vets start with baytril because they are legally bound to by the Prescribing Cascade, but they can use alternatives if the baytril proves ineffective.

My bunny Tippex Porkychicken gets extra snacks thoughout the day, with a high proportion of 'wet' foods such as herbs, grass, leaves and a little pear to help keep her hydrated- drinking enough can be tricky when your head is on upside-down!

The other important thing is to give your bunny lots of nose rubs and attention as feeling that someone cares will help give him a reason to keep fighting for survival. My bunny loves to have her ear bases and neck massaged and this helps to stop the neck muscle going into spasm.

Good luck xx

Sending you loads of vibes for Peanut to get well. We too nursed one of our buns for 5 days solid with same condition I think. The vet said she would only survive 24hrs but we persevered and slowly but surely she recovered, it was quite a time before she was fully back on her feet. It sounds as though you are doing everything possible and Peanut's a little fighter, quite a team. Good luck and keep us posted. xx :wave:

I hope Peanut will respond to treatment.
I am glad that you got him to Langford

Peanut died today, at 5pm. he had been well today, had a hop around the bedroom and had loads syringed food. He did that horrible sound that bunnies make when they pass away, but at least it meant I heard him and so was able to hold him while he went to sleep. Having his ashes back to he can be put in the corner of the veg patch with our cat Roo, and have a nice plant on top

My poor little man,

Thanks for all support guys, it has been real help to hear from people that have bee through the same thing.

i just don't know what to do about his mate, Gizmo now. I can't see him living on his own, I am so used to seeing him and Peanut next to each other, grooming each other and sharing a bowl of food.

Should I get him a new mate? and how? and what?....