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Rosie and Bentley (very poorly) - the one-eyed conti babies from Kirkby Pet Welfare

Tracy

Warren Veteran
Some of you will already know from the thread in Rabbits in Need that Celia at Kirkby Pet Welfare recently took in two 9 week old conti babies with only one functioning eye each. They had to have their poorly eye removed as a matter of urgency and they underwent surgery on Monday last week. Once they had recovered from their op, they were moving on to their forever home with Kay at Bunny Hops.

Sadly, it has not gone to plan for these two little ones. They bounced back from their operation and were eating as soon as they got back to the rescue and they remained well until Friday morning.

I was at Kirkby on Friday and when we went to feed them they were quite obviously not themselves. They would not eat, were disinterested and lethargic. Celia and I agreed that I would take them home with me as they looked very poorly. I took them straight to my vets where they commenced treatment for stasis and bloat. Both were very poorly buns, but the little girl was in a worse state than the boy.

We needed to give them names while they were staying with us, so we've been calling them Rosie and Bentley.

Once at my vets, the babies were hospitalised and were given IV fluids, pain relief and drugs for their guts. They were allowed to come home on Saturday evening and we continued the regime of medication at home and monitored them through the evening and night.

We had an appointment for a check up on Sunday morning, but had to rush them back earlier than the planned time as Rosie suddenly took a turn for the worse early Sunday morning. Bentley was unchanged, no better but no worse. The prognosis for Rosie was very poor, her caecum was impacted, her temperature was low and there were no real sounds coming from her guts. We discussed with my vet the ethics of continuing and agreed that if she could be made comfortable by increasing the pain relief, then we would continue with the medication and hope that it would eventually work. She was also on liquid paraffin to try and soften the hard material in her caecum in the hope that it would start to pass through her system. Our vet told us that we should prepare ourselves for the worse, but we all felt that she deserved every chance we could possibly give her. Bentley was still a poorly bunny, but nowhere near as bad as his sister. There were some sounds coming from his guts, not very loud but at least there was some activity there. Both bunnies were given more fluids and they came home with another lot of medication for us to continue at home.

Sadly, despite the best efforts of us and our vet, little Rosie passed away at 8.30pm on Sunday evening. I am heartbroken. She had such a wonderful future ahead of her at her forever home with Kay and I am so sorry that we couldn't make her better. I will do a post in Rainbow Bridge soon for this special little girl. :cry:

Bentley was stable during Sunday night. We continued with his medication and I spent a lot of time with him so that he wouldn't be on his own. Unfortunately Bentley's bloating worsened and early Monday morning we were back at the vets with him. He was kept in on Monday. My vet couldn't feel any obvious obstructions and he was an alert and active bunny, not the normal hunched up bun that you normally see with stasis/bloat. His tummy was certainly not like his sister's. Bentley had xrays and blood tests. The xrays showed no blockage or impaction, but he was gassy in the lower part of his gut and caecum. He was hospitalised for the day, given IV fluids and had extra medication added to his already long list. He was allowed home last night at 9pm, again with all the medication to continue at home.

Last night he ate a small pile of hay and a couple of small pieces of cabbage. He was active, into everything and certainly not acting like a poorly bunny. This morning there is no real change, he is acing the same, but his tummy is still very bloated. We have had no poos coming through at all for all the time that his has been with us. :(

Bentley went back to the vets first thing this morning. I really thought we had reached the end of the line, but my vet has said that while Bentley remains a bright and interested bunny and has the will to fight, she considers that it is right to continue with the current treatment. It could be that it will be a long recovery process and we just have to be patient and wait for the drugs to do their work. He has only been on cisapride for one day, so this might not yet have had chance to kick in (supposed to be a very good gut stimulant, but has been difficult to get hold of until fairly recently). They have kept him in again and are doing everything they can to pull Bentley through this. Bentley is now on metaclopramide, cisapride, zantac, vetergesic, simeticone (wind-eze) plus IV fluids and syringe food.

Please keep little Bentley in your thoughts. It is heartbreaking to have lost Rosie and I can't bare the thought of losing him too. I desperately want a happing ending out of all this sadness.
 
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Poor Bunnies :cry:

What about adding Lactulose to Bentley's meds. It is better than LP in that it draws fluid into the bowels rather than just coating impacted matter with oil (which then prevents it being able to absorb fluids to soften it enough to enable it to be passed) Lactulose can also mop up toxins that the Liver may not now be able to deal with.

Lots of vibes for poor Bentley

RIP Rosie :cry:
 
Loads of vibes from here for Bentley.

I'm really sorry about Rosie :( Binky free little big one.
 
Really hope Bentley pulls through, you're doing everything for him so he has a fighting chance, so sad about Rosie. :(
 
That is just so sad :cry::cry::cry: I'm so sorry for Rosie.

Masses of vibes for Bentley, really hope that he can recover. WIll keep him in my thoughts xx

Binky free Rosie xxx
 
Oh no, I can't believe it :( When i met them they were so friendly and inquisitive. I really thought they would be ok and live happily with Kay. I hope Bentley makes it.
 
this just breaks my heart..poor little mites but at least they were given a chance and I just hope bentley can pull through and look forward to his new wonderful life with kay xx
 
Poor Bunnies :cry:

What about adding Lactulose to Bentley's meds. It is better than LP in that it draws fluid into the bowels rather than just coating impacted matter with oil (which then prevents it being able to absorb fluids to soften it enough to enable it to be passed) Lactulose can also mop up toxins that the Liver may not now be able to deal with.

Lots of vibes for poor Bentley

RIP Rosie :cry:

Thanks Jane :wave:

Bentley isn't on LP as his xrays don't show any impaction, but would it still be beneficial for him have Lactulose? If it could still help him then we may as well go for it - will mention it to my vet.

He's had blood tests to check kidney function etc and they all came back OK. It did show that he was low in potassium, which could make him feel weak, so they've added that to his IV fluids.

I've had an update from the vets earlier this afternoon. He has eaten some coriander and parsley, as soon as they put it in the cage it was gone in a flash. He has also passed a very small amount of poo. It's a bit runny, but they said that is to be expected. This is the first poo since Friday. I am scared to get my hopes up too much as he is still a very poorly lad, but it's definitely a little shuffle in the right direction. :)

Thank you everyone for your good wishes. :wave:
 
Sending Bentley all the vibes we can to get through this Tracy - I know what a difficult few days you & Paul have had :cry::cry::cry:

Come on Bentley, be strong little fella - you have a fantastic life ahead of you xxx

I'm so sorry to hear about Rosie - binky free beautiful girl, go find Evie she will look after you xxx
 
I'm so sad about Rosie, they were such a lovely little pair :(
I'm glad Bentley has pooed and is doing a bit better. He seems like quite the fighter! I hope he continues to improve. :love::love:
 
I've had an update from the vets earlier this afternoon. He has eaten some coriander and parsley, as soon as they put it in the cage it was gone in a flash. He has also passed a very small amount of poo. It's a bit runny, but they said that is to be expected. This is the first poo since Friday. I am scared to get my hopes up too much as he is still a very poorly lad, but it's definitely a little shuffle in the right direction. :)

Thank you everyone for your good wishes. :wave:

That's good news Tracy, hopefully there's more to come :)
 
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