Help/Opinions please

:wave:

I've not been on RU for a long time but hopefully some of the older members remember me. I have MJ and Opal, both adopted from Kayj's rescue. I've pm'd Kay for advice but in the meantime thought I'd throw it open to the wider forum.

MJ isn't very well, he's been slowly (very slowly) losing weight - over the past couple of years - and for the past few months getting slowly 'depressed' ie not showing much interest in life. He's been eating and drinking ok, but if you approach the hutch he doesn't even look up. We wondered if he was going blind but the vet says she can't see anything amiss there. I took him back earlier this week and she's given him panacur, and baytril (injection there and medicine here) which he's been on for 4 days. She checked his teeth including the back ones and they are fine.

Since then I don't think he's improved, if anything he's got worse. He's sitting in his litter tray, Opal isn't leaving his side just constantly grooming him. His bum is getting messy so he obviously isn't caring for himself.

The vet had a good feel of him and couldn't find anything apparently wrong. We can't afford at the moment to go down the line of expensive blood tests/xrays etc due to work situation with my hubby, and I've already spent more than we can afford on seeing the vet.

So what to do? He seems like he's fading away of 'old age' but he is only around 6 but not sure exactly due to him being a rescue. Do you have any other ideas of what can cause them to fade away like he is doing? I fear if I take him back to the vets she'll want to pts, but although he's unwell, he's at home with his devoted companion and my gut feeling is to wait and let nature take it's course, he may improve once the course of baytril is over.

I am hoping someone can say 'oh my rabbit was like that and....' but at least I can get the opinions of experienced rabbit owners as well as the vet (who is a locum although seems knowledgeable)

Thanks

Here they are, you can see MJ is just cuddling under Opal, how he spends most of his time


MJ and Opal by kayjay1809, on Flickr

Is he on any pain relief eg Metacam ? He may have some osteoarthritis causing him discomfort. Osteoarthritis may also cause weightloss and a mucky bum due to the fact that it is painful for Bun to keep him/herself clean

Jack's-Jane said:

Is he on any pain relief eg Metacam ? He may have some osteoarthritis causing him discomfort. Osteoarthritis may also cause weightloss and a mucky bum due to the fact that it is painful for Bun to keep him/herself clean

Click to expand...

No he isn't as he doesn't *appear* to be in pain, although he has stopped going down the ramp into the run area which could be due to arthritis, so that's definitely one thing to ask the vet about, thanks for your reply

If he's stopped going down the ramp, I'd agree pain could definately be an issue here. Bunnies are very good at hiding pain, so sometimes its the little things taht give you a clue.

Jane, I've just rung the vets and she's leaving me some metacam to pick up for him to try over the weekend, thanks so much for your suggestion as it hadn't occurred to me that it could be arthritis but it's worth a try x

Have you had a quote for diagnostic tests? Sometimes they aren't as expensive as you'd think if they can be done 'in-house'. For instance I only paid about £30 for the last blood tests I had done.

abbymarysmokey said:

Have you had a quote for diagnostic tests? Sometimes they aren't as expensive as you'd think if they can be done 'in-house'. For instance I only paid about £30 for the last blood tests I had done.

Click to expand...

No I haven't as yet, we were hoping the baytril would improve him. I've just given him some metacam, fingers crossed he perks up. Bum bath time later though I hate getting him out at the moment as he's stressed with me squirting stuff into his mouth but he's getting messy despite me cleaning out his tray twice a day, he's just sitting in it all, my poor little bunny

kidneys?

either that or arthritis

parsnipbun said:

kidneys?

either that or arthritis

Click to expand...

Yes kidneys are my next thought as he has had a few urine infections over the past couple of years and does drink a lot. I know it sounds horrible to say, but I hope it's 'pain' as that's manageable but as I said if it's anything more serious we just can't afford a long, expensive treatment regime. Fingers crossed.

I just wish Opal would groom his bum for him :roll::lol:

Is Opal grooming him anywhere in particular? I ask because one of the first signs when Tippex developed her ear infection (which I failed to recognise as a sign until afterwards) was that her two bunny friends would constantly and vigorously groom and wash her ears- they knew something was amiss before I did x

lilbun said:

Is Opal grooming him anywhere in particular? I ask because one of the first signs when Tippex developed her ear infection (which I failed to recognise as a sign until afterwards) was that her two bunny friends would constantly and vigorously groom and wash her ears- they knew something was amiss before I did x

Click to expand...

I don't know, I'll keep a close eye on her tomorrow to check, thanks!

I just thought I'd update this thread in case it helps anyone in the future. I saw an excellent vet today who is new and permanent and he took my concerns re MJ's vision seriously (as opposed to the last vet who dismissed them without reason). He checked his reflexes (not present), pupil dilation (not present) and on examination his eyes are cloudy and probably cataracts. So the conclusion after the baytril, metacam and panacur is that he can't see But he's ok, eating well and being loved by Opal, and he's had his myxi jab and a complete MOT.

I'll leave the hutch over run for now as he knows where the hole for the ramp is and avoids it, but for next summer I'll bring the hutch down and build a run around it. They don't really like coming out in winter anyway.

Thanks for all the help, especially to Jane x

I'm glad to hear about the new vet.
Perhaps you could set them up so they're only on one level which might be easier for him?