Daisy - elderly bun with health problems U/D possible EC??

Poor old Daisy is not having it easy at the moment and we are wondering if her days with us are numbered. She's almost 10 years old, we adopted her when she was 4 so have had 6 great years with her. In this time she's had two husbuns who she adored, Harvey who died last year, then Monty who she lost just a few weeks ago.

She has a heart murmur and has been diagnosed with arthritis and spondylosis. Over Christmas she stopped eating and we syringe fed her until she started to eat by herself. Over her lifetime she has nearly died several times but has bounced back - the first time was after she was spayed and she went totally off her food for days, the second time was when she had an abscess behind her eye and looked like she was at death's door and the third time was last December when she was limping and she stopped eating which turned out to be due to spondylosis. She constantly surprises us with her strength and desire to pull through each time, however this time I am not sure she is going to bounce back.

Since Christmas we have been giving her Metacam on a daily basis and not being a people-friendly bunny she tries to evade capture every time and this seems to be taking its toll. After giving her the Metacam she has recently started to sway and then crash out with her heart beating rapidly. I have not changed the dosage (she's only on 0.5ml a day) although it did give me that moment of panic thinking 'what have I done to her?!' It wasn't long before her heartbeat returned to normal and she was back on her feet looking for her post-medication treat! Tonight I went in to see why she was stamping. She looked out of sorts, ran away from me and fell over, with her heart beating rapidly again. She hasn't even had her meds yet. I'm not sure what's happening to her.

Before this we were considering bonding her with a third husbun but this is looking more and more unlikely which is rather sad as I loved to see her cosied up with another bun. I think the slightest thing is going to stress her now and I'm worried about having to take her to the vet as the journey could potentially finish her off.

Does it sound like old age is catching up with her?

Aww - poor Daisy. But don't give up hope just yet. Have you thought of another way of giving her some Metacam? Flora has it daily for her arthritic spine but I simply drop her dose onto a mini shredded wheat and she gets it as her 'treat' every morning. As another bunny who doesn't like physical contact with people, it means she comes running to me for her treat plus she gets her medication. Failing that, try dropping the metacam into a teaspoon of porridge oats. I've not met a bunny yet who doesn't love porridge and an elderly bun can probably use the extra calories.

I gave my bun it inside a hollowed out half grape as she loved grapes.

Could you have a house visit by the vet - I appreciate this is horribly expensive and they cannot do any medical proceedures but it would mean you could get their opinion.

Oh bless her heart. I think a vet check is definitely order to find out what is going on with her heart especially as it has now happened without being stressed out by being given medication. There are heart medications that can help depending on the problem, but I am no expert on this.

I would definitely hold off on any bonding at the moment, sounds like any stress will trigger and episode

I hope the vet is able to help her, good luck x

She sounds a very special bunny. I don't have experience of elderly bunnies, but hope you can find a way of helping her without too much stress.

Aww bless her little fluffys!
I think a vet visit is in order to be honest at least that way hopefully anything potentially serious can be rulled out, a home visit is a very good idea. We have our vet come out to us to do vaccinations as our buns are very eadily stressed and the car journey is awful for them. Obviously they are not happy when the vet is here but touch wood they do tend to bounce back to normal pretty quick.

Thank you for the replies. We are taking her to see the vet in an hours time.

She's barely eating anything now so I haven't been able to hide her meds in her food. She's left her bowls of grated apple and oats untouched but still gets excited for treats.

Fingers crossed there will be a positive outcome and we will be able to manage her illness. I don't want to have to make a heartbreaking decision.

Thinking of you and really hoping your vet trip has a positive outcome xx

I was really worried about the journey to the vets as it's across the other side of town but Daisy made it and had even calmed herself down before the appointment. The vet had put her on the floor of the consultation room to watch the symptoms she's been displaying so often at home..... and it looked like there was nothing wrong with her! Daisy explored the whole room, moving around with ease, not panicking and she even stood up on her hind legs for a better look around! The vet was quite realistic with us and said that due to her age and her health that she is possibly having senior moments and we may well find her gone one morning. There is no telling how much longer she will be with us but for now there isn't a lot else we can do. She's asked me to record one of her wobbly moments and email it to her so she can see for herself which I thought was a great idea and not something many vets would suggest.

We will carry on with the Metacam and monitor her closely for any deterioration. The main thing at the moment is that she needs to start eating properly again.

Hi there

I have an elderly bun - George, who is a minilop and he's aged 10½ years - I have had him since he was 12 weeks old! He is rather wobbly on his legs now, he seems to have some weakness in one of his back legs and loses his balance now and again. My vet thinks he may have some arthritis due to age, so I started giving him Arthri-Aid, by syringe and he's been on it now for nearly 8 weeks. I'm not sure if it has helped, but he doesn't seem as stiff when he rises from sitting. He doesn't seem in obvious pain, but if he appears to be a little uncomfortable I too give him metacam. (I find this dripped on banana is the easiest way of giving it - or on a little bit of Fenugreek crunchie!). I think he has senior moments too, as sometimes he stares into space for ages and seems to forget what he's doing! He'll be eating and then he stops and stares and I have to tap the bowl again to get him back interested in his food and remind him that it's there. He also has very poor hearing and sight, no front teeth top and bottom, due to an abscess last year he had to have them all removed (thought he wasn't going to make it, but he too is a little fighter and pulled through), but he copes ok with eating. He sleeps a lot now and isn't interested much in exploring the garden, but I think this is due to his poor sight. He's a bit incontinent too, but again my vet said this is an old age thing. It sounds to me like Daisy, being a very senior bun, like George, is experiencing age catching up with her. Sometimes old buns do have a decrease in appetite, like old people, and it's a case of trying to tempt them with food they like. I hope my comments may have helped a little and it sounds like Daisy is a very special 'old girl'!! Take care. xx

Aww bless the old bunnies.I thought my boy Rio at 8 was ancient,sadly he collapsed and died a month ago,not nice as he screamed for a few minutes.I suppose it was his heart or something drastic.We buried tho old boy in the garden,I blubbed like a drain.

ninny40 said:

Hi there

I have an elderly bun - George, who is a minilop and he's aged 10½ years - I have had him since he was 12 weeks old! He is rather wobbly on his legs now, he seems to have some weakness in one of his back legs and loses his balance now and again. My vet thinks he may have some arthritis due to age, so I started giving him Arthri-Aid, by syringe and he's been on it now for nearly 8 weeks. I'm not sure if it has helped, but he doesn't seem as stiff when he rises from sitting. He doesn't seem in obvious pain, but if he appears to be a little uncomfortable I too give him metacam. (I find this dripped on banana is the easiest way of giving it - or on a little bit of Fenugreek crunchie!). I think he has senior moments too, as sometimes he stares into space for ages and seems to forget what he's doing! He'll be eating and then he stops and stares and I have to tap the bowl again to get him back interested in his food and remind him that it's there. He also has very poor hearing and sight, no front teeth top and bottom, due to an abscess last year he had to have them all removed (thought he wasn't going to make it, but he too is a little fighter and pulled through), but he copes ok with eating. He sleeps a lot now and isn't interested much in exploring the garden, but I think this is due to his poor sight. He's a bit incontinent too, but again my vet said this is an old age thing. It sounds to me like Daisy, being a very senior bun, like George, is experiencing age catching up with her. Sometimes old buns do have a decrease in appetite, like old people, and it's a case of trying to tempt them with food they like. I hope my comments may have helped a little and it sounds like Daisy is a very special 'old girl'!! Take care. xx

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Oh bless George, he sounds like an absolute darling. I think that he and Daisy would be perfect together in their old age! I really appreciate you taking the time to reply to me, it is encouraging to hear of other people's experiences.

Last night we had difficulty catching Daisy and she ended up having another funny turn after the Metacam. After we set her back down she collapsed with a rapidly beating heart, tried to get up and starting running in circles until we held her still and stroked her to calm her down. She then collapsed again and her eyes flicked backwards and forwards, which was horrible to watch. It was about an hour before she was back to her normal self again and it really frightened us this time.

The vet thinks it could be EC, an ear infection or a stroke so she'll have to have a course of Panacur and Baytril. Giving her more medication scares me but if this stops the funny turns she's been having I would give anything a try, anything to make her more comfortable.