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general indications of organ failure?u/d not organ failure

Santa

Santa

Wise Old Thumper
I was just wondering if anyone had noticed any behavioural changes or other symptoms in a rabbit which turned out to have organ failure?

Harry hasn't been well over the past few weeks, he is being treated for infection and ec and has improved a lot and is eating well and is broadly ok, but he just isn't quite right. It's nothing I can put my finger on, I am beginning to wonder if it could be down to a build up of toxins due to organ failure?

I'll be seeing my vet on Monday and asking for a blood test, but I was jut wondering if anyone had particularly noticed any behavioural changes in such circumstances?
 
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a tendency to eat less pellets and much more grass/weeds/hay to make up for it `(they seem to revert to w ilder diet and really dont want the pellets)

weeing more and a thinner wee (ie more watery less coloured)

weight loss
 
parsnipbun said:
a tendency to eat less pellets and much more grass/weeds/hay to make up for it `(they seem to revert to w ilder diet and really dont want the pellets)

weeing more and a thinner wee (ie more watery less coloured)

weight loss
Click to expand...

All of the above plus not resting in the 'normal' places-ie sleeping in a new place/position. Being less interactive with bonded partner

Poo and/or wee smells different to normal

Eyes can look glazed/starey

Loss of litter training, less bothered about keeping themselves clean

Vibes being sent for Harry xx
 
Thanks both...I'm so confused! Eating, drinking and pooing/weeing is completely normal. He went from 3.2 to 2.7 kg but has now stabilised. He was also knuckling and sitting in a very odd upright posture but again that seems to have stopped. He is sitting in places where he doesn't usually sit, and his eyes don't look quite right. It's really hard to tell what sort of quality of life he has.

He seems fairly 'vacant' and his eyes are half closed. I will try and get a photo tomorrow to compare against an old one, they're not squinty closed like a bunny in pain, they're just not as open as they should be, although not swollen. One of his pupils is non responsive but he can definitely still see through it to some degree at least. My vet did also suggest a cva which I initially didn't think it was, but maybe it was after all. I'm going to ask for bloods on mon and poss x-rays depending on the blood results, is there anything else you would suggest?
 
Could he have some arthritic pain- spine and hips in particular ? The pain can wax and wane, so how much a Bun is effected on a daily basis can vary. Sometimes the only presenting symptom can be weightloss and 'odd' behaviour such as resting in strange positions/locations.

A CVA is a possibility I guess, then again if EC was/is a factor then any neurological damage could be due to that :?

Hope the Vet can figure out what may be going on for him.
 
Jack's-Jane said:
Could he have some arthritic pain- spine and hips in particular ? The pain can wax and wane, so how much a Bun is effected on a daily basis can vary. Sometimes the only presenting symptom can be weightloss and 'odd' behaviour such as resting in strange positions/locations.

A CVA is a possibility I guess, then again if EC was/is a factor then any neurological damage could be due to that :?

Hope the Vet can figure out what may be going on for him.
Click to expand...

I would agree with this, Nino presented like this much of the time.

Organ failure - as described above by Twigs and Jane

Poor Harry :cry: Although I would take the eating and drinking as very positive signs. When Nino had severe arthritic pain he wouldn't eat of course. The weight loss is often indicative if eating is normal - have you considered a mass somewhere as an alternative to organ failure - it might explain the weight loss and intermittent pain but generalised deterioration in demeanour? x
 
Thanks guys. I don't think it's just arthritic pain (metacam should be helping that now anyway if it is), there has definitely been some neurological things going on, like the non responsive pupil and she did some reflex/reaction testing and he's definitely not quite all the ticket. I'm not all that convinced that it is ec but it could be and because of his symptoms we are treating for that too. My initial gut reaction was that he's had an inner ear infection which tracked back to his brain, as he has a history of ear infections and he did perk up fairly quickly after starting the abx before we added the metacam/panacur. But I'm wondering if that's all, or if there's something else going on (perhaps which has triggered or allowed the infection to develop). I can't quite put my finger on what it is that isn't right...I just know that it's not.

But as you say, sometimes these things present in ways we don't necessarily expect, so it could be any number of things. Back to the vets, I think perhaps blood tests next to see if they give us any clues :?
 
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Santa said:
Thanks guys. I don't think it's just arthritic pain (metacam should be helping that now anyway if it is), there has definitely been some neurological things going on, like the non responsive pupil and she did some reflex/reaction testing and he's definitely not quite all the ticket. I'm not all that convinced that it is ec but it could be and because of his symptoms we are treating for that too. My initial gut reaction was that he's had an inner ear infection which tracked back to his brain, as he has a history of ear infections and he did perk up fairly quickly after starting the abx before we added the metacam/panacur. But I'm wondering if that's all, or if there's something else going on (perhaps which has triggered or allowed the infection to develop). I can't quite put my finger on what it is that isn't right...I just know that it's not.

But as you say, sometimes these things present in ways we don't necessarily expect, so it could be any number of things. Back to the vets, I think perhaps blood tests next to see if they give us any clues :?
Click to expand...

Then I might be considering a neoplastic lesion in the brain given the other neuro symptoms if you don't think it is EC. :?
 
I've just had another look at him and compared his eyes to heathers, and it looks to me that the reason they are half closed is because they seem quite sunken :?
 
Fine - perfectly normal. I'm finding it so difficult to know what to do for the best because while there's nothing sticking out as obvious suffering, he clearly isn't happy :?
 
Lots of things happen to the body in organ failure.And also there is no time limit.
Just keep the lad comfy.xxxx
 
Well, transpires that organs are functioning within normal range :-/ He is still eating and drinking normally, yet while the lights are on, there really isn't anyone home. My vet now suspects some kind of tumour/growth in the brain which is causing his eyes to be incredibly sunken and for his loss of body condition along with the neurological issues, so short of an MRI scan, there's not really a lot of useful diagnostic we can do - and as she said yesterday, chances are we won't do anything different as a result of finding anything anyway. So for now it's just a case of keeping him comfortable and keeping a close eye on any behavioural changes or things which might indicate a decline in quality of life. As I said to the vet yesterday, he's not 'wrong enough' for me to think it's time to say goodbye, but he's not 'right enough' for me to be happy that he has a good quality of life. Tricky really :?
 
Oh my word, what a horrible, confusing situation. I hope it's just a blip. Massive vibes being sent out. I opened the thread as I went into multiple organ failure when I was pregnant with George. My heart was racing, felt completely out of body, I had panic attacks and my temperature went really high, but mine was due to severe sickness and dehydration and I would think the symptoms could be different depending on WHY you went into organ failure and which organs it affected. Mine were heart, liver and kidneys.
 
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