Joint stiffness/arthritis in older bunnies advice please

So after a rather sleepless night Ive come to the conclusion that it must be joint pain that caused Twinkle to just stop doing everything.

I gave her a dose of pain relief yesterday teatime after finding her not eating and only moving if absolutely forced.

This morning I was up before 7am to check her, shes bouncing round the patio now like theres nothing wrong at all and eating her breakfast. Shes obviously slept better than me!

So, if we are now dealing with an arthritic bunny and a daily dose of pain relief I need to know what to expect. Shes about 7 and half and has been kicked about where she lived before:evil: so on thinking about it its no surprise we now have mobility/pain issues.

WHen I have studied back over her movements over the last few weeks there have been a few times where shes walked instead of hopping or shes stretched for ages from a laying down position before getting up properly and moving on.

What can I do to make her more comfortable, it went through my head at some stupid hour last night about how humans take joint supplements like cod liver oil etc. Is there anything thats beneficial to rabbits?

They are in an insulated shed with lots of hay and straw to snuggle in to. When we are out they have easy access with no steps to the aviary and when we are home they have unlimited access to a flat patio. Ive noticed shes not climbing up the step to try and come in the patio doors now which isnt an issue as theres no need for her to come inside.

How long can rabbits carry on with this kind of condition and is there any movement on the amount of pain relief they can have as things progress?

Any advice would be greatly appeciated, thanks

I have/have had numerous Rabbits on longterm Metacam for arthritis

The dose range can vary greatly from 0.3mg/kg/24 hours right up to 0.6mg/kg every 12 hours ( NOTE MG/KG NOT ML/KG!!)

Some people use Glucosomine as a supplement, there are some pellet feeds with glucosomine added

http://www.animeddirect.co.uk/vet-p...content=1627&gclid=CMColZKpkLcCFVDMtAodhmcA8A

Acupuncture can be very beneficial, if the individual Rabbit can cope with it. Some find it all too stressful and that would be counterproductive

I use massage on arthritic Rabbits. It can help maintain a good blood circulation to the muscles around the effected bones/joints. This helps to keep some muscle strength and tone which may otherwise be lost leading to increased weakness.

There are some possible complications wihich may occur as the arthritic condition progresses. These include sore hocks (due to immobility and/or uneven weight-bearing), episodes of gut stasis (due to pain and/or relative immobility), bladder sludge and/or incontinence/urine scald (due to the Rabbit not being able to adopt the correct position to urinate, not fully emptying their bladder leading to a build up of sludge. Relatively immobile Rabbits are prone to bladder sludge.

So there are potentially going to be other issues you will need to manage as time goes by. But some Rabbits never get to the 'severe' stage

Jane, thank you so much for replying, I was hoping you would as you have such fantastic bunny knowledge. I really appreciate you taking the time knowing how busy things are for you.

So it sounds like we have a long way to go and I dont need to panic yet. I will look into the supplement you mentioned.

Shes currently on 1ml per day of Meloxidyl which I am presuming is similar to metacam in its ingredients. Shes only little just 2.25kilo. It worked within half an hour a bit and by the time an hour had passed she was eating and hopping round again (Maybe I should have a syringe full)

Flora is 10 and has a very arthritic spine and virtually no mobility in the rear third. As a result, she has developed a sort of 'slide' rather than hop. She cannot groom herself so I have to help her with this as her lazy-boy partner gives a cursory lick and then wants his turn :roll::lol:. She cannot reach her cecals so leaves them on the ground and then turns around to eat them. However, this means that she gets them stuck to her bum and legs so I have to keep her undercarriage clipped and do frequent checks to make sure she's clean. I have some Rearguard in stock just in case I feel she needs it but at the moment, our good housekeeping routine keeps her clean and safe.

Flora is on daily metacam and occasional acupuncture. I also find that she enjoys laying on a heat pad, especially in the colder months. I have a Petnap aluminium plug-in version and it was on 24/7 during the winter, as well as her having a heated shed. I find this stops the cold and damp getting into her joints. She hates being indoors - I've tried, so I feel the heating is the next best thing for her.

Having said all this, she still has a zest for life and enjoys a saunter around the garden every day inbetween crucial sleeping time .

You'll probably find your bunny copes exceptionally well but I wish you all the best.

Right I will look into changing them on to a mature pellet with glucosomine and I will look into adding it as a supplement.

Years ago I had a cat on seroquin for mobility so Im pondering whether its suitable for rabbits. I know most things arent actually liciencsed for rabbits.

The more I can prevent it the better for her and having Ozzie on the mature pellets can only be beneficial for later years.

madcatwoman said:

Right I will look into changing them on to a mature pellet with glucosomine and I will look into adding it as a supplement.

Years ago I had a cat on seroquin for mobility so Im pondering whether its suitable for rabbits. I know most things arent actually liciencsed for rabbits.

The more I can prevent it the better for her and having Ozzie on the mature pellets can only be beneficial for later years.

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Most probably- talk to your vet, but I did have cosequin cat for Mr fluff at my vets recommendation. Plus metacam.and massage.

My gorgeous old man Dylan (sadly now at the Bridge) had arthritis of his rear end. My vet picked it up during vaccination. Once he was given metacam (Dylan, not the vet) the difference was amazing - Dylan became much more active.

I had to monitor his pain relief carefully but knew when it needed increasing as Dylan would go off his food and be more sedentary. Eventually, he moved onto tramadol as metacam wasn't working. Dylan was unable to clean himself so he had regular bottom baths and I used rearguard when I couldn't check on him frequently due to work.

Eventually, he became very poorly and jaundiced and the vet diagnosed liver failure and I agreed to have him PTS. I still miss my gentle old man but it was unfair to let him suffer.

Dylan had a good quallity of life, albeit a quiet one, for a long time even with his arthritis. I have arthritis myself so could empathise with him.

Thanks for all the replies, its good to know Im not on my own with this. Today shes been bounding round like shes a baby again which is lovely to see, shes had her siesta and now they are out again munching on dandilions and long grass.

As usual we have a poorly pet when we have things booked that take us away overnight. My neighbour is really good but its a bit much to ask her to medicate the rabbit aswell as my cat thats on 3 pills a day.

Ive sussed out the cat, we go Friday teatime so I will pill her as late as possible and we are back Sunday dinnertime ish so she will have only missed one night which if they can get the important pill in on the Saturday then great but its not crucial for one night. So I am thinking the same for Twinkle, its only 1ml of liquid, maybe I could ask her to put it on a dandilion and just make sure she gets that one and not Ozzie.

Our 4 day break in July is proving more difficult, Im wondering if my neighbour will be happy to administer for 3 of the nights.

Oh this is the joys of pets isnt it. I do really really love them but I do seem my hubbys point.