• Forum/Server Upgrade If you are reading this you have made it to the upgraded forum. Posts made on the old forum after 26th October 2023 have not been transfered. Everything else should be here. If you find any issues please let us know.
  • Please Note - Medical Advice

    Please keep in mind that posts on this forum are from members of the public sharing personal opinions. It is not a replacement for qualified medical advice from a veterinarian. Many illnesses share similar symptoms but require different treatments. A medical exam is necessary for an accurate diagnosis, without which appropriate treatment cannot be given.

    You should always consult your vet before following any suggestions for medication or treatment you have read about. The wrong treatment could make your rabbit worse or mean your vet is unable to give the correct treatment because of drug interactions. Even non prescription drugs can do harm if given inappropriately.

    We are very grateful to members who take time to answer other members questions, but please do be clear in your replies that you are sharing personal experience and not giving instructions on what must be done.

    Urgent Medical Advice: If you need, or think you might need, urgent medical advice you should contact a vet. If it is out of working hours phone your vet's normal number and there should be an answer phone message with instructions on what to do.

Everything has gone horribly wrong:(

Ellie-Rose

Young Bun
Hi all,

Sad sad news :( Martin is seriously ill:( I couple of weeks he had a huge lump in the corner of his eye that was bright red we took him too the vet and they ended up giving us liquid antibiotics and an eye drop and made another appointment for a weeks time. The redness and some of the swelling had gone down within the week and we took him back. They honestly had no idea what wrong with his eye and took a picture and sent it to a specialist and told us to only continue with the eye drops ( I'd like to add he's was brilliant at the vets didn't flinch or bite once even when they checked his tear duct was clear) anyway we waited a week and heard nothing.. And we've noticed he isn't popping or hardly eating he's drastically lost weight.. We rung today and took him in at 2.. She's seriously concerned there's some kind of blockage in his system she listened to his gut and there was no noise at all when there should be. She said this could be life threatening to him, shes given us 3 lots of liquid antibiotics and some liquid fibre to try and get things moving he also had two injections to get things moving. She told us we should see a straight away improvement as it stands he's not eaten anything he literally eats a tiny bit every hour :( he's getting so skinny and we have to ring tomorrow if he hasn't eaten or is still picking :(

Currently in tears for my little boy:( he's so poorly and we've already paid out 130+ for him and they've said if this doesn't work there might not be much else they can do :(
 
What was it that they gave him at the vets today?

It should ideally be:

Painkillers (metacam usually)
Subcutaneous (injected) fluids as he's likely to be dehydrated
Gut stimulant (metaclopromide usually)

Without any of these he's unlikely to be feeling much better, so if he hasn't had these you'll want to go back and get some. Your vet sounds very good, but I thought I'd say it just in case!

The things she's given you to syringe feed - what are they? It should be some kind of recovery food which you mix with water, and possibly fibreplex? Are you managing to syringe feed the recovery food? This is what'll keep him going if he's not eating much else. He can survive on recovery food alone for a number of days. If you're finding it hard to syringe, there's some helpful threads around. My rabbit Nena will eat recovery food straight out of a bowl if I mix it with carrot baby food (ella's kitchen brand, make sure it's just vegetables if you go for another brand) - it smells lovely and she gobbles it straight down even if she's feeling very poorly. Even if yours won't eat it off a plate, it's a very tasty mix (apparently :lol:) so syringe feeding that may entice him to eat - or at least he may be more willing to take it. Some pellets soaked in boiling water and allowed to cool may stimulate him too, as it's much easier to eat. You could always pop a bit in a syringe and syringe it, or pop it on your finger and let him taste it if he won't immediately go for it - he might not realise it's yummy.

Don't be afraid to go back to the emergency vets overnight if he's stopped eating for any number of hours. This is a critical time for bunnies and they can go downhill very fast. You may end up having to feed him all night every hour or two, and it can take a good day or two before he starts to feel much better and eat by himself. This is an emergency situation so if he does totally stop eating, you're totally justified in taking him back to the vets or even having him admitted. If he's not improved at all by tomorrow (and even if he is slightly improved) I'd still take him back to the vets for more painkillers, fluids and gut stimulants as even if he's picked up he can go downhill again.

The proper name for his situation right now is gut stasis or simply stasis, if you want to google anything.

Hopefully someone who knows a bit more about stasis will be along soon to help you more! We all know how worrying stasis can be. Hugs to bunny, and you!
 
What was it that they gave him at the vets today?

It should ideally be:

Painkillers (metacam usually)
Subcutaneous (injected) fluids as he's likely to be dehydrated
Gut stimulant (metaclopromide usually)

Without any of these he's unlikely to be feeling much better, so if he hasn't had these you'll want to go back and get some. Your vet sounds very good, but I thought I'd say it just in case!

The things she's given you to syringe feed - what are they? It should be some kind of recovery food which you mix with water, and possibly fibreplex? Are you managing to syringe feed the recovery food? This is what'll keep him going if he's not eating much else. He can survive on recovery food alone for a number of days. If you're finding it hard to syringe, there's some helpful threads around. My rabbit Nena will eat recovery food straight out of a bowl if I mix it with carrot baby food (ella's kitchen brand, make sure it's just vegetables if you go for another brand) - it smells lovely and she gobbles it straight down even if she's feeling very poorly. Even if yours won't eat it off a plate, it's a very tasty mix (apparently :lol:) so syringe feeding that may entice him to eat - or at least he may be more willing to take it. Some pellets soaked in boiling water and allowed to cool may stimulate him too, as it's much easier to eat. You could always pop a bit in a syringe and syringe it, or pop it on your finger and let him taste it if he won't immediately go for it - he might not realise it's yummy.

Don't be afraid to go back to the emergency vets overnight if he's stopped eating for any number of hours. This is a critical time for bunnies and they can go downhill very fast. You may end up having to feed him all night every hour or two, and it can take a good day or two before he starts to feel much better and eat by himself. This is an emergency situation so if he does totally stop eating, you're totally justified in taking him back to the vets or even having him admitted. If he's not improved at all by tomorrow (and even if he is slightly improved) I'd still take him back to the vets for more painkillers, fluids and gut stimulants as even if he's picked up he can go downhill again.

The proper name for his situation right now is gut stasis or simply stasis, if you want to google anything.

Hopefully someone who knows a bit more about stasis will be along soon to help you more! We all know how worrying stasis can be. Hugs to bunny, and you!

Our vets are very good, she did say that it could be a tumour in his eye may have spread, and yes it is the recovery liquid he does take it, but still he hasn't eaten even with antibiotics in his system:( I keep giving him hay and his favourites he'll nibble then leave it and he still hasn't pooped which is worrying! He keeps coming to me and just resting his head on my knee, I was stroking across his belly and he suddenly cried, he will have his last lot for the night at 10 pm
 
so sorry to hear you are going through the mill, I am also having a hard time with my boy, sending vibes to your baby:love::love::love::love:
 
Hi, I'm so sorry your bunny is poorly :( it is very important that he's had some pain relief, ie. Metacam. Can you check whether they gave him any? It might be on your receipt, or you could ring them and ask. If his pain hasn't been eased he won't want to eat. Also, it would be a good idea to check on him in the night and try to feed him some more, it's important to keep his gut moving while he isn't eating for himself. I do hope he improves soon x
 
I'm so sorry to hear that your poor boy is this poorly. He sounds in such a critical way I'm just amazed that he hasn't been admitted, and if they suspect a blockage, I would have expected them to have done an x-ray and then emergency surgery to remove it. Only saying this, because this is what my vet did, and he did go on to make a full recovery. On arrival at my vets, he took one look at him and took him straight through and set up IV fluids, and gave him other stuff, and I was waiting in the consultation room and then he came back to talk to me about what was going to be done next and explain the surgery he would be having.

To be honest, Roger was very poorly, but he wasn't as bad as how you have described your bun. Maybe you should ask them why they haven't admitted him, and if they suspect a blockage which is a life threatening condition depending on the location, why haven't they operated immediately.
 
Despite everything the vets think that the lump in his eye is a tumour and its spreading rapidly through his body and unfortunately despite all the antibiotics he won't eat and they've said the best thing to do is to put him to sleep, I'm leaving in 15 minutes to take him :-( very sad.
 
Back
Top