Miserable rabbit, mystery problem

Ziggy hasn't been himself at all since last Wednesday.
Not eating. So, off to the vets. He's on 1 ml metacam x2 a day, emeprid, septrim - this is on the principle that it is best to throw everything obvious at him until we can get to the bottom of it hopefully. He's had two injections of vetagesic as he was tooth grinding even with all that metacam. Fluid under the skin 3 times to keep him hydrated. With critical care he is pooing some little black poos at last and nibbling greens and hay but not much and not eating pellets. He has had his teeth trimmed but the vet thinks it does not explain why he is in trouble as they were not great but OK. x-ray showed up nothing - no bladder stones, no breaks, no weird lumps anywhere, no arthritis, no teeth problemss or jaw abscesses, no obvious blockage, just a bit gassy. His blood is being tested but results will take up to a week.
Have we done everything? Oh, and of course we're going on holiday in a few days....

goodness, how worrying. sounds like you are doing everything possible. it's so hard to treat when you don't know what is wrong. sending lots of vibes x

When you say he had his 'teeth trimmed' do you mean he has had a full Dental under GA ?

Jack's-Jane said:

When you say he had his 'teeth trimmed' do you mean he has had a full Dental under GA ?

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Yes, I do. By an exotics vet.

Maybe Bun is one who is exceptionally sensitive in his mouth so even minor sharp points will cause him trouble. This then leading to a sluggish GI tract/gut stasis. As he had a GA it may be that it is taking that bit longer for his GI tract to get going properly once again. Perhaps another 48 hours of meds and supportive treatment will bring about a marked improvement xx

I think you may be right Jane. He's starting to look a bit better this evening - guzzling grass and greens and guinea-pig pellets - won't touch his own dried food yet - I guess stolen tastes nicer! Fingers and everything else crossed.

bunnylover177 said:

I think you may be right Jane. He's starting to look a bit better this evening - guzzling grass and greens and guinea-pig pellets - won't touch his own dried food yet - I guess stolen tastes nicer! Fingers and everything else crossed.

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Fingers crossed for a complete recovery.:thumb:

bunnylover177 said:

I think you may be right Jane. He's starting to look a bit better this evening - guzzling grass and greens and guinea-pig pellets - won't touch his own dried food yet - I guess stolen tastes nicer! Fingers and everything else crossed.

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He may start wheeking soon !! :lol:

I have known some Rabbits who stop eating the second a tiny bit of sharpness occurs on a tooth. Others will carry on eating as normal whilst enormous spurs gouge into their cheeks and tongue.

Oh no, not Ziggy - and you're right, it really does always happen when you're about to go on holiday doesn't it!

Fingers crossed its just that everything feels a bit odd and sore around his mouth and that he perks right up very soon x x

He seems close to normal now - him, not us as our nerves haven't quite stopped jangling! One very positive side effect is that his wet nose has dried up due to the septrin which is one of the few antibiotics we hadn't tried before for his occasional wheezing.

bunnylover177 said:

He seems close to normal now - him, not us as our nerves haven't quite stopped jangling! One very positive side effect is that his wet nose has dried up due to the septrin which is one of the few antibiotics we hadn't tried before for his occasional wheezing.

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Really pleased to hear he is better

Not such good news after all - we've had the blood test results back he has 'significant problems with his liver, low white blood count and low protein'. We're sending his poos off to check it isn't coccidiosis and getting some natural stuff to support his liver from our vet. Vet said it could be any one of a number of things and to retest in a fews weeks and then do a liver biopsy. Question is, if we can get a diagnosis can we treat? And if we can't treat is it worth putting him through a biopsy... Hoping it might just go away (which it did with a previous rabbit we had).
Still, at least Ziggy has returned to normal behaviour for now.

bunnylover177 said:

Not such good news after all - we've had the blood test results back he has 'significant problems with his liver, low white blood count and low protein'. We're sending his poos off to check it isn't coccidiosis and getting some natural stuff to support his liver from our vet. Vet said it could be any one of a number of things and to retest in a fews weeks and then do a liver biopsy. Question is, if we can get a diagnosis can we treat? And if we can't treat is it worth putting him through a biopsy... Hoping it might just go away (which it did with a previous rabbit we had).
Still, at least Ziggy has returned to normal behaviour for now.

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Was he on Fenbendazole (Panacur) when the bloods were taken ?

How is he within himself now ?

No, he hasn,t had panacur for at least a year. The panacur question was for one of our aviary buns. Ziggy is an indoor bun. He seems normal now - he had produced a huge number of poos overnight - stilla a bit smallish and darkish but almost normal.

Oh Jill, glad Ziggy seems better but worrying results :-/ milk thistle is supposed to be really good for liver problems, William gave me some when Sweetpea had strange results and it seemed to help...

Let me know if there's anything I can do while you are away..