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An Update on Millicent and a dilema...../ UD post 12

Hugo's There

Wise Old Thumper
for those that don't know Millicent came to us with awful ear infections and abscesses. Our vets were great at flushing them out etc but she didn't respond to the antibiotics they tried and had no experience of the antibiotic we wanted to try. So they said it was fine to move to another rabbit savvy vet who had used it. Millicent got her antibiotics which she responded to well, but a surprisingly small amount of pain relief :?

Today Millicent had a six week check up and she has responded well to the meds and the infection is well under control :D

Thats the good news.

The other problem is that Millicent is VERY hormonal. So much so we have had to keep her in a cage away from the other rabbits as it upsets them. We were told she is neutered but the vet doesn't think she is. We haven't done anything about it as the infection was priority. But now it is under control we need to get this sorted to so Millicent can move on with her life. However the vet has said that they don't want to open her up because of her age and health, which I tend to agree with, and also that they wont entertain the idea of a hormone implant which I am really surprised at :? We have had excellent results with it in the past and our own vet is happy to use it so can't understand why a vet considered a rabbit specialist wont use it!

So now Millicent will have to spend her life in a cage ( with free range time ) away from the other rabbits raging with hormones :cry:

I am tempted to move her back to our own vets so we can get the hormones sorted. But her infection will return and our vet doesn't have an experience with the drugs we need for that. I feel we are stuck between a rock and a hard place with her now. She fought so hard to over come the infection when we thought she might not make it and now she still can't move on with her life :(
 
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Hmm, I'm surprised Liz. I asume you're talking about Simon? Did he say WHY he wouldn't use a hormone implant as I know he uses them for GPs with ovarian cysts? It's strange that he won't consider it for a rabbit, which is what makes me think there is a very good reason WHY he won't use them. If the reason is one that you consider to be less important than a spay, I think I would be tempted to go back to my regular vet and get the spay carried out. If the infection is now under control then there's every chance it won't reoccur. If it DOES, there's no reason why you can't take her back to Simon once she's been spayed.

ETA - if your regular vet can obtain a copy of the notes from Simon, then could he/she use those to carry on with the different antibiotic? Or is that not something that vets will do?
 
What a dilemma! I hope you manage to resolve it, but it really is good news that the infection is sorted.

Vibes for the lovely Millicent. xx
 
Kim said they have never used them on rabbits as they have had issues with them in cats and if she lives alone to leave her as she is??

Trying to track down more of her history it seems it is more likely she is neutered than not. Which to me makes it all the more important to find out what is going on.

Both our vet and kim have told us the infection will reoccur, all we can do is buy her time

It was a 3.5 hour round trip today just to be told her ear looks better and not to worry about her hormones. So I have rung our regular vet and requested to speak to our exotics specialist when she is in on friday to see if she can help us with what to do next
 
Oh poor Millicent :( I'm so sorry she's still having troubles, Liz. Glad to hear the infection is under control now.
Will be keeping her and you in my thoughts and send vibes for this precious girl. xxxx
 
Bless her. She is so lovely. Glad her ears are not getting any worse. Sorry to hear about her hormones. Hope you manage to work something out for her x
 
Kim said they have never used them on rabbits as they have had issues with them in cats and if she lives alone to leave her as she is??

Trying to track down more of her history it seems it is more likely she is neutered than not. Which to me makes it all the more important to find out what is going on.

Both our vet and kim have told us the infection will reoccur, all we can do is buy her time

It was a 3.5 hour round trip today just to be told her ear looks better and not to worry about her hormones. So I have rung our regular vet and requested to speak to our exotics specialist when she is in on friday to see if she can help us with what to do next

Hmmm, what to do? It sounds like you're not happy with the treatment she's getting or the advice you're receiving so I would definitely go back to your regular vet. In my experience, Kim is always more cautious than Simon. Is there any way you could get an ultra sound scan done to see if there is a uterus?
 
I dont think an ultra sound would prove anything for definite especially at 8.5 years.

I was wondering about a blood test to check hormone levels? Which still might not prove or disprove she is neutered as other health issues can increase hormones. But it might tell us if an implant would help.

I will wait to see what juliet says friday. We may never get to the bottom of it but as long as we try our best thats what matters. I cant sit back and do nothing. She was originally supposed to become a lounge bunny but there is no way that can happen at the moment :(
 
It sounds like neither of the vets are very open to trying new things :? it must be really frustrating for you :( I hope you can sort something out for her x
 
I am very happy and relieved :D

Spoken to Juliet the exotics specialist at our usual surgery about Millicent and the hormone situation. Firstly she is more than happy to carry on with the duphapen injections next time Millicent needs them so that means she can move back to our surgery permanently Secondly she is also very willing to look into her hormone situation. We may never get to the bottom of it but at least we can try.

To start with we are booking her in for a blood test to assess hormone levels to see if it is actual hormones causing the behaviour and then go from there. There are so many different possibilities at this stage. She may not be neutered which we wont be able to tell from the blood tests as it may be there is another medical problem causing raised hormone levels. But either way if hormone levels are high then an implant may be the way to go regardless of cause.

It is possible that her behaviour is not caused by hormones and could for example be neurological. Given her infection is in her head, we can't rule this out. So at least a blood tests will give us an answer or two as well as raising more questions. What is odd and something I realised the other day is that she is extremely hormonal but never shows any sign of phantom pregnancy, in fact she behaves like an unneutered male....... :?

I hope some of that makes sense, but if not to summarise. Millicent is moving back to our usual vet, they are happy to carry on with her antibiotics when needed and are going to start investigating her hormone issue by starting with a blood test
 
we have had blood tests done on two of ours for hormones (apologies - it had totally slipped my mind) very informative and helpful.
 
Thank you both. I am still unsure why the other vet wouldn't do anything even if they are not in favour of implants, but at least they found an antibiotic that helped her infection :D

Twigs we were always pushing for a blood test anyway, we didn't want to go straight to implant with out trying to establish a cause :wave:
 
Hope all goes as well as possible for Millicent's future - I know you see she gets the best possible help. xx
 
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