Advice on poorly elder bun

Hi all,

I was hoping for a little advice on my poor little 9 year old elder bun. He has always had a head tilt and the in the last 9 months he has had hind leg problems and falls over to one side. He has a wonky arhritic spine and chest cavity which he was born with. He has bad overgrown tooth roots which are coming through the bottom jaw and has regular dentals. He is on metacam every day for this. I have several questions I hope someone may be able to answer:-

He has been to the vets over the last couple of weeks as he had mucous in his poops and urine scald." Was out on antibiotics and a poop sample done (poo sample clear). He then stopped
Eating so is now on Zantac, panacur and probiotic pellets and pro lapis. His poops are a little better but he still is not eating with his usual gusto and still has clear/white stringy mucous. It is hard to distinguish why he stops eating, is it the teeth, the tummy or the arthritis. Is there anything else I can do? Should I stop feeding him certain veg?

He has fallen on his side in a trance and has got stuck. I am never sure how long he has been in the position as I am at work all day. Is this dangerous? I found him like it when I got home and he had stopped eating again, hope Zantac kicks in soon.

How will I know that my little man has had enough?

Any ideas are kindly appreciated.

Thanks

Kelly

Personally I would have another discussion with your Vet about 'quality of life' for your old man. If he is falling and unable to get up then he really cant be left alone all day. He may injure himself or become so distressed that fear may have a dire effect on his heart

Tooth root elongation can be excruciatingly painful, as can advanced arthritis. Pain can trigger GI tract problems. He may also have very sore gunky ears, Rabbits with poor hind leg mobility often do and as your Rabbit has a long standing head tilt a chronic ear infection is a real possibility. Has the Vet considered this ?

So in summary I would go back to the Vet today and have a frank (if very difficult ) discussion about what is the best course of action for your Rabbit

I have and have had numerous very elderly Rabbits and I personally believe that their quality of life has to supersede trying to keep them going when they cannot get better. It is never an easy decision and only you and your Vet are in a position to judge how much more your elderly chap can cope with.

Thanks for the advice. He has been to a couple of very good vets over the last couple of months and I think I will keep on with the panacur and all the other stuff for a little while to see how it goes. I have also brought a webcam so I can spy on him from work as I am so worried he will get stuck. He can run around ok but a bit lopsided and occasionally falls to one side. Yes his ears do get slightly guncky and do need cleaning but there is no infection apparantly.

I hope I do know when it is time for him. I would feel so bad to cause any unnecessary suffering and like you say, the vet should guide me.

Thanks again for your help. It's hard with bunnies, you can't really talk to others for their opinions as unfortunately a lot of people don't appreciate how much love our little furries actually need! I am so pleased there are forums like this and people like yourself that dedicate such a great deal of time helping others with there problems.

Kelly xxx

Just wondering how your old man is doing ?

Oh bless him.

how is he doing?

Have you tried any other forms of pain relief for him? Tramadol can be used successfully with buns (although it didn't get on well with Maurice)

Sending lots of vibes. I have an older ill bunny so I know what decisions you're having to make. And they're never easy. I think it is dangerous if he falls and can't get up while you're out. If he does this and can't eat for a long time he will go into stasis which seems to be the problem you had.

I wonder if a simple solution would be to have someone come and check on him at lunch time?

sending him some cuddles. x

Thanks for all your kind messages. My little sweetheart has perked up , touch wood. However, I feel he may be at that point in his life where he may have periods of gut problems as he has so many other problems that must stress him out from time to time.

I went to the vets last week and brought some Probiotic pellets and the probiotic stuff you put in the water, (he loves the stuff neat with a little water in a syringe!) Since Friday, I have not seen one mucousy poo, infact I think they may be too hard now!! He is also running to his food in the morning and evening and eating tons! His urine scald is healing well and he isnt wet anymore. I am not sure if it could be EC due to the wetness and stumbling over. He still has weakness in his back right leg and that hasnt got any better and he still drags it along slightly. As long as he is loving his food, girlfriend and Mummy I feel he still has quality of life. Does anyone have any experience of having bunnies on panacur permanently?

Home is not too far from work so have been checking in on him until my husband can install the bunny cam!! We havent tried Tramadol, but I think the metacam is working so far. He is in 0.4ml twice a day. Also not too sure about the tramadol, it made my husband violently sick when he had it for back ache the other week!!

Thanks again

xx

Sounds good!