Jackaroonie
Mama Doe
I have been debating whether to start this thread or not. It's hard to accept that Flopsy's time is running short.
For those that do not know already Flopsy has had kidney disease for the past year & 2 months. He has been on half a fortekor tablet daily and fortunately his kidneys have remained stable and haven't deteriorated. Which is great. However back in April he was diagnosed with heart disease following a blood test and an ultrasound which revealed his heart muscles were very thick. Due to his heart not working properly it resulted in his liver congesting. On top of this Flopsy is also a dental bunny and suffers with tooth root pain (He has been on long term metacam since April 2012). His last dental was almost 2 months ago. John checked his teeth and fortunately all is well at the moment. An anaesthetic now is pretty risky for flopsy to undergo so I am relieved he does not need one. He too has arthritis and it has been gradually getting worse as he ages and even more so now his heart is poorly.
We went in last friday to see John as Flopsy had deteriorated. He had lost quite a lot of weight, appetite had decreased, he was sleeping and resting a lot more than usually and generally looked in pain. This was despite being on 0.7ml of the dog metacam twice daily . It was awful seeing him look uncomfortable and in pain. I was expecting him to be needing a dental. However J checked and his teeth at the moment are ok which is a relief. He weighed just 1.49kg last friday. J said to up his 1/2 a vetmedin tablet daily to twice a day and monitor him over the weekend for any improvements. There wasn't any significant or noticeable improvement, nor was there any weight gain when we went back on Monday.
So J has now prescribed Flopsy tramadol which he has to have 1/2 a capsule twice a day. Flopsy does not like the taste of it so I am putting it in his morning and evening meal. I am also feeding him 2 -3 times a day consisting of a softened pellet & rolled oat mix. I soak his Science selective mature pellets and then mash them up; I then mix with a tablespoon of rolled oats and a scoop of protexin pro fibre. He much prefers his food to be softened. This has been working well and he seems to like his new routine.
I have weighed Flopsy tonight and he now weighs 1.63kg so has gained 140g since Monday (If i have got my calculations right). Which is absolutely great and must mean that things are working better now. I am really pleased and I hope J will be too when we go back on Monday for his checkup. Although he still looks a little uncomfortable at times - I feel things have improved slightly now with his extra vetmedin dose and the tramadol too. I know that this does not mean I can get my hopes up - as he is still very poorly and he can't get better. However if we can stabilize his health and keep his pain under control - we can hopefully have some more weeks and possibly months left with him.
Flopsy's medicine list:
Metacam 0.7ml twice daily (tooth root pain & arthritis)
Fortekor 1/2 tablet daily (Kidney disease)
Vetmedin 1/2 tablet twice daily (Heart disease)
Tramadol 1/2 capsule twice daily (Pain)
Flopsy has deteriorated so much in the past 7 months of this year. It's only when you look back at photos that you realise - It really brings it all into perspective. It is so sad and heartbreaking watching somebody or somebunny fade away to illness. I do not want Flopsy to suffer or to be in pain. However at the moment he still remains enthusiastic about his medication which he willingly takes it all with no trouble. He really does look forward to med time and his meals.
This is my poor uncomfortable boy before the tramadol started taking effect.
He spends a lot of his time resting and sleeping now.
Here he is having his morning meal
Breakfast in bed!
Having his night-time meal
Some more photos of Flopsy over the past few days
Eating a dandelion (which took him forever to eat!)
With hunbun Lily
For those that do not know already Flopsy has had kidney disease for the past year & 2 months. He has been on half a fortekor tablet daily and fortunately his kidneys have remained stable and haven't deteriorated. Which is great. However back in April he was diagnosed with heart disease following a blood test and an ultrasound which revealed his heart muscles were very thick. Due to his heart not working properly it resulted in his liver congesting. On top of this Flopsy is also a dental bunny and suffers with tooth root pain (He has been on long term metacam since April 2012). His last dental was almost 2 months ago. John checked his teeth and fortunately all is well at the moment. An anaesthetic now is pretty risky for flopsy to undergo so I am relieved he does not need one. He too has arthritis and it has been gradually getting worse as he ages and even more so now his heart is poorly.
We went in last friday to see John as Flopsy had deteriorated. He had lost quite a lot of weight, appetite had decreased, he was sleeping and resting a lot more than usually and generally looked in pain. This was despite being on 0.7ml of the dog metacam twice daily . It was awful seeing him look uncomfortable and in pain. I was expecting him to be needing a dental. However J checked and his teeth at the moment are ok which is a relief. He weighed just 1.49kg last friday. J said to up his 1/2 a vetmedin tablet daily to twice a day and monitor him over the weekend for any improvements. There wasn't any significant or noticeable improvement, nor was there any weight gain when we went back on Monday.
So J has now prescribed Flopsy tramadol which he has to have 1/2 a capsule twice a day. Flopsy does not like the taste of it so I am putting it in his morning and evening meal. I am also feeding him 2 -3 times a day consisting of a softened pellet & rolled oat mix. I soak his Science selective mature pellets and then mash them up; I then mix with a tablespoon of rolled oats and a scoop of protexin pro fibre. He much prefers his food to be softened. This has been working well and he seems to like his new routine.
I have weighed Flopsy tonight and he now weighs 1.63kg so has gained 140g since Monday (If i have got my calculations right). Which is absolutely great and must mean that things are working better now. I am really pleased and I hope J will be too when we go back on Monday for his checkup. Although he still looks a little uncomfortable at times - I feel things have improved slightly now with his extra vetmedin dose and the tramadol too. I know that this does not mean I can get my hopes up - as he is still very poorly and he can't get better. However if we can stabilize his health and keep his pain under control - we can hopefully have some more weeks and possibly months left with him.
Flopsy's medicine list:
Metacam 0.7ml twice daily (tooth root pain & arthritis)
Fortekor 1/2 tablet daily (Kidney disease)
Vetmedin 1/2 tablet twice daily (Heart disease)
Tramadol 1/2 capsule twice daily (Pain)
Flopsy has deteriorated so much in the past 7 months of this year. It's only when you look back at photos that you realise - It really brings it all into perspective. It is so sad and heartbreaking watching somebody or somebunny fade away to illness. I do not want Flopsy to suffer or to be in pain. However at the moment he still remains enthusiastic about his medication which he willingly takes it all with no trouble. He really does look forward to med time and his meals.
This is my poor uncomfortable boy before the tramadol started taking effect.
He spends a lot of his time resting and sleeping now.
Here he is having his morning meal
Breakfast in bed!
Having his night-time meal
Some more photos of Flopsy over the past few days
Eating a dandelion (which took him forever to eat!)
With hunbun Lily
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