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Blueberry's mystery illness UD p145 got through to Molly

Sarah1989

Warren Veteran
My OH was in the bunny room the other day when I was giving them their dinner and he said both Blueberry & Slipper looked like they'd lost weight. I see them all the time so I don't notice, but due to his allergies he doesn't go in their room very often and so he rarely sees them.

He says he thought they were overweight before and that they look better now, nice and sleek, but it's made me worry about them. I can't tell if they're underweight or an ideal weight. They weren't overweight to begin with as the vet was happy with them last time they were there (September).

I've searched the net for ideal weights, but Slipper is a cross breed so that's not going to help. On here, I've seen diagrams where you go on their appearance rather than weight, but I don't know if I'm now imagining things out of sheer paranoia or if there is something genuinely wrong with them. By that I mean I can feel their bones, but I don't know if that's a good or bad thing as an ideal weight on the diagram says we can feel bones, but if we feel too much, it's bad. How much is too much?

They have unlimited hay, an egg cupful of pellets each at night and some herbs/veg/fruit for breakfast so I'm sure their diet is ok and I'm not over or under feeding :?

I'm going to get all the bunnies weighed somehow and I'll call the vet to get their weights when they were last there to compare.

I was worried about Blueberry last summer, I was sure he wasn't right and I took him to the vets and he had a good health check and was pronounced fine, so I put it down to paranoia on my behalf and got on with things. But that niggling feeling just won't go away. He looks and acts perfectly fine so it's not like I can say "this is what's bothering me", there's just this feeling I have that something's not right and my OH saying that has worried me all over again and that there is something wrong and now it's got Slipper too.

Any advice?
 
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I would get a set of Baby Scales and weigh them all on a regular basis, initially I'd suggest every 3-4 days. If they are all maintaining their weight and are 'well' in every other way then I doubt there is much cause for concern. But if any of them have 3 consecutive losses and/or you notice any other symptoms such as eating more slowly, poos getting smaller, drinking more then a Vet check again would be a good idea.
 
Do you have kitchen scale - they'll work for smaller bunnies. Obesity is a big issue at the moment so some vet clinic do free weigh ins - worth asking your practice :) If you call your vet they should be able to tell you their previous weight.
 

Oh fudge, I just ordered some off amazon before spotting this :roll: silly me. Thank you anyway :)

Do you have kitchen scale - they'll work for smaller bunnies. Obesity is a big issue at the moment so some vet clinic do free weigh ins - worth asking your practice :) If you call your vet they should be able to tell you their previous weight.

I do have kitchen scales, they're quite small but providing Blueberry sits still for about 20 seconds, they'll do. Slipper wouldn't fit in them and the girls wouldn't stand a chance. It's a good idea until my baby scales arrive next week though, guess what I'm doing tonight! :p thanks for that :)
 
for mabel I use small digital kitchen scales I got from asda number of years ago now for weighing rosie, then sox, also if its any reassurance mabel looks underweight at moment, but she isn't she put it on over Christmas treats lol, its because she going through her bad moult and had me worried so that why I keep weighing her
 
I just weighed Blueberry, he's 1.2kg :? I also rang the vet and last time he was weighed according to his record was 30th July 2014 & he was 1.75kg. So he has lost quite a bit of weight there I think.

I weighed Blackavar whose the closest I have to Blueberry as he's a mini lop and Blueberry's a mini lion lop. Blackavar is bang on 1.6kg. His last weigh in was 1.64kg. When I compare the two, Blueberry feels frail and a bag of bones :cry:

I can't weigh the others until I get my baby scales, but I'm now very worried about Blueberry :cry:
 
To me that sounds quite a lot for a small rabbit. Will (nethie ) was 1.4kg this time last year and 1.3kg in the summer but vet said it was still a good weight and he 'felt ' fine. I had cut down rabbit royale and increased hay as Nancy was on a diet so I sneak Will pellets.

Did your OH think he'd lost weight since he looked after them when you were on holiday - or did he not look after them.

I think I would get a Vet check just for peace of mind. Could Slipper be eating more of the pellets. May be feed them separately. Hope he's ok.:love:
 
I noticed ruby had lost 200g a few months back as I was able to feel her spine, she is quite a chunky rabbit being a thrianta so this wasn't normal for her. Anyway, I found out that her partner, at the time had gained this 200g so started to feed more pellets as he was obviously taking more of her share. She soon filled out again :) maybe increase pellets for a little while to see if that helps
 
Mini lops weight range is between 1.4kg,,-1.6kg to give you rough idea blueberry has lost a lot how old is he? And have you noticed any other changes ?
 
OH says Slipper has lost weight too, but I can't weigh him until I get my scales delivered (ordered this afternoon) he's larger than Blueberry and Blackavar and they only just fitted in the tray for the kitchen scales I used. So I don't think it's Slipper eating all the food. They have unlimited hay and I make sure that there are two separate portions of breakfast and dinner to avoid that, but this evening I fed them separately anyway.

I think it's a heck of a lot of weight to lose and I'm not impressed with it, I'm very worried about him.

Mini lop1, Blueberry is about 18 months now and no, he looks and seems his normal self. There's nothing tangible I can say that can point it out. I've just had this feeling that since last summer that he's not 100%. I just walked in, saw him and thought "you're not well". But he is eating and drinking and pooing and generally being a normal rabbit. I did take him to the vets and they checked him over and they didn't find anything so I just put it down to paranoia and tried to forget about it. All I have is this sense that there's something wrong with him, but nothing to back me up. Well there is now - the drastic weight loss! I'm going to ring the vet in the morning and get an appt. he's too precious to risk!
 
I got the bunnies to the vet this afternoon. Blueberry has lost 100g since Friday! :shock::cry: Slipper has lost 1kg since his last recorded weight at the vets. He's now just over 2kg, down from just over 3kg. Blueberry was 1.75kg on their record, he is now 1.15kg.

After discussing with the vet, and them having a good examination, we're leaning more to the side of something infectious, like a parasite rather than something like liver or kidney problems. I doubt they are related given that Slipper came from p@h in December 2011 and Blueberry came from a breeder near York in June 2013, even if Blueberry's dad is the spitting image of Slipper :lol:

So current action plan is treat with Septrin 2x daily, a 28 day course of Panacur and supplementary feeding of critical care and they are going back on Friday unless they deteriorate in the meantime. If no improvement, we're looking at blood tests and then x rays and biopsies.

We don't think it's dietary or a bad batch of food as all my rabbits have the same diet. All the same hay, the same fruit/veg/herbs for breakfast and Blackavar and Cherry also eat the same pellets (Jacquetta & Lady Katherine are on SS) and they are all fine. (Touch wood anyway!!)

Luckily for me, these two love critical care food. Slipper sticks his head in the jug and licks it up whilst I spoon feed Blueberry :lol: The Septrin also smells like banana milkshake and I want to drink it myself :oops: strangely enough, they're not keen on taking this from the syringe like metacam, even though banana is their favourite food ever!

I hope it's *just* parasites and nothing more serious, then we can kill the parasites and I can feed them up. I don't like being able to feel their ribs :cry:
 
Eek, what a scare :S Hope it all clears up soon!

I dunked the syringe in mashed banana to see if Lopsy would take it then: you could try that with the Septrin? I quite like the smell of the recovery food too, but Lopsy doesn't agree ;P
 
I'm so sorry to hear this, I hope it all clears up with the panacur and the septrin!

One thing that I would just caution on, when my bun meg lost a lot of weight like that she had some dehydration symptoms even though she was drinking water. It got better once she was on the septrin. It might be worth just syringing some water to make sure they're getting enough! Meg had hers with a teensy bit of natural apple juice in it and she loved it! Was all re hydrated within a few days.
 
I got the bunnies to the vet this afternoon. Blueberry has lost 100g since Friday! :shock::cry: Slipper has lost 1kg since his last recorded weight at the vets. He's now just over 2kg, down from just over 3kg. Blueberry was 1.75kg on their record, he is now 1.15kg.

After discussing with the vet, and them having a good examination, we're leaning more to the side of something infectious, like a parasite rather than something like liver or kidney problems. I doubt they are related given that Slipper came from p@h in December 2011 and Blueberry came from a breeder near York in June 2013, even if Blueberry's dad is the spitting image of Slipper :lol:

So current action plan is treat with Septrin 2x daily, a 28 day course of Panacur and supplementary feeding of critical care and they are going back on Friday unless they deteriorate in the meantime. If no improvement, we're looking at blood tests and then x rays and biopsies.

We don't think it's dietary or a bad batch of food as all my rabbits have the same diet. All the same hay, the same fruit/veg/herbs for breakfast and Blackavar and Cherry also eat the same pellets (Jacquetta & Lady Katherine are on SS) and they are all fine. (Touch wood anyway!!)

Luckily for me, these two love critical care food. Slipper sticks his head in the jug and licks it up whilst I spoon feed Blueberry :lol: The Septrin also smells like banana milkshake and I want to drink it myself :oops: strangely enough, they're not keen on taking this from the syringe like metacam, even though banana is their favourite food ever!

I hope it's *just* parasites and nothing more serious, then we can kill the parasites and I can feed them up. I don't like being able to feel their ribs :cry:

Sounds as though one thing the Vet is considering is Coccidiosis. Did the Vet advise you about what you need to do regards husbandry/protecting your other Rabbits should Coccidia be involved ?
 
Ah poor bunnies. That is a lot of weight for him to lose. I weigh Doughnut about once a fortnight. She has been at her heaviest which is 1.37, she is on a bit of a diet as 1.25kg is a good weight for her. Chubby but not too overweight that she can't duck down! I cut her muesli down a bit and after 2 months she's now 1.35!

Before I was trying to get her to put on weight now I can't shift it. Hope your little ones are putting on weight again and getting better.
 
Sounds as though one thing the Vet is considering is Coccidiosis. Did the Vet advise you about what you need to do regards husbandry/protecting your other Rabbits should Coccidia be involved ?

No, coccidiosis wasn't mentioned. A cause wasn't mentioned at all actually, we're trying this and then going back on Friday to see if there is any improvement. If not, then we do blood tests and after the results, if still stumped, then we do the x rays and biopsies in case it's something like the liver/kidneys etc. I'm seeing a different vet on Friday so s/he could say something completely different of course though.

Also, since they came back home yesterday, they've been very lethargic which is worrying me, but I keep telling myself I've got to give the meds time to work.

I also need to get in touch with Petplan and see if I can get a claim in for all this. I'm dreading my credit card bill!!
 
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