Vets or not? UD 8/6 more tests, vibes please

I don't know whether I'm just being paranoid, so a bit of advice would be appreciated!

He has been on a small but constant weight loss (like 10g at a time, not massive!) for a couple of months, but I weighed him today and he's down to 1290g, which is his lowest weight since late 2011/early 2012. He weighed 1435g when he was vaccinated seven weeks ago, so has lost around 145g in seven weeks. I know that isn't loads, but it unsettles me. I've also been giving him more treats (fibafirst sticks and crunchies) and pellets recently, so it just makes me a bit confused as to why he's not gaining weight or even staying constant! He eats a good amount of hay and has nice golden poos.

He's also been drinking more. He now drains his water bowl over the course of the day and will literally have licked it dry by the time I feed him in the evening (he has a bottle as well!). I know that it could just be because it's warmer/he's eating more hay etc and doesn't have to necessarily mean something bad, but as I said before, it unsettles me.

He is on a low dose of Metacam, so immediately I think kidneys, but I keep seeing conflicting advice about whether it does actually damage them or not?!

I don't know whether taking him to the vets would be silly and I'm just being paranoid?! Help?!

I would get him checked just to be on the safe side, it would probably be a good idea to get a blood profile done just to rule out any kidney issues or similar. Hope that it isn't anything serious and just the case of it being warmer/him eating more hay.

I would definitely go to the vets too. What size water bowl is it? That sounds a lot of drinking.

SarahP said:

I would definitely go to the vets too. What size water bowl is it? That sounds a lot of drinking.

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Not one of the big ones, like a normal sized one. Holds 300ml.

I would get him checked over by the Vet as any unexplained and ongoing weight loss always needs investigating.

As a rough guide the normal water intake for a Rabbit is 50ml-100ml/kg/day. So he does appear to be drinking an excessive amount.

Ok - good to know I'm not just super paranoid! Will book an appointment for the next few days

JemimaH said:

Ok - good to know I'm not just super paranoid! Will book an appointment for the next few days

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good luck how old is he? the excessive water intake could be a number of things so vet will check kidney function, even dental buns will drink a lot, well mabel does

mini lop1 said:

good luck how old is he? the excessive water intake could be a number of things so vet will check kidney function, even dental buns will drink a lot, well mabel does

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He's three and a half.

Have booked him in for Thursday evening, so should hopefully get it sorted soon. I'd love it if it was 'just' dental related - I know that it could be other things but it could also be kidney related and I'd hate that to be the case

JemimaH said:

He's three and a half.

Have booked him in for Thursday evening, so should hopefully get it sorted soon. I'd love it if it was 'just' dental related - I know that it could be other things but it could also be kidney related and I'd hate that to be the case

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did the vet check his teeth when he was in 7 weeks ago ? hoping its just dental for your bun x

mini lop1 said:

did the vet check his teeth when he was in 7 weeks ago ? hoping its just dental for your bun x

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yeah, they were fine then. Although I know that a) you can't see his entire mouth and b) a lot can change in 7 weeks! Thanks Lisa x

JemimaH said:

yeah, they were fine then. Although I know that a) you can't see his entire mouth and b) a lot can change in 7 weeks! Thanks Lisa x

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Good luck at the vets tomorrow Jemima :thumb:

Went to the vets and had some blood tests taken, so will get the results back on Tuesday hopefully. His teeth looked fine, as did his ears, but he weighed less on her scales and was showing as 1265g. She said this was significant - whilst he's not skin and bone, he definitely feels lighter and bonier.

I don't want it to be anything bad I'm not normally one to think ahead and worry, but I don't want him to be poorly - I love him so much. He's only three years old I know it's silly of me, but I am automatically thinking the worst and preparing myself for the fact he's got an incurable illness like liver or kidney disease and I'll have to have him put down.

Meanwhile, Alf's blissfully unaware and eating his hay :thumb: he's not looking his best at the moment as he has wet back legs from where they parted the fur to take the blood. Poor lad :lol: I'm going to increase his pellet food to see if we can get him weighing a bit more, and will try and get some different hay/veg for him to have as well. Not going to go over board, but a little bit of spoiling is in order I think

JemimaH said:

Went to the vets and had some blood tests taken, so will get the results back on Tuesday hopefully. His teeth looked fine, as did his ears, but he weighed less on her scales and was showing as 1265g. She said this was significant - whilst he's not skin and bone, he definitely feels lighter and bonier.

I don't want it to be anything bad I'm not normally one to think ahead and worry, but I don't want him to be poorly - I love him so much. He's only three years old I know it's silly of me, but I am automatically thinking the worst and preparing myself for the fact he's got an incurable illness like liver or kidney disease and I'll have to have him put down.

Meanwhile, Alf's blissfully unaware and eating his hay :thumb: he's not looking his best at the moment as he has wet back legs from where they parted the fur to take the blood. Poor lad :lol: I'm going to increase his pellet food to see if we can get him weighing a bit more, and will try and get some different hay/veg for him to have as well. Not going to go over board, but a little bit of spoiling is in order I think

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Oh Jemima, spoiling is definitely in order!

I hope the blood tests come back OK, but that still leaves you with the dilemma of the weight loss. Did the vet suggest Panacur as a precaution?

Best to take one step at a time. He's happy for the moment, so that's all that matters :thumb:

MightyMax said:

Oh Jemima, spoiling is definitely in order!

I hope the blood tests come back OK, but that still leaves you with the dilemma of the weight loss. Did the vet suggest Panacur as a precaution?

Best to take one step at a time. He's happy for the moment, so that's all that matters :thumb:

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No, not at the moment. She said she'd rather wait until the blood tests were back, although she hasn't actually tested for E.C.

He is indeed, and that's all I ever want him to be. Even if it is a worst-case scenario, I won't drag out his decline just so I can spend more time with him.

JemimaH said:

Went to the vets and had some blood tests taken, so will get the results back on Tuesday hopefully. His teeth looked fine, as did his ears, but he weighed less on her scales and was showing as 1265g. She said this was significant - whilst he's not skin and bone, he definitely feels lighter and bonier.

I don't want it to be anything bad I'm not normally one to think ahead and worry, but I don't want him to be poorly - I love him so much. He's only three years old I know it's silly of me, but I am automatically thinking the worst and preparing myself for the fact he's got an incurable illness like liver or kidney disease and I'll have to have him put down.

Meanwhile, Alf's blissfully unaware and eating his hay :thumb: he's not looking his best at the moment as he has wet back legs from where they parted the fur to take the blood. Poor lad :lol: I'm going to increase his pellet food to see if we can get him weighing a bit more, and will try and get some different hay/veg for him to have as well. Not going to go over board, but a little bit of spoiling is in order I think

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I'm glad that Alf remains very happy within himself. It is always hard not to start second guessing and thinking worse case scenarios. I try my best not to do that, but I often fail.

Sounds as though you are being really sensible with your plan to gradually increase Alf's food with more pellets and different hays/veg rather than trying to bulk him up with too many carbs. I dont know where you buy your hays from, I have found these to be very popular

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_pets/snacks_supplements/natural_plant_snacks/herbs/13321

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_pets/snacks_supplements/natural_plant_snacks/herbs/301239

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_pets/snacks_supplements/natural_plant_snacks/herbs/301187

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_pets/hay_and_bedding/hay_small_pets/229215#analysis

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_pets/hay_and_bedding/hay_small_pets/186137

https://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/hay-peppermint.html

https://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/hay-wild-rose.html

Jack's-Jane said:

I'm glad that Alf remains very happy within himself. It is always hard not to start second guessing and thinking worse case scenarios. I try my best not to do that, but I often fail.

Sounds as though you are being really sensible with you plan to gradually increase Alf's food with more pellets and different hays/veg rather than trying to bulk him up with too many carbs. I dont know where you buy your hays from, I have found these to be very popular

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_pets/snacks_supplements/natural_plant_snacks/herbs/13321

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_pets/snacks_supplements/natural_plant_snacks/herbs/301239

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_pets/snacks_supplements/natural_plant_snacks/herbs/301187

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_pets/hay_and_bedding/hay_small_pets/229215#analysis

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_pets/hay_and_bedding/hay_small_pets/186137

https://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/hay-peppermint.html

https://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/hay-wild-rose.html

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Thanks, Jane. Alfrid rarely gets more than one type of hay, so this'll be a real treat! Will have a look soon

JemimaH said:

Thanks, Jane. Alfrid rarely gets more than one type of hay, so this'll be a real treat! Will have a look soon

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No problem xx

I hope the bloods come back clear.

JemimaH said:

No, not at the moment. She said she'd rather wait until the blood tests were back, although she hasn't actually tested for E.C.

He is indeed, and that's all I ever want him to be. Even if it is a worst-case scenario, I won't drag out his decline just so I can spend more time with him.

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No I know. It's hard, but until there are facts to deal with, it's a bit of a waiting game.

I hope you get good blood results on Tuesday :thumb:

MightyMax said:

No I know. It's hard, but until there are facts to deal with, it's a bit of a waiting game.

I hope you get good blood results on Tuesday :thumb:

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Yes, it is very hard. I hate waiting! I've got a knot in my stomach already and have 5 days wait ahead of me...:roll:

I suppose it's thrown me because he's still so young. With Dee, my bridge bun, she became very ill very quickly and was seven years old, so as horrible as it was to see her decline and eventually have her euthanised, I felt like she got a good amount of time here. If - and I know it is a big if - there is anything seriously wrong with Alf, something that will give him less time, I'd feel worse because he hadn't got as long. I suppose I'd always known in the back of my mind something like this would happen at some point. He is what, myself, my family and my vet call, a 'sickly' bunny. He's never had much luck!

Anyway. I'm over thinking things yet again :roll: so I shall go and give him some bunny snuggles and try and take my mind off Tuesday :thumb:

Also, this really couldn't have come at a worse time - I have a big GCSE in 12 days that I'm stressing about already, so this does not help! Typical...