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Any suggestions for Timmy? U/d results megacolon, and gabapentin

weedug

weedug

Mama Doe
Sorry to be asking for help when I haven't been around for so long, but I really am feeling stuck.

Timmy has been unwell since Tuesday morning. He has chronic ulcers in both eyes, and has done for all the time I have had him. No treatment has helped. He is now about 6, but possibly much older.

He has had spells of not eating in the past, but has always bounced back quickly either after I have supported him at home for a few hours, or after being in the vets on fluids. His not eating episodes have been increasing, and were now happening about every 6 weeks.

I took him to a different vet (long story) on Tuesday. They gave him sub cut fluids, I think vetergesic, and emeprid. I had given him zantac and metacam at home.

He went back next day. They were much happier with him and gave him the same injections as the day before. He came home but went downhill again the next day. I took him back to my vet, who examined him and said they wanted him transferred straight to D1ck vet.

X-ray there showed a little gas in his stomach but everything else seemed fine, although Timmy was in a lot of pain and guarding his stomach area more than they would have expected for the amount of gas. They numbed his eyes and he seemed to pick up.

While in there they had him on fluids, metacam, zantac, tramadol and eye drops. They sent him home yesterday to see how he was at home.

Since coming home he has eaten small amounts at a time, but spends most of the time just sitting, or grooming himself. He is grooming much more than usual. He doesn't seem happy but I can't work out what is wrong. He is on the same meds as at the vet.

I just wondered if anyone had any ideas? He'll be going back in on Tuesday, or before if he needs to. Another problem is that his insurance excludes his eyes. I can't afford to pay a huge bill, but I'm convinced that it isn't his eyes that are the problem.

Sorry for the long story.
 
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Hi, I can really sympathise with you.. My bunny is 8 months old and has been suffering with bad eye ulcers for the last 2 months. We have tried over 3 anti-biotic eye drops, been on metacam and still no change. At the moment his appetite is fine luckily but he constantly has slightly loose poos. Have you had your buns teeth checked? As I am now pushing for this with my bun to see if their is possibly anything wrong. We also don't have cover on his eyes and are currently £400 lighter just in 2 month and only for treatment & weekly appointments.

I'm sorry I'm not much help, but really hope your bunny improves soon and sending lots of vibes. All te best & I'm also interested to see what others put.
 
Hi, I can really sympathise with you.. My bunny is 8 months old and has been suffering with bad eye ulcers for the last 2 months. We have tried over 3 anti-biotic eye drops, been on metacam and still no change. At the moment his appetite is fine luckily but he constantly has slightly loose poos. Have you had your buns teeth checked? As I am now pushing for this with my bun to see if their is possibly anything wrong. We also don't have cover on his eyes and are currently £400 lighter just in 2 month and only for treatment & weekly appointments.

I'm sorry I'm not much help, but really hope your bunny improves soon and sending lots of vibes. All te best & I'm also interested to see what others put.
 
Ruthyjones89 said:
Hi, I can really sympathise with you.. My bunny is 8 months old and has been suffering with bad eye ulcers for the last 2 months. We have tried over 3 anti-biotic eye drops, been on metacam and still no change. At the moment his appetite is fine luckily but he constantly has slightly loose poos. Have you had your buns teeth checked? As I am now pushing for this with my bun to see if their is possibly anything wrong. We also don't have cover on his eyes and are currently £400 lighter just in 2 month and only for treatment & weekly appointments.

I'm sorry I'm not much help, but really hope your bunny improves soon and sending lots of vibes. All te best & I'm also interested to see what others put.
Click to expand...

Hi, sorry to hear your bun has had similar problems. Have you had him checked for e.c?

Timmy has had so many investigations and so many drops that I forget what he has all had. I was more hoping that someone might have some idea what else could be wrong with him? Not much to go on I know, but I still think it isn't his eyes.
 
Aww thank you, yeah they thought that originally so him and his sister both had a month worth of panacur but this didn't have any effect on his eyes at all.

Aww poor timmy.. Well I hope someone can help! Does your bun tend to hold his eyes shut at all? Harvey does some nights, so we tend to give him some metacam and he's a completly different bunny but we can't keep giving it him xx
 
weedug said:
Hi, sorry to hear your bun has had similar problems. Have you had him checked for e.c?

Timmy has had so many investigations and so many drops that I forget what he has all had. I was more hoping that someone might have some idea what else could be wrong with him? Not much to go on I know, but I still think it isn't his eyes.
Click to expand...

Hello, I was only thinking of you this morning and hoping that 'things' may be a bit better for you now. I am really sorry to hear that Timmy has not been well again. Did they run bloods and test a wee sample at the D1ck ? I am just wondering if the abdominal guarding may be renal/bladder related rather than GI tract related.
 
weedug said:
Sorry to be asking for help when I haven't been around for so long, but I really am feeling stuck.

Timmy has been unwell since Tuesday morning. He has chronic ulcers in both eyes, and has done for all the time I have had him. No treatment has helped. He is now about 6, but possibly much older.

He has had spells of not eating in the past, but has always bounced back quickly either after I have supported him at home for a few hours, or after being in the vets on fluids. His not eating episodes have been increasing, and were now happening about every 6 weeks.

I took him to a different vet (long story) on Tuesday. They gave him sub cut fluids, I think vetergesic, and emeprid. I had given him zantac and metacam at home.

He went back next day. They were much happier with him and gave him the same injections as the day before. He came home but went downhill again the next day. I took him back to my vet, who examined him and said they wanted him transferred straight to D1ck vet.

X-ray there showed a little gas in his stomach but everything else seemed fine, although Timmy was in a lot of pain and guarding his stomach area more than they would have expected for the amount of gas. They numbed his eyes and he seemed to pick up.

While in there they had him on fluids, metacam, zantac, tramadol and eye drops. They sent him home yesterday to see how he was at home.

Since coming home he has eaten small amounts at a time, but spends most of the time just sitting, or grooming himself. He is grooming much more than usual. He doesn't seem happy but I can't work out what is wrong. He is on the same meds as at the vet.

I just wondered if anyone had any ideas? He'll be going back in on Tuesday, or before if he needs to. Another problem is that his insurance excludes his eyes. I can't afford to pay a huge bill, but I'm convinced that it isn't his eyes that are the problem.

Sorry for the long story.
Click to expand...

Have they run a blood profile on him? It would show up any infection and also any kidney failure that you may not be aware of - a great cause of not eating in buns ....
 
Jack's-Jane said:
Hello, I was only thinking of you this morning and hoping that 'things' may be a bit better for you now. I am really sorry to hear that Timmy has not been well again. Did they run bloods and test a wee sample at the D1ck ? I am just wondering if the abdominal guarding may be renal/bladder related rather than GI tract related.
Click to expand...

Thank you for thinking of me Jane. Things aren't a load better, but hopefully I'll get there eventually.

Timmy hasn't had bloods or a wee sample tested. He was drinking normal amounts and passing normal urine before this happened.

Today he still isn't right. Sometimes he seems in pain even with the metacam and tramadol, other times he will sit and eat his hay quite happily. His poos keep varying from almost normal, to tiny little black things and he hasn't passed as much urine as usual.

He did have a blood test done back in February that showed a problem with his kidneys, liver, and that his calcium levels were too low. The sample had clotted though and since Timmy got better they didn't retest.

He has had ops on his eyes and he wasn't in so much pain :(. My gut feeling is that it isn't his eyes. I will ask about his kidneys on Tuesday.

Oh, and he does keep his eyes shut quite a lot of the time. The metacam and the tramadol don't make much difference to how he has his eyes.
 
weedug said:
Thank you for thinking of me Jane. Things aren't a load better, but hopefully I'll get there eventually.

Timmy hasn't had bloods or a wee sample tested. He was drinking normal amounts and passing normal urine before this happened.

Today he still isn't right. Sometimes he seems in pain even with the metacam and tramadol, other times he will sit and eat his hay quite happily. His poos keep varying from almost normal, to tiny little black things and he hasn't passed as much urine as usual.

He did have a blood test done back in February that showed a problem with his kidneys, liver, and that his calcium levels were too low. The sample had clotted though and since Timmy got better they didn't retest.

He has had ops on his eyes and he wasn't in so much pain :(. My gut feeling is that it isn't his eyes. I will ask about his kidneys on Tuesday.

Oh, and he does keep his eyes shut quite a lot of the time. The metacam and the tramadol don't make much difference to how he has his eyes.
Click to expand...

I am sorry that things are still difficult for you. With Timmy being poorly again it's an additional worry. I think it would be a good idea to request another blood profile. I expect his eyes are photosensitive so he keeps them closed a lot. I really hope that the Vets can find out what is wrong and help him to feel better within himself xx
 
A bit late with the update. Timmy's appointment had to be put off till today and hubby is just back with him.

The vet said his eyes are a lot better, but he is still a bit bloated. They want to get him in next week for tests, but first I need to see if the insurance will pay out, since Timmy has an exclusion for his eyes.

I think I will need to get hubby to take him again next week because we found out at the start of the week that our daughter, who has special needs, is needing to get tests on her heart.

D1ck vets were going to take bloods, do a ct scan (hubby can't remember what's getting scanned) and checking a thickening at the base of one of Timmy's ears. Timmy is passing much less urine than I would expect so they are checking his kidneys.

He has to stay on the eye drops, metacam and tramadol and go back on the gut stimulant in the meantime.
 
Ah poor Timmy. Lots of vibes for him, hope the insurance covers it. It's so irritating all these exclusions. Doughnut is excluded for digestion!
 
weedug said:
A bit late with the update. Timmy's appointment had to be put off till today and hubby is just back with him.

The vet said his eyes are a lot better, but he is still a bit bloated. They want to get him in next week for tests, but first I need to see if the insurance will pay out, since Timmy has an exclusion for his eyes.

I think I will need to get hubby to take him again next week because we found out at the start of the week that our daughter, who has special needs, is needing to get tests on her heart.

D1ck vets were going to take bloods, do a ct scan (hubby can't remember what's getting scanned) and checking a thickening at the base of one of Timmy's ears. Timmy is passing much less urine than I would expect so they are checking his kidneys.

He has to stay on the eye drops, metacam and tramadol and go back on the gut stimulant in the meantime.
Click to expand...

Goodness, you have got a lot of stress going on at the moment :cry: I hope that Timmy will remain as comfortable as possible. I also hope that your Daughter's tests will give encouraging results. I am sure that you must be very anxious about her xx
 
weedug said:
A bit late with the update. Timmy's appointment had to be put off till today and hubby is just back with him.

The vet said his eyes are a lot better, but he is still a bit bloated. They want to get him in next week for tests, but first I need to see if the insurance will pay out, since Timmy has an exclusion for his eyes.

I think I will need to get hubby to take him again next week because we found out at the start of the week that our daughter, who has special needs, is needing to get tests on her heart.

D1ck vets were going to take bloods, do a ct scan (hubby can't remember what's getting scanned) and checking a thickening at the base of one of Timmy's ears. Timmy is passing much less urine than I would expect so they are checking his kidneys.

He has to stay on the eye drops, metacam and tramadol and go back on the gut stimulant in the meantime.
Click to expand...

Sending vibes for Timmy.

The exclusions are a nightmare. I just wish they would make things simple and cover everything - including dental!
 
Thought I would update. Timmy eventually got his tests done last week on a preauthorisation from the insurance company. It was supposed to take 3-5 days and took about 5 weeks. The insurance company kept asking questions, which the vet took 2 weeks to reply to. Eventually a complaint to the insurance company lead to a nice lad phoning the vet and me every day until it was sorted.

Anyway, the results came back yesterday and They reckon he has mega colon :(. Timmy is on Zantac, metacam and tramadol and has still had a no eating episode. His tummy is huge. The vet wants to try him on Gabapentin to see if that helps. Timmy has changed from a bunny who liked his own space to a cuddle bun.

I lost Bailey to this condition at the end of last year and I think Honey has the same condition.

Has anyone else had a bun on Gabapentin for Megacolon, with Tramadol and metacam, and did it work?
 
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