I think something is wrong with Lola UD 24/3 Kidneys???

Lola is the bunny in the middle of my sig. I wrote about her in rabbit chat the other day for having a really bad moult & feeling a bit thinner and I was going to book her in for a check up just for a bit of reassurance, but now I definitely think something else is going on and she needs to be seen tomorrow. This moult has also revealed that she feels like she has lost weight (I can feel bones when she has been on the portly side previously) which I first thought could be because she has lost so much fur. This evening I am sure she feels even thinner than I first thought and I am worrying considerably right now to the point it is making me shake

Today she has been very sleepy, for most of the day infact, she does do this every now and then though. Especially as the past few days she has been on a mission destroying newspaper, for hours. I figured a quiet day would be a result of that. She ate her pellets and has been eating hay today and there are fresh bumbles and wee. I gave her some profibre pellets to see if that may help her out a bit but she won't eat them, she has never liked them.

This evening she is quiet and was not going crazy for kale or her evening pellets although she did eventually get up and eat. Tonight is the first night she has not been enthusiastic for them but she is eating now.

She has a very basic diet as she seems to have a sensitive tummy. I think she may have a condition of some sort but nothing has ever been diagnosed, and she is fine as long as she doesn't have anything that triggers bad ceacals (carrot, shop bought treats and even meadow hay seems to have an effect etc) so we manage it that way. She has had normal (and has been eating) her ceacals with no problems all week.

She has had a slight runny eye, but gets this on and off and her teeth had no signs of anything wrong when she was at the vets a few times in January. She had treatment for fleas and back for vaccinations.

Does anyone have any ideas of weightloss in a bunny who has been eating enthusiastically and fine (up until tonight) alongside a huge moult. I have a very bad feeling. I am still heartbroken over losing Frankie to tumours in November and can't help but think we will now lose Lola can a bunny who has lost weight recover and become healthy again? I have only ever known it to be bad news and is bringing back terrible memories of when we lost Frankie and bunnies in the past

Sorry for the long post, I have tried to give as much info as possible so you know her background.

I'm afraid I can't offer a huge amount of advise as I'm not very experienced or knowledgeable regarding this topic so hopefully someone else with more knowledge will come along soon. However, I just wanted to say that my Nethie lost 1/6 of his body weight a little while ago which worried the vets and myself quite a lot. We did discover it was because he had spurs and uneven teeth from being previously neglected (so I highly doubt it is the same situation as the one you are in) but since this has been sorted he has put all of the weight that he had lost back on He does still have dental issues and frequently gets stasis, however he has recovered well from the weight loss and is a super happy bunny now

So, I guess what I'm trying to say is that although many times weight loss can be long term bad news, there are cases where the bunny recovers well again Also, as you have said that apart from tonight, her appetite, poops and pees have all been good and there have been no other unusual symptoms, then as long as you get her to the vets tomorrow whatever it is should be manageable.

Good luck tomorrow and make sure to let us know how you get on!

i've heard that moulting can be quite stressful for rabbits, enough to make them seem a bit off anyway.

i think it's a good idea to go to the vets sooner though if you're that worried and have her weighed and teeth checked again. just a general check-over will hopefully put your mind at rest, or catch anything early that could be brewing.

as for losing alot of weight and recovering - yes it is possible. bisc was very ill years back and dropped from 2.3kg+ to just 1.8kg. once we discovered why and he got treatment he thankfully recovered and built his weight back up over time. i do understand what you mean though with pets dropping into lower weights and it ringing those alarm bells that things are only going one way.

i hope all will be ok. let us know how you go at the vets x

Thank you for posting about your little Nethie, that is very reassuring to hear. I am glad he is back to being a happy bunny now

Just now I noticed Lola hadn't found a piece of kale so I picked it up and she immediately got up for it and gobbled it up. She has eaten a normal amount of pellets for this time too. I wonder if earlier she was in a bit of a huff in disgust of having the profibre pellets left in her bowl and not food she wanted. If I have done something she disapproves of she usually lets me know by turning her back on me and just looking at me over her shoulder without coming to see what I have for her. So has tendancies to almost sulk. I binned the profibre and she perked up, so perhaps that was it earlier and therefore just a coincidence. I hope so anyway.

I wonder if all her shredding has been a sign of frustration/feeling off if something is going on with her? She goes through phases of it, but she has been possessed by having to destroy it. She has mostly left it alone today though as she has slept so much.

biscandmatt1 said:

i've heard that moulting can be quite stressful for rabbits, enough to make them seem a bit off anyway.

i think it's a good idea to go to the vets sooner though if you're that worried and have her weighed and teeth checked again. just a general check-over will hopefully put your mind at rest, or catch anything early that could be brewing.

as for losing alot of weight and recovering - yes it is possible. bisc was very ill years back and dropped from 2.3kg+ to just 1.8kg. once we discovered why and he got treatment he thankfully recovered and built his weight back up over time. i do understand what you mean though with pets dropping into lower weights and it ringing those alarm bells that things are only going one way.

i hope all will be ok. let us know how you go at the vets x

Click to expand...

Thank you, I am pleased to hear Bisc also managed to regain weight. I am feeling a lot more positive now! Thankfully as she was at the vets last month and was weighed twice recently (she'd actually dropped a tiny bit then between appointments thinking about it) we will have a good guide as to how much she has changed by.

newbabybuns said:

Thank you for posting about your little Nethie, that is very reassuring to hear. I am glad he is back to being a happy bunny now

Just now I noticed Lola hadn't found a piece of kale so I picked it up and she immediately got up for it and gobbled it up. She has eaten a normal amount of pellets for this time too. I wonder if earlier she was in a bit of a huff in disgust of having the profibre pellets left in her bowl and not food she wanted. If I have done something she disapproves of she usually lets me know by turning her back on me and just looking at me over her shoulder without coming to see what I have for her. So has tendancies to almost sulk. I binned the profibre and she perked up, so perhaps that was it earlier and therefore just a coincidence. I hope so anyway.

I wonder if all her shredding has been a sign of frustration/feeling off if something is going on with her? She goes through phases of it, but she has been possessed by having to destroy it. She has mostly left it alone today though as she has slept so much.

Click to expand...

You are welcome [emoji4] I know how upsetting it can be when our beloved pets get ill and how much it makes you worry, especially when you don't know what's wrong, so I hoped that it would reassure you [emoji4]

Oh bless her hahaha, Biscuit and Willow will both through tantrums with me if I do something they don't like. They even start kicking imaginary dirt at me [emoji23]

As spring is approaching Lola may simply have 'spring fever' at the moment, which may be causing her to rip things up. My three are all over excited at the minute and causing trouble, with Storm (the Nethie) ripping up any cardboard he can get to and through his toys and food everywhere. It certainly isn't uncommon for bunnies to misbehave at this time of year. I would however, still get her to the vets to check to see what could be causing the weight loss and have her teeth looked at again. The vet may want to take a blood test and X-rays to find out what is going on internally and to properly check her teeth and tooth roots. [emoji4]

Just to say in my experience it is quite easy to "imagine" that things aren't quite right with a rabbit. If I were you I would get into the habit of weighing the rabbits regularly and recording their weights. I have this on my computer. I also find that whilst I have three very greedy rabbits, sometimes (I suspect sleepiness plays a part) one or other of them just doesn't want to eat.

I hope it goes well at the vets.

WillowAndBiscuit said:

You are welcome [emoji4] I know how upsetting it can be when our beloved pets get ill and how much it makes you worry, especially when you don't know what's wrong, so I hoped that it would reassure you [emoji4]

Oh bless her hahaha, Biscuit and Willow will both through tantrums with me if I do something they don't like. They even start kicking imaginary dirt at me [emoji23]

As spring is approaching Lola may simply have 'spring fever' at the moment, which may be causing her to rip things up. My three are all over excited at the minute and causing trouble, with Storm (the Nethie) ripping up any cardboard he can get to and through his toys and food everywhere. It certainly isn't uncommon for bunnies to misbehave at this time of year. I would however, still get her to the vets to check to see what could be causing the weight loss and have her teeth looked at again. The vet may want to take a blood test and X-rays to find out what is going on internally and to properly check her teeth and tooth roots. [emoji4]

Click to expand...

they are such funny little things! I get the being flicked at too, infact when I have gone to Lola while she has been shredding she runs away from it flicking her back legs as she goes passed me. Cookie has been shredding in her enclosure too, although nothing on the scale of Lola's. I does sound like spring fever may have hit our bunnies! I do secretly love when bunnies are being naughty haha.

newbabybuns said:

they are such funny little things! I get the being flicked at too, infact when I have gone to Lola while she has been shredding she runs away from it flicking her back legs as she goes passed me. Cookie has been shredding in her enclosure too, although nothing on the scale of Lola's. I does sound like spring fever may have hit our bunnies! I do secretly love when bunnies are being naughty haha.

Click to expand...

Aren't they just! Storm does just about anything that he can that is naughty and likes to keep me on my toes. When I clean I move his toys out of the way to sweep up and he throws them at me in disapproval! [emoji23] He makes up for it with bunny kisses though so it's hard not to forgive him [emoji6]

It sounds as if it probably is upon you! If that is the case then don't panic if the bunnies start chasing each other and nipping bums as it isn't aggressive behaviour and for some reason does happen with a lot of bunnies when Spring comes. [emoji4] (You'd be able to tell if it was aggressive behaviour though anyway haha)

Omi said:

Just to say in my experience it is quite easy to "imagine" that things aren't quite right with a rabbit. If I were you I would get into the habit of weighing the rabbits regularly and recording their weights. I have this on my computer. I also find that whilst I have three very greedy rabbits, sometimes (I suspect sleepiness plays a part) one or other of them just doesn't want to eat.

I hope it goes well at the vets.

Click to expand...

Thank you! Yes I am definitely guilty of that at times. I have had lots of bunnies in the past, even a couple who had long term health problems, but these current ones have brought out some sort of anxiety in me over their health that I didn't even know I had so I am constantly on the lookout for signs. It manifested itself when I was pretty delirious with flu, my temp was over 40 (had no idea that was dangerous at the time!) my OH had no choice but to go to work that day & it was my first time downstairs in a week and I rang him crying my eyes out that something was wrong with Cookies back legs - she was just sleepy! Not long after I was howling with laughter at a cartoon that I don't even know if it was actually even funny :shock:

This morning Lola is acting bright and perfectly normal. Yesterday evening her rib and leg bones were protruding, but today it is like her tummy has filled the space between them again and she feels pretty much back to her normal shape again like she has instantly put weight on. I know this is impossible after just eating one meal and hay overnight so am wondering if some kind of big slowdown in her GI tract happened over the past couple of days. Maybe she was dehydrated? Is it possible to have some sort of stasis that I missed as she was still eating? She has pooped overnight, smaller but at least she has output and just ate a ceacal. It will be interesting to see if she produces any large misformed ones.

She does have gassy episodes where her tummy empties, she stomach presses, goes off food etc and I can remedy this by making her run around and massaging her tummy and she goes completely back to normal within a couple of hours. Maybe this was a much slower version of that. Although she wasn't stomach pressing at all.

She has been on a medicine before to stimulate her system, like metaclop but one the vet said targeted a different part. Maybe it is all linked, something is wrong somewhere in her system which is why she has such problems eating some things. I gave her a handful of readigrass the other day so maybe this did something to spark it all off, the fur loss was just bad timing to complicate/confuse the symptoms.

The vet is very thorough when he feels her abdomen, so hopefully will be able to work out what is going on!

WillowAndBiscuit said:

Aren't they just! Storm does just about anything that he can that is naughty and likes to keep me on my toes. When I clean I move his toys out of the way to sweep up and he throws them at me in disapproval! [emoji23] He makes up for it with bunny kisses though so it's hard not to forgive him [emoji6]

It sounds as if it probably is upon you! If that is the case then don't panic if the bunnies start chasing each other and nipping bums as it isn't aggressive behaviour and for some reason does happen with a lot of bunnies when Spring comes. [emoji4] (You'd be able to tell if it was aggressive behaviour though anyway haha)

Click to expand...

My remaining two don't live together so I won't have the chasing and nipping, but I will definitely be mindful of spring fever naughtiness! Lola did try and throw a tree stump the other day haha!

newbabybuns said:

My remaining two don't live together so I won't have the chasing and nipping, but I will definitely be mindful of spring fever naughtiness! Lola did try and throw a tree stump the other day haha!

Click to expand...

Ahhh ok, I thought when you said that you had two bunnies that you meant they were together haha. Oh my, she must think she is a stronger than she is [emoji23]

When does she have the vets appointment?

WillowAndBiscuit said:

Ahhh ok, I thought when you said that you had two bunnies that you meant they were together haha. Oh my, she must think she is a stronger than she is [emoji23]

When does she have the vets appointment?

Click to expand...

They used to be! Sadly separated when Cookie injured Lola when Lola was trying to claim queen bunny role before they were old/big enough to be spayed. They are scared at the sight of each other now they have been apart.

I have held off ringing them for an urgent appointment today. She is acting/feeling totally normal now and is as bright as a button, so I don't think there will be anything they could really do apart from say to keep an eye on her. They are very good at getting us in quickly if we need to but hopefully whatever that was has passed. I shouldn't have tried her with readigrass, and just stuck to the things she has been ok with really. I think that must have been the cause so will see how she goes today. Thank you again for the reassuring words xx

newbabybuns said:

They used to be! Sadly separated when Cookie injured Lola when Lola was trying to claim queen bunny role before they were old/big enough to be spayed. They are scared at the sight of each other now they have been apart.

I have held off ringing them for an urgent appointment today. She is acting/feeling totally normal now and is as bright as a button, so I don't think there will be anything they could really do apart from say to keep an eye on her. They are very good at getting us in quickly if we need to but hopefully whatever that was has passed. I shouldn't have tried her with readigrass, and just stuck to the things she has been ok with really. I think that must have been the cause so will see how she goes today. Thank you again for the reassuring words xx

Click to expand...

Hello :wave:

I'm just catching up with this, and see that things are looking a bit better right now?

Thank you for the PM. I will write back to you. You are lovely to think of us

newbabybuns said:

They used to be! Sadly separated when Cookie injured Lola when Lola was trying to claim queen bunny role before they were old/big enough to be spayed. They are scared at the sight of each other now they have been apart.

I have held off ringing them for an urgent appointment today. She is acting/feeling totally normal now and is as bright as a button, so I don't think there will be anything they could really do apart from say to keep an eye on her. They are very good at getting us in quickly if we need to but hopefully whatever that was has passed. I shouldn't have tried her with readigrass, and just stuck to the things she has been ok with really. I think that must have been the cause so will see how she goes today. Thank you again for the reassuring words xx

Click to expand...

Aww what a shame [emoji20] At least they are happy on their own though [emoji4]

Ahhh ok, are her poos back to normal size now then? If they are still small it really is still best to take her to the vets as it could indicate a digestive issue. Storm's poos getting small often indicate he is developing stasis and the vet always says how it is best to take him in to catch it early just in case. I'm glad that she is better now though! [emoji1]

MightyMax said:

Hello :wave:

I'm just catching up with this, and see that things are looking a bit better right now?

Thank you for the PM. I will write back to you. You are lovely to think of us

Click to expand...

Yes she is doing well, thank you. It is odd for her to have an episode like that over a couple of days, I wonder if the day she slept so much made her system super sluggish. She made up for it yesterday though and was full of beans!

WillowAndBiscuit said:

Aww what a shame [emoji20] At least they are happy on their own though [emoji4]

Ahhh ok, are her poos back to normal size now then? If they are still small it really is still best to take her to the vets as it could indicate a digestive issue. Storm's poos getting small often indicate he is developing stasis and the vet always says how it is best to take him in to catch it early just in case. I'm glad that she is better now though! [emoji1]

Click to expand...

They were smaller but lots of them in bigger than normal piles! She also spent pretty much all day and night eating hay aswell, I think instinctively she knew she needed extra. We also had a bit more spring fever naughtiness - desperately shoving her ceramic food bowl out the way to get to a particular nice stalky looking bit of hay. She never attempts throwing her bowl! So far so good today too, I was really expecting a big misformed ceacatroph or something but everything has been completely normal so I think it will be a bit of a mystery.

i'm glad to hear that she seems alot better within herself x

biscandmatt1 said:

i'm glad to hear that she seems alot better within herself x

Click to expand...

Thank you She is in a mischievous mood this morning. It makes me wonder if she is about to be off again, or she is just genuinely being mischievous. I hate being so anxious over them!

Well we are just back from the emergency vet. Lola has been fine all day, eating, pooping, sleeping at the normal times. All of a sudden around 9pm her tummy went as if she had sudden weightloss. She wouldn't touch kale, was breathing fast, and laying down as flat as she could.

She has similar episodes every now and again in the past and I always thought it was gas related, but with forcing her into running around, massage and making her eat I could always bring her back to normal. This time I felt with how she has been this week I'd rather take her to the vet and this time she wasn't stomach pressing, it seemed slightly different.

Well by the time we got there (40 mins away) her tummy did feel full up again, she was quite perky and bright. There seemed to be no reason for it. She has had Metacam, Metaclop, and I think Baytril. She has Baytril for 4 days as a just incase, and fibreplex paste. We have got back home and she immediately did a wee and has gone around gobbling up kale that was scattered in her pen and hay too. Normally when they get back from the vets they sulk, but she was on a mission to eat. She is sat resting now. It's just so weird how quickly it happened. I don't want to go to sleep now, and definitely don't want to have to go to work. I won't be home until 6.15

ETA - tonight she weighed 3.06kg. In January she was 3.21kg. Is this a significant difference in a heavily moulting rabbit to be worried about??