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Repeated sudden weight loss

L

Lou1983

New Kit
Hi,

My rabbit Henri (female, neutered) goes through cycles of rapidly losing weight (up to about 300gms over a few days), then slowly regaining it. She does this about once every 6 weeks, and this has been ongoing for almost 18 months. She doesn't stop eating during this time (in fact, she is a bit cheeky and is always begging us for more nuggets / our dinners!) and her character doesn't change, although when she gets very skinny her energy levels drop, and she will do soft poos.

She has been to the vets so many times and we have done blood tests, stool sample analysis, an X-ray and MRI and couldn't find anything that might explain this (no cancers / fractures / joint problems / blood work showed she was very healthy and no infections). She has also had a GA and had her teeth checked out - no problems. She is bonded with Mavis (male), and he is always a picture of health. It's baffled 3 vets so far and she is currently on a strict nuggets / hay diet with some daily probiotics.

However, she has again this week dropped around 250gms. I'm so worried in case she is in pain or distress but am at a loss what else to do? I'll be taking her back to the vet tomorrow morning but I wondered if anyone had any experience of symptoms like this and if you could point me in the direction of what it might be?

Thanks
 
I'm sorry I can't be of any use. All the cases I've met of this had been due to dental issues which weren't being controlled properly.

I hope someone else can give you a few ideas & you can find a solution. It must be very worrying for you.
 
Lou1983 said:
Hi,

My rabbit Henri (female, neutered) goes through cycles of rapidly losing weight (up to about 300gms over a few days), then slowly regaining it. She does this about once every 6 weeks, and this has been ongoing for almost 18 months. She doesn't stop eating during this time (in fact, she is a bit cheeky and is always begging us for more nuggets / our dinners!) and her character doesn't change, although when she gets very skinny her energy levels drop, and she will do soft poos.

She has been to the vets so many times and we have done blood tests, stool sample analysis, an X-ray and MRI and couldn't find anything that might explain this (no cancers / fractures / joint problems / blood work showed she was very healthy and no infections). She has also had a GA and had her teeth checked out - no problems. She is bonded with Mavis (male), and he is always a picture of health. It's baffled 3 vets so far and she is currently on a strict nuggets / hay diet with some daily probiotics.

However, she has again this week dropped around 250gms. I'm so worried in case she is in pain or distress but am at a loss what else to do? I'll be taking her back to the vet tomorrow morning but I wondered if anyone had any experience of symptoms like this and if you could point me in the direction of what it might be?

Thanks
Click to expand...

For a rabbit to lose 300grams in just a few days, on a regular basis, is a real cause for concern. Perhaps Mavis is eating more than he should, but even so, the loss you describe sounds extreme.

I suggest your vet refers you to a specialist, and in the meantime, make sure she is weighed (at the vet surgery by the nurse, on the same scales) every week or two.
 
Hi both, thank you for your replies. She was referred to a specialist at the beginning of January where we had the bloods / MRI etc done and nothing - she has now discharged us! She did say that we could do gut biopsies but this would be very traumatic for Henri, so I'm really undecided about it. I do weigh her weekly and keep an eye on what she's eating (I separate them when they have their nuggets and sneak Henri extra during the day). Will keep trying different things, she's on probiotics at the moment which seem to make a bit of a difference. She always regains the weight and is then fine for a few weeks before another sudden drop. It's baffling!

Thanks again,
Sarah
 
I see that the stool samples came back negative, but if you haven't already tried deworming that might be something worth trying anyways, as fecal tests aren't always accurate. If your rabbit is continuing to eat normal amounts during this time of weight loss, and all the tests aren't showing anything else wrong, this would be the only thing I could think that might cause sudden weight loss with no changes in eating/drinking and still be undetected in tests.

A few possibilities for the worming, panacur to cover pinworms, and less common would be tapeworms and you would need praziquantel to treat that.

So might be worth discussing with your vet and giving it a try. I certainly would want to try it before considering a gut biopsy.
 
Thanks - I do worm them with Panacur every 3 months but have never tried the tapeworm medication - I'll definitely talk to the get about this. Thanks
 
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