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  • Please Note - Medical Advice

    Please keep in mind that posts on this forum are from members of the public sharing personal opinions. It is not a replacement for qualified medical advice from a veterinarian. Many illnesses share similar symptoms but require different treatments. A medical exam is necessary for an accurate diagnosis, without which appropriate treatment cannot be given.

    You should always consult your vet before following any suggestions for medication or treatment you have read about. The wrong treatment could make your rabbit worse or mean your vet is unable to give the correct treatment because of drug interactions. Even non prescription drugs can do harm if given inappropriately.

    We are very grateful to members who take time to answer other members questions, but please do be clear in your replies that you are sharing personal experience and not giving instructions on what must be done.

    Urgent Medical Advice: If you need, or think you might need, urgent medical advice you should contact a vet. If it is out of working hours phone your vet's normal number and there should be an answer phone message with instructions on what to do.

Please help!

D

darrenhendry84

New Kit
Hi guys, we were pointed in the direction of Rabbit's United for some advice we're needing about our bun, if that's okay.

She isn't well at the moment; long story short we noticed she wasn't eating as much (she is still eating though), not wanting to drink her water, generally looking down and lethargic and she's lost a whole load of weight and we can really feel her spine quite well. She was doing VERY tiny little poops the last 2 days, but they seem to have gotten slightly bigger as of today. We took her to the vet earlier on - we don't have a huge amount of choice around here, but this vet has a particular interest in exotic animals and rabbits. The vet did an X-ray and it came back fine with nothing untoward and according to the bloods that were taken, she found her protein levels and red blood count is low (sitting about 12), so it looks like she's anaemic.

The vet doesn't know exactly what's causing it, but said she would preform a scan to look into her gut as she thinks that might be the cause, but somehow didn't do it today whilst she was sedated, which we thought was weird.

At the moment, at the request of the vet, we have her on supreme recovery (8ml about 4 times a day) and Loxicom (10kg dose once a day) and we are feeding her the usual burgess nuggets (which she's kind of went off to be honest), spinach, parsley, loads of hay, dandelion mix and a very slight bit of banana and pineapple and papaya mix as don't want to feed her too many surgery things. Is it wise feeding her the spinach etc to try and boost her iron levels?

Also, is there anything we can do ourselves, or even request something for the vet to do? Just totally stumped by this and so incredibly worried about our baby! Her husbun also knows something is up as he keeps snuggling into her :/ Also, the closest very rabbit savvy vet is about 2 hours away - we would go, but bun hates being in the car as it is and we just don't want to stress her out anymore (she's partial to a bit of stasis very occasionally) :( Please help!
 
darrenhendry84 said:
Hi guys, we were pointed in the direction of Rabbit's United for some advice we're needing about our bun, if that's okay.

She isn't well at the moment; long story short we noticed she wasn't eating as much (she is still eating though), not wanting to drink her water, generally looking down and lethargic and she's lost a whole load of weight and we can really feel her spine quite well. She was doing VERY tiny little poops the last 2 days, but they seem to have gotten slightly bigger as of today. We took her to the vet earlier on - we don't have a huge amount of choice around here, but this vet has a particular interest in exotic animals and rabbits. The vet did an X-ray and it came back fine with nothing untoward and according to the bloods that were taken, she found her protein levels and red blood count is low (sitting about 12), so it looks like she's anaemic.

The vet doesn't know exactly what's causing it, but said she would preform a scan to look into her gut as she thinks that might be the cause, but somehow didn't do it today whilst she was sedated, which we thought was weird.

At the moment, at the request of the vet, we have her on supreme recovery (8ml about 4 times a day) and Loxicom (10kg dose once a day) and we are feeding her the usual burgess nuggets (which she's kind of went off to be honest), spinach, parsley, loads of hay, dandelion mix and a very slight bit of banana and pineapple and papaya mix as don't want to feed her too many surgery things. Is it wise feeding her the spinach etc to try and boost her iron levels?

Also, is there anything we can do ourselves, or even request something for the vet to do? Just totally stumped by this and so incredibly worried about our baby! Her husbun also knows something is up as he keeps snuggling into her :/ Also, the closest very rabbit savvy vet is about 2 hours away - we would go, but bun hates being in the car as it is and we just don't want to stress her out anymore (she's partial to a bit of stasis very occasionally) :( Please help!
Click to expand...

Hello

Did the Vet examine your Rabbit's teeth whilst your Rabbit was sedated for the Xray ? If there were to be any Dental problems that would lead to a reduction in food intake and consequently a reduction in gut motility. Non- regenerative Anaemia can also be a finding in cases of chronic dental disease, even without active bacterial infection being involved.

Although you do not say if the Vet found the anaemia to be regenerative or non regenerative ?

When a Rabbit is not eating much it can effect Liver function and hypoproteinaemia (low protein levels in the blood) can be one finding when Liver function is effected.

Did the Vet prescribe any prokinetics to try to improve your Rabbit's gut motility ? The drugs usually given are Metoclopramide and Ranitidine (AKA Zantac)
Ranitidine is also an anti GI tract ulcer medication and this may be useful when a Rabbit is not eating much. An anorexic Rabbit can develope gastric ulceration and having an oral non-steroidal anti-inflammatory such as Metacam can increase the risk of gastric ulceration.

This article gives information about Gut Stasis in Rabbits

http://anyflip.com/dvpt/hzvv

I would have another chat with your Vet about things as it sounds as though more investigations/treatment may be needed
 
darrenhendry84 said:
Hi guys, we were pointed in the direction of Rabbit's United for some advice we're needing about our bun, if that's okay.

She isn't well at the moment; long story short we noticed she wasn't eating as much (she is still eating though), not wanting to drink her water, generally looking down and lethargic and she's lost a whole load of weight and we can really feel her spine quite well. She was doing VERY tiny little poops the last 2 days, but they seem to have gotten slightly bigger as of today. We took her to the vet earlier on - we don't have a huge amount of choice around here, but this vet has a particular interest in exotic animals and rabbits. The vet did an X-ray and it came back fine with nothing untoward and according to the bloods that were taken, she found her protein levels and red blood count is low (sitting about 12), so it looks like she's anaemic.

The vet doesn't know exactly what's causing it, but said she would preform a scan to look into her gut as she thinks that might be the cause, but somehow didn't do it today whilst she was sedated, which we thought was weird.

At the moment, at the request of the vet, we have her on supreme recovery (8ml about 4 times a day) and Loxicom (10kg dose once a day) and we are feeding her the usual burgess nuggets (which she's kind of went off to be honest), spinach, parsley, loads of hay, dandelion mix and a very slight bit of banana and pineapple and papaya mix as don't want to feed her too many surgery things. Is it wise feeding her the spinach etc to try and boost her iron levels?

Also, is there anything we can do ourselves, or even request something for the vet to do? Just totally stumped by this and so incredibly worried about our baby! Her husbun also knows something is up as he keeps snuggling into her :/ Also, the closest very rabbit savvy vet is about 2 hours away - we would go, but bun hates being in the car as it is and we just don't want to stress her out anymore (she's partial to a bit of stasis very occasionally) :( Please help!
Click to expand...

Welcome to the forum :wave:

Sorry to hear about your bun. Your vet will need to explain to you whether the anaemia is regenerative or non-regenerative and then you'll know better what you're dealing with. I had a rabbit with regenerative anaemia earlier the year and we did really well with that.

Regarding the stasis, there's some helpful info here:

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html

It gives some ideas of why your rabbit may have stopped eating, and also recommends Infacol (and infant gas medicine which you can get over the counter) and tummy rubs.

Would you wish to see whether there's another vet around who can help you (I realise your choice isn't great)? If you want members to recommend then start another thread with the title "Rabbit savvy vet needed in (your location)" and we will give our recommendations.

Alternatively look here:

https://www.harcourt-brown.co.uk/vetfinder/vets-owners-recommendations

Lots of good luck xx
 
Jack's-Jane said:
Hello

Did the Vet examine your Rabbit's teeth whilst your Rabbit was sedated for the Xray ? If there were to be any Dental problems that would lead to a reduction in food intake and consequently a reduction in gut motility. Non- regenerative Anaemia can also be a finding in cases of chronic dental disease, even without active bacterial infection being involved.

Although you do not say if the Vet found the anaemia to be regenerative or non regenerative ?

When a Rabbit is not eating much it can effect Liver function and hypoproteinaemia (low protein levels in the blood) can be one finding when Liver function is effected.

Did the Vet prescribe any prokinetics to try to improve your Rabbit's gut motility ? The drugs usually given are Metoclopramide and Ranitidine (AKA Zantac)
Ranitidine is also an anti GI tract ulcer medication and this may be useful when a Rabbit is not eating much. An anorexic Rabbit can develope gastric ulceration and having an oral non-steroidal anti-inflammatory such as Metacam can increase the risk of gastric ulceration.

This article gives information about Gut Stasis in Rabbits

http://anyflip.com/dvpt/hzvv

I would have another chat with your Vet about things as it sounds as though more investigations/treatment may be needed
Click to expand...

Thanks for your extremely helpful reply!

The vet did an examination of her mouth and took an X-ray and couldn't find any issues with her teeth etc. With regards to chronic dental disease, what would the tell-tale signs of that be?

Pushed for another appt with the vet for later today so will mention the dental disease and this time we're getting a FULL blood count done as well as the scan, so hopefully we will see what type of anaemia it is too. We have also asked for some gut motility meds and she told us on the phone that she will give her Metoclopramide.

Really not sure why they didn't do this all yesterday and now we're having to stress her out even more, argh!!

Fingers crossed we get some answers this time! Will update you guys later on!
 
MightyMax said:
Welcome to the forum :wave:

Sorry to hear about your bun. Your vet will need to explain to you whether the anaemia is regenerative or non-regenerative and then you'll know better what you're dealing with. I had a rabbit with regenerative anaemia earlier the year and we did really well with that.

Regarding the stasis, there's some helpful info here:

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html

It gives some ideas of why your rabbit may have stopped eating, and also recommends Infacol (and infant gas medicine which you can get over the counter) and tummy rubs.

Would you wish to see whether there's another vet around who can help you (I realise your choice isn't great)? If you want members to recommend then start another thread with the title "Rabbit savvy vet needed in (your location)" and we will give our recommendations.

Alternatively look here:

https://www.harcourt-brown.co.uk/vetfinder/vets-owners-recommendations

Lots of good luck xx
Click to expand...

Thanks so much for your reply!

I will have a little read over those links and will also post up a savvy vet post for our location :) Getting FULL bloods taken today so hopefully we will find out what kind of anaemia it is. Fingers and toes crossed!
 
darrenhendry84 said:
Thanks so much for your reply!

I will have a little read over those links and will also post up a savvy vet post for our location :) Getting FULL bloods taken today so hopefully we will find out what kind of anaemia it is. Fingers and toes crossed!
Click to expand...

UPDATE: The vet couldn't get any blood from her earlier, so just went ahead with the scan. She told us she found what either looks like a small tumour or some sort of twisted bit next to her stomach, therefore she wants to operate on her tomorrow morning and see what it is. We're seriously hoping for the latter as we all know how tumours can sometimes go :( Please keep your fingers crossed for her guys!
 
darrenhendry84 said:
UPDATE: The vet couldn't get any blood from her earlier, so just went ahead with the scan. She told us she found what either looks like a small tumour or some sort of twisted bit next to her stomach, therefore she wants to operate on her tomorrow morning and see what it is. We're seriously hoping for the latter as we all know how tumours can sometimes go :( Please keep your fingers crossed for her guys!
Click to expand...

Oh goodness poor Bunny :cry: I really hope that she can pull through x
 
Sending lots of vibes for your doe. I hope her operation goes well tomorrow and that the problem is easily treated.
 
darrenhendry84 said:
UPDATE: The vet couldn't get any blood from her earlier, so just went ahead with the scan. She told us she found what either looks like a small tumour or some sort of twisted bit next to her stomach, therefore she wants to operate on her tomorrow morning and see what it is. We're seriously hoping for the latter as we all know how tumours can sometimes go :( Please keep your fingers crossed for her guys!
Click to expand...

Fingers, toes and paws all crossed. You must be worried and I'll be thinking of you all.
 
Thanks guys :) Got an update now... So she got her spleen removed today because it was hugely enlarged and the vet said she hadn't seen anything like it. Has anyone had that with their bun? Vet is sending it away to get examined for any signs of a tumour. This is so crazy! Anyways, she's back at home now and resting and we need to give her loxicom, ranitidine and baytril for the next few days
 
darrenhendry84 said:
Thanks guys :) Got an update now... So she got her spleen removed today because it was hugely enlarged and the vet said she hadn't seen anything like it. Has anyone had that with their bun? Vet is sending it away to get examined for any signs of a tumour. This is so crazy! Anyways, she's back at home now and resting and we need to give her loxicom, ranitidine and baytril for the next few days
Click to expand...


Your poor baby :(

I hope she recovers well from the op. Sending loads of good vibes xx
 
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