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Errol

echolouise

Young Bun
In December we adopted 2 beautiful little half wildies to bond with our continental giant earnest, a 3 year old brother and sister we named Errol and Effie.
Bonding has been tricky at times but things have settled into a lovely (if rather odd looking) trio of happy buns.

On Sunday we noticed a lump on the end of Errol' s nose and thought he looked a little skinnier than normal so took him to the emergency vet. He had an examination and was given various different treatments to rule out the usual suspects and was weighed, we were then to weigh him daily to monitor his weight while giving the drugs a chance to work.
On Tuesday he was back in and had lost nearly 150g in weight since Sunday, after another examination a lump was felt in his belly and there was teeth grinding when he was touched there. A few more courses of treatment were given to make sure every non surgical option had been explored and again we took him home to give it a chance to work.
We had him back in this morning and he had lost another 100g taking him down to 1.6kg, the decision was made for him to undergo exploratory surgery this afternoon.
We have been told that there is a high chance he will not pull through, however, the longer we leave it the weaker he will get and his chances will get worse.
Really not sure if we have made the right decision for him, he is obviously suffering but the vet is really not optimistic about him surviving surgery.

Apologies for the long post but needed to share with people who understand, if one more person tells me "it's JUST a rabbit" I'm going to cry. He is my little guy, my Errol the magnificent - magician bunny extraordinaire who can perform disappearing tricks like no other bunny I have met.
 
In December we adopted 2 beautiful little half wildies to bond with our continental giant earnest, a 3 year old brother and sister we named Errol and Effie.
Bonding has been tricky at times but things have settled into a lovely (if rather odd looking) trio of happy buns.

On Sunday we noticed a lump on the end of Errol' s nose and thought he looked a little skinnier than normal so took him to the emergency vet. He had an examination and was given various different treatments to rule out the usual suspects and was weighed, we were then to weigh him daily to monitor his weight while giving the drugs a chance to work.
On Tuesday he was back in and had lost nearly 150g in weight since Sunday, after another examination a lump was felt in his belly and there was teeth grinding when he was touched there. A few more courses of treatment were given to make sure every non surgical option had been explored and again we took him home to give it a chance to work.
We had him back in this morning and he had lost another 100g taking him down to 1.6kg, the decision was made for him to undergo exploratory surgery this afternoon.
We have been told that there is a high chance he will not pull through, however, the longer we leave it the weaker he will get and his chances will get worse.
Really not sure if we have made the right decision for him, he is obviously suffering but the vet is really not optimistic about him surviving surgery.

Apologies for the long post but needed to share with people who understand, if one more person tells me "it's JUST a rabbit" I'm going to cry. He is my little guy, my Errol the magnificent - magician bunny extraordinaire who can perform disappearing tricks like no other bunny I have met.

I am very sorry to hear of Errol's poorly state. I assume the Vet will perform an abdominal Xray and a full blood profile before proceeding with surgery ? I do hope that Errol can pull through x
 
I'm so sorry to hear this, I'm sending lots of positive vibes for him today. Its always hard to know what to do, but you've made the decision to have this checked out, you really didn't have any choice, he was getting worse and obviously in pain. You couldn't have done nothing, wasn't an option any more.
Yes, this forum does understand, we 'get' the love of rabbits.
Xx
 
In December we adopted 2 beautiful little half wildies to bond with our continental giant earnest, a 3 year old brother and sister we named Errol and Effie.
Bonding has been tricky at times but things have settled into a lovely (if rather odd looking) trio of happy buns.

On Sunday we noticed a lump on the end of Errol' s nose and thought he looked a little skinnier than normal so took him to the emergency vet. He had an examination and was given various different treatments to rule out the usual suspects and was weighed, we were then to weigh him daily to monitor his weight while giving the drugs a chance to work.
On Tuesday he was back in and had lost nearly 150g in weight since Sunday, after another examination a lump was felt in his belly and there was teeth grinding when he was touched there. A few more courses of treatment were given to make sure every non surgical option had been explored and again we took him home to give it a chance to work.
We had him back in this morning and he had lost another 100g taking him down to 1.6kg, the decision was made for him to undergo exploratory surgery this afternoon.
We have been told that there is a high chance he will not pull through, however, the longer we leave it the weaker he will get and his chances will get worse.
Really not sure if we have made the right decision for him, he is obviously suffering but the vet is really not optimistic about him surviving surgery.

Apologies for the long post but needed to share with people who understand, if one more person tells me "it's JUST a rabbit" I'm going to cry. He is my little guy, my Errol the magnificent - magician bunny extraordinaire who can perform disappearing tricks like no other bunny I have met.


Hi there,

I'm really sorry to hear about Errol, this is very worrying for you :(

If he were my bunny, I would want the vet to run a full blood profile *before* surgery to see if anything shows up - I don't know whether you've had that done yet? In the meantime, would he take syringe feed or a few porridge oats or higher calorie pellets to keep his strength up?

It's also possible with some rabbits (though not all vets will do it) to sedate for an X-ray, which I would consider if the blood tests didn't show anything untoward.

Is he on Metacam (painkillers) at the moment?

Love and hugs to you and Errol the magnificent :love:
 
I'm ashamed to say we didn't even think to ask what they would start with. We were in such a panic this morning at his worsening state we were just desperate for something to be done rather than him continue to deteriorate. On Tuesday the vet did mention xrays but said he would need to be anesthetized to do it so I can only assume that they will do that before they cut him. When my cat needed surgery they certainly xrayed first.
There was so much information, my head really wasn't screwed on right.
Blood work wasn't mentioned at all - is that worrying?
We are not in a city so don't have many vets to choose from but have always found this practice to be the best available to us. They certainly don't see a lot of rabbits in but the particular vet we see seems clued up on rabbit illness and welfare and treats them with the same level of respect as a dog or cat (which can't be said for all the vets in our surrounding area)
She did let us bring effie to stay with Errol at the vets to offer him comfort.
 
I'm ashamed to say we didn't even think to ask what they would start with. We were in such a panic this morning at his worsening state we were just desperate for something to be done rather than him continue to deteriorate. On Tuesday the vet did mention xrays but said he would need to be anesthetized to do it so I can only assume that they will do that before they cut him. When my cat needed surgery they certainly xrayed first.
There was so much information, my head really wasn't screwed on right.
Blood work wasn't mentioned at all - is that worrying?
We are not in a city so don't have many vets to choose from but have always found this practice to be the best available to us. They certainly don't see a lot of rabbits in but the particular vet we see seems clued up on rabbit illness and welfare and treats them with the same level of respect as a dog or cat (which can't be said for all the vets in our surrounding area)
She did let us bring effie to stay with Errol at the vets to offer him comfort.


It's really difficult for you, and stressful all round at the vet when a rabbit is poorly.

I don't want to push you into thinking or doing something that's going to contribute to that stress, but I would seek a second opinion. You can do this straight away, without a referral from your regular vet. I know you don't have many to choose from, but perhaps worth a shot before you try surgery on a debilitated rabbit.

You could post another thread in Rabbit Chat with "Rabbit Savvy Vet needed *URGERNTLY* in (your location)" and people will come up with suggestions ..............
 
Thank you to everyone for your support and advice.
The vets have phoned to say that his insides are riddled with tumours and the one in his belly was so large it is blocking the exit in his stomache and is inoperable. we have made the decision to have him pts now whilst he is still under anaesthetic to avoid causing him any more suffering.
The vet is going to allow little Effie to spend some time with his body before it is taken away to try and help her accept it before we take her home.
I really don't know what to say. I know this was what the vets were trying to prepare us for this morning but I still kept thinking they were going to find something daft that he had chewed or something fixable. My poor wee guy
 
Thank you to everyone for your support and advice.
The vets have phoned to say that his insides are riddled with tumours and the one in his belly was so large it is blocking the exit in his stomache and is inoperable. we have made the decision to have him pts now whilst he is still under anaesthetic to avoid causing him any more suffering.
The vet is going to allow little Effie to spend some time with his body before it is taken away to try and help her accept it before we take her home.
I really don't know what to say. I know this was what the vets were trying to prepare us for this morning but I still kept thinking they were going to find something daft that he had chewed or something fixable. My poor wee guy

I am so very sorry :cry: I did fear this may be the case when you mentioned the drastic weightloss. It sounds to be very much like what happened to one of my Rabbits and the actual cause was Leukaemia

RIP Errol xx
 
Thank you to everyone for your support and advice.
The vets have phoned to say that his insides are riddled with tumours and the one in his belly was so large it is blocking the exit in his stomache and is inoperable. we have made the decision to have him pts now whilst he is still under anaesthetic to avoid causing him any more suffering.
The vet is going to allow little Effie to spend some time with his body before it is taken away to try and help her accept it before we take her home.
I really don't know what to say. I know this was what the vets were trying to prepare us for this morning but I still kept thinking they were going to find something daft that he had chewed or something fixable. My poor wee guy


I'm so very sorry for your little one. You have done the right thing to let him go, pain free.

I hope Effie will be OK, and that you will be too. Hugs xx
 
I am so very sorry. How devastating for you. At least you know there was nothing anyone could do for Errol and you did your very best. Sending you much love and coping vibes. xxxxx
 
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