Stressed!

i love Dillon to bits but i just cant stop worrying that i'm not caring for her in the right way. every day theres something that stresses me out about her and i never know if im dealing with it correctly.her breathing has got slightly better after many doses of antibiotics but she still gets runny eyes so i pop drops in every day. the vet thought to give the antibiotics a break as we didnt want to upset her tummy and she isnt that bad. she shakes her head all the time so i put drops down her ears aswell as all the vet could find was a bit of wax.yesterday i found flakes in her fur so i took her back to the vets and she put some stuff on her scruff which has now gone abit sticky and i sit worrying that ive let it get slightly wet in the rain and it now wont work. to cap it all she's leaving the poohs that she should eat and although i know shes overweight her diet is mainly grass and hay. ive had her teeth checked. shes happy and bouncy and very greedy but i just feel like im failing her as it just seems to be one thing after the other!
sorry for going on, i just needed to tell someone.
Thanx
Holly

Oh Holly don't stress Gal - we all know what its like - these bunnies seem to have us on a constant Roller Coaster - one day up next day down with something or other.

Sounds like your a real careing Mum though - Tear Duct problems can be ongoing and it might be that your Vet will feel eventually if not done already that its worth flushing the one thats causing the problems. Buffy has had occasional Tear Duct problems but with careful hygiene and ensuring her Hay is a clean as poss and free from dust so far we seem to have cracked it :wink: - but she does have the occasional flare up which will need me to bathe (sometimes cool tea can be soothing) and also use Veterinary Eye cream to combat.

I'm not sure (but I'm sure someone will come along that can clarify) but not sure if putting Ear drops right into the ear canal irritates bunnies when a couple of bunns I fostered needed ear infection treatment our Vet was quite adament to say rub the lotion on the ear rather than letting it go right the way down - Oy!!! - Bunny Mad Experts out there - can you help out with this one :?: :?:

If Dill is not eating his soft poo have you tried taking him right back to just Hay and Water - sometimes Grass can be a bit rich for bunnies tumms so might be worth a try??

Now take some deep breaths and relax - you'll get loads of help here and we all have big "Sue Ellen" shoulders if you need us.

Sending snuggles to your Bunster.

If you were failing her, she would never have her teeth checked, have flakey skin forever and her runnny eyes would run.

You clearly love her and take care of her, what more could any bunny ask for

Betty

Hi,

It never rains but it poors, I've had a bad couple of months with some of my bunns recently. I have one 7 year old who keeps getting pheumonia when the weather turns damp and her partner gets the runny eyes due to an on going teeth problem which has to be dealt with by the vets every few months. Another one suddenly got runny eyes the other day and he's about 6 years old now, managed to sort that out myself.

My 8 month French Lop got a bad tummy through eating some veggies which upset him and left me the most digusting smelley poos you can imagine, me of course thought he was on his last legs.

OH FOR A QUIET FEW DAYS WITH NO STRESS!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you did not care you would not worry, I've had bunnies for 8 years now and it a learning curve evan the vets admit they are still learning every day. As long as you do your best that is all you can do.

Summer is coming and everything always looks better when the sun comes out!!

Deep Breathe Chin up and battle on! You Can Do It

And as the other say were all here to help


Best Wishes

Maureen

Hi Holly, like everyone else has said, you are doing everything right and are not just leaving her - you are getting her checked by the vet regulary and you are doing what they advise.

They are a total worry at times, my last 2 bunnies, Stanley and Phoebe were always poorly, especially Stanley and it just got so hard to cope with sometimes cos there never seemed to be a week that went by without one of them being ill with something else, I just never felt at ease.

Bunnies are like people, some are just more prone to getting poorly than others - touch wood, Poppy and Ralf have both had no problems in the year I've had them, its weird cos I was at the vets every single month with Phoebe and Stanley.

You're doing a great job, keep it up. :wink:

I know what you mean about the stress. I had a dream last night that I had dozens of buns and they kept jumping out of windows, and chewing on wires, and getting prgenant and I kept finding dead buns!!!!

But then I woke up and I had only two bunnies, both bouncy and alive and happy to see me (or at least, happy to see the morning pellets.)

I'm in the middle of finals in school right now, and I think that I tend to project my stress onto the bunnies (as the dream shows). I will start worrying about everything: "Does that breathing sound too loud? Is she unhappy? etc."

I think that you are a great owner. Just keep an eye on things, and if the bunny looks healthy and energetic, and is eating alot and pooping alot and the vet gave them a clean bill of health, than that's great!

As to the cecal pellets, she's probably eating most of them, and just leaving a few. It's pretty normal for buns to leave a few in the morning, isn't it? Mine do sometimes, and I haven't worried about it, but maybe I'm wrong...

best,

Lauren

We all worry when things go wrong. I had the most awful three months over Christmas/New Year where I had one animal after the other going down with something - and all totally unrelated: lesions after vaccinations, lost a bunny to liver problems, pyometra in hamster (lost her as well), kennel cough in dog, allergic reaction in the other dog to something unknown... But for the last few weeks - touch wood - all has been calm and everyone is well (apart from one mouse which has head tilt, but there is not much that can be done apart from antiinflamatories that didn't work).

So don't get worked up over it, it is not your fault!

Vera

Hi Hollywood,
If it makes you feel better I took a Lionhead in from the Vets in Nov 2003
I was never away from the Vets with one thing and another. Then the little monkey started faking being ill, I had gone to give him his veg at the evening and he came out of his bedroom dragging his back end, I thought How my god here we go, Luckily when I phoned the Vets it was my Vet that was on, I took him straight down and guess what as soon as he saw Caroline (the Vet) he was dancing and leaping about, another occaison he decided to stop eating, he ended up being hospitalised and I was getting really worried we were going away the following week, I was ready to cancel our holiday. Guess what the day before we were due to go the Vets phoned me and said he had started eating everything in sight. Since then touch wood he has settled down.

yeah don't doubt yourself you sound like you are doing everything you can for your bunny - keep up the good work :wink:

Thanks very much for all the support and kind words.

Dillon now seems to be acting in a very wierd way and i am concerned but dont know what to do. her droppings have gone small and hard and if shes not just sitting in one corner shes itching. when she does eat which is less than asual she shakes and tips her head back and i have heard a funny cough like noise come from her. i took her to the vets and i was not happy with the man i saw although he did feel her belly and say he didnt think there was a blockage. i was thinking maybe her teeth were hurting but he said to look at the back ones wede knock her out for a while to take a look and he didnt think that was wise!shes just not right and if any ones got any ideas to what it may be id be very greatful.
Thanx
Holly

Oh Dear - sounds like little Dillon is going through the mill a bit right now - its difficult really as Bunnies are such complex little critters but if your not confident in your Vet I'd defo get a second opinion.

Not sure if we have any Forum Members in the Cornwall area who know of a good Bunny Savy Vet that could help you :?:

You mention that Dillon's poos are small and hard - this is definately not right for a bunny - they should be large marble shaped and when you break them in half - they should have a nice fiberous texture (arn't I sad to know this???) - If Dillon is not eating well either - this is definately something not to act lightly on as Gut slow down (GI Statis) can set in very quickly - so although I don't want to panic you I'd certainly try and get Dillon sorted sooner rather than later.

Also if Dillon is not eating - you may need to try some syringe feeding.

I hope some of the other good Forum folk will be along to offer some additonal help and assurance for you soon but I am a little worried about little Dillon.

Keep us posted - sending snuggles to little Dillon.

Most vets can see the back teeth enough with that torch pen thing (can't remember the name - osciloscope perhaps) to see whether there are any spurs etc that would be causing enough pain to prevent her eating.

Did the vet give an injection of Ivermectin for the mites (best way I have found to get rid of them) - as it got quite bad on Zeus once so when I got back from holiday he was acting really grumpy and stressed and I didn't know why until I went to groom him and saw the flaky skin and small patches of broken off fur.

It does sound like she has a tooth problem as she has weepy eyes too. The best thing to do would be some x-rays to check but obviously if she is unwell this may do more harm.

Try mashing her pellets into water and syringing them into her so that at least she is eating something.

It sounds like the problems I had with Zeus, his started with runny eyes then got worse and developed into an eye infection, he then got mites from the stress of being constantly ill and had a bought of stasis, he also was constantly sneezing. Eventually this was tracked down with x-rays to a tooth root problem and after a course of injectable antibiotics it seems to be clearing.

What antibiotics were you on as oral Septrin (Baytrill just doesn't penetrate the deep infected areas) is usually the most effective in these cases (with Zeus I had to use penicillin injected becuase he has a problem with septrin)?

Usually a long course of antibiotics is fine as long as you are giving a probiotic in the water to keep up the levels of commensal (good) gut bacteria.

One thing I used with Zeus to relieve the itching was an antiparasitic oil soak from Gorgeous Guineas (internet based). I had used this on the GPs and after consulting with GG and doing a patch test (to check for allergies) I used it on Zeus. You leave it on 24hrs then wash off using a small animal shampoo (it needs a couple of rinses with shampoo as it is difficult to get off). This really helped relieve the itching for Zeus and he was immediately a lot happier (the injections then killed the mites off totally).


Caz

Caz said:

Most vets can see the back teeth enough with that torch pen thing (can't remember the name - osciloscope perhaps) to see whether there are any spurs etc that would be causing enough pain to prevent her eating.
Caz

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Hi Caz - do you know why Dillon's Pellets would be very hard and small - Does this happen as a result of not eating??? - or could it be Gut inbalance also? - Know its difficult to pinpoint but would just be interested to know :wink:

It took me so long to type that first answer that you beat me to it!

Well as Holly mentioned her vet hadn't been able to check Dillon's back teeth without using anaesthetic I was wondering if she could have molar spurs making it difficult to chew (I was thinking of the description of Dillon when she eats that Holly wrote) but there again if they were that bad the vet could have seen them using the scope thingy.

Violet did some very small pellets the other day but I couldn't find any reason - she was out on the grass at the weekend and all the other rabbits were doing huge black poos but hers were tiny on Monday. When she was back on her normal hay and pellets they went back to normal by Wednesday. I did add a scoop of probiotic into her drinking water just in case.

I was wondering what antibiotic Dillon was on as some have more of an affect on the gut than others but as Holly said she has been off it recently it may not be that - am wondering if Holly has any probiotic for Dillon as it couldn't hurt to try.

It is just when I read her post I was reminded of my post the other week when I had lost all hope of seeing Zeus well again, many of the symptoms are the same.

Caz

Cheers Caz - yep funny how they can suddenly change for a day like that and then return to normal for what seems like no apparent reason.

I tend to pop some probiotic in my Terrible Trio's water every day and Buffs is coming up to Three now so I don't think it does any long term harm.

Always a worry when you get a little bunster who's problem is difficult to pin down.

Hope he gets sorted o.k.

Hollywood said:

Thanks very much for all the support and kind words.

Dillon now seems to be acting in a very wierd way and i am concerned but dont know what to do. her droppings have gone small and hard and if shes not just sitting in one corner shes itching. when she does eat which is less than asual she shakes and tips her head back and i have heard a funny cough like noise come from her. i took her to the vets and i was not happy with the man i saw although he did feel her belly and say he didnt think there was a blockage. i was thinking maybe her teeth were hurting but he said to look at the back ones wede knock her out for a while to take a look and he didnt think that was wise!shes just not right and if any ones got any ideas to what it may be id be very greatful.
Thanx
Holly

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Hi Holly, I took Ben to the vet yesterday because he wasn't eating and had the opposite problem to Dillon in that he was doing big squitty poos everywhere (but still a gut problem), and he also was just sitting in the corner feeling sorry for himself. The vet we saw was very good with him (and checked his back teeth without knocking him out - just had me hold him and stuck that little torch thing in his mouth - much to Ben's disgust!) and in the end admitted he didn't know as Ben seemed perfectly fine health wise, but would give him a gut stimulation injection to get him eating again. This morning all is well again and he even mustered enough energy to chew a good chunk out of his hutch leg so he could escape to sit in the sun !

Apparently all kinds of things can cause the buns gut to go funny and sometimes they just give up on eating and need an injection to get things going again.

As for the itching, that could be to do with the flakey skin you mentioned before. Ben had a bit of flakey skin at the end of last year and bits of hair kept coming out. My vet said it was mange mites (probly came in on the straw) and gave him an injection and another one the following week. It all cleared up nicely.

Don't beat yourself up though, you are taking the advice of a professional which is the best thing you can do. If you aren't happy with the vet you are using, then ask to see a different one or try another practice.

Hope he feels better soon .

Buns are like kids, Some never see the doctor, others almost live there!! I worry about my new little un tons, my mum says I worry too much, and it's almost willing them to become ill, and i think she has a fair point!!

Hi,
If the teeth are suspect and the eyes watering I would guess that the roots of the back teeth are growing up into a part of the eye.
Watch out for drooling/not eating too as this can indicate spurs on the back teeth which will need filing down - either way the vet should put the rabbit under anasthetic just to get to the bottom of the problem...bunnies do fine under anasthetic...ask everyone on here who has had a bunny spayed
HTH

yes they certainly can manage under anesthetic, we have had 100''s operated on this year. but, I can never answer for the 'I DON'T WANT TOO'S. I took on a lovely mini type small type bunny, she was covered with flea's and I thought quite, well normal. Milly Molly Mandy as I decided to keep her, and therefore pay full vet fees was so special she needed to go back to the vet every 3-4weeks. She was so lovely, went back once,then she had a bad tum, was in the vets 2 days and died.