Any ideas what this could be??

MoBunny said:

Ye4s I agree she will be along with her book in hand any minute. She's not far away I'm sure.

Calling Dr Jane!!!


Maureen

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Adele said:

Hello, I just wondered if anyone had experienced the following symptoms in their rabbit, and possible causes :?:

Gabriel our lovely 3 year old Angora suddenly developed fluid on his abdomen and under his neck.. At first I thought he had a thyroid condition as poor poppet went all sluggish, but vet visited yesterday and is as perplexed as I!!. Gabriels heart rate is good (so not slow as you may associate with a thyroid condition), he does not have any fluid in his lungs(breathing is fine), and he is now lively again, eating and toileting.
The vet said he seemed well in himself, but plans to scan Gabriel if condition worsens, or stays the same for another week.
The only possible thing we could come up with was a liver problem :?: I am treating Gabriel with Panacur and Baytril incase it is a parasite or infection, but he is wormed several times a year anyway.
Can anyone help please??
Thank you
love Adele

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sgprescue said:

Adele said:

Is the fluid collecting just under the skin and staying there? If his heart rate is good, no breathing problems and is well in himself I wouldn't have thought it would be a heart problem. I had a similar problem with a guinea pig not so long ago where fluid collected in her entire underside from the neck down. I cant remember the name of the condition (had some sort of fancy name :lol: ) but it was caused by a loss of protein from the blood. Protein holds fluid in the blood and if the protein is loss the fluid collects at the lowest part of the body. We treated with nandralone and a higher protein diet.

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Hiya Cheryl, thank so much for taking the time to post
Yes, Gabriel has fluid collecting directly under the skin on his entire underside, but not down his legs. The fluid build up began on his tum and then spread upwards, he is well in himself though
I will have a chat to the vet about possibility of loss of protein from the blood :wink:
What causes loss of protein from the blood though :?:
Did the guinea pig respond well to the treatment and is she fully restored to health now :?:
Best wishes

Best wishes

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Jack's-Jane said:

I would guess at a heart problem. Only by what I have seen in two of the 5 'cardiac' Buns I have nursed.
Did the Vet give a diuretic? The two Buns I had who exhibited similar symptoms were Brothers and their heart condition was genetic.
Their heart rate was not slow but was irregular (arrhythmia) and they also exhibited ascites (fluid in abdominnal cavity). This did cause dyspnoea though so not quite the same as Gabriel :?

I dont know for sure but I THINK ascites occurs late on in Liver Disease so I would have thought Gabriel would feel unwell in himself if that were the problem :?

Sorry he is giving you cause for concern

Janex

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Adele said:

sgprescue said:

Adele said:

Is the fluid collecting just under the skin and staying there? If his heart rate is good, no breathing problems and is well in himself I wouldn't have thought it would be a heart problem. I had a similar problem with a guinea pig not so long ago where fluid collected in her entire underside from the neck down. I cant remember the name of the condition (had some sort of fancy name :lol: ) but it was caused by a loss of protein from the blood. Protein holds fluid in the blood and if the protein is loss the fluid collects at the lowest part of the body. We treated with nandralone and a higher protein diet.

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Hiya Cheryl, thank so much for taking the time to post
Yes, Gabriel has fluid collecting directly under the skin on his entire underside, but not down his legs. The fluid build up began on his tum and then spread upwards, he is well in himself though
I will have a chat to the vet about possibility of loss of protein from the blood :wink:
What causes loss of protein from the blood though :?:
Did the guinea pig respond well to the treatment and is she fully restored to health now :?:
Best wishes

Best wishes

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Sounds exactly like what happened to Pearl. I had never seen anything like it but my vet knew what it was straight away. Apparantly its more common in dogs, rarely seen in small animals. He was in contact with one of the top rabbit vets (cant remember who ) to get advice. Unfortunatly Pearl is no longer with us but she had a lot of other major health problems which didnt help. You could get your vet to phone my vet to discuss it, I am sure he wouldnt mind. Get him to ask for Rob and the phone number is 01603 484359, he will be there tomorow :wink:

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Jack's-Jane said:

I dont know for sure but I THINK ascites occurs late on in Liver Disease so I would have thought Gabriel would feel unwell in himself if that were the problem :? Janex

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Jaypot said:

I have had two buns with fluid build up that where both related to heart disease
Our beloved Buster also started to build up fluid and diuretics where used but to no avail It was found that Buster had tumours all over his body

Just a thought but haven't you had the buns all vaccinated recently? I wonder if Gabriel has had some kind of reaction :?

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Jack's-Jane said:

This relates to protein losing diseases in a dog but might be worth a read

http://users.adelphia.net/~lechaun/kidneys.html

Janex

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