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Advice please, neglected bunny just in

L

Lucy

Warren Veteran
We took in a rabbit today who is in a terrible state. He was supposedly found in a box but to be honest it's a dubious story. But anyway, wherever he came from, he's in a really bad way.

We have called him Bramble, he's an albino dwarf lop. He doesn't look very young or old, so we're going for 2-3 ish. He's got mites and has bald patches on ears and back. His main problem is his teeth. The back teeth are infected and it seems it has been this way for some time. He only weighs 2.4kg so it would seem he has been struggling with eating for a while now. He nails are very overgrown too and he is filthy so I dread to think how he's been living.

He is going to have to go in to have these teeth dealt with and I am worried about the anaestetic. He is very lethargic and seems to have no life about him at all. I am going to ask them to castrate him and do his nails while he's under to avoid a second anaestetic.

His fosterer is syringe feeding him water and mushy food. I am hoping that this will give him a bit of energy and perk him up a bit before he goes in for the op.

Any advice of things we can do to help him?
 
bless him, he sounds really in need of some love :cry: No advice, but good luck with his dental and neutering and I hope you can turn him around so he can enjoy his life xx
 
Poor Bunny :cry:
Could he be started on abx before his GA? Given his history I would not be surprised if he had a latent Pasteurellosis. At least prophylactic abx might zap some of the bugs from his respiratory tract. If he is very flat then IV fluids (Hartmanns) before and after the GA would support his kidney function.
I really hope he pulls through

Janex
 
Making sure the vet gives a painkiller/gut motility drugs after the op should help recovery. You could also feed probiotic with his mush.

Porridge oats made mushy with a bit of water are good for putting on weight and also soft for buns with sore mouths to eat.

I presume he'll need ab's after his op - ask if the vet will show you how to do it by injection as that will stop the ab's upsetting his tummy.

Fingers crossed for him :)

Tam
 
Maybe some additional probiotics. Has he had pain relief, I would guess his mouth is very sore.

Healing vibes to Bramble. I do hope things go ok for him
 
Given his history I would not be surprised if he had a latent Pasteurellosis. At least prophylactic abx might zap some of the bugs from his respiratory tract. If he is very flat then IV fluids (Hartmanns) before and after the GA would support his kidney function.
Click to expand...

This is the kind of thing I find hard to talk to the vets about as they don't seem to like you asking for this stuff if they don't know much about it themselves lol.

Making sure the vet gives a painkiller/gut motility drugs after the op should help recovery. You could also feed probiotic with his mush.
Making sure the vet gives a painkiller/gut motility drugs after the op should help recovery. You could also feed probiotic with his mush.
Click to expand...

Is this the norm as we've not been given probiotics before?

I've asked Amy to pop him a hot water bottle wrapped up in his cage to keep his temp up over night. I'm worried he's not going to come out from the op and if he does I want to do all we can to keep him well :(
 
Me too, he sounds so weak, I really am fearing for him with the anaestetic, but theres simply no choice :( I am going to get Amy to pop him in for the antibiotics tomorrow and the op Thurday so he has chance to gain a bit of energy and health back before the op.
 
Vets usually have probiotics in stock but you can pick them up in pet shops/online too. As he hasn't been eating well it just helps the balance of bacteria in his tummy to keep the gut health.

One of the main things to guard against with a bun with tooth problem/having trouble eating is that they develop stasis so keeping his gut ticking over until he can eat hay again helps.

If you can get it, fiberplex is probably best as that has fibre as well as probiotic so that would help too.

Tam
 
Thanks Tamsin, I will talk this over with the vet tomorrow. Poor little boy, it makes me shudder to think how long he's been living like this :( Apparently he's really really dirty too so he must have been living in his own filth for ages.
 
Bramble is booked into the vets so hopefully they will be able to start him on antibiotics later :?
 
Well Jane was right, it's Snuffles. The vet last night obviously didn't know what they were talking about. The vet has put him onto a course of antibiotics and told Amy to monitor him. He's not treating his mites as he said it may be pointless if he doesn't pull through. I think if in a weeks time he is showing signs of picking up I will ask for the treatment, as surely the mites will be getting him down too.

Any Snuffles advice would be appreciated as I've never had one with this before.
 
Lucyhp said:
Well Jane was right, it's Snuffles. The vet last night obviously didn't know what they were talking about. The vet has put him onto a course of antibiotics and told Amy to monitor him. He's not treating his mites as he said it may be pointless if he doesn't pull through. I think if in a weeks time he is showing signs of picking up I will ask for the treatment, as surely the mites will be getting him down too.

Any Snuffles advice would be appreciated as I've never had one with this before.
Click to expand...

Poor chap :cry: I cant understand why the Vet didn't treat the mites as you're right they will make him feel even more :censored:

With 'snuffles' its really a case of addressing the symptoms. If he has lots of thick snot or sounds very snotty when he breathes/eats he may also benefit from some Bisolvon. This thins out the mucus and helps the Bun feel less bunged up.
Steam inhalations can be useful as long as the Bun doesn't get stressed out.
Optimum nutrition is obviously important and if his Dental problems make eating enough difficult he'll need supplementing with syringe feeds. Oxbow Critical Care is the best and you may find he will actually lap it up from a bowl.
Maximising fluid intake will also be of benefit so feeding fresh veg left wet from rinsing is a way of getting more fluid into him.
Christobel gave me the latest Veterinary Times today and there is a big feature on treatments for Pasteurellosis. I'll have a read of it later and if there is any new advice re treatments I'll post it on here.

Janex
 
Last edited:
Thanks Jane, any further advice would be great. With regard to the things you mention, are they available from the vet only? I am a bit worried about giving other things without their say so.

The vet seems to think he is quite young, such a :censored: start to life.
 
Lucyhp said:
Thanks Jane, any further advice would be great. With regard to the things you mention, are they available from the vet only? I am a bit worried about giving other things without their say so.

The vet seems to think he is quite young, such a :censored: start to life.
Click to expand...


The Bisolvon is prescription only. Its a powder that you sprinkle on Buns food.
You could give him a probiotic in his drinking water (Bio-Lapis) This will help maintain healthy gut flora whilst he's on abx.

The Vet Times article states that abx need to be given for a MINIMUM of 14 days. In severe cases treatment may be needed for up to 3 months. It says that it's preferable that the abx of choice is based on culture and sensitivity tests as there may be other bacteria involved aswell as Pasteurella. The abx mentioned are : Marbofloxacin (Marbocyl), Penicillin (INJECTION ONLY), Trimethoprim-Sulpha (Septrin), Tetracycline, Enrofloxacin (Baytril)
The article also recommends nebulisation with saline and mucolytics (mucus thinning agents)

Janex
 
You can get Bio-Lapis on line at Penstone. I paid £5.00 for a strip of five. I have had a vet try and charge £10.00 and if you can get some in stock, its worth doing.

PS Forgot to say, when ordering ask the sell by date. You want a sell by date of at least 2008 and don't let them give you one that is a close date.
 
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