Last Tuesday my lovely little Alfie got really sick, it was like he couldn't open his mouth to eat but was really hungry. I'm lucky that I work at a vets and was able to meet my vet at the practice at 10pm.
Our initial thought was that he had tooth problems but after inspection his teeth were fine, he was a little tender around his tummy though.
He had a shot of Metaclopramide and Metacam and we went back home, if he made no improvement we would admit him for a closer examine under GA and possible xray.
Wednesday morning he was really uncomfortable, took him back down and they decided to keep him in to examine and xray.
Once I started my shift i was a complete wreck....expected his teeth to be bad etc....boss came and got me and said they had a diagnosis:
what you can see here is a stone in his kidney.
With rabbits there is nothing you can give them to break the stone down nor can they pass them. We had to choose whether to operate or keep him comfy with pain-relieft a euthanise when required.
We took some blood from him and sent it off to test Alfie's renal function and calcium levels. He came home with me that evening.....he was so groggy from the aneasthetic that I was already starting to think that it wouldn't be fair to operate. he had a rough evening and it took him 8 hours to recover
My vet called around lots of specialists to find out treatment and surgery and found that it is as straight forward as removing from a cat or dog.
Thursday morning, Alfie was starting to look very depressed and uncomfortable, my other half took him in for some pain relief and while he was there the bloods came back all good.
Admitted him there and then and put him straight on a drip to make sure he was well hydrated. If we didn't choose to go ahead then he wouldn't be here now.
The op went well, only in theatre for just under half hour, removed the stone which was as big as the end of my thumb!!! It has been sent away to be cultured at the lab, more than likely to be struvite based (calcium crystals).
He was on a drip at the vets until 8pm, I bought him home as it was the best place. They had used a different anaesthetic so he had recovered much better this time. We have been giving him regular painkillers, anitbiotics and metacloprimide through the night and day.
Came back to see my vet this morning and all is good, no weight loss and everything as it should be.
Not out the woods yet though, need to carry on with meds for a month - he also needs to be encourage to drink LOADS so any ideas muchly appreciated. He's currently only eating greens, hay and grass but that is ok. need to introduce apples and pears as these will help to neutralise the urine to prevent this happening again.
So he was my little man this morning:
STUFFING HIS FACE!!!
UPDATE = just a quick few lines to say that he is still with us and doing really well. Started to eat a little Rabbit Royal now along with everything else....giving him the Baytril was a nightmare now he's feeling better!!
Our initial thought was that he had tooth problems but after inspection his teeth were fine, he was a little tender around his tummy though.
He had a shot of Metaclopramide and Metacam and we went back home, if he made no improvement we would admit him for a closer examine under GA and possible xray.
Wednesday morning he was really uncomfortable, took him back down and they decided to keep him in to examine and xray.
Once I started my shift i was a complete wreck....expected his teeth to be bad etc....boss came and got me and said they had a diagnosis:
what you can see here is a stone in his kidney.
With rabbits there is nothing you can give them to break the stone down nor can they pass them. We had to choose whether to operate or keep him comfy with pain-relieft a euthanise when required.
We took some blood from him and sent it off to test Alfie's renal function and calcium levels. He came home with me that evening.....he was so groggy from the aneasthetic that I was already starting to think that it wouldn't be fair to operate. he had a rough evening and it took him 8 hours to recover
My vet called around lots of specialists to find out treatment and surgery and found that it is as straight forward as removing from a cat or dog.
Thursday morning, Alfie was starting to look very depressed and uncomfortable, my other half took him in for some pain relief and while he was there the bloods came back all good.
Admitted him there and then and put him straight on a drip to make sure he was well hydrated. If we didn't choose to go ahead then he wouldn't be here now.
The op went well, only in theatre for just under half hour, removed the stone which was as big as the end of my thumb!!! It has been sent away to be cultured at the lab, more than likely to be struvite based (calcium crystals).
He was on a drip at the vets until 8pm, I bought him home as it was the best place. They had used a different anaesthetic so he had recovered much better this time. We have been giving him regular painkillers, anitbiotics and metacloprimide through the night and day.
Came back to see my vet this morning and all is good, no weight loss and everything as it should be.
Not out the woods yet though, need to carry on with meds for a month - he also needs to be encourage to drink LOADS so any ideas muchly appreciated. He's currently only eating greens, hay and grass but that is ok. need to introduce apples and pears as these will help to neutralise the urine to prevent this happening again.
So he was my little man this morning:
STUFFING HIS FACE!!!
UPDATE = just a quick few lines to say that he is still with us and doing really well. Started to eat a little Rabbit Royal now along with everything else....giving him the Baytril was a nightmare now he's feeling better!!
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