Blueberry's mystery illness UD p145 got through to Molly

[MimzMum]

Just read through all this, how very worrying ((((((Huge hugs))))))))
Sending massive amounts of vibes for Blueberry and for his upcoming procedure. Whatever the diagnosis, I hope it is something easily sorted. xxxx

 

[biscandmatt1]

how worrying. i hope you can find out what is going on. sending vibes x

 

[Sarah1989]

Thanks guys your support means a lot

I just shot this video of him taking his critical care like the superstar he is.
https://vimeo.com/119046481

And nomming on some redigrass that Zoobec has kindly given us I also tried to show you how skinny he's become with this one
https://vimeo.com/119046590

He still lives with Slipper - I fear that separating them in order to feed him up without hungry Slipper would be counter productive if he became depressed. So I take him out several times a day to give him extra food as well as feeding separately at normal times. My others are not impressed with me right now, they want the extra food too :lol: I'm getting filthy looks from them :lol:

 

[Zoobec]

Oh bless him, he really is skinny isn't he he's such a good boy eating the critical care glad he likes the readigrass :thumb:xx

 

[*Funny*Bunny*]

He is so gorgeous!!!! I always think white bunnies look so angelic! You can really see how skinny he is in both those videos glad he has a good appetite for his recovery food and his readigrass! I bet he's delighted with all the extra food!!! I think you're right that it would be counter productive and not in their best interests to separate them, they need each other for support and to keep Blueberry happy, you're just going to have to be inventive in trying to feed Blueberry without Slipper noticing :lol:

 

[Sarah1989]

Blueberry's mystery illness UD p34 blood test results

I've just sprinkled some pellets in his redigrass too and he ate all those. He's such a good boy and he's bright in himself. If it weren't for the weight loss you wouldn't know he was poorly. I think that's good as he's not suffering or in any pain. Plus if he has something that can only be managed, but he will always have, with careful management, there's no reason he couldn't live a long happy and otherwise healthy life. He copes very well with "hands on" care and enjoys his meds :lol:

Eta I just opened the hitch for him to go back in and Slipper dashed out and stuck his head right in the redigrass :roll: unluckily for him I was too quick in snatching the bowl away :lol: 1 to me, 0 to Slipper for once :lol:

 

[Den]

Topping up the vibes for Blueberry.

 

[Hele]

Oh bless him! What a good boy

 

[Sarah1989]

Blueberry has had his tea of pellets, redigrass and parsley mixed up in his new food bowl. He wouldn't take more than a couple of licks of critical care, but as long as he is eating other things, I'm not too bothered by that. I know when he's had enough when he asks to go back to Slipper. They're cuddled up together now in the loaf position, Slipper has his head over Blueberry. I'm sure Slipper knows something is up with Blueberry. He's always been a smart bunny. He seems to have learnt the drill already - I come in several times a day to let Blueberry out and give him extra food. He's accepted it already. And he was so sweet yesterday when I cried all over him in the vets. Slipper does not do cuddles. Slipper bites if he gets cuddles. But he let me cuddle him and cry all over him for ages.

I'm back at work tomorrow. I'm at risk of losing my job and I have this thing in place which I need to do. It's a heck of a lot of work to do in only 1 month so I can't take any time off. Luckily Blueberry is ok to be left - I'll be feeding him extra before work and then again when I get home. If it gets to the stage where he needs more care during the weekdays, I'll have him admitted.

I know these posts I keep doing like this aren't anything new, but I find it helpful and it keeps a record for my benefit of his progress. And of course, famous RU vibes and best wishes are brilliant for moral support and I appreciate each and everyone of you who has replied to this

 

[*Funny*Bunny*]

I can imagine if I tried to feed my bunnies all day they'd eventually get fed up of eating too so you're right not to worry much he needs time to sleep, digest his food and get his cuddles from Slipper!

The work project sounds stressful, but I'm sure once this month is over it will feel rewarding to have worked hard on it! The bunnies will be fine during the day, rabbits sleep most of the day time after all (and evening and night and morning if they're as lazy as my two....!) and your vets will always be there to do hands on work if Blueberry does need more hands on care at any point I'll keep my fingers crossed that Blueberry can keep up the good eating! When's your next appointment with the vet, what's the plan now, are they doing more tests?

 

[Sarah1989]

I can imagine if I tried to feed my bunnies all day they'd eventually get fed up of eating too so you're right not to worry much he needs time to sleep, digest his food and get his cuddles from Slipper!

The work project sounds stressful, but I'm sure once this month is over it will feel rewarding to have worked hard on it! The bunnies will be fine during the day, rabbits sleep most of the day time after all (and evening and night and morning if they're as lazy as my two....!) and your vets will always be there to do hands on work if Blueberry does need more hands on care at any point I'll keep my fingers crossed that Blueberry can keep up the good eating! When's your next appointment with the vet, what's the plan now, are they doing more tests?

Kind of, he's booked in at 10.15 on Wednesday. They're going to sedate him and do an X-ray of his chest and stomach, take a urine sample and check out his mouth. She's also going to consult a rabbit specialist before then as well. Hopefully we can find something out from this as if not, the next step is actually opening him up and having a look inside, which is obviously major surgery and not something to be taken lightly in his current state. The thinner and weaker he is, the bigger the risk of anaesthesia. So I'm trying to feed him up as much as possible before Wednesday for his procedure then and we will take it from there.

The blood test results didn't make a lot of sense to me, which is why I wrote it all down whilst she was on the phone. She did explain what it all meant to me, but it did go over my head a bit. The results show that there is definitely something wrong, but not what it is and whilst there were anomalies to be concerned about, they are mild so not too bad if that makes sense? It could be worse, but obviously it could be much better. Kind of like she's concerned about him (as am I!) but not majorly concerned like he's going to drop dead at any second. If he was admitted at the moment, all they could do is what I'm doing and so I feel it's better for him to be at home in familiar surroundings with me who he knows than strangers and strange places. He's not on any medication other than the panacur. I was told to give both of them a 28 day course of that when they first went in the other week and being treated for a parasite infection. Obviously we know now it's not a parasite infection, but I want to finish the course anyway. Ill try to remember to ask on Wednesday if I should though - I don't want to do the wrong thing. Megan is who he saw yesterday and she's the one doing the procedure, but I think it's the guy I saw the other week who initially treated them for a parasite who is admitting him so I'll ask him about that.

I'm not entirely sure what they're looking for on the X-rays, tumours weren't mentioned so I don't know if that's what they're after. The liver thing, she was saying it could be that it started in the liver or it could be that he's ill and therefore the liver is reacting to that. I think she said that the liver was the first thing to show signs if there is a problem. Cancer was mentioned too. He's not even two until June and he had the snip at 4 months, how can he get cancer?

The work thing in brief is that I've been getting rubbish ratings (long story) for three years and now HR are involved and I have a personal improvement plan in place and obviously I need to do well in that for the next month. So I need to do all the work mentioned in it by the set deadlines. They're very aggressive, but if I don't, I'll have another one next month and obviously the more I need, the worse it gets for me. My manager and I don't know what HR are up to, but they're looking at similar people across the company so my guess is they're looking for excuses to get rid of us. So I need to work my little socks off and kiss ass and generally be employee of the month if I want to keep my job. Which I do. Obviously, I need a job to get paid and keep a roof over my head and bunnies fed and insurance paid so they pay for Blueberry's treatment. If it were up to my family roundabout now, poor Blueberry would be on deaths row :evil: I'll go without to provide for him if needs be so they can go forth and multiply :lol:

 

[bunny babe]

Sorry to hear Blueberry is poorly. I hope you can get to the bottom of it and it is nothing serious and is easy to treat.

Some people give porridge on a temporary basis to help put some weight back on their buns. I did it for Homer when he was poorly. I would soak them in boiling water and let go cool/luke warm. I preferred to make sure that the oats had soaked up all the water so they didn't expand in his tum. I only gave 1/4 -1/2 teaspoon and he was a big bunny.

 

[*Funny*Bunny*]

Kind of, he's booked in at 10.15 on Wednesday. They're going to sedate him and do an X-ray of his chest and stomach, take a urine sample and check out his mouth. She's also going to consult a rabbit specialist before then as well. Hopefully we can find something out from this as if not, the next step is actually opening him up and having a look inside, which is obviously major surgery and not something to be taken lightly in his current state. The thinner and weaker he is, the bigger the risk of anaesthesia. So I'm trying to feed him up as much as possible before Wednesday for his procedure then and we will take it from there.

The blood test results didn't make a lot of sense to me, which is why I wrote it all down whilst she was on the phone. She did explain what it all meant to me, but it did go over my head a bit. The results show that there is definitely something wrong, but not what it is and whilst there were anomalies to be concerned about, they are mild so not too bad if that makes sense? It could be worse, but obviously it could be much better. Kind of like she's concerned about him (as am I!) but not majorly concerned like he's going to drop dead at any second. If he was admitted at the moment, all they could do is what I'm doing and so I feel it's better for him to be at home in familiar surroundings with me who he knows than strangers and strange places. He's not on any medication other than the panacur. I was told to give both of them a 28 day course of that when they first went in the other week and being treated for a parasite infection. Obviously we know now it's not a parasite infection, but I want to finish the course anyway. Ill try to remember to ask on Wednesday if I should though - I don't want to do the wrong thing. Megan is who he saw yesterday and she's the one doing the procedure, but I think it's the guy I saw the other week who initially treated them for a parasite who is admitting him so I'll ask him about that.

I'm not entirely sure what they're looking for on the X-rays, tumours weren't mentioned so I don't know if that's what they're after. The liver thing, she was saying it could be that it started in the liver or it could be that he's ill and therefore the liver is reacting to that. I think she said that the liver was the first thing to show signs if there is a problem. Cancer was mentioned too. He's not even two until June and he had the snip at 4 months, how can he get cancer?

The work thing in brief is that I've been getting rubbish ratings (long story) for three years and now HR are involved and I have a personal improvement plan in place and obviously I need to do well in that for the next month. So I need to do all the work mentioned in it by the set deadlines. They're very aggressive, but if I don't, I'll have another one next month and obviously the more I need, the worse it gets for me. My manager and I don't know what HR are up to, but they're looking at similar people across the company so my guess is they're looking for excuses to get rid of us. So I need to work my little socks off and kiss ass and generally be employee of the month if I want to keep my job. Which I do. Obviously, I need a job to get paid and keep a roof over my head and bunnies fed and insurance paid so they pay for Blueberry's treatment. If it were up to my family roundabout now, poor Blueberry would be on deaths row :evil: I'll go without to provide for him if needs be so they can go forth and multiply :lol:

Yep it makes sense, I got that from the blood tests too and thought I was getting all confused but sounds like it just is "something but not anything specific or serious at the moment", hopefully Wednesday will bring answers for you!

Definitely keep up with the panacur until a vet says otherwise, I don't know how sensitive the test is for parasites, with any test there's a chance of it coming back negative even if there's something there (although this could be a very sensitive test so they might say the chance of that happening is small enough you should stop the medication). I don't envy you having to give panacur, Lilly HATED it!!! She fought me so hard! She could be tricked by smearing it on vegetables though, but only thinly spread on them or she'd notice!

That sucks with work :/ keep on working hard and don't let HR get to you! I've heard of this happening to other people, it's like they're trying to trip people up, so work hard and you can metaphorically stick to fingers up at them when you show them how awesome you are!

 

[Sarah1989]

Yep it makes sense, I got that from the blood tests too and thought I was getting all confused but sounds like it just is "something but not anything specific or serious at the moment", hopefully Wednesday will bring answers for you!

Definitely keep up with the panacur until a vet says otherwise, I don't know how sensitive the test is for parasites, with any test there's a chance of it coming back negative even if there's something there (although this could be a very sensitive test so they might say the chance of that happening is small enough you should stop the medication). I don't envy you having to give panacur, Lilly HATED it!!! She fought me so hard! She could be tricked by smearing it on vegetables though, but only thinly spread on them or she'd notice!

That sucks with work :/ keep on working hard and don't let HR get to you! I've heard of this happening to other people, it's like they're trying to trip people up, so work hard and you can metaphorically stick to fingers up at them when you show them how awesome you are!

Blueberry loves Panacur :lol: I'm extremely lucky with him in that respect. He thinks it's a treat and laps it all up quite happily. Just like he takes the critical care from the spoon. I've usually had to syringe feed bunnies critical care before and my god that's a horrid task - I have to turn them into bunny burritos and even then I end up wearing most of it, covered in scratches and one unhappy bunny. My washing pile explodes when that happens as I have to get clean clothes and towels every syringe feed :roll:

I'm googling things now. I know it's probably a very bad idea, but I want to know the worst so that if it's nothing sinister in the end I can be relieved. And if it is worst case scenario, well at least it's not a total shock on the day although please god it's not. I don't think I could cope if I lost Blueberry. Yesterday when I was crying over Slipper, I was just saying over and over again, "please don't let him die". From what I've googled so far though, kidney failure sounds likely
http://www.rabbitnetwork.org/articles/kidneys.shtml

He's eating quite happily which is why I've ruled out the liver disease bit I read, but of course that doesn't mean he doesn't have liver disease. I get to google cancer next, that should be fun!

 

[tulsi]

I have only just seen this. I really hope that your LOVELY Blueberry gets good news on wednesday.

Good luck at work.

 

[Zoobec]

Blueberry loves Panacur :lol: I'm extremely lucky with him in that respect. He thinks it's a treat and laps it all up quite happily. Just like he takes the critical care from the spoon. I've usually had to syringe feed bunnies critical care before and my god that's a horrid task - I have to turn them into bunny burritos and even then I end up wearing most of it, covered in scratches and one unhappy bunny. My washing pile explodes when that happens as I have to get clean clothes and towels every syringe feed :roll:

I'm googling things now. I know it's probably a very bad idea, but I want to know the worst so that if it's nothing sinister in the end I can be relieved. And if it is worst case scenario, well at least it's not a total shock on the day although please god it's not. I don't think I could cope if I lost Blueberry. Yesterday when I was crying over Slipper, I was just saying over and over again, "please don't let him die". From what I've googled so far though, kidney failure sounds likely
http://www.rabbitnetwork.org/articles/kidneys.shtml

He's eating quite happily which is why I've ruled out the liver disease bit I read, but of course that doesn't mean he doesn't have liver disease. I get to google cancer next, that should be fun!

Try not to panic, I've not had a rabbit with kidney disease but as I said my bridge cat had it, and he was maintained for a long time on meds, before eventually having complete kidney failure eventually. Hopefully whatever it is once the vet finds out you will be able to manage it :thumb:

Love your new signature

 

[Sarah1989]

I have only just seen this. I really hope that your LOVELY Blueberry gets good news on wednesday.

Good luck at work.

Thank you I know you like Blueberry

Try not to panic, I've not had a rabbit with kidney disease but as I said my bridge cat had it, and he was maintained for a long time on meds, before eventually having complete kidney failure eventually. Hopefully whatever it is once the vet finds out you will be able to manage it :thumb:

Love your new signature

Jackaroonie made the siggie for me, a complete surprise which I thought was lovely

I think it's probably going to be kidney related, everything I've read fits best with kidneys rather than anything else. The cancer lymphoma thing was just :shock: and that's something I definitely do not want to face! That would really be worst case scenario imo.

Today he has spring greens for breakfast and critical care. He wasn't that interested in the redigrass or hay. I'm not even sure if he's drinking if I'm honest. The water bottle is going down, but he lives with Slipper and I only ever see Slipper at the bottle. I'm sure he must be drinking, just when I'm not there.

Otherwise, he remains the same. He seemed a little brighter today, whether that's my wishful thinking though I don't know. Whilst I was getting ready for work, he hopped out of his room and down the landing to the bathroom when I was brushing my teeth. He tried to run away when I picked him up for a cuddle which I think is a good sign as he hasn't resisted that recently. I still snuggled up with him for a few minutes though, I love him so much so I'm going to make the most of snuggly cuddles with him

 

[Zoobec]

If it was kidneys I think they usually drink excessively, and urinate a very dilute urine profusely (or at least my cat did anyway)

 

[Sarah1989]

If it was kidneys I think they usually drink excessively, and urinate a very dilute urine profusely (or at least my cat did anyway)

The wees I saw him do on Saturday in the kitchen (he has his litter tray in his hutch so I don't otherwise see it) was a lot paler than the stuff that my girls do. And for such a small rabbit, there was such a lot of it! My girls usually only do a little squirt here and there and it's a very dark colour. Blueberry's almost clear and a very big puddle. I just don't see him drinking that amount which confuses me. Is it even possible to urinate more water than you take in?

 

[Den]

Really hope you get some results on Wednesday and that it's something treatable and/or manageable. Will and Nancys wees are different. Wills are pale and Nancys are darker. So I knew who'd peed on the floor yesterday.

The work thing sounds awful. Not what you need at the moment but hang on in there and do what you have to do.

Topping up the vibes for Blueberry again. Xxx