*Bex*
Mama Doe
I just need somewhere to write down what has been going on for the past couple of weeks, and Cleo's ups and downs while fighting this illness. This is going to be a long post, good luck if you get through it!
Cleo is my little REW nethie who I rescued just over a year ago. She is around 2-3 years old. She is bonded to my great big REW New Zealand white, Polo.
If anyone has any advice please feel free to add.
Since me and my little boy moved from my parents a year ago, the buns stayed there due to the size of their set up it would've been near impossible to move them. Parents take great care of them and I see them almost every day as I work 2 mins down the road.
Monday 29th April
I get a phone call from my mum at around 9pm to say Cleo isn't right. My dad found her with a headtilt and one of her back legs was at a funny angle. She wasn't like it earlier so it had come on in the last few hours.
I phone the OOH vets and they say to bring her down straight away. Vet says EC is the most likely cause but she didn't seem too badly affected. Given lapizole.
Tuesday 30th April
I head to my mums before work to see her. Head considerably tilted and had developed a nystagmus overnight. Wobbly on her feet but getting about ok. Takes a syringe feed brilliantly. We don't think she's eating much herself.
Spoke to the vet about treatment and made an appointment for that evening. Vet thinks she'll start her on metacam. Get a call a little later to say vet had decided a course of 3 steroid injections 48 hours apart would be more beneficial.
Vet confirms her tilt is worse than the previous night and the nystagmus was definately not there when she last saw her. Steroid given and started baytril for antibiotic cover.
Wednesday 1st May
Tilt much improved and seems more steady on her legs and her nystagmus has gone. Still not eating much herself but gobbling down her syringes and meds.
Thursday 2nd May
She seems good, still tilted but not a great deal. Gets worse when handled or going in the car. She goes out in the run for a little while and had a good look round. Gets her 2nd steroid. Appears much worse at the vet but show him pictures and video of her at home and he's amazed how well she's doing.
Friday 3rd - Monday 6th May
She remains much the same. She's seen eating by herself but is still receiving syringe feed too. Has her last steroid on Saturday morning. She was weighed and her weight had dropped from 1.3kg on Monday to 1.25kg today. Vet isn't too concerned as its expected due to her reduced food intake.
Tuesday 7th May
A bit more wobbly today. She fell a couple of times when washing herself which she hasn't done before. She always managed to wash herself and keep her balance. Still eating well.
Wednesday 8th May
Speak to my parents in the morning and they say she's a lot more unsteady and tilted. Still eating really well. I phone the vet with the new concerns and he says to bring her in that evening.
Leaving work at lunch to go and see her I get a call from my mum. She tells me she thinks she has died, she went to check on her and couldn't see her, when she entered the shed she was hidden behind their hay box lifeless on her side. I rush round and by the time I get there my dad had come in and got her. Fortunately she is still with us but with a severe head tilt - head almost upside down.
Phone the vet and he tells us to get her there now. I was sure we were going to pts.
Vet is concerned by the relapse but she is still eating and alert the vet does not want to give in on her yet. She receives another half dose of steroid and eats a big syringe feed. She is now to be confined to her carrier as she isn't safe to be left in an open space. Vet thinks she would benefit from the carrier being out in the shed so it will smell familiar and Polo will be around her. Her weight is steady at 1.25kg which is good as I was worried she'd lost weight from the weekend.
Thursday 9th May
She is spending the majority of time laid on her side. She is eating great both from the syringe and the food we leave with her. She has to be held to be fed and when put back down she rolls and flips uncontrollably until she gets herself settled on her side. We have to try and help her steady herself. We have to clean her now as she's totally unable to do so herself.
It's such a sad and distressing sight to see her like this clinging on to the fact she's eating like a little piggy and to the success stories I've read online of seriously ill buns getting through this.
Friday 10th May
Speak to my parents and there is no change. Still eating well but still laid on her side all the time.
I go and see her at tea time - I don't work Fridays and I had a couple of appointments for me and my son through the day so couldn't get any earlier.
I give her a feed while my mum holds her. Put her back in her carrier and she stays up on her feet. Head still very tilted but she's upright!! She stays upright all the way back to the shed! I take Polo in for his lapizole and when I go back out for him she's still stood up!! She's moved around the carrier - pretty sure she hasn't rolled as she'd moved in the opposite direction to how she rolls. I watch her for a while and she does lose her balance once and settles onto her side.
Speak to parents at bedtime. Again, she managed to stay up when they put her back!!
Saturday 11th May
She was laid down this morning when they got her. Ate as well as usual. Stayed upright when they put her back. Looking very bright today and seems to be trying to lift her head a bit when she's stood up!!
Speak to my mum a little later on, she was sat upright when she went to give her her mushy pellets. She ate well but had sat in them so had to have her bum cleaned! Maintained her balance the whole time.
This is where we are up to now. I'm hoping we have turned a little corner in the last 24 hours. Spoke to the vet this morning who is very happy with this bit of progress.
Vets are currently waiting for some info from Simon at the Cat and Rabbit clinic, as I'd read and spoke to someone whose rabbit he managed to successfully bring through severe bouts of headtilt. They've already spoken to FHB but she wasn't overly helpful in treatment options.
I'll update daily or when there is anything new to tell. It'll help me read back and remember how bad she has been and these little improvements she's made. I have never known of anything so draining in every way possible.
It is an evil, cruel illness.
Cleo is my little REW nethie who I rescued just over a year ago. She is around 2-3 years old. She is bonded to my great big REW New Zealand white, Polo.
If anyone has any advice please feel free to add.
Since me and my little boy moved from my parents a year ago, the buns stayed there due to the size of their set up it would've been near impossible to move them. Parents take great care of them and I see them almost every day as I work 2 mins down the road.
Monday 29th April
I get a phone call from my mum at around 9pm to say Cleo isn't right. My dad found her with a headtilt and one of her back legs was at a funny angle. She wasn't like it earlier so it had come on in the last few hours.
I phone the OOH vets and they say to bring her down straight away. Vet says EC is the most likely cause but she didn't seem too badly affected. Given lapizole.
Tuesday 30th April
I head to my mums before work to see her. Head considerably tilted and had developed a nystagmus overnight. Wobbly on her feet but getting about ok. Takes a syringe feed brilliantly. We don't think she's eating much herself.
Spoke to the vet about treatment and made an appointment for that evening. Vet thinks she'll start her on metacam. Get a call a little later to say vet had decided a course of 3 steroid injections 48 hours apart would be more beneficial.
Vet confirms her tilt is worse than the previous night and the nystagmus was definately not there when she last saw her. Steroid given and started baytril for antibiotic cover.
Wednesday 1st May
Tilt much improved and seems more steady on her legs and her nystagmus has gone. Still not eating much herself but gobbling down her syringes and meds.
Thursday 2nd May
She seems good, still tilted but not a great deal. Gets worse when handled or going in the car. She goes out in the run for a little while and had a good look round. Gets her 2nd steroid. Appears much worse at the vet but show him pictures and video of her at home and he's amazed how well she's doing.
Friday 3rd - Monday 6th May
She remains much the same. She's seen eating by herself but is still receiving syringe feed too. Has her last steroid on Saturday morning. She was weighed and her weight had dropped from 1.3kg on Monday to 1.25kg today. Vet isn't too concerned as its expected due to her reduced food intake.
Tuesday 7th May
A bit more wobbly today. She fell a couple of times when washing herself which she hasn't done before. She always managed to wash herself and keep her balance. Still eating well.
Wednesday 8th May
Speak to my parents in the morning and they say she's a lot more unsteady and tilted. Still eating really well. I phone the vet with the new concerns and he says to bring her in that evening.
Leaving work at lunch to go and see her I get a call from my mum. She tells me she thinks she has died, she went to check on her and couldn't see her, when she entered the shed she was hidden behind their hay box lifeless on her side. I rush round and by the time I get there my dad had come in and got her. Fortunately she is still with us but with a severe head tilt - head almost upside down.
Phone the vet and he tells us to get her there now. I was sure we were going to pts.
Vet is concerned by the relapse but she is still eating and alert the vet does not want to give in on her yet. She receives another half dose of steroid and eats a big syringe feed. She is now to be confined to her carrier as she isn't safe to be left in an open space. Vet thinks she would benefit from the carrier being out in the shed so it will smell familiar and Polo will be around her. Her weight is steady at 1.25kg which is good as I was worried she'd lost weight from the weekend.
Thursday 9th May
She is spending the majority of time laid on her side. She is eating great both from the syringe and the food we leave with her. She has to be held to be fed and when put back down she rolls and flips uncontrollably until she gets herself settled on her side. We have to try and help her steady herself. We have to clean her now as she's totally unable to do so herself.
It's such a sad and distressing sight to see her like this clinging on to the fact she's eating like a little piggy and to the success stories I've read online of seriously ill buns getting through this.
Friday 10th May
Speak to my parents and there is no change. Still eating well but still laid on her side all the time.
I go and see her at tea time - I don't work Fridays and I had a couple of appointments for me and my son through the day so couldn't get any earlier.
I give her a feed while my mum holds her. Put her back in her carrier and she stays up on her feet. Head still very tilted but she's upright!! She stays upright all the way back to the shed! I take Polo in for his lapizole and when I go back out for him she's still stood up!! She's moved around the carrier - pretty sure she hasn't rolled as she'd moved in the opposite direction to how she rolls. I watch her for a while and she does lose her balance once and settles onto her side.
Speak to parents at bedtime. Again, she managed to stay up when they put her back!!
Saturday 11th May
She was laid down this morning when they got her. Ate as well as usual. Stayed upright when they put her back. Looking very bright today and seems to be trying to lift her head a bit when she's stood up!!
Speak to my mum a little later on, she was sat upright when she went to give her her mushy pellets. She ate well but had sat in them so had to have her bum cleaned! Maintained her balance the whole time.
This is where we are up to now. I'm hoping we have turned a little corner in the last 24 hours. Spoke to the vet this morning who is very happy with this bit of progress.
Vets are currently waiting for some info from Simon at the Cat and Rabbit clinic, as I'd read and spoke to someone whose rabbit he managed to successfully bring through severe bouts of headtilt. They've already spoken to FHB but she wasn't overly helpful in treatment options.
I'll update daily or when there is anything new to tell. It'll help me read back and remember how bad she has been and these little improvements she's made. I have never known of anything so draining in every way possible.
It is an evil, cruel illness.
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