Does she look like she's in pain?

[Moonstone]

I saw photos someone put up here (I can't remember who or where now, sorry) for figuring out if a rabbit is in pain. But I'm struggling to tell and Millie seems to be in more pain before breakfast than after which might just be a hunger thing, plus her face changes with all her facial expressions.

What other signs are there of arthritis?

Thank you.

 

[InspectorMorse]

She doesn’t look in pain in the main photo, despite her ear position.

She looks uncomfortable in the pic in your signature, the position she’s sitting in indicates a sore back. Does she have bald/sore hocks ?

 

[Moonstone]

Thank you, Inspector Morse,

I find those pictures really helpful, and I can see in the far column that the rabbit's in pain even though I can't pinpoint why I know that in the way they do in the text, so that's helpful too.

The photo in the signature was taken about five years ago, she was hunched up because she was cold, there was snow on the ground outside the shed. I call it her snowball look because she's turning into a ball trying to reduce her surface area as much as possible. She was fine, I was re-heating their microwave pads at the time.

She's 10 years old now.

This is what she looks like just before or just after breakfast (about 5 mins before the photo above). I think she does look in pain in that one, though her whiskers still seem okay? I don't know why she seems so much better after food. Food does include a joint tablet with glucomine and some herbal anti-inflammatories but I wouldn't have thought they would work that quickly. I'm trying to figure out if she should be on metacam as well, are there any other symptoms of arthritis I need to be aware of?

 

[bunny momma]

My thoughts: Eating can cause the gi tract to move and that may help move along any gas or stool that may have her uncomfortable.
If she is not grazing on hay or food between meals her gi tract can slow.
An empty stomach may be uncomfortable if nothing is absorbing the acid.
Is it only at breakfast or after she is resting? Arthritis can be worse when you first get up and moving helps lubricate the joints and reduces stiffness/discomfort
Sending vibes you and your vet can solve your mystery. She looked comfortable in her photo.

 

[InspectorMorse]

Is she not on any anti inflammatory analgesia for her arthritis at all then ?

If she has arthritis then she very probably is at least uncomfortable. So I would definitely speak with your Vet about her having Metacam. I have found laser therapy to be very beneficial too

https://todaysveterinarypractice.co...y-rehab-laser-therapy-in-companion-animals-2/


A hands on examination could reveal a specific source of pain, be it skeletal or gastrointestinal etc. So my advice would be to get her seen by a Rabbit Savvy Vet

 

[Moonstone]

Thank you both. I hadn't realised laser therapy was an option.

Their vet has his own rabbit but he and the rabbit are young and he is on a steep learning curve. I can't find a near rabbit-savvy one (I think the nearest is Swindon which is a 2 1/2 hour round trip), except there is a good one at the emergancy vets. She happened to be there when I took Millie in over a month ago because she was moving sluggishly, hadn't been grooming as much and had sore eyes. Still very keen on food though. Vet was very thorough and said she thought it was arthritis, gave metacam, I was told to watch how she seems both on it and at the end of it (to see if she needs it ongoingly which she was assumed to if it was the right diagnosis). She got better on the metacam and then didn't get worse again when she came off (I put her on the joint tablets at the same time which might have confused things). Three weeks without it though and now I do think she's not seeming happy when I first go into the shed in the morning, and it would make sense that's because she's not been moving much in the night so has stiffened up. She does eat on a fairly continuous basis, she has fresh leaves etc twice a day, dried leaves twice a day, not many pellets and continual hay. Plus treats picked from the garden when I'm walking past and the smallest pen has a nibbled turf floor. She still seems to love her food.

It sounds like the first stage is taking her back to the routine vet and requesting more metacam.

I'm wondering if the lop should be on it too, he's a year younger than her. He has always be bad at grooming but he's eyes have been half shut a lot of the time since his EC which left residual orientation problems. But that doesn't mean he doesn't have arthritis as well. Are there facial photographs for pain in lops?

 

[bunny momma]

That sounds like a good plan. Metacam can help inflammation as well as pain iirc.

 

[InspectorMorse]

The same facial expressions can be seen on lops who have pain. Although obviously the ear position isn’t as ‘expressive’ as that of up eared Rabbits.

I would get the Lop assessed by a Rabbit Savvy Vet too. Going slightly off at a tangent, but with Lops it’s especially important that their ears are checked on a regular basis. Both in the ear canals using an otoscope and by feeling around the ear bases for any lumps. A basic pocket otoscope is a useful investment for anyone who has lop Rabbits. I check my Lop’s ears using an otoscope at least twice a week. You don’t need to spend a fortune on the otoscope, something like this one would suffice

https://www.medisave.co.uk/products/pocket-led-otoscope

 

[Moonstone]

Thank you.

I took Millie to a vet this afternoon, hadn't seen this vet before but I thought she was good. She had a really good feel all over Millie, said her gut was moving but she didn't have many poos in her, other internal organs all felt fine. Her best guess is arthritis too so she's given me Metacam. She said she couldn't prescribe for Archie, my minilop, without examining him which she didn't have time to do but she suggested giving him three days of Millie's metacam and seeing if it makes a difference.

Thank you for saying I'm looking for the same expressions in him. I think he's more a challenge because his eyes have been more shut since EC, but I'll try the metacam and see if he changes.

I do look into his ears but hadn't thought to buy an otoscope, thank you, InspectorMorse, I'll do that.