Experience of heart disease?

[Bungenni]

We’re currently trying to get control of heart disease in our littlest rabbit, Pi. It came on very fast - no signs when she had her vaccine in early October, went to the vet struggling to breathe start of November. Since then she’s had a month of strong antibiotics and 6 weeks of furosemide at increasing doses, with only small improvement.

She’s had an X-ray which showed her heart was too large and surrounded by fluid, which will be repeated in Jan to see if there’s a difference. Anyone got experience of heart disease in rabbits? We have a lot of confidence in our vet, but they are surprised with how fast it has come on, especially since she is young (just turned 3) - and can’t really give us any kind of prognosis until they can get her symptoms under control.

 

[Zoobec]

I don’t have any experience of this but I’m sending lots of vibes xx

 

[InspectorMorse]

We’re currently trying to get control of heart disease in our littlest rabbit, Pi. It came on very fast - no signs when she had her vaccine in early October, went to the vet struggling to breathe start of November. Since then she’s had a month of strong antibiotics and 6 weeks of furosemide at increasing doses, with only small improvement.

She’s had an X-ray which showed her heart was too large and surrounded by fluid, which will be repeated in Jan to see if there’s a difference. Anyone got experience of heart disease in rabbits? We have a lot of confidence in our vet, but they are surprised with how fast it has come on, especially since she is young (just turned 3) - and can’t really give us any kind of prognosis until they can get her symptoms under control.

I have had several Rabbits who have been diagnosed with various types of heart disease over the years. Is your Rabbit a Giant Breed or a Rex ? These breed types are more prone to heart disease. There are medications that the Vet can prescribe to help manage the condition. But diagnostics are needed to ascertain the precise problem before the Vet can decide how best to manage it. Diagnostics would include a full blood profile, chest X-rays, an Ultrasound of the heart and an ECG. Often these need to be carried out at a specialist Veterinary Hospital.
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Cardiology/Failure/Cong_heart_en.pdf

 

[Bungenni]

I have had several Rabbits who have been diagnosed with various types of heart disease over the years. Is your Rabbit a Giant Breed or a Rex ? These breed types are more prone to heart disease. There are medications that the Vet can prescribe to help manage the condition. But diagnostics are needed to ascertain the precise problem before the Vet can decide how best to manage it. Diagnostics would include a full blood profile, chest X-rays, an Ultrasound of the heart and an ECG. Often these need to be carried out at a specialist Veterinary Hospital.
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Cardiology/Failure/Cong_heart_en.pdf

She is mystery crossbreed, medium size up eared (2.1kg). There might be some rex in her, but none of her parents or siblings had a rex coat, so 1/4 at most.

She has had X-rays and is getting blood tests on her next visit. My vet practice has exotic specialists and a cardiologist, who said an echo wasn’t much use in a rabbit as there’s no reference values. As she won’t tolerate it without anaesthetic, they think it’s of limited use but increases risk (time under anaesthetic). Do you know any more about it? I’ll definitely ask about the ECG, thanks

 

[InspectorMorse]

She is mystery crossbreed, medium size up eared (2.1kg). There might be some rex in her, but none of her parents or siblings had a rex coat, so 1/4 at most.

She has had X-rays and is getting blood tests on her next visit. My vet practice has exotic specialists and a cardiologist, who said an echo wasn’t much use in a rabbit as there’s no reference values. As she won’t tolerate it without anaesthetic, they think it’s of limited use but increases risk (time under anaesthetic). Do you know any more about it? I’ll definitely ask about the ECG, thanks

What in particular do you want to know ?

Re ECGs. https://knowledge.rcvs.org.uk/document-library/diplomas-dvc-14-4/domingo-dvc144.pdf

 

[Boots]

My rabbit Illy has an enlarged atrium with fluid build up; we've found a combination of vetmedin, metacam and bisolvon to be the best for her so far. The difference in her breathing is extremely noticeable after taking the bisolvon. Her CT scan gave us the clearest understanding of what's going on and that only involves a very mild sedation-this was done at the Queen Mother RVC. The RVC do second opinions, so it might be worth considering that if you can–they're really fantastic. Sending Pi healing vibes!

 

[nap91]

One of my rabbits, Phillip, has an enlarged heart with fluid. He's 3 now but he was diagnosed when he was just under a year old.
He's on furosemide and metacam twice daily. It took a while to have any effect but it's working well for him and his heart has so far sounded good at his 6 monthly check ups. Most of the time you can't tell anything is wrong with him!

Hoping Pi starts to feel like herself soon x