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Flopsy is poorly- U/D 10th May.

J

Jackaroonie

Mama Doe
Have an appointment to see John tomorrow evening with Flopsy. The past few weeks I've noticed he has lost quite a lot of weight (the amount I do not know as we don't have any decent scales) but he is rather boney which has concerned me.

As well as the weight loss, I have noticed around one of his eyes it now has a fairly bald patch which looks like maybe the start of a blocked tear duct. His eye does not seem runny though; He had to have his tear ducts flushed last year around this time actually at our old vets. It might well be his tooth roots causing trouble again. He also seems to be in a little discomfort/pain, He is currently on 0.4ml of Metacam twice a day for his poorly teeth and has been since last year.

Also Flopsy is forever hungry, as some of you may know he does not eat hay; he wil occasionally have a strand or 2 when he feels like it. I have been picking fresh grass and dandelions at least ounce a day for them both, sometimes twice when I am able to and his poo's are slightly better than they were before. The shape is more formed but they are still very dark but that is expected for a rabbit who does not eat hay. They then obviously have their pellets and I do try to feed Flopsy his separately. Even though he has a few meals a day there is obviously a gap where his gut isn't on the go when I am at school, I can't leave out a bowl of pellets nor can I leave out an unlimited supply of grass ect as it would obviously interfere with Lily's hay eating and will most likely upset their tummies.

I really do not know what else we can do with him, His diet is very poor and he is obviously poorly hence the weight loss. I just don't know what John will suggest but I do not think putting him through blood tests, xrays and another GA/another dental will be good for him or his gut as after his last dental in February this year he did go into stasis and he was really quite poorly. Dental bunnies are just so stressful, its really bothering me.
 
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So sorry :cry: I know how hard it is as I got to this stage with Pebbles. He had to have 60-100g of pellets a day as he didn't eat hay, and I had to take him out 3 times a day to feed him seperately to Poppy. He managed fine like this for 3 years, and went for hours over night between feeds, then I fed him 8 am, 3;30 pm and 9pm. Then something changed and he wasn't eating. Pebbles had lower molar tooth roots pushing into his lower jaw, but they couldn't be removed due to an enlarged heart. It was all too much for him in the end.

It is a really tough decision to even think about, let alone make. Dental buns are so demanding of time and care but that's what makes the bond extra special and the decision to let them go even harder.

Talk to John about his prognosis and what is best for him.

{{{{{{hugs}}}}}} I know it is heartbreaking .:cry:
 
fruitandnutcake said:
So sorry :cry: I know how hard it is as I got to this stage with Pebbles. He had to have 60-100g of pellets a day as he didn't eat hay, and I had to take him out 3 times a day to feed him seperately to Poppy. He managed fine like this for 3 years, and went for hours over night between feeds, then I fed him 8 am, 3;30 pm and 9pm. Then something changed and he wasn't eating. Pebbles had lower molar tooth roots pushing into his lower jaw, but they couldn't be removed due to an enlarged heart. It was all too much for him in the end.

It is a really tough decision to even think about, let alone make. Dental buns are so demanding of time and care but that's what makes the bond extra special and the decision to let them go even harder.

Talk to John about his prognosis and what is best for him.

{{{{{{hugs}}}}}} I know it is heartbreaking .:cry:
Click to expand...

Thank you for your kind post , You did so well with your Pebbles he was so very lucky to have you, I honestly don't know how you managed. Its such a struggle to keep dental bunnies going, whenever I can I will pick fresh grass and dandelions for Flopsy and Lily but just filling him up with them isn't going to do much good. I don't want his gut slowing down nor do I want to upset his tummy and end up with loads of excess caecals. I feel like i am failing him really :cry:

He is 6 years and 4 months so things are just going to get worse as he gets older :( If only they could help theirself and eat hay. Flopsy's symptoms at the moment really remind me of when we took Bella in and she was found to have her heart murmur and then was diagnosed with an Enlarged heart and Heart disease :cry: I really hope he does not have heart disease.
 
Don't think you are failing him because you are not. You have done your very best for him, and by taking him to a specialist, you are doing more than general bunny owners (not meaning RU members :lol:). You have done so well to keep Flopsy going to that age.

I was surprised with Pebbles that even when he was on 100g of high fibre science selective he had no excess cecals. They only appeared after I started him on medication as they probably tasted different.

It doesn't matter what you try, some buns just will not eat hay. I was at the point where I was begging Pebbles to eat his pellets :cry: Just try to remember that you have done your best, whatever happens. These special buns were sent to us for a reason...they teach us perseverence.
 
fruitandnutcake said:
Don't think you are failing him because you are not. You have done your very best for him, and by taking him to a specialist, you are doing more than general bunny owners (not meaning RU members :lol:). You have done so well to keep Flopsy going to that age.

I was surprised with Pebbles that even when he was on 100g of high fibre science selective he had no excess cecals. They only appeared after I started him on medication as they probably tasted different.

It doesn't matter what you try, some buns just will not eat hay. I was at the point where I was begging Pebbles to eat his pellets :cry: Just try to remember that you have done your best, whatever happens. These special buns were sent to us for a reason...they teach us perseverence.
Click to expand...

Thank you for your post again! John is brilliant I have all my faith in him; I do not trust any other vet with my bunnies!
Well the reason why he was probably going okay before was because I was not very rabbit savvy , It wasn't until Autumn of 2011 that I realised things I was doing wrong and then started researching more. The first 4 years of Flospy's life he was on a full bowl of muesli diet so no wonder he did not eat any hay!

Its most likely my fault that he has dental problems , I did not know any better :roll:
Flopsy has had 3 or 4 dentals now, His first was in august 2011 when he was 4. Its my fault he has dental problems, I've just got to pick up the pieces :(
 
I hope all goes as well as it can today. Please don't blame yourself for it, although I know it is difficult not to think "what if"...but honestly, so many buns are born with these problems due to bad breeding and genetics , he may never have eaten hay at all anyway. It is only natural to feel guilt and blame yourself, but try not to let it eat you up, as it will only make you very unhappy, and that isn't good for you or your other buns.

Lots of positive thinking vibes for you and positive vibes for Flopsy and loads of {{{{{hugs}}}}}}
 
Vibes for Flopsy. You seem like such a caring and considerate rabbit owner. No one knows a lot straight away. All my childhood rabbits had unlimited muesli and some hay... we live and learn. You clearly love your beauties - the photos you take of them all reflect that love. Best of luck at the vets. :wave:
 
Update 1st May:

Just an update, went to the vets this evening John checked Flopsy all over and also said how skinny and boney he was. He has really lost a lot of weight :cry:
He listened to him and I believe things were okay there. He also checked his teeth and apparently although there is some change in them he does not think they are the main issue at the moment so there is something else going on which could be really serious. He did mention about possible kidney damage ect.

So Flopsy is going in tomorrow morning for a GA and he will have an xray to see if anything abnormal show's up if nothing shows he will take bloods and when they check his teeth thoroughly under GA they will then decide whether they will need to do a dental or not.

I am so very worried. I just don't know how he will cope with this GA this time especially as he has a suspected underlying problem. I just hope all goes well and I will try my up most to try and avoid him going into stasis. Its going to be hard but hopefully nothing sinister will be found.

But his symptoms so far and his weight loss is a big concern and the symptoms are looking along the lines of kidney problems. We will see what tomorrow will bring.
 
Oh poor Flopsy :( at least he has you looking out for him, and he has one of the best bunny vets treating him :wave: I know how worried you will be tomorrow, I really hope it goes ok. Mega vibes for Flopsy xxx
 
Hi everyone I'm really sorry I didn't update you all before. I thought I had already posted but it obviously hadn't! :oops:

Flopsy is doing great surprisingly! He was eating straight away so obviously the grass and things in his diet has really been helping a lot.

He had the xray and thankfully nothing abnormal was shown. No organ enlargements or tumours ect, all well there. He did have to have to have a dental as he did have some spurs and nasty pegs, John graded his teeth condition 3 out of 5. Even though he had to have a dental apparently the teeth weren't too bad this time. His last dental was beginning of February so 3 months for him isn't too bad.

John did take bloods because the xray came back inconclusive so they had to take the bloods to investigate further. We're still awaiting the blood results, we phoned Anton today and John wasn't working today number should receive the results tomorrow.

I am pretty hopeful that nothing will be found on the bloods as nothing was found on the xray so surely there isn't anything serious going on? Maybe a kidney infection? I just don't know but I'm relieved he's doing really well and eating :D.
 
I've lurked this thread and sent vibes for Flopsy but have been so swamped so unable to post to everything I want to on RU lately. I hope Flopsy will continue to do well and that his bloods will come back okay. :)
 
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