My bunny has renal failure

[elcampbell79]

Hello there,

My 3 year old rescue bunny developed anorexia very acutely last week, the vets took tests and said likely renal failure and the results are not good atall. I’m assuming it is e cuniculi as my other rabbit has this 5 months ago. The tests results for the disease are due in, in a few days. He is very thin but his appetite remains good, other than a little weakness he’s running round and eating as usual. But the way the vet spoke to me regarding his tests, seemed to feel putting him to sleep will happen over the next few weeks. He is now on Panacur and moxicam and baytril. I’m feeding him lots of leafy wet veg, pushing fluids. Will he just slowly go downhill, is there any hope he can recover, or should I tell myself that’s it? Clearly the blood results must have shown irreversible kidney damage and high levels of white blood cells. Can some bunnies come back from this? It’s really hard to know he’s going but seems ok for now. I guess just make the most of the time. Can his time be made made comfortable and or extended through any treatments? I was so fastidious about cage cleaning after my other bun, but feeling guilty as he’s so young and I didn’t catch this at the beginning. Just sharing thoughts, in case anyone has experience. Many Thanks

 

[InspectorMorse]

Meloxicam and other NSAIDS are usually contraindicated when the Rabbit is in Chronic Renal failure. I would discuss this with the prescribing vet ASAP to establish why they have prescribed it.

Chronic renal failure cannot be cured, but there are some treatments that can help support renal function and possibly buy the Rabbit a bit more time. Treatments might include an ACE inhibitor eg Benazepril to reduce blood pressure and take some of the work load from the kidneys, an ANABOLIC steroid ( NOT a corticosteroid) which can minimise muscle wastage, fluid therapy- fluids given IV or subcutaneously aswell as oral fluids, Vitamin B12 injections, dietary modification.

 

[joey&boo]

I'm sorry to hear your bunny has been diagnosed with renal failure. Unfortunately his kidneys won't recover, but there is the possibility with good supportive care he can have a good quality of life for months yet. While he is happy & active I say no need to put to sleep.

I've some experience from several years ago. My bun was under a rabbit savvy vet. His only meds were metacam (dose titrated down as is advised when they have kidney problems) & lots & lots of syringe feeding. He did try steroids which didn't have an imact in his case. Fortunately he loved fresh forage & herbs. I managed to mainly keep his weight stable but he remained skinny. He really didn't like dry foods at all (including hay)

I've a very long thread I made about him. When he was PTS I changed the thread title from "awaiting Rudeys tests results"
https://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/index.php?threads/sweet-dreams-rudey.477891/

You're obviously a very caring owner - sending your bun lots of well wishes. I really don't think you need to make any hard decisions just yet. My vet main priority is how bunny presents (at home) & I like this approach

 

[bunny momma]

Sending your bunny lots of positive vibes.

 

[elcampbell79]

Meloxicam and other NSAIDS are usually contraindicated when the Rabbit is in Chronic Renal failure. I would discuss this with the prescribing vet ASAP to establish why they have prescribed it.

Chronic renal failure cannot be cured, but there are some treatments that can help support renal function and possibly buy the Rabbit a bit more time. Treatments might include an ACE inhibitor eg Benazepril to reduce blood pressure and take some of the work load from the kidneys, an ANABOLIC steroid ( NOT a corticosteroid) which can minimise muscle wastage, fluid therapy- fluids given IV or subcutaneously aswell as oral fluids, Vitamin B12 injections, dietary modification.

Thankyou so much Inspector Morse, much appreciated, I was wondering about other treatments such as these and will put this to my vet. They are savvy, that’s why I took my original bun to them, however I just had to guess it was renal failure as his levels were apparently very high , so I would like more clarification. My other female bun had this 5 months ago, & her kidneys were affected but they haven’t said anything more about her. She seems to have recovered but wets herself frequently, do I assume the levels were not as bad as his? At the time she showed CNS affects but he hasn’t had this, instead kidneys are mainly affected. The messages here at least give me some hope he may go on for weeks or months. It just seems so sad he’s only young! Thankyou again

 

[elcampbell79]

I'm sorry to hear your bunny has been diagnosed with renal failure. Unfortunately his kidneys won't recover, but there is the possibility with good supportive care he can have a good quality of life for months yet. While he is happy & active I say no need to put to sleep.

I've some experience from several years ago. My bun was under a rabbit savvy vet. His only meds were metacam (dose titrated down as is advised when they have kidney problems) & lots & lots of syringe feeding. He did try steroids which didn't have an imact in his case. Fortunately he loved fresh forage & herbs. I managed to mainly keep his weight stable but he remained skinny. He really didn't like dry foods at all (including hay)

I've a very long thread I made about him. When he was PTS I changed the thread title from "awaiting Rudeys tests results"
https://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/index.php?threads/sweet-dreams-rudey.477891/

You're obviously a very caring owner - sending your bun lots of well wishes. I really don't think you need to make any hard decisions just yet. My vet main priority is how bunny presents (at home) & I like this approach

Thankyou so much for your kind reply and sharing your experience with your lovely bunny, I’m sorry you lost him to this, but it sounds like he had a lovely life and you enjoyed him very much! I am of course very caring and would do anything for my bunnies (and cats!). The vet seemed vague as we’re awaiting test for e cuniculi but I’m assuming it is as my other female bun was affected in October, the vets said at the time her kidneys were affected but I’m assuming clearly not as bad?? She had head tilt and was rolling now recovered. Both affected bunnies are skinny so as u say hopefully I can feed him up, he likes everything & his appetite is not a problem! I am syringing water, low dose moxicam and will find out about a steroid and IV. Given the vets said that his prognosis was poor I’ll assume kidney failure as levels were bad, not sure if there is any chance he’ll recover? And why he was affected more than my other female. I was so fastidious with cleaning too, can’t believe it’s been passed around. I have one other unaffected currently. Awful disease. Thankyou so much for your advice and we’ll wishes. How is your remaining bunny doing now? Did u get any others? Ellie

 

[InspectorMorse]

Thankyou so much for your kind reply and sharing your experience with your lovely bunny, I’m sorry you lost him to this, but it sounds like he had a lovely life and you enjoyed him very much! I am of course very caring and would do anything for my bunnies (and cats!). The vet seemed vague as we’re awaiting test for e cuniculi but I’m assuming it is as my other female bun was affected in October, the vets said at the time her kidneys were affected but I’m assuming clearly not as bad?? She had head tilt and was rolling now recovered. Both affected bunnies are skinny so as u say hopefully I can feed him up, he likes everything & his appetite is not a problem! I am syringing water, low dose moxicam and will find out about a steroid and IV. Given the vets said that his prognosis was poor I’ll assume kidney failure as levels were bad, not sure if there is any chance he’ll recover? And why he was affected more than my other female. I was so fastidious with cleaning too, can’t believe it’s been passed around. I have one other unaffected currently. Awful disease. Thankyou so much for your advice and we’ll wishes. How is your remaining bunny doing now? Did u get any others? Ellie

Re the steroids, just to emphasise I mean an ANABOLIC Steroid, not a corticosteroid. So when you ask the Vet make sure you are clear about that. If you just say ‘would steroids help’ the Vet will probably say ‘no’ as he/she will probably think that you are referring to a corticosteroid.

 

[joey&boo]

Thankyou so much for your kind reply and sharing your experience with your lovely bunny, I’m sorry you lost him to this, but it sounds like he had a lovely life and you enjoyed him very much! I am of course very caring and would do anything for my bunnies (and cats!). The vet seemed vague as we’re awaiting test for e cuniculi but I’m assuming it is as my other female bun was affected in October, the vets said at the time her kidneys were affected but I’m assuming clearly not as bad?? She had head tilt and was rolling now recovered. Both affected bunnies are skinny so as u say hopefully I can feed him up, he likes everything & his appetite is not a problem! I am syringing water, low dose moxicam and will find out about a steroid and IV. Given the vets said that his prognosis was poor I’ll assume kidney failure as levels were bad, not sure if there is any chance he’ll recover? And why he was affected more than my other female. I was so fastidious with cleaning too, can’t believe it’s been passed around. I have one other unaffected currently. Awful disease. Thankyou so much for your advice and we’ll wishes. How is your remaining bunny doing now? Did u get any others? Ellie

Aww by your other bun you mean Rudey's partner? She was PTS perhaps 18 months after his demise - but she was an older bun, rescue of estimated age, 11+. Some buns don't appear to be susceptible. I had a lovely bun,joey, who was husband to Noodle, Boo (& as trio with Mouse) - the girls all had EC but no evidence it impacted on him. on vet advice I do a 10 day treatment on all buns in my household, kinda every 12-16 weeks but tied in with what I know might be stressful (a trip to vets for instance, our savvy vet is an hour+ away).

As I understand it, recovery isn't really possible. The kidneys have lost 70+ plus function before anything shows on their blood results. I'm a big advocate of reading your rabbit though, he's happy regardless of his blood results. I write a list of what I think makes my bunnies life better...just cos I know when subtle changes appear over time its more difficult to keep focus. I've only 2 buns now. One has a history of Ec, she's blind, deaf & arthritic. On paper that sounds terrible but she is so chilled out...she loves her food, her toyboy, her human loves, snuggling in her hugger beds...I genuinely believe she is happy...but I've put a template in my diary to make sure I review her regularly

Yeah I got another, my old arthritic, blind & deaf bun needed a friend ..more than most, cos of her disabilities. She has a toyboy they are besotted with each other

Its difficult knowing your bun won't reach the old age you'd hoped for them Please keep us update on your bunnys journey - it'd be nice to support you along the way