One bun ill, other not, both at vets but separated, should they be together??

[pyates]

My prescious older female bun Grace (7-8 yrs? I'm not sure, had her myself for 7 years as a rescue rabbit) has been gradually eating less hay and producing less droppings over a period of a few weeks now. For the past week I've been self-medicating with emeprid and loxicom hoping it was a touch of gut stasis but it hasn't improved at all. So we went to the vets yesterday together with her bonded male. They looked in her mouth and noticed sharp spurs on the teeth and I was so relieved that it might not be as serious as I had feared. So the op was done late yesterday afternoon and she has been on the usual recovery feed and injections. But progress has been very slow and even now more than 24 hours later she has barely eaten anything and very few droppings. I'm now really worried again that its something more sinister than her teeth. To make matters worse, her bonded male is not physically with her, but in a pen next door. The vet says they can see and smell each other but they want to keep them apart to monitor eating and droppings. I can understand the logic, but.....

My gut instinct is that if they were physically together she would get a lot of comfort from that and it might help her recover, if that's possible, or at least make her more comfortable. I could tell their droppings apart easily, Grace's have become smaller and darker over the past few weeks. I'm on the verge of calling the vets back tonight to plead with them / instruct them to put them together again. What do you think?

 

[Shimmer]

I tend to go on gut feeling. You know your rabbits best. There are advantages to keeping them separate for being able to monitor input & output - but not if it makes the poorly rabbit unhappy so they won't eat. I would keep up with the syringe feeds as well. Anything she eats on her own at the moment is a bonus.

If you put them back together, just make sure they are still OK - sometimes a poorly bun gets attacked by their partner as they are 'different'.

Has she got some daily oral pain relief? It can make a huge difference to appetite.

 

[InspectorMorse]

If the sick Rabbit has a cannula in her ear and an IV line she is likely to need to be caged separately as the other Rabbit might pull out or chew the IV line.

Also, for future reference unless instructed to by a Vet who has examined the Rabbit it is safer not to self medicate an anorexic Rabbit. If the Rabbit is not eating and has minimal output a full GI tract obstruction needs to be ruled out. Giving prokinetics to an obstructed Rabbit can be fatal. Also, a Rabbit can go into gut stasis for a number of reasons and trying to identify the cause, eg Dental problems, at the earliest opportunity makes for a better prognosis. If a Rabbit has a GA for a Dental whilst their GI tract motility is already seriously compromised recovery from the GA is likely to be significantly more protracted.

I hope that your Doe is doing better this morning.

 

[pyates]

Thanks for the good advice. I've just had the dreaded call from the vet and they've found a large swelling on Grace's jaw which is either a serious infection or a tumour. Either way they feel its untreatable, so the advice is PTS before things get any worse. Needless to say I'm absolutely distraught and can't quite believe it. I've had Grace for 7 years as a rescue rabbit when she was found casually wondering down a busy street in Consett. Theory is she had escaped from her owner's garden as she was quite comfortable with humans. nobody came forward to claim her though. She could have been several years old at that point I suppose. She had an amazing character, quite firm and assertive, but loving and funny and very clever. I'll miss her immensely and must now look for a female mate for my Oscar. RIP Gracie, lots of love and hugs always darling.

 

[Shimmer]

So sorry.

 

[InspectorMorse]

Very sorry for your loss

 

[CarelessSquid07]

I'm so sorry x

Sent from my SM-A705FN using Tapatalk

 

[joey&boo]

I'm sorry you lost your bunny x

 

[a reader of books]

I'm so, so sorry you and Oscar are having to say goodbye to Grace. She sounds like she was a really wonderful bunny.

 

[Omi]

I'm so very sorry

 

[Zoobec]

I’m so sorry thinking of you and Oscar xx

 

[pyates]

Thanks everyone for all the kind words. Gracie really was the most amazing bun. Always one step ahead of me, so clever. And an escape artist, she was a stray, and once settled in my place she could easily jump on top of the garden wall at the back of the house and despite my protestations she would just look at me, then flippantly jump down the other side anyway. Five minutes later she would have run around to the front of the house and be waiting at the gate to be let in. 'Little madam' I used to call her. But she wasn't just head strong, she was so loving and affectionate with it. She was also ever so mildly crazy. Lots of binkys, random unexplained twists and jumps, even a week ago when I could tell something wasn't quite right she still had a few mad spells in the garden. She lived life to the full.

Oscar is back from the vets now. He seems a little unsure which is to be expected. He had one eye surgically removed just before I adopted him and so every little detail can be disturbing for him. For added worry he's also a bit deaf. But he's been out in the garden tonight with me for about 2 hours getting to know his home again and generally grazing, weeding and running. I have a couple of lady adoption options to consider but hope to get something sorted sooner rather than later. In the meantime I'm going to spoil him rotten with love and activity.

I would love to post pics of my darlings but don't seem to be able to.

 

[InspectorMorse]

Thanks everyone for all the kind words. Gracie really was the most amazing bun. Always one step ahead of me, so clever. And an escape artist, she was a stray, and once settled in my place she could easily jump on top of the garden wall at the back of the house and despite my protestations she would just look at me, then flippantly jump down the other side anyway. Five minutes later she would have run around to the front of the house and be waiting at the gate to be let in. 'Little madam' I used to call her. But she wasn't just head strong, she was so loving and affectionate with it. She was also ever so mildly crazy. Lots of binkys, random unexplained twists and jumps, even a week ago when I could tell something wasn't quite right she still had a few mad spells in the garden. She lived life to the full.

Oscar is back from the vets now. He seems a little unsure which is to be expected. He had one eye surgically removed just before I adopted him and so every little detail can be disturbing for him. For added worry he's also a bit deaf. But he's been out in the garden tonight with me for about 2 hours getting to know his home again and generally grazing, weeding and running. I have a couple of lady adoption options to consider but hope to get something sorted sooner rather than later. In the meantime I'm going to spoil him rotten with love and activity.

I would love to post pics of my darlings but don't seem to be able to.

This thread might help you post photos

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?475766-Tutorial-How-to-Post-Photos

 

[a reader of books]

Thanks everyone for all the kind words. Gracie really was the most amazing bun. Always one step ahead of me, so clever. And an escape artist, she was a stray, and once settled in my place she could easily jump on top of the garden wall at the back of the house and despite my protestations she would just look at me, then flippantly jump down the other side anyway. Five minutes later she would have run around to the front of the house and be waiting at the gate to be let in. 'Little madam' I used to call her. But she wasn't just head strong, she was so loving and affectionate with it. She was also ever so mildly crazy. Lots of binkys, random unexplained twists and jumps, even a week ago when I could tell something wasn't quite right she still had a few mad spells in the garden. She lived life to the full.

Oscar is back from the vets now. He seems a little unsure which is to be expected. He had one eye surgically removed just before I adopted him and so every little detail can be disturbing for him. For added worry he's also a bit deaf. But he's been out in the garden tonight with me for about 2 hours getting to know his home again and generally grazing, weeding and running. I have a couple of lady adoption options to consider but hope to get something sorted sooner rather than later. In the meantime I'm going to spoil him rotten with love and activity.

I would love to post pics of my darlings but don't seem to be able to.

Aww, she sounds like she was such a smart, loving, happy bunny. Thank you for telling us about her. I'm amazed that she would jump over the garden wall and go around the house to wait at the gate! That's so clever. Sounds like Oscar might feel a little lost without Gracie's support, though I'm glad he had some garden time last night. I hope you and Oscar can find a new friend for him soon. Spoiling him rotten in the meantime is a great idea. I'd love to see pictures of Gracie and Oscar, so I hope the thread IM linked to will help you post them.