Possible arthritis?

[HazelBun]

Hello all,

My bun Roo has not been herself for a few weeks now. We've been back and forth to the vet but they can't find out what's wrong (unfortunately I live on an island with only one vet practice and I think they are more used to dogs and sheep than rabbits...) so I've come on here to see if anyone else recognises the symptoms.

Roo's background: I can't say for sure how old she is as we adopted her a couple of years ago, but she could be around 6. She wasn't spayed as a baby and the vets up here didn't want to spay an older rabbit. She has had GI a few times since we've had her, only once was bad enough to go to the vet and they did managed to get it under control again. The other times I managed to get her to eat and wiggle about and we shifted it. Not sure what caused the GI. Ordinarily a playful, energetic bun. She's a free roaming house bun too.

A few weeks ago I noticed that she started to do some odd stretching of her lower back and hind legs. She started wanting sleeping more and was stretching a lot more when she woke up. Around the same time she started to walk, or do a little run, rather than hop, out to her litter from the lounge into the hallway. Then her poo started to get really small, although she was still eating normally, and doing the same amount of poo, just smaller. So I took her straight to the vet as I assumed she must be in pain. The vet gave her medicine for GI and painkillers, which didn't seem to do much. They said she was well hydrated and her teeth looked fine. So I went back again a few days later and suggested maybe it was arthritis. They said it definitely isn't arthritis (I don't know why they seemed so sure) and gave her more drugs for GI.

Since then, Roo has definitely improved, but she is still stretching weirdly, she's not cleaning her feet very well after she's been in the litter so she keeps ending up with mucky feet, and she's not eating as much as she used to. She definitely wants to rest more too. I gave her fibreflex for a few days and the poo came back up to a decent size, which is where it's stayed, but she's clearly still uncomfortable. I wouldn't say she's in awful pain, no teeth grinding or anything like that, and she's still doing the occasional flop, purring when she gets head rubs etc. She can reach round and easily eat her cecotrophs too and she still eats nearly everything I give her, but leaves a lot of pellets, preferring grass, hay and greens/herbs.

I wondered if old age had crept up fairly fast given that it's been extra cold up here, or it's arthritis causing a dull pain. More concerning, I'm wondering if it could be something more sinister, like uterine cancer, given that she is an older unspayed female. I'm resisting the vet visit again as I'm not confident that they can help and it's such a stressful situation to put her through if it's to no avail. I've started giving her rabbit joint biscuits from Oxbow and I'm wondering if that is helping ease any inflammation.

If anyone recognises these symptoms or has any thoughts, that would be much appreciated. Thanks.

 

[InspectorMorse]

Sounds like arthritis is a possibility. I would want to try her on Metacam for a few days to see if her symptoms improve. Whilst Uterine Adenocarcinoma is a possibility symptoms , which seldom present until disease is advanced, are usually unexplained weight loss, blood in the urine and increased respiratory rate and effort.

If you are not sure that your current Vet is Rabbit Savvy you could seek a second opinion. The RWAF has a list of Rabbit Savvy Vets

https://rabbitwelfare.co.uk/rabbit-...abbit-friendly-vets/rabbit-friendly-vet-list/

 

[joey&boo]

I agree a trial on metacam would be useful. My old arthritic girl definitely benefitted from those joint support tabs on top of her metacam. She loves heat sources too - very attached to her snuggle safe & radiators. I always feel for people who live so remotely its difficult to see a rabbit savvy vet. Your vet might be happy to refer her case on to a specialist who could suggest what next steps re: diagnostics & treatment. Sending well wishes for Roo

 

[HazelBun]

Thank you both for your answers. Sadly to seek the advice of another vet would mean taking Roo on a ferry to the mainland 4 hours away, and as you can imagine, that's not ideal for her. If I had a rabbit savvy vet anywhere here I would take her in a heartbeat. I can certainly ask the vet if they know of another way to seeking out a specialist!

She was given metacam on the first visit, as a painkiller for possible GI, but she continued to stretch and sit strangely whilst on metacam. Perhaps as you say, it would need to be a few days before we see a difference? Do you know if the vet would need to diagnose something like arthritis in order to prescribe metacam, or could I strongly suggest to them that we trial her on metacam to see if it helps?

 

[joey&boo]

I do appreciate physically getting her to a more experienced rabbit vet would be a mammoth task & not necessarily in Roo's interests since most bunnies don't like travel. It really is common for one vet to consult with a more experienced one, esp with a rabbit or exotic specialism. Did your vet say why they didn't think it was arthritis, was this based on physical assessment or just likelihood at her age? Mousey appeared easy for my vets to diagnose from watching her move & physical exam, feeling her spine. Mouse has never had any diagnostics though. xrays are really useful though as I've recently learnt.

In your shoes i think I'd approach my regular / local vets & explain Roo is my world, I feel like we've hit a dead end but really want to understand more about her stasis episodes, can you refer to XXXX for a second opinion....OR at least ask to trial metacam for 5-7 days to see if things improve. Maybe the stretching & weird sitting is OK? my bunnies are so wonky & old now I've no idea whats normal . How is Roo's appetite, poop & activity now? I think they are key assessment points.

 

[HazelBun]

Thanks for your reply. It's a good point that maybe she's just doing odd stretching and sitting now. I was wracking my brain to think if she'd displayed any odd behaviours before this episode and I think she was doing more odd stretching for a few months prior as I remember thinking about her being a yoga bun! So perhaps there was a build up to it getting bad and I didn't think it was anything unusual.

The vet didn't tell me why she thought Roo doesn't have arthritis, she just said she didn't, wanted to treat her for GI and told me to come back if she doesn't improve and they'll do an x-ray. She also warned me about sedating Roo for the x-ray and that she might not make it through the sedation, which got me very worried too. Again, I think a rabbit savvy vet would be fine to carry out an x-ray, not so sure about here. I also wasn't allowed to go into the practice with Roo, so I didn't get to see what the vet did to assess her. It's a good point, I think I'll suggest to the vet putting her on the floor and watching her walk. I actually showed the vet a video of her tiptoe-ing instead of hopping but she said that was just a sign of pain.

Currently Roo's appetite is absolutely fine, better than it has been for a few weeks now. She's always munching away on everything, and her poo is a bit smaller than it used to be, but not tiny like when the gut really slows down, and all very uniform which of course is a good sign. And there's lots of it, well, the normal amount for a bun! So I'm not too worried about her stomach now. She's also more active than she was, taking more trips out to the litter to sit and have a munch, and investigating and being nosy again. I actually started her on these Pets Purest Joint drops, which I was dubious about in case they upset her tummy, but they seem to be fine and she seems to be responding well by being more active.

Very good suggestions, thank you. I will certainly suggest the vet get a second opinion from a specialist, seems like a reasonable request, or suggest doing a metacam trial instead. So tricky. I rescued her and her mum from a tiny outdoor hutch they'd been in for years to save them from that, but then I hit a barrier with not having the best the care available for them. Roo's mum died because the vets misdiagnosed GI as a worm issue, and treated her for worms, and when I tried to take her back to get more help, they told me to wait a day or two, which of course proved fatal. At the time I was new to bunnies and didn't understand enough about it myself so trusted them. Of course since then, I've tried to make myself as knowledgable as possible, but you can understand why I'm nervous about these vets!

 

[Boots]

It sounds like you're an excellent bunny guardian HazelBun!

A metacam trial sounds like a good idea, as it's very low risk and Roo may really benefit from it. It's a little concerning her poops still aren't right, but tbh I find my girl Illy has variable poops based on moulting season.

 

[HazelBun]

Thank you Boots! That's very kind of you to say, I try my best! Yes I'm keeping a very close eye on the poo, as we bunny humans do!! So I'll be aware of any major changes straight away.

I feel a lot more confident to go back to the vets now thanks to all your suggestions and advice. It's great to have such knowledgable Bun people to help!