neeshkabeesh
Warren Scout
Honey was six years old this year in March and is a rex but she has lost quite a bit of weight so shes very light, I think shes about 2kg-something. She lives in a hutch and run with two other rabbits.
She has been having problems with her back legs for a while, she started dragging them behind her every so often and then began to drag them constantly. She was on Panacur but only for 9 days, but she doesn't have the wet legs or head tilt like they usually do with EC. She was on metacam from 10th March 2008 but it stopped being effective even at the maximum dose as dosed by the vet. The metacam was stopped and I picked up some Rimadyl on 21st May, the vet said to give it only when there were symptoms ie when she was dragging her legs. Shes been on that since 22th May so today is day 17. She needed it about every two days, so had some morning of 22nd May, evening of 24th, morning of 26th, etc. I only gave it to her when she was dragging her legs.
The vet also said I should also try some Cosequin cat which has glucosamine and chondroitin in it and is used for cats with arthritis. I got some of that online by advice from the vet and she was first given some on the morning of the 4th June with Rimadyl because she was dragging her legs, and also morning of 5th June along with more Rimadyl because she was still dragging her legs and shouldn't have been as she'd had Rimadyl the morning before. Yesterday morning (6th June) she was still dragging her feet so I stopped the Cosequin thinking it had something to do with it.
She was still dragging her legs yesterday evening so I gave her more Rimadyl. This morning I have had to give her yet more Rimadyl, and also will probably give some this evening as she is still dragging her legs.
I'm thinking that she will need to be put to sleep, the only trouble is she is eating fine and is very bright. But she is dragging her legs, she can't wash her face and I don't think she is able to eat her caecotrophs direct from her bum. I watched her eat some poo today but it was the normal rabbit poo and not a caecotroph. Also yesterday I saw she seemed to want to scratch her ear, she was tilting her head towards it but couldn't move her leg so I went and wiped out the dead skin from her ears, she really enjoyed it. The hutch is about 6 inches from the ground and so they usually have to jump up it but today I watched her struggle to pull herself up it. She still moves her legs but once her hips have fallen sideways she finds it very difficult to get her back-side to sit properly again, when I saw her getting into the hutch it was a struggle. She seems restless, the other two were just sat munching on hay but Honey was eating then turning around and kept moving around then eating a little bit more.
The vet has never actually seen Honey drag her legs as the last time she went she acted as though she was fine. I have videos on my phone now to show the vet but I think if I take her to the vets with the intention of having her put to sleep I won't be able to contain myself long enough to show the vet that she is dragging her legs when at home. I can't stand the thought of taking her to the vet and then Honey acting like a normal rabbit again and getting turned away from the vets for having a healthy animal.
Is there anything more I can do, or do I have to persuade my vet to kill my seemingly healthy rabbit?
She has been having problems with her back legs for a while, she started dragging them behind her every so often and then began to drag them constantly. She was on Panacur but only for 9 days, but she doesn't have the wet legs or head tilt like they usually do with EC. She was on metacam from 10th March 2008 but it stopped being effective even at the maximum dose as dosed by the vet. The metacam was stopped and I picked up some Rimadyl on 21st May, the vet said to give it only when there were symptoms ie when she was dragging her legs. Shes been on that since 22th May so today is day 17. She needed it about every two days, so had some morning of 22nd May, evening of 24th, morning of 26th, etc. I only gave it to her when she was dragging her legs.
The vet also said I should also try some Cosequin cat which has glucosamine and chondroitin in it and is used for cats with arthritis. I got some of that online by advice from the vet and she was first given some on the morning of the 4th June with Rimadyl because she was dragging her legs, and also morning of 5th June along with more Rimadyl because she was still dragging her legs and shouldn't have been as she'd had Rimadyl the morning before. Yesterday morning (6th June) she was still dragging her feet so I stopped the Cosequin thinking it had something to do with it.
She was still dragging her legs yesterday evening so I gave her more Rimadyl. This morning I have had to give her yet more Rimadyl, and also will probably give some this evening as she is still dragging her legs.
I'm thinking that she will need to be put to sleep, the only trouble is she is eating fine and is very bright. But she is dragging her legs, she can't wash her face and I don't think she is able to eat her caecotrophs direct from her bum. I watched her eat some poo today but it was the normal rabbit poo and not a caecotroph. Also yesterday I saw she seemed to want to scratch her ear, she was tilting her head towards it but couldn't move her leg so I went and wiped out the dead skin from her ears, she really enjoyed it. The hutch is about 6 inches from the ground and so they usually have to jump up it but today I watched her struggle to pull herself up it. She still moves her legs but once her hips have fallen sideways she finds it very difficult to get her back-side to sit properly again, when I saw her getting into the hutch it was a struggle. She seems restless, the other two were just sat munching on hay but Honey was eating then turning around and kept moving around then eating a little bit more.
The vet has never actually seen Honey drag her legs as the last time she went she acted as though she was fine. I have videos on my phone now to show the vet but I think if I take her to the vets with the intention of having her put to sleep I won't be able to contain myself long enough to show the vet that she is dragging her legs when at home. I can't stand the thought of taking her to the vet and then Honey acting like a normal rabbit again and getting turned away from the vets for having a healthy animal.
Is there anything more I can do, or do I have to persuade my vet to kill my seemingly healthy rabbit?