nap91
Mama Doe
Hi everyone,
I recently joined the forum and have been browsing for a while. Finally decided to post as I'm just feeling so fed up!
I have two house rabbits, both rescues, 3 year old Snowy and 8 month old Phillip. They're currently in the process of being bonded and are both neutered/spayed.
Here is Phillip:
Anyway, a few months back, Phillip started drinking a lot more than usual and consequently weeing a lot too. I didn't think too much of it at first as he's always drunk/weed quite a lot since we got him at just over 3 months old. Then he started leaving clear wet urine patches all over the carpet, whenever he stopped or sat down. He was also sneezing quite a bit.
I took him to the vets, a urine test was done and he was found to have a urine infection. He was treated with a course of Baytril but went into stasis after 5 days, so was taken off the antibiotic. A few days after he'd recovered from the stasis, he was still sneezing and struggling for breath a little so back to the vets. He was put under GA and had lots of X-rays and swabs. He was found to have bacteria in his nose, and also suspected hay fever(!) Because of the suspected reaction to Baytril last time, he was given 10 day course of injectable antibiotics, can't remember the name, and also put on daily Piriton. He's completely recovered from that now, and just has Piriton as and when he needs it. The drinking/weeing had gone back to normal at this point.
Fast forward another month or so, and he started leaking on the carpet again, as well as drinking/weeing a lot more. Took him back to the vets (not my normal one as this was a bank holiday weekend) and they did another urine test and bacteria was found again. He was put on Baytril for 14 days and given gut meds alongside to prevent stasis. He was fine with no reactions this time, and everything seemed to clear up once more. We also did a 9 day course of Panacur just in case. I cut out high calcium greens, and he was put on bottled water, as our water is very hard.
A month after that, the symptoms returned. After scouring the internet, I tried giving him pure cranberry juice. Also did a 28 day course of Panacur. This seemed to stop the leaking for a few days but then it came back. Took him to our normal vet - who is fantastic, by the way - and she did another urine test. Results were slightly abnormal so were sent off to the lab for further testing and to make sure he wasn't resistant to any antibiotics. This came back completely clear. Phillip then had a full blood test to rule out kidney problems, diabetes, etc. Again, came back completely normal, and the calcium levels were very low for a rabbit, which showed the diet was working.
So that takes us to now. The vet said he's a very healthy bunny and perhaps he just has a low grade form of non-bacterial cystitis, so he's now on 0.43ml daily Metacam to see if that helps. That started on Saturday and he stopped leaking...until this evening, when wet patches have appeared on the carpet again.
I'm tearing my hair out because I just don't know what to do from this point. We're half way through the year in terms of his pet insurance and I've already used up half the allowance! Nevermind the constant trips to the vet and the stress that comes with all that. He's a happy, healthy bunny with a brilliant appetite aside from this, so it just seems so strange.
Does anyone have any ideas/can offer any help?
I recently joined the forum and have been browsing for a while. Finally decided to post as I'm just feeling so fed up!
I have two house rabbits, both rescues, 3 year old Snowy and 8 month old Phillip. They're currently in the process of being bonded and are both neutered/spayed.
Here is Phillip:
Anyway, a few months back, Phillip started drinking a lot more than usual and consequently weeing a lot too. I didn't think too much of it at first as he's always drunk/weed quite a lot since we got him at just over 3 months old. Then he started leaving clear wet urine patches all over the carpet, whenever he stopped or sat down. He was also sneezing quite a bit.
I took him to the vets, a urine test was done and he was found to have a urine infection. He was treated with a course of Baytril but went into stasis after 5 days, so was taken off the antibiotic. A few days after he'd recovered from the stasis, he was still sneezing and struggling for breath a little so back to the vets. He was put under GA and had lots of X-rays and swabs. He was found to have bacteria in his nose, and also suspected hay fever(!) Because of the suspected reaction to Baytril last time, he was given 10 day course of injectable antibiotics, can't remember the name, and also put on daily Piriton. He's completely recovered from that now, and just has Piriton as and when he needs it. The drinking/weeing had gone back to normal at this point.
Fast forward another month or so, and he started leaking on the carpet again, as well as drinking/weeing a lot more. Took him back to the vets (not my normal one as this was a bank holiday weekend) and they did another urine test and bacteria was found again. He was put on Baytril for 14 days and given gut meds alongside to prevent stasis. He was fine with no reactions this time, and everything seemed to clear up once more. We also did a 9 day course of Panacur just in case. I cut out high calcium greens, and he was put on bottled water, as our water is very hard.
A month after that, the symptoms returned. After scouring the internet, I tried giving him pure cranberry juice. Also did a 28 day course of Panacur. This seemed to stop the leaking for a few days but then it came back. Took him to our normal vet - who is fantastic, by the way - and she did another urine test. Results were slightly abnormal so were sent off to the lab for further testing and to make sure he wasn't resistant to any antibiotics. This came back completely clear. Phillip then had a full blood test to rule out kidney problems, diabetes, etc. Again, came back completely normal, and the calcium levels were very low for a rabbit, which showed the diet was working.
So that takes us to now. The vet said he's a very healthy bunny and perhaps he just has a low grade form of non-bacterial cystitis, so he's now on 0.43ml daily Metacam to see if that helps. That started on Saturday and he stopped leaking...until this evening, when wet patches have appeared on the carpet again.
I'm tearing my hair out because I just don't know what to do from this point. We're half way through the year in terms of his pet insurance and I've already used up half the allowance! Nevermind the constant trips to the vet and the stress that comes with all that. He's a happy, healthy bunny with a brilliant appetite aside from this, so it just seems so strange.
Does anyone have any ideas/can offer any help?
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