Kidney stone help please!

Boudicca said:

:lol: I was sort of, but not really, in disguise LOL

Thank you for the vibes we definitely need them!!

Our little lady has been back to the vet and on the way there there her head was at a bit of a strange angle and the first signs of some nystagmus, which was a bit of a blow, reckon EC is catching up with her in her weakened state or maybe the cause of the kidney issues?!?

My partner managed to ‘catch’ a wee sample but it didn’t show obvious UTI, but then it was a small sample and quite clear because of hydration etc our vet also checked protein levels for potentially using Fortekor but decided against that for now! She pondered giving a dose of sulfatrim for a potential UTI but opted for a slow release injection of engemycin as she thought in the big scheme of things that would be better alongside some panacur.

This may seem very futile for an older bun BUT until this she never acted like an older bunny, to the point we believed her medical history from the rescue was wrong!! She also still has periods of being very bright and runs into the kitchen to be with us if we leave the lounge. Today she has ploughed through several large handfuls of fresh grass... which is apparently so much tastier than every other veg and herb that Sainso has to offer :roll::lol: it is not her time just yet!! If a miracle happens and she picks up Iain Cope is primed and ready for the referral!!

My partner Ellie has been messaging Parsnipbun (Twigs) and we owe her a massive debt of gratitude, her advice has been invaluable the second new events unfold!

Click to expand...

So glad you managed to contact Twigs. I am friends with her on FB so I was going to give her a nudge if you hadn't. Sorry to hear that Gracie is now displaying neurological symptoms. I expect the Vet held off on the Fortekor as it can have a dramatic effect on the blood pressure. I dont think a plummeting BP would be great for Gracie right now. I really hope that she can remain as well as possible within herself for as long as possible, with or without Surgery xx

Boudicca said:

:lol: I was sort of, but not really, in disguise LOL

Thank you for the vibes we definitely need them!!

Our little lady has been back to the vet and on the way there there her head was at a bit of a strange angle and the first signs of some nystagmus, which was a bit of a blow, reckon EC is catching up with her in her weakened state or maybe the cause of the kidney issues?!?

My partner managed to ‘catch’ a wee sample but it didn’t show obvious UTI, but then it was a small sample and quite clear because of hydration etc our vet also checked protein levels for potentially using Fortekor but decided against that for now! She pondered giving a dose of sulfatrim for a potential UTI but opted for a slow release injection of engemycin as she thought in the big scheme of things that would be better alongside some panacur.

This may seem very futile for an older bun BUT until this she never acted like an older bunny, to the point we believed her medical history from the rescue was wrong!! She also still has periods of being very bright and runs into the kitchen to be with us if we leave the lounge. Today she has ploughed through several large handfuls of fresh grass... which is apparently so much tastier than every other veg and herb that Sainso has to offer :roll::lol: it is not her time just yet!! If a miracle happens and she picks up Iain Cope is primed and ready for the referral!!

My partner Ellie has been messaging Parsnipbun (Twigs) and we owe her a massive debt of gratitude, her advice has been invaluable the second new events unfold!

Click to expand...

I am so glad you've caught up with Twigs, she's a great person to know, with immense knowledge of rabbit medicine

I'm sorry to hear about the head tilt/nystagmus and hope that you and your vet can see a way forward through this.
With Iain Cope on side you have a great team lined up!

I really hope she remains well in herself, that's the important thing, and that you have enough support to take some of the worry off your shoulders.

Ongoing vibes!

Hi! Hadn't realised you were having problems with Gracie. Really hope you get somewhere soon.

I was just at the vets myself. Surprised I didn't run into you, by the sounds of things!

She’s been quite perky today no more signs of head tilt and eye movement?! I keep expecting it to happen again, could it have been like a very small stroke or something?

She’s very much into fresh grass at the moment supplemented with a few fresh dandy leaves I managed to find

Twigs is utterly brilliant, I just love her bunny days. I’ve done the forage day twice and the rabbit gardening one and the tea party she had last year

Sarah, our appointment was 4.30pm yesterday! We are back in on Thursday 12.30 for Sam to re-assess and potentially another long lasting abx shot! You might not recognise me now anyway with this crazy hair regrowth (the wrong colour and wavy :shock: and excess weight, I don’t even recognise myself in the mirror anymore LOL

Boudicca said:

She’s been quite perky today no more signs of head tilt and eye movement?! I keep expecting it to happen again, could it have been like a very small stroke or something?

She’s very much into fresh grass at the moment supplemented with a few fresh dandy leaves I managed to find

Twigs is utterly brilliant, I just love her bunny days. I’ve done the forage day twice and the rabbit gardening one and the tea party she had last year

Sarah, our appointment was 4.30pm yesterday! We are back in on Thursday 12.30 for Sam to re-assess and potentially another long lasting abx shot! You might not recognise me now anyway with this crazy hair regrowth (the wrong colour and wavy :shock: and excess weight, I don’t even recognise myself in the mirror anymore LOL

Click to expand...

Good news that no more vestibular symptoms are evident and I hope Gracie continues to remain bright within herself

Boudicca said:

She’s been quite perky today no more signs of head tilt and eye movement?! I keep expecting it to happen again, could it have been like a very small stroke or something?

She’s very much into fresh grass at the moment supplemented with a few fresh dandy leaves I managed to find

Twigs is utterly brilliant, I just love her bunny days. I’ve done the forage day twice and the rabbit gardening one and the tea party she had last year

Sarah, our appointment was 4.30pm yesterday! We are back in on Thursday 12.30 for Sam to re-assess and potentially another long lasting abx shot! You might not recognise me now anyway with this crazy hair regrowth (the wrong colour and wavy :shock: and excess weight, I don’t even recognise myself in the mirror anymore LOL

Click to expand...

Regards the head tilt and eye movement, sometimes this can happen in rabbits as in humans - a temporary movement of fluid within the ear canal. I am glad she is perky and I hope she remains well in herself

Visiting Twigs' house is a real treat! I love her forage and gardening days, and meeting all her rabbits was just pure pleasure.
A great lady indeed

That's good news. Here's hoping it's just a one-off.

I'll look out for you next time I'm at the vets! :wave: It's not so great when we are all trying to book an appointment with the same vet, of course. :lol:

Hi folks!

Gracie was much brighter, Mon night and all day Tuesday! It’s since tapered off so now we are wondering if she does have an infection and it was the abx injection which made the difference! Her vet said it was a long acting one, but stupidly I didn’t ask a) how much engemycin she’d administered and b) when she’s need another one arrrrgh!! I tried googling and it said it should be administered intramuscular but obvs wasn’t talking about bunnehs! Gracie received hers into the scruff of her neck. Twigs also made the comment that horizontal nystagmus is often more indicative of vestibular bacterial infection rather than neurological issues! Gracie had a another little episode last night she pulls her head to the left and, reading FHBs book, this could be suggesting the infection is in her left ear! We could be grasping at straws but could the kidney stone have been a bit of a red herring? Her renal function was showing as impaired but maybe it’s not the main issue?!

When buns get head tilt, can it come on gradually or does it generally happen quickly and stay tilted?!

We are back at the vets again at 12.30 and may ask for that referral to Iain!

Best of luck for later x

Poor little thing developed the head tilt and nystagmus again on the way to the vet! So maybe stress or ear infection and car motion brings the symptom on! Despite ploughing her way through grass she’s lost some weight 1.68kg :-( she’s had another shot of engemycin two see if she picks up again! The vet looked at the X-ray to see if they’d captured the ears but that part was a bit blurry so inconclusive! She’s messaged William Lewis to ask advice and she is also going to phone Iain Cope. We go back on Saturday to hear what the specialists have said!

Boudicca said:

Poor little thing developed the head tilt and nystagmus again on the way to the vet! So maybe stress or ear infection and car motion brings the symptom on! Despite ploughing her way through grass she’s lost some weight 1.68kg :-( she’s had another shot of engemycin two see if she picks up again! The vet looked at the X-ray to see if they’d captured the ears but that part was a bit blurry so inconclusive! She’s messaged William Lewis to ask advice and she is also going to phone Iain Cope. We go back on Saturday to hear what the specialists have said!

Click to expand...

Being move certainly can exacerbate vestibular problems, so that is probably why the journey to the Vet caused her symptoms to return. Often a CT scan is needed to get a good view of what is going on in the middle/inner ear.

I really hope that the abx injection helps to keep her stable until you hear back from the Specialists x

Boudicca said:

Hi folks!

Gracie was much brighter, Mon night and all day Tuesday! It’s since tapered off so now we are wondering if she does have an infection and it was the abx injection which made the difference! Her vet said it was a long acting one, but stupidly I didn’t ask a) how much engemycin she’d administered and b) when she’s need another one arrrrgh!! I tried googling and it said it should be administered intramuscular but obvs wasn’t talking about bunnehs! Gracie received hers into the scruff of her neck. Twigs also made the comment that horizontal nystagmus is often more indicative of vestibular bacterial infection rather than neurological issues! Gracie had a another little episode last night she pulls her head to the left and, reading FHBs book, this could be suggesting the infection is in her left ear! We could be grasping at straws but could the kidney stone have been a bit of a red herring? Her renal function was showing as impaired but maybe it’s not the main issue?!

When buns get head tilt, can it come on gradually or does it generally happen quickly and stay tilted?!

We are back at the vets again at 12.30 and may ask for that referral to Iain!

Click to expand...

Hi - sorry I didn't get to your post earlier.

I've found the direction of the nystagmus isn't always helpful in diagnosis. I know that Twigs has always said that a CT scan is the way forward with a possible ear infection, though some vets prefer to use X-rays.

Regards the head tilt - it all depends on what's causing the tilt. I've had rabbits where the tilt has disappeared, and other where it's continued.

https://rabbit.org/journal/3-8/head-tilt.html

Evenin’ well!! Gracie deteriorated rather than picking up after the abx sooo, we couldn’t wait until Saturday, we both took
the day off and got her in to see Iain! We saw one of the other vets first, Helen, who was really lovely and then Iain took a look!

Iain is lovely and fantastic!!!

Gracie has been given another 48hrs to pick up on different meds! Iain said her movement was stiff in her back and he spotted a significant issue with her spine on the X-ray spondylosis and one of her vertebrae was significantly enlarged, could be a tumour hard to tell in X-ray, but obviously causing significant pain. Tremadol and metacam have been stopped and switched to Gabapentin. Her kidney is also enlarged and mishapen, also potentially a tumour but not obvious. The kidney stone is small but could still cause pain along with some cysts! Bloods were redone and kidney levels had improved slightly but liver function now elevated, again could be liver mets or just the result of all she’s going through! He’s added in cisipride and removed Metaclop and also added in vivitonin. Still going with panacur as can’t rule out EC and the potential for it to flair up anyway as she is poorly. The head tilt and nystagmus could be brain mets Helen even mentioned possibly caused by the Tremadol?!

So if she picks up and her appetite increases etc we will then look to wean her off some of the meds except for a few essential ones and see how we go! If she doesn’t improve we have to let her go! What I can report is... since we got home she has improved somewhat!!! she has eaten some kale, carrot, a raspberry and a nibble of forage and hay!! She has also bounded off to the kitchen and is currently out there with Ellie who is making some critical care up... it ain’t over yet!!!! ��

The enlarged vertebrae can’t believe I didn’t see it after doing the FHB courses!!


Life with a poorly bunster, Ellie has been sleeping on the floor with her, this was caught in bunny cam in the early hours!!

Aww... what a drama. Glad it was a worthwhile trip, although I'm sorry it wasn't better news. I really hope you have her for longer.

That photo is so cute.

Boudicca said:

Evenin’ well!! Gracie deteriorated rather than picking up after the abx sooo, we couldn’t wait until Saturday, we both took
the day off and got her in to see Iain! We saw one of the other vets first, Helen, who was really lovely and then Iain took a look!

Iain is lovely and fantastic!!!

Gracie has been given another 48hrs to pick up on different meds! Iain said her movement was stiff in her back and he spotted a significant issue with her spine on the X-ray spondylosis and one of her vertebrae was significantly enlarged, could be a tumour hard to tell in X-ray, but obviously causing significant pain. Tremadol and metacam have been stopped and switched to Gabapentin. Her kidney is also enlarged and mishapen, also potentially a tumour but not obvious. The kidney stone is small but could still cause pain along with some cysts! Bloods were redone and kidney levels had improved slightly but liver function now elevated, again could be liver mets or just the result of all she’s going through! He’s added in cisipride and removed Metaclop and also added in vivitonin. Still going with panacur as can’t rule out EC and the potential for it to flair up anyway as she is poorly. The head tilt and nystagmus could be brain mets Helen even mentioned possibly caused by the Tremadol?!

So if she picks up and her appetite increases etc we will then look to wean her off some of the meds except for a few essential ones and see how we go! If she doesn’t improve we have to let her go! What I can report is... since we got home she has improved somewhat!!! she has eaten some kale, carrot, a raspberry and a nibble of forage and hay!! She has also bounded off to the kitchen and is currently out there with Ellie who is making some critical care up... it ain’t over yet!!!! ��

The enlarged vertebrae can’t believe I didn’t see it after doing the FHB courses!!


Life with a poorly bunster, Ellie has been sleeping on the floor with her, this was caught in bunny cam in the early hours!!

Click to expand...

Poor little Bun I really hope that the new Meds will enable her to feel more comfortable. Sending millions of vibes xx

Sending loads of vibes for Gracie. I hope that she can improve.

Boudicca said:

Evenin’ well!! Gracie deteriorated rather than picking up after the abx sooo, we couldn’t wait until Saturday, we both took
the day off and got her in to see Iain! We saw one of the other vets first, Helen, who was really lovely and then Iain took a look!

Iain is lovely and fantastic!!!

Gracie has been given another 48hrs to pick up on different meds! Iain said her movement was stiff in her back and he spotted a significant issue with her spine on the X-ray spondylosis and one of her vertebrae was significantly enlarged, could be a tumour hard to tell in X-ray, but obviously causing significant pain. Tremadol and metacam have been stopped and switched to Gabapentin. Her kidney is also enlarged and mishapen, also potentially a tumour but not obvious. The kidney stone is small but could still cause pain along with some cysts! Bloods were redone and kidney levels had improved slightly but liver function now elevated, again could be liver mets or just the result of all she’s going through! He’s added in cisipride and removed Metaclop and also added in vivitonin. Still going with panacur as can’t rule out EC and the potential for it to flair up anyway as she is poorly. The head tilt and nystagmus could be brain mets Helen even mentioned possibly caused by the Tremadol?!

So if she picks up and her appetite increases etc we will then look to wean her off some of the meds except for a few essential ones and see how we go! If she doesn’t improve we have to let her go! What I can report is... since we got home she has improved somewhat!!! she has eaten some kale, carrot, a raspberry and a nibble of forage and hay!! She has also bounded off to the kitchen and is currently out there with Ellie who is making some critical care up... it ain’t over yet!!!! ��

The enlarged vertebrae can’t believe I didn’t see it after doing the FHB courses!!


Life with a poorly bunster, Ellie has been sleeping on the floor with her, this was caught in bunny cam in the early hours!!

Click to expand...

Bless your little one. You're doing all you can.

I hope she feels better on the new meds xx

Gosh, so much going on for you. I'm pleased you have Ians expertise behind you. Bless little Grace eating her supper, it doesn't sound like she is ready to give up. I'll be thinking of you both xx

Sending Ellie lots of vibes, hope she can be made to be as comfortable as possible.

Sending loads of vibes for Ellie and hope she is as comfortable as you can make her. You are doing an amazing job. xx