• Forum/Server Upgrade If you are reading this you have made it to the upgraded forum. Posts made on the old forum after 26th October 2023 have not been transfered. Everything else should be here. If you find any issues please let us know.
  • Please Note - Medical Advice

    Please keep in mind that posts on this forum are from members of the public sharing personal opinions. It is not a replacement for qualified medical advice from a veterinarian. Many illnesses share similar symptoms but require different treatments. A medical exam is necessary for an accurate diagnosis, without which appropriate treatment cannot be given.

    You should always consult your vet before following any suggestions for medication or treatment you have read about. The wrong treatment could make your rabbit worse or mean your vet is unable to give the correct treatment because of drug interactions. Even non prescription drugs can do harm if given inappropriately.

    We are very grateful to members who take time to answer other members questions, but please do be clear in your replies that you are sharing personal experience and not giving instructions on what must be done.

    Urgent Medical Advice: If you need, or think you might need, urgent medical advice you should contact a vet. If it is out of working hours phone your vet's normal number and there should be an answer phone message with instructions on what to do.

In and out of stasis

Thanks so much Jane, an angel as always. Thanks to everyone else too, the support has made a big difference.

I've jotted it all down so I just need to work on being assertive today - I've been psyching myself up in the bathroom!

Lola was spayed at 6 months and is now ten. She's up to date on both vaccinations as of July I think.

Fingers crossed they have any of the more rabbit inclined vets in today. If it doesn't go well then I'll call my old vet who's about an hour and a half away and see if there's any chance I can I see her on Wednesday (day off)

Lola didn't produce a lot of poo overnight and didn't eat as much as previous nights but did two huge wees (one on me, of course) and is still eating a little this morning. She's mostly eaten herbs, roughage and hay while ignoring her hard pelleted food - is that indicative of teeth problems?
 
Thanks so much Jane, an angel as always. Thanks to everyone else too, the support has made a big difference.

I've jotted it all down so I just need to work on being assertive today - I've been psyching myself up in the bathroom!

Lola was spayed at 6 months and is now ten. She's up to date on both vaccinations as of July I think.

Fingers crossed they have any of the more rabbit inclined vets in today. If it doesn't go well then I'll call my old vet who's about an hour and a half away and see if there's any chance I can I see her on Wednesday (day off)

Lola didn't produce a lot of poo overnight and didn't eat as much as previous nights but did two huge wees (one on me, of course) and is still eating a little this morning. She's mostly eaten herbs, roughage and hay while ignoring her hard pelleted food - is that indicative of teeth problems?

Sometimes and also it can be indicative of ear pain. Have you felt around Lola's ear bases ? Any odd lumps ? Especially if she's a Lop x
 
Ah good luck at the vets. When Doughnut needs a dental which is now literally every 6 weeks she stops eating her hay and eats a lot less pellets. Every rabbit is different though and once your little one has the pain relief maybe she then eats but after a while she's in pain again then stops. They're certainly a worry aren't they?
 
The vet doesn't think her teeth are causing the problem since her tongue and cheeks look fine but she does have some small upward spikes. The vet tried rasping them down but lola was too stressed so it requires anasthetic and I didn't want to do that today if we can possibly manage her pain better and get her eating a bit more before an operation.

Blood glucose was a little high but vet had just really stressed her out with the teeth thing.

Temperature fine. Ears looked fine. No signs of anything wrong in the pee or poop department. She said I'd be the best one to notice any signs of arthritis but as far as I can tell she's been pretty normal - she's still jumping on and off the bed. Weight pretty stable.

Vet said we could look at blood work if we don't get to the bottom of it. She suggested taking the blood for it when she goes under for her teeth.

She adjusted the painkiller amount but kept it at once a day - if I wanted to give it twice do i split the amount in half or give the full amount twice a day? Lola is 1.7kg I think she said today and she advised giving her 0.75ml of dog loxicom.

Better vet today. Still not fantastic but I have much more confidence in her.

Eta: lola is a nethie cross with quite small uppy ears. She loves a good ear rub so I like to think I'd notice a change but I have just given them a thorough going over and can't feel anything bumpy or different from one side to the other.
 
Last edited:
Dougnut has only had little spurs on her teeth but that has made a difference to her eating, also when they are under they can check more so it may look like she only has tiny spurs but there may be more going on.

Doughnut has just be diagnosed with arthritis, why do they think she may have that. Her stance has totally changed, she doesn't relax and is constantly wet with urine.

Yes I would try splitting the dose to see if that helps. My specialist always splits it and that is quite a low dose that she is having. A lot of vets are scared to give more but my vet is fantastic and a lot of other vets call him up for advice and refer their rabbits to him. Doughnut is on 0.4 of the dog metacam twice a day. He did a talk on it and said he sees a lot of rabbits after surgery referred on because they are not eating, but that's because the vet hasn't given them enough pain relief. He just ups the metacam and they start eating. Obviously I wouldn't do that without your vets advice so I would do 0.4ml twice a day and see if that helps. He explained to me that after about 15 hours there isn't much metacam left in the body as rabbits have a high metabolic rate so splitting it is a lot better. Although I do think she will need a dental anyway. Not sure why they would take bloods if there is an issue with a teeth as they may be the total issue as to why she isn't eating.
 
Thanks cpayne, I think she was just saying if I want to have bloods done then under anasthetic would be a good time to do it. The vet did say that perhaps something more is going on with her teeth then she can see.

She's doing really well today - chomping away on her hay and some fresh herbs. I think I'm going to book the teeth for tomorrow if they have anyone capable in and just cancel if I don't think she's up to it. Feels like sooner rather than later is better so long as she's eating.
 
Last edited:
Yes best to get it out the way. I guess it depends if you and your vet think it is more than the teeth then bloods are necessary. Doughnut had bloods taken when she isn't under, just trying to save you some money if she is back to normal after the dental then the bloods are pointless. I would go with your gut feeling :).
 
So difficult decision on the dental:

I can have one of two vets who are competent and experienced but their rabbit knowledge is somewhat dated tomorrow.
I can travel a short distance to the other practice and have someone who I've never seen before but lists dentistry on her special interests - no idea how she is with rabbits.
Or I can can have the vet who saw her today do it on Thursday, she's one of the better vets I've seen.

And I suppose it's always an option to see if my old bunny savvy vet can do it but that involves travelling an hour and a half both ways and I don't know when it could be done.

I'm pretty confident it's her teeth so probably will leave the bloods for now. I think this particular vet just knows I like to be thorough and didn't want to dismiss me when I said about the bloods.
 
Since she won't need to be knocked out for bloods I think I would leave it too and see how she is after the dental. She is probably eating on and off since she has the pain relief. Maybe see the bunny savvy vet if the dental sort her out or get the bloods done and see what comes back.

I'm lucky I have found a brilliant specialist who is about 40 mins away and just take Doughnut there. I did see about 5 different vets and also a specialist when Doughnut was really ill and they either told me she was unwell and didn't know what was wrong or said she was well! After nearly £2,000 I got her diagnosed as slow gut mobility and acid reflux, so now I only trust him and someone else at the practice who is also an exotic vet specialist. It's so difficult to find a good savvy rabbit vet, hopefully now rabbits are a lot more popular pets it will be higher up the learning scale and equal cats and dogs :)
 
My old vet is not only a really lovely person who really listens to you but her first job after qualifying was working in a rabbit rescue so she had experience with all sorts despite being relatively new to the job. I've been somewhat lost since she left and ended up phoning her for advice when Rambo was very ill.
I was (relatively) fine having Obi neutered at the practice recently (by one of the vets who is an option tomorrow) but I think because Lola is 10 and fairly small (compared to Obi's 4.5kg) I'm more worried about anaesthetic. I also lost a rabbit with a jaw abscess while under anaesthetic. They said it was a bad reaction but I always blamed myself for not managing to get enough food in to him beforehand.
 
My old vet is not only a really lovely person who really listens to you but her first job after qualifying was working in a rabbit rescue so she had experience with all sorts despite being relatively new to the job. I've been somewhat lost since she left and ended up phoning her for advice when Rambo was very ill.
I was (relatively) fine having Obi neutered at the practice recently (by one of the vets who is an option tomorrow) but I think because Lola is 10 and fairly small (compared to Obi's 4.5kg) I'm more worried about anaesthetic. I also lost a rabbit with a jaw abscess while under anaesthetic. They said it was a bad reaction but I always blamed myself for not managing to get enough food in to him beforehand.

Ah that wouldn't have made him have a bad reaction and also if he's in pain he won't be eating anyway. A lot of rabbits with dental aren't eating beforehand. Please don't beat yourself up over that.

Maybe go to the vet specialist for the dental then if you are concerned. I know my specialists just gives the minimum amount of gas and then Doughnut is up and about literally straight away. She had 3 anaesthetics in one week once but he said he still gives dentals to a rabbit who is 11 and has a tumour and I do think it's pretty safe now if you get a professional.

I didn't realise she's 10. Doughnut is 8 and a half and just recovered from having two teeth out, then myxi, then another dental now arthritis and wet again. All in the space of 4 months, one thing after another! Just want her well again. She's happy as now on gabapentin, tramadol, ranitidine and metacam, but not relaxing like she used to or eating hay so back she goes to the vets!
 
Thanks so much for your replies, it's definitely making me feel better about everything. As it stands she's booked in for tomorrow morning with one of the older chaps. I might see if whoever is doing it might be able to give me a ring to talk about it.

I'm glad donuts conditions are being managed well and you've found someone who does a good job with her. Hopefully you'll be able to get her back on hay soon.
 
I'm going to go in at 10 past 9 and have a chat with him about what he's going to do before I decide whether to go for it. With donut being lightly gassed would you be able to wait while they did it and take her home or is there still a recovery period at the vet?

Also, do you guys think it's worth getting x rays done while she's under?
 
Last edited:
No they don't do x-rays but can see right at the back and it's often been worse then they thought.

No they have set times for appointments and then surgery is later. Also they give her back to me when she's eaten and been pooping. Just find out how many he's done roughly and also if he's lost any bunnies while they're under, just so he can alleviate your worries
 
Aside from two very brief patches of eating herbs she hasn't eaten at all today. I think I'm going to have to have this dental done tomorrow regardless of who is doing it. I'm actually so annoyed with myself for not having it done today in the hopes she would get better. I feel like I've made wrong decisions at every turn of this. :cry:

I tried putting her back in with obi for a bit to try and perk her up but it wasn't a great experience. Looks like they'll need rebounding if she recovers from this.
 
I'm going to try again in a minute but until now she hasn't tolerated at all except the one time with oh and the fruit tea. She just lets it drip out of her mouth.
Last night she started eating again around 10.30 so I haven't lost all hope yet.
 
Have you got any critical care or mash the pellets up with warm water into a paste. I normally cradle doughnut a bit like a baby but quite upright and tilt her head back a bit and go in at the gap at the side.
Are you still giving the metacam?
 
It's critical care made up with warm fruit tea. She took half a syringe willingly and refused any more. After that she ate a few leaves so I left her to it but now she's stopped. I'll try and give it a little more forcefully before bed but I'm pretty sure she's going to do the dribbling thing. I'll try upright burrito and see if the angle helps any.

She had 0.75ml of mefacam at 5pm.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top