Diagnosis little old lady

I took Mousey to Crab Lane to see Ruth (my favourite ) today. I was really worried about her eyes (regular discharge on fur needs cleaning), ears (her right one has been bothering her this weekend), teeth (her poo isn't big enough & she doesn't eat dried nuggets). Her legs are also looking worse, curling in at the back. So I've been petrified she'd need a GA either for a dental or diagnostics.

Ruth said she is actually looking pretty good. She agreed her legs are worse but spoke about how its the coping that counts: she doesn't sit in wee or poo, she doesn't move less, no sore hocks.

Ruth said pretty much the same as Paul re: her eyes. Its not unsual for them to get a tad gunky as they get older but her eyes themselves are bright & there is no soreness or furloss - so basically Joey or I should continue with what we've been doing.

Her teeth are showing signs of slowing growth at the top. Her bottom ones have appropriate points. Nothing requiring intervention yet anyway. She still likes her hay

A huge chunk of wax was evicted from her right ear. I bet that feels better.

So in conclusion its managing her as she slowly (I hope) falls to pieces. Not Ruths words I might add.

My brave little old lady, back from her trip

Lovely Mouse Glad to hear she's getting old gracefully! I fully expect Lopsy to top himself doing a daft stunt or falling off something rather than anything graceful, he's never done graceful in his life. Mouse though, the eternal dove-bunny Doves are graceful, right?

keletkezes said:

Lovely Mouse Glad to hear she's getting old gracefully! I fully expect Lopsy to top himself doing a daft stunt or falling off something rather than anything graceful, he's never done graceful in his life. Mouse though, the eternal dove-bunny Doves are graceful, right?

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Thank You.

Believe me Mousey is a full paid up member of Lopsys clumbsy club. I'll take that she is graceful in spirit - maybe :lol:

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Awww bless her, her ear probably became gunky as she may not be able to scratch her ears too well if she’s very arthritic. Did Ruth suggest an ear cleaner you could apply that should help prevent a big build up of wax ?

I am glad that a Dental is not needed at the moment x

Lovely little old lady One of our special golden oldies

InspectorMorse said:

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Awww bless her, her ear probably became gunky as she may not be able to scratch her ears too well if she’s very arthritic. Did Ruth suggest an ear cleaner you could apply that should help prevent a big build up of wax ?

I am glad that a Dental is not needed at the moment x

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Somehow she does manage to get her foot in there most times & can chow down on her foot too. On Saturday it was upsetting her & she was overshooting her ear & scratching her head. Yes I can imaging this might be ongoing. No cleaners were mentioned. Is it just a product that you put in? Thing is when we try & look in Mouses ears we can't see a thing. Thanks Jj

Oh bless her, well done Mousie pie we "older" girls need to stick together :lol:

Omi said:

Lovely little old lady One of our special golden oldies

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She's not even "old" afaik. The police took her to Camp Nibble on 27th April 2013 (I extracted this date from them recently:lol, she was an adult then. I'm not sure how easy it is to tell bunnies age before they start ageing? Camp Nibble had her age guesstimated at 4-5 & I've had her since May 2015 Still its about how they are, not how old they are in numbers. Its a priviledge to look after her in her old age

actually may have been guesstimated at 3-4 - that makes more sense as her imaginary birthdays is in Nov & I had her at 9 this year

joey&boo said:

Somehow she does manage to get her foot in there most times & can chow down on her foot too. On Saturday it was upsetting her & she was overshooting her ear & scratching her head. Yes I can imaging this might be ongoing. No cleaners were mentioned. Is it just a product that you put in? Thing is when we try & look in Mouses ears we can't see a thing. Thanks Jj

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Yes, an ear cleaner is just a solution that is applied into the ear canals. A basic otoscope may be useful to purchase if she does have an ongoing issue with gunky ears x

InspectorMorse said:

Yes, an ear cleaner is just a solution that is applied into the ear canals. A basic otoscope may be useful to purchase if she does have an ongoing issue with gunky ears x

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Cool. So is it a case of apply it & hopefully everything comes out easier cos its looser? Is it a problem if its all loosened up but can't make its way out?

I am gutted I couldn't be in that consult based solely on not getting the satisfaction of seeing what came out of her ear

Aww well done on passing your MOT Mousey! xx

It's hard seeing pets get old (only something I've ever experienced with cats). I think it's because we remember them when they were younger and more bouncy so to us it seems that they are in a worse physical state than they actually are.

thats very true Scrappy. Todays was a bit of a "things arent going to be perfect now shes getting on lesson" - as much about managing my expectations as anything. She's my first elderly bunny who acts old

I wonder what hay to get for her next. She does like ings sadly, likes timothyhay.co.uk & new to hay box timothy & likes that. Not sure what to try next or revisit. They've not enjoyed natures own recently though have in the past

joey&boo said:

Cool. So is it a case of apply it & hopefully everything comes out easier cos its looser? Is it a problem if its all loosened up but can't make its way out?

I am gutted I couldn't be in that consult based solely on not getting the satisfaction of seeing what came out of her ear

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When you apply ear cleaner you need to massage the ear bases. This tends to loosen any wax and it comes out as Bunny shakes their head.

Thanks JJ. I'll give Ruth a call & ask about it. The last thing we need is any ear infections

She's so pretty!

Bless her. I've not had any experience with very elderly bunnies but is hard to see my dog changing with age. I've used Otoclean before on Jake as he has the odd wax problem (ok'd by a vet), is just an ear cleaner use as Jane has said.

Goodness, what a grand dame she is!

Personally I never had good result with ear cleaners on my rabbits because handling was always such an issue for them. By the time I got them comfy enough for the deed so they weren't trying to take an eye out on me, I was exhausted and sloppy with my technique! :lol: We could afford to let the vet be the bad guy back then. :roll:

Trust me, bunny ear wax plugs...yuck. I'd rather clean anal glands with my bare hands.

Jane, you've given me a breakthrough. I've known Jenna is getting creaky in her backside but still she tries to get at her ears and she's constantly flapping them lately. Vet only sees mild inflammation and small debris but she does have some twisty and tiny canals. The liquid wash they gave us for her doesn't seem to help much, but my guess is her irritation may just come from not really being able to get in there and give them a good scratch anymore like she used to. Also we know her increased eyedrops tend to have more systemic effects as we raise the dosage. Her whole ear, nose and throat area is probably involved by now.

It's so hard watching them age. Especially with chronic conditions that bring added discomforts. Reminds us of our own aging and mortality I reckon. For me the worst part is trying to keep positive as time takes its toll. I do try to guage how Jenna feels with how I do as we seem in similar straits in a lot of ways. If I'm not moving too well I can guess she's not going to be either. But at least I can put a Q-tip in my ear when it itches...thank God I don't need to use my foot! :lol:

MimzMum said:

Personally I never had good result with ear cleaners on my rabbits because handling was always such an issue for them. By the time I got them comfy enough for the deed so they weren't trying to take an eye out on me, I was exhausted and sloppy with my technique! :lol: We could afford to let the vet be the bad guy back then. :roll:

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We had some for Lopsy for a short course (and ::touches wood:: haven't needed any since): because I wasn't trying to shove stuff in his mouth and he could still eat, he was fine with it! As long as his face was in something tasty he'd even accept a base massage for at least 10s, sometimes as much as 30s! He might be impossible to medicate with a syringe but he's a godsend for ear and eye drops.

Beautiful picture of Mouse, glad you didnt post the photo of the contents of her ear!