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Spare vibes for Lillian please U/D on page 4

Craig 1965

Warren Veteran
Do you know when you quietly think that perhaps things are turning a corner with your rabbits health, only to suddenly find that within a matter of a few minutes things can go really worrying? Has anybun felt that?
Lillian has had what we can describe as a turmultuous few weeks - every 2 weeks she's had spasm attacks on her bladder and has had to have some vetinary intervention. Today, I quietly thought "it's been two and a half weeks without any hic-cup - maybe we are finally controlling this spasm".
I'd cleaned the bunnys out this morning and all was well. Plenty of wee and poop. Daily metacam and no sign of tension. All was quiet. All seemed good. But beneath the surface........
I was just finishing lunch at work and I get a text from my son. "Lillian has got blood in her wee". She'd peed on newspaper and luckily my son was home and had seen her do it. This text really flipped me out and I went into panic mode. But it's not easy for me just to drop what I'm doing at work at drive to the vet.
I had an email exchange with my son and things werent adding up. I rang the vet and booked an appointment at 6pm - describing what my son had told me.
My son then sent a photo of the bloodied urine and ...well, I don't know how I kept it together. I was thinking perhaps watery red pee. Nope. It was like someone had taken a paintbrush covered in red paint to a sheet of newspaper.
JJ - I am sure by now you are already working on a possible diagnosis. Bear with me - it gets worse.
The vet rang straight back and said she wanted to see Lillian immediately - which I sort of expected and my boss said I could take the afternoon off. I roared home and .....well, I almost fainted. The towel Lillian sits on was absolutely blood stained and I picked her up and her underneath was ...well, I genuinely thought she'd been attacked. It was a mass of thick gooey fresh blood.
No time to think. In the carrier, hold back the tears and straight to the vet. My eyes were streaming but Lillians eyes didn't show sign of pain as they usually do. Something wasn't adding up.
The vet specialist was on hand and we had a brief chat - I showed her the newspaper and she was shocked. Off she went with Lillian leaving me to work my way through a box of tissues and the thought that I'd not see her again.
I spoke to another vet who has treated Lillian and we talked about some possibles.
15 minutes later the vet specialist returned. And things sort of turned a corner. She had checked lillians bottom and there was no bleeding from there, but the blood was coming from the urethra. This was, as it happens, positive. Rabbits have high blood pressure - hence the amount of blood. The vet had scanned Lillian and found nothing - no lumps, no pockets of bleeding, no stones, no sludge - no sludge at all. Her tummy was soft and she allowed the vet to squeeze gently. Very very thorough examination. And the vet said that left only one cause - a severe bladder infection. She went into the biology of it - we discussed at length this - I'd googled some causes whilst I waited.
The vet is confident that Lillian has an infection that is treatable with baytril. She is very confident that this will sweep away the two possible bacterial infections. She will be (and is) hospitalised tonight and is on intravenous ABX but not fluids. Lillian is keen to eat and her tummy is nice and soft. It's just that her bladder lining is being ravaged by this infection due we feel to the fact that Lillian is vulnerable to these episodes which we now agree is due to the fact when we adopted her she had been deliberately starved and dehydrated. This has undoubtidly affected her develpoment and we are now seeing the legacy of that.
I am confident that Lillian is in the very best of care - and is safe and having the correct treatment. She is comfortable and I'm just about to do a food run. The vet said not to take Leo as he would chew the catheter that Lillian has. Lillian will have paracetamol and be closely monitored.
I'm still wiping away tears but given how she was 4 hours ago, she is in a far better place and much more comfortable.
We will work out a long term plan tomorrow with some more medical suggestions from the specialist which will be targeted at Lillians now weakened bladder to try to help boost the bodys defence.
So if anyone has any spare vibes - and I know there's other bunnies in more need of vibes at the moment, but Lillian would appreciate some gentle soothing vibes.
I will upate you all tomorrow evening when I get home - it is hoped she will come home tomorrow.
Thank you all for reading and sorry to give another health post about Lillian. We are doing everything we possibly can to help this little girl and as soon as we solve one problem, another one crops up.
Thank you everybun
Craig xx
 
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Oh my god I am sending all the vibes in the world. That must of been so scary. I would of totally lost it. I am really sorry you and Lillian are always going through these troubles :( hugs. I am glad she is eating though that’s one less problem for now xxx hugs Craig


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Oh, poor Lillian... That must've been terrifying, all that blood... I'm glad the vet is confident about how to treat this, and that Lillian is comfortable now. So, so many vibes for her.
 
Oh Craig you did so well getting her there so quickly, I'd have been a total disaster seeing all that blood :(

I really hope the antibiotics kick in quickly and solve her issues. Sending a million vibes! xx

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Having just gone through something similar with Jenna (bad attack of colitis) I can totally empathize sitting at vets blubbing uncontrollably. I'm sorry Lillian is having more worries and you also. Props to your boy for seeing she was ill and notifying you. I hope she recovers quickly and completely and a new way forward can be found. I assume metacam is off the table for the moment with the bleeding. ((((((Healing vibes)))))) xx
 
The poor girl but completely agree she is in the best place.
Sending lots of vibes.

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Thanks everybun- I’m feeling all your support and vibes and I’m sure Lillian is as well. I feel really guilty asking for vibes because there are other buns in much greater need.
Just driven back from the vet hospital having dropped off some food. Was talking to the wife in the car and said that I hope I never see a sight like that again. You sort of prepare for things. I’ve had an ‘interesting journey’ during my married life and having the one sprog. I’ve dealt with things I never ever thought I could deal with and hopefully never have to again. From watching your child being delivered ventouse and the pain your wife suffers, dealing with your wife’s severely broken ankle and the dismissive way the gp nurse said it was ok to walk on (it was eventually metal plated on 1st January 3 weeks later by a furious specialist - curious at such a dismissive diagnosis 3 weeks earlier), my sons badly dislocated knee some years ago, sons badly broken arm from being thrown off a trampoline and then watching your son collapse in a heap from syncope. Life prepares you for some things and you end up having to find some inner strength when you don’t think you have it.
Today just about tipped me over I have to say. I would swap places with Lillian in a heartbeat and she doesn’t deserve this.
But it’s about knowing your bunnies - reading their bodies. Her behaviour didn’t indicate something more sinister and yet your faced with this unbelievable scene that just doesn’t compute.
Anyway, the nurse says Lillian is settled in and very comfortable. They have clipped her fur underneath and applied sudocreme. She’s got her snuggle bun and favourite noms and will have a nurse checking on her all night.
It’s frightening that this infection developed in such a swift and violent way. And in answer to at least 2 posts stating such, yes my son being home was perhaps a silver lining and blessing and certainly helped Lillian’s treatment by a good 4 hours which will have given her a massive help.
I’ve got to try and make sense of this, whilst wrestling with the images of this afternoon, along with all my other thoughts.
Not forgetting Leo - who has predictably gone very withdrawn. Poor little bun. He feels it too. He’s really happy having Lillian in his life and the impact of her not being there is massive on him. We’ll make a fuss of him tonight and tomorrow and all being well, Lillian will be home tomorrow to a few days of enforced rest.
I will update you all tomorrow and thank you for your kind words and support and vibes for Lillian.
Craig xx
 
Poor girl. It is remarkable she is still eating . It must have been so traumatic for you and your son. Sending lots of vibes.
Will leo get abx too? With that much blood loss will she need vitamin/other supplements?
 
Poor girl. It is remarkable she is still eating . It must have been so traumatic for you and your son. Sending lots of vibes.
Will leo get abx too? With that much blood loss will she need vitamin/other supplements?

Good question. I hadn’t thought about that. Yes - I will make sure we ask this question tomorrow.
And thank you for your vibes.
 
It's really okay to ask for vibes for poor Lillian. There isn't a finite amount of vibes; there's more than enough for everybody, and Lillian certainly deserves them with all she's going through. I'm glad the nurse said that Lillian's settled in and comfortable, and that she'll be checked on all night. Poor Leo, though, having to miss Lillian... Hopefully she'll be well enough to be back home with all of you tomorrow.
 
Best wishes for Lillian: her being otherwise quite well in herself is a good sign. Like you say, at odds to what you saw. I would not want to witness that, but thankyou for sharing the details, it's very informative and well worth knowing!
 
So sorry to hear about your traumatic day Craig, but pleased that you were able to get her to the vets pronto. Really hope your girl is home tomorrow. Big hugs for you, and a gentle nose rub for Leo xxx
 
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