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Sparky

lauraj27

Warren Scout
Hi all,

Some of you may have seen my previous posts about Sparky.

He is nearly 13 years of age and is a nethie rex cross.

Back in 2016 he had head tilt caused by an ear infection; blood panel was taken and it was negative for EC. Ever since he recovered, his balance has been a little off and he's also developed cateracts in both eyes. It came to a head a few months back (November/December) when he rolled, panicked and couldn't right himself.

Vet check up showed it was another ear infection as well as some arthritic changes in left leg. He was prescribed with marcobyl (sp?) 0.58mi once a day and 0.5ml of metacam twice a day and has been having check ups every two weeks.

Since he's been on the medications he has improved and his mobility is a lot better than it has been over the last few years, which may be down to the metcam easing the arthritis.

Throughout everything he has carried on eating as normal (excel mature rabbit nuggets - approx 30g per day) plus endless amounts of hay as well as occasional amounts of kale.

When he went to the vet today they have said the ear infection has cleared up and to stop the marcobyl, the metacam should continue for his leg, specifically, his knee and they will review the dosage in a month when he will another check up.

What is of concern however, is that he has lost about 50g in weight over the course of the last month - he was 1.47 and is now 1.42. The vet has said to monitor this and to try and weigh him every week and if he continues to lose weight then they will need to do bloods /more investigations. They have also said to keep an eye on how much he is drinking so seems they may be thinking possibly a kidney disorder? It is a bit tricky to measure his water intake as he has bowl and he never finishes the whole thing in one day but we obviously tip away whatever he hasn't drunk and give him fresh water.

I'm just hoping that the weight loss may be because he is more mobile/moving around more because he's in less pain with his leg rather than anything more sinister. Just wondered if there is anything i could give him to ensure he maintains his current weight and maybe put a little more on?

Thanks.
 
I’ve not had a rabbit with kidney issues so I can’t advise on diet. You could monitor the amount he is drinking if you measure out what you put in it, and then measure it again before tipping it away to see what the difference is.

I’m glad the metacam is helping him :love:
 
Sending vibes. Before my awful stroke of horrible luck in recent years, I had some older bunnies. I am glad your bunny is moving around more and happy in himself.
Sub Q fluids were helpful with my one old bunny when he developed kidney issues along with some syringe feeds (which he gladly ate).
Just a thought, could the medication he was taking until recently cause him to loose the weight?
 
Sparky's symptoms do all fit with EC, I'm wondering if you're vet might treat with Panacur (I think there might be alternative meds in use these days?) . I think even PCR tests for EC aren't necessarily that reliable. Sometimes I think its useful to know what your vets approach would be if there was a definitive diagnosis of EC or kidney disease. My vets take a very simplistic approach, my bunny in renal failure was just on a little metacam & loads of syringe feeds which is over the years what they've found to have the best results.

For weight gain & increasing his fluids would he accept syringe feeding to top him up?
 
Thank you for all the replies.

We thought the cataracts may have been to do with his age and his balance has improved an awful lot since being on the marcobyl and metacam. When he had his head tilt back in 2016 we did treat him Panacur whilst waiting for the EC test result and even though it turned out to be negative we completed the 28 day course.

His head tilt back in 2016 was very severe, he was pretty much laid on his side for weeks with towels bumpered around him and even had to have a feeding tube put in that we had to syringe the food through. His left leg was about 90% recovered from it, but it stuck out a little which affected his balance a little, not not much but it was noticeable.

His balance and overall mobility has improved since being on the medications and the vet hasn't specifically said that it's possible renal failure but that's the only thing I can think of when they talk about monitoring water intake.

He is super stubborn and dislikes us giving the meds and suspect he will be a right little mare if we tried to syringe feed him but because he is eating of his own accord i am a bit loathe to force feed him and if we have to force feed him then we may need to question his quality of life.

I will talk to my OH about getting bloods done sooner rather than later and see what our vets availability is - with the pandemic it is understandably difficult.
 
I agree that taking a holistic view of the individual Rabbit’s situation is really important when it comes to managing any health problem that requires a lot of hands on care. Some Rabbits adapt well to it, others never do. It does not sound as though you are at the stage of having to question his QOL yet. He will be living in the moment and even if he does have renal problems he does not Sound to be feeling ill yet so as far as he is concerned all is OK.
 
I can't help re the kidney failure, but have experience of head tilt, my boy lost weight too (about 500g) so I used to give him critical care every day to help. He didn't always want it syringe fed so I would mix it up on a plate for him so he could eat at his leisure. Sometimes I'd put baby food in, or a few porridge oats. I know these aren't the healthiest for rabbits by any means, but for him it was about trying to get that weight back on as he lost a lot very quickly. I also knew deep down his time was limited so I did spoil him a bit too much. My vet recommended fibreplex to help with weight gain, he didn't like it much unless it was mixed in with critical care but could be worth a try.
 
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