Fast breathing/odd posture: UD 22/3 Gone to the Bridge

Liz47 said:

Thank you. She was good yesterday. Bigwig weighed 1.8kg at the vets last Wednesday, I think this is lighter than she used to be and she feels skinnier so I'm going to weigh her regularly. So far in a week she's now gone down to 1.65kg but is eating again Will weigh every 2 days now.

Click to expand...

If she is still on diuretics that could account for some weight loss due to lack of fluid retention

Thank you, sorry will be a quick reply as I'm on my phone. I really appreciate all the input.

She's not on diuretics any more after the initial 7 days, I didn't notice her go downhill after stopping them it was more like she only improved after the first day on them that's it.

Switching to the junior pellets sounds a good idea, some one gave me a bag they bought by mistake which I left at work so I'll bring those home tomorrow. I'll order some different types of hay. She's on echinacea while she's on the antibiotics but not probiotics yet.

I'm going to call the vets tomorrow and ask for the referral, as my vet can't see the need for anymore diuretics from the X ray but I feel her breathing at home isn't being acknowledged.

Yes I'm terrible for always checking her breathing, then going upstairs and looking at the other bunnies! I would feel better with a 2nd opinion, rather than constantly ringing my vets atm when every time we take her they say her breathing is ok.

Liz47 said:

Thank you, sorry will be a quick reply as I'm on my phone. I really appreciate all the input.

She's not on diuretics any more after the initial 7 days, I didn't notice her go downhill after stopping them it was more like she only improved after the first day on them that's it.

Switching to the junior pellets sounds a good idea, some one gave me a bag they bought by mistake which I left at work so I'll bring those home tomorrow. I'll order some different types of hay. She's on echinacea while she's on the antibiotics but not probiotics yet.

I'm going to call the vets tomorrow and ask for the referral, as my vet can't see the need for anymore diuretics from the X ray but I feel her breathing at home isn't being acknowledged.

Yes I'm terrible for always checking her breathing, then going upstairs and looking at the other bunnies! I would feel better with a 2nd opinion, rather than constantly ringing my vets atm when every time we take her they say her breathing is ok.

Click to expand...

I had the same problem. I said Mischief's breathing was fast and I was worried to a locum vet. He basically told me I was over worrying! He made me feel like an idiot.

I had a copy of the vet notes sent to me via email so I could send them from exotic vets to PDSA and he wrote same down on his notes aswell! When I heard theX-ray results and found out he had a lung infection and that I got fobbed off 10 days before I was fuming! [emoji34]

The trouble is bunnies breathe much faster going to the vets anyway so they are expecting fast breathing. Perhaps you could say how chilled Bigwig is on going to the vets and that her breathing is always like that.

I found that giving them a figure for breaths per minute helped them to know what he was like at home. I'm sure if you told them her breathing was too fast to even count they would take notice.

Really hope you get some joy with the other vets. Sending you vibes and Mischief sends you a mini binky of love as he has a poorly paw still [emoji175][emoji235]

Sent from my SM-G361F using Tapatalk

Thank you xx Yeah it's really upsetting when your concerns don't seem to be listened to.

Just to update, she's booked in at the referral vets on Wednesday morning.

Best of luck tomorrow at the vets.
Hopefully they will be able to help Bigwig.

Sending you more vibes xx

Sent from my SM-G361F using Tapatalk

I hope the appointment goes well tomorrow xx

Liz47 said:

Thank you xx Yeah it's really upsetting when your concerns don't seem to be listened to.

Just to update, she's booked in at the referral vets on Wednesday morning.

Click to expand...

Good luck x

Thank you xx

We're at the referrals and the vet is really good.

Sadly it's not.good news for Bigwig, he's said she isn't sneezing it's a cough and her breathing is poor. He's sure it's not upper resp its lower. On the X ray she's had the heart appears fine, but there's a lump on one of her lungs. He showed me the X ray and it's a big bright white area, I'm upset this was missed. He is going to repeat the X ray and do a heart ultrasound then call me. I have the option of a lung wash, to send the fluid off to find out what the lump is but there's a risk she won't survive it. He says he's done them loads of times cos there's no way in a rabbit to reach the lump and biopsy if any other way.

Then I have the option of a CT, to better visual the lump and potentially she could have a lung lobe removed. Depending on how aggressive the tumour is this could be curative or it has already spread/could return very quickly, he says this is usually the case.

Best case it's an abscess if a forgein body has got stuck but the vet advised it looks like a tumour..

I'm struggling with the amount of options, this will way exceed her insurance limit as I'm looking at thousands for the CT and lung lobe removal. But I would pay it. Also is it right, she's only 2 and so bright though.

CT wouldn't be done today. Biggest decision today is lung wash or not, without it we won't know what the tumour is and if I don't want to CT etc would just be palliative care but she's already struggling. Vet made.me aware the lung wash is risky, she may die as she already had compromised lungs but then we'd know what tumour we're dealing with. I don't have to make the decision until after the X rays and heart scan. Any advice? I know she's my rabbit but I'm happy for any input

Oh I am sorry Liz I think as she is already struggling then going for the lung wash would need to be on the understanding that she is extremely high risk for not surviving the procedure. I would only go for it if I was then OK about having the CT scans and surgery. That said there may be a small chance that it is an abscess, even if it does not look like it on Xrays.

I honestly don’t know what I would do, if she were an older Rabbit I would definitely opt for palliative care. I have seen first hand how a Rabbit with a similar problem responded to palliative care which included the use of a corticosteroid. Yes, these are usually a no go for Rabbits, but my Vet will prescribe them as part of palliative care.

Sorry I am not of much help, poor Bigwig

Thank you. I'm a bit overwhelmed so really appreciate other people's opinions. I suppose I was thinking if we do the lung wash and the tumour is low grade, I would opt for CT and surgical removal. I've had to get a lift today and those with me don't agree, they think it's unfair to do such a big op but they don't have pets and I know they can do amazing stuff these days.

Maybe palliative care is the best option, just don't know how long this would be

I am really impressed with the vet, his knowledge and how he handled Bigwig was really good. I think I'm in shock I don't know what to do

Oh no poor Bigwig! What a shock this must be for you *hugs* [emoji22]

I am not able to give any advice as I don't know anything about this at all. I expect your head is all over the place. Did the vet give you any advice either way?

Sending you best wishes and really hope Bigwig makes it through ok if you do opt for the lung wash.

Wish I could help more sorry Liz [emoji175]

Sent from my SM-G361F using Tapatalk

I’m so very sorry. I don’t have any experience of any of this so I don’t feel I can give any useful advice specifically. In any situation I’m not comfortable with, I usually ask what the vet would advise to do. It’s such a difficult decision Sorry I’m not familiar with all of this, do you have to have the lung wash done before you could have a CT scan? I’m wondering if you could have a CT scan done to determine the size and likely spread? I don’t know if a CT scan would be less risky than the lung wash?

Whatever you decide, you should always remember that, as always you are doing the very best for your pets and sadly, sometimes the outcome is not what you want.

Liz47 said:

Thank you. I'm a bit overwhelmed so really appreciate other people's opinions. I suppose I was thinking if we do the lung wash and the tumour is low grade, I would opt for CT and surgical removal. I've had to get a lift today and those with me don't agree, they think it's unfair to do such a big op but they don't have pets and I know they can do amazing stuff these days.

Maybe palliative care is the best option, just don't know how long this would be

Click to expand...

I think you should listen to your heart and gut instinct on this one Liz. She is young and you want to give her the best chance of recovery but it is a risk. Such a difficult decision for you.

What would happen if you did not go ahead with the lung wash? Has the vet discussed that with you at all? xxx

Sent from my SM-G361F using Tapatalk

Liz47 said:

Thank you. I'm a bit overwhelmed so really appreciate other people's opinions. I suppose I was thinking if we do the lung wash and the tumour is low grade, I would opt for CT and surgical removal. I've had to get a lift today and those with me don't agree, they think it's unfair to do such a big op but they don't have pets and I know they can do amazing stuff these days.

Maybe palliative care is the best option, just don't know how long this would be

Click to expand...

How is Bigwig regarding stress of travelling, being in strange places ( Vets) and having lots of hands on care ? For me this needs to be factored in to the decision too. Some Bunnies take lots of hands on care and Vet trips in their stride, for others they hate it and get terribly stressed.

The Rabbit I mentioned was older than Bigwig, he was 7, but he was a stress head and would go into stasis as a stress response. His only palliative care was one injection of a long acting corticosteroid every 10 days, given at home. That and dietary adjustments to try to keep weight on him. The palliative Care bought him an extra 9 months of good quality life.

Thank you all. Sorry will be just quick replies as I'm just sat in the car with a takeaway coffee.

I will ask the vet what his opinion is, he did say don't worry too much until the X ray and ultrasound but I'm conscious of the fact she'll be under GA and don't want to prolong it when he calls. Yeah I think we could not do the lung wash and instead opt for CT. But then we still won't know what the tumour is or if there's spread that can't be identified, we could do a huge op then send for histology to find it's really aggressive.

Bigwig is usually good re hands on, although she does not tolerate things near her mouth/face is syringes but 'gets over it' really quick. In the car journey here she was a bit scared but when he arrived was eating hay and digging it around, on the consult table she looked relaxed and I could hear her eating hay while I was signing the forms. I think being hand reared has helped in this respect

Oh no poor Bigwig!

I'm so glad you've found such a good vet!

Its such a tough call especially with a young bunny. I think I would go with the vets call on the lungwash, if it would massively effect the treatment plan then it may be worth the risk.

I know an elder bun that is living with lung cancer and staying relatively stable, but it's slow growing and she's almost 11 so they've opted for palliative care after the first lung wash to identify it.

I know it's awful to think of but money is often a concern as well I know insurance limits can be difficult.

I've got no advice for you I'm afraid, I know one day we might meet this with Rodney with his lung scarring and we'd pre agreed we would do everything we could until quality of life was going to become an issue for him. He also is fairly happy at the vets it's just the travel that upsets him.

Sent from my SM-A705FN using Tapatalk

I'm sad to read your update. I've no advice or experience but sending lots of well wishes to Bigwig & you x

I'm not sure what I would do either.

I had a not dissimilar situation with Rudy who had a 'mass' show up on x-ray in his lungs. it was felt to be a tumour but as he was about 8 years we went for palliative. He had kind of a cough but he really wasn't unwell with it. Surprisingly, he actually didn't die of it but went on to get cancer in his leg bone and broke his leg. It turns out that the 'thing' in his lung was an abscess. I'm glad we left it alone ... different with a young bun though.. especially knowing you hand-reared her.

I hope you reach a decision you are happy with.

I´m so sorry for you and Bigwig And so hard decision Don´t have any good advice but I would probably ask the vet if they could do the CT and lungwash at the same time so Bigwig doesn´t need anesthesia twice...and I would ask the vet if you really would get a certain answear of what kind of tumour it is with just a lungwash and not a biopsy. If the chances are small to get an answear from the lungwash I would just go for the CT I think. When they do the CT perhaps they could do a CT of all the thorax and abdomen to see there are no metastases?


Sending lots and lots of vibes!