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Lopsy's ongoing issues thread U/D p72 PTS :(

keletkezes

Wise Old Thumper
Thought I'd start my new thread with some wise advice.

My pet sitter/best mate commenting on my report of Lopsy's vet follow-up this morning: "if your rabbit is well enough to be a :censored: [rhymes with thickhead], your rabbit is well enough." :lol: Vet reported him having 'full range of movement' which he was using to good effect XD Definite bunnitude today :D He even thumped while we were waiting, he's never done that before, except at the emergency vets, not with me there!

He is well enough, he's lost a lot of weight and now weighs under 2kgs (was 2.3 at last weigh-in on 24th August): he did feel a bit light in the carrier. I suspect the lack of fresh forage hasn't helped. I also suspect this batch of hay is No Good really and so I might consign it to boxes for winter litter tray stuffing etc. I'll try them on other hay first (J&B's given me some of her Artisan Hay so we'll see what they think later today) and keep an eye on his weight myself for a bit. He's probably maintained the weight from his emergency vet weekend when he wasn't really eating but not put anything back on. He has no problems (that i've seen) eating, weeing, pooing, drinking. He's got nice poos today actually :) He's moving a lot freer than even a week ago. No binkies yet, and he's not reaching quite all the way up for bramble, but more than he was in the 2-3 weeks leading up to his first appointment. He's still chewing a lot, but so is Chibbs, so I've put it down to me just not really noticing quite so much before. It's not loud (not that it really was before) and not the same sort of rough movements, they both just run around chewing after eating forage, so I guess they're just making sure the last bits are down while they have a bit of a look around and then back to the food pile :)

He's taking his metacam on pellets twice a day and I'm reluctant to change away from pellets until he's got his weight thing sorted.

He did eat a fenugreek crunchie this morning so he's definitely almost back to normal :lol: He also escaped on Matt which was totally expected this morning XD Matt wanted to help and get Lopsy in the carrier, which was straightforward as he wants pellets in the morning now, but Lopsy finished them really quick and went for a wander as he could get round the sides (we shove the carrier up to the hutch bottom level in this case). Matt came in for more pellets, thinking he'd shut the hutch door but he'd only pushed it to, so as soon as Lopsy was dealt with, Chibbs came out for a runaround :lol: Lopsy had enough pellets to keep his mouth occupied while Matt dealt with her and then the carrier was closed and normal service was resumed XD
 
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Sending vibes the change in hay will help with weight gain. Mine sometimes dislike a batch of hay for no obvious reasons.
 
Glad Lopsy is doing ok and taking his meds, despite the weight loss. Hope the pellets help him to put a bit back on. Naughty Chibbs :lol:
 
I'm glad Lopsy's doing well enough and moving more freely, and that he enjoyed his fenugreek crunchie! :love: Good for him for escaping, too. Don't make things too easy for the humans, Lopsy. :thumb: I hope he'll gain his weight back with the help of his pellets.
 
Rhymes with thickhead!!!!
Doesn't help that that's my usual Call to Pellets, 'Oi [rhymes with thickheads]!' :lol:

Lopsy's still fine, but losing weight, he now looks underweight. I've caught him 'chewing' (making saliva to swallow) and 'retching' again, but with much less urgency than the first time, which makes me think there might be something obstructing the back of his mouth, top of his throat etc. Could be a foreign object stuck, teeth issues, ominous lump... He's off to the vets tomorrow morning but I doubt we'll get anywhere without a scan of some sort.

Hopefully we can sort this while he's still well, but if he needs to go on palliative care then we think we can manage to make his last few days/weeks/months pretty damn comfy :)
 
Oh, I'm so sorry he's still losing weight; how worrying. :( I'm sorry he's still making those mouth movements, too. It does sound like there might be something in the way somewhere? I hope the vets can find out what's going on tomorrow, and that it's something easily treatable. I'm glad he's still doing fine despite all of it. :love: Sending him so, so many vibes, and best wishes for his appointment tomorrow.
 
Oh, I'm so sorry he's still losing weight; how worrying. :( I'm sorry he's still making those mouth movements, too. It does sound like there might be something in the way somewhere? I hope the vets can find out what's going on tomorrow, and that it's something easily treatable. I'm glad he's still doing fine despite all of it. :love: Sending him so, so many vibes, and best wishes for his appointment tomorrow.
Thankyou so much :love: Vet can't find anything obviously wrong: he's not lost any more weight since Monday (phew), but he has lost condition: his whole top back half is even more muscle-less than it was. Not that anyone not touching him would notice, he's still jumping on and off things the same. But no binkies (for a year or so), and he's not zooming. And it is, objectively, worse than it was (he'd lost muscle condition on his back last year) becasue you can see where his spine is (so the lump over his back, not individual bones!). He's otherwise totally fine, all the right inputs, outputs (although a little smaller and darker than usual BUT he has had a lot of grass/forage recently), internally relaxed, didn't put up too much of a fight at the vets this time (he won't if you hold him right ;P). So, at a loss for anything else, we're onto the suite of diagnostics, meaning Lopsy will remain the most expensive rabbit I've ever owned for some time I reckon :lol: He's had £131 of blood tests this morning (full workup) and he's back for a probable xray Friday mroning to check his skull for tooth roots, and do a proper GA examination of the bits he won't let you get to (back of mouth etc.). I'm glad it's not something I've missed like lumpy jaw, neck lumps (with memories of Aboleth :S), massive internal tumour... :)

In the meantime, I guess I need to get him eating more calorific foods but not at the expense of hay, so more calorific hay? Readigrass? I did up his Excel and we didn't have a ceco explosion so that's good :lol: Plus muscle condition: he's back to reaching all the way up for bramble, which he'd stopped some weeks before we really noticed (ahhh hindsight), maybe we start putting more food 'up' for him. And I'm going to let him out as much as possible. Not today, it's too wet. Also Chibbs is a little fatty now and doesn't like reaching up as much as Lopsy so she could do with the exercise as well :lol: At least with Lopsy geting him to eat is easy, it's his favourite thing to do! I'm not sure if sleeping or cleaning is his second favourite, but they're a distant second to eating :lol:

ETA I just went out to clean them out before the rain really gets going here and all I can smell is arnica from Lopsy's blood test site :lol: He also hasn't stopped eating since he got back :) He's just sat in/next to the lower litter tray filling himself up with hay :D
 
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I'm glad the vet examination could at least tell you already that there's no lumps or massive internal tumour that you might have missed. I'm sorry the vet couldn't find out what is bothering him, either, though... The diagnostics sound like a good plan, and I hope they can give you an idea of what's going on with Lopsy. I'm glad he's otherwise totally fine and that he's been filling himself up with hay since he came back. :love:

Trying Readigrass for a hay-like food with more calories sounds like a good idea if he likes that. I'm glad upping his Excel didn't cause a ceco explosion. :lol: And getting him and fat little Chibbs to reach up more for food sounds great, too, now that Lopsy's back to stretching all the way up for bramble. Sounds like it could do both him and Chibbs some good. :lol: I'm glad convincing Lopsy to eat is so easy since he loves it so much. :lol: Sending him lots and lots of vibes, and I hope he keeps doing so well despite everything. :love:
 
Gone for his x-ray this morning. Vet's at a loss with him: bloods came back mostly fine. Liver function perfect, kidney function fine, just a slightly low urea (not concenring: high would indicate kidney disease). Neutrophils (a type of white blood cell) a little low, haemoglobin low but red cell count fine, and red cell sizes a bit all over the place (unusual but probbaly OK). Nothing to indicate anything wrong. His glucose was very slightly high but that could have been stress (they see this in cats mostly). I reckon we're either going to find nothing and we'll just have to live with an occasionally slightly dribbly phantom chewer (he's not dribbling enough to cause skin issues, it cleans off alright), or it'll be something we can simply manage like tooth roots. He's gone with a packed lunch to make sure he gets eating after his sedation :)
 
I'm glad that nothing worrying was found from his blood tests, and hope xray is clear too, or something that can be managed. Sending lots of vibes, and hope he's soon home and munching x
 
Diagnosis: no idea :lol: Realistically it might be something we can't diagnose using the tests we've done, say leukaemia or lymphoma, or anohter Old Bunny disease. He's back in in three weeks for progress.

He's had full xrays, it was nice to see his insides :) He moved on is first side skull view :lol: All teeth doing the right thing, guts fine, a little gassy but nothing unusual, they even got a wee sample which looked normal although the vet hadn't dipsticked it yet. He might have some bladder 'sand' but he's not showing any symptoms if he does. Basically, as good a clean bill of health as we can expect for an 8.5yo rabbit.

So, just need to fatten him up! I'm going to try and do it with mostly hay/grass: I think our current batch is too straw-y so lacks nutrition. He's currently tucking into some timothy that smells a LOT like readigrass! I'm also giving him more Excel than I normally would, and foraging as and when I can (plus his usual allocation).

What else can I give him, do you think?
 
Typical Lopsy:lol: - its really good news his tests haven't shown anything of concern. If you've increased his forage & excel I'm wondering if he needs anything else but defo make sure he is happy with his hay. I think maybe its time for you to turn to the dark side & start buying internet hay like I have to :lol: MM said he'd like something expensive & soft - but I reckon she's just projecting
 
Doesn't help that that's my usual Call to Pellets, 'Oi [rhymes with thickheads]!' :lol:

Lopsy's still fine, but losing weight, he now looks underweight. I've caught him 'chewing' (making saliva to swallow) and 'retching' again, but with much less urgency than the first time, which makes me think there might be something obstructing the back of his mouth, top of his throat etc. Could be a foreign object stuck, teeth issues, ominous lump... He's off to the vets tomorrow morning but I doubt we'll get anywhere without a scan of some sort.

Hopefully we can sort this while he's still well, but if he needs to go on palliative care then we think we can manage to make his last few days/weeks/months pretty damn comfy :)

My severe dental bun does the retching/choking thing. Sorry I have just skim read but what diagnostics have been done, bloods/scans etc?

ETA Oops sorry I had missed a page!
 
Aww I'm glad things seem to be all clear even if it does seem to be a mystery.

In humans the blood cell size variations can be different types of anaemia. I know large ones indicate B12 deficiency. I wonder if rabbits can have something like that?

Sending vibes for lots of munching!

Sent from my SM-A528B using Tapatalk
 
It is positive nothing major showed in his testing, though I know how frustrating it can be to have a bunny who is a bit off with no diagnosis.
Sending vibes his weight will improve under your plan.
 
A lumbar puncture might give more insight into the blood abnormalities., strange symptoms and low weight.Invasive risky procedure though.
 
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