BunnySeasons
New Kit
Hi everyone,
This is the first time I post here, but I have been a lurker for years now to find any information I could when I needed it. It's always been very helpful.
Unfortunately I'm facing a tough situation with my little Yuki (snow in Japanese). She is a minilop, turning 5 this year.
On the 25th of Feb, I took her to the vet because she had stopped eating and was showing signs of pain. I figured it was GI stasis but it turned out that she had dental spurs, and to make matters worse, they had hurt her tongue and cheek. So we scheduled the procedure for the following morning, but that same evening, things got worse and she was in too much pain (I won't go into details about how she expressed it because I'm still suffering trauma from seeing it) that I took her to out of hours vet where they gave her an opioid (Buprenorphine) which of course knocked her out all night long. I pretty much spent all night awake with her in my bed to make sure she wouldn't stop breathing.
Come the morning, took her to the vet and left her to get the procedure done. At 4:30pm I got the call that everything went well and that I could pick her up. She was still a bit out of it, subdued. They clarified that they sedated her and didn't use any anaesthetic.
As expected, she wasn't eating for the first few days on her own because of the sores in her mouth. Tyring to give her Critical care/Recovery food has always been pretty much useless with Yuki because she ends up spitting it out cheeky little thing. She would have some mashed pellets though but not enough to nourish her enough clearly. Bananas were still very much accepted at least so she was obviously looking for soft foods.
By the 3rd of March there wasn't any improvement so I got even more worried. She also had clearly lost some weight as I could feel her little spin more than ever. And yes, she had lost a little less than 100 grams during that week poor thing. Vet prescribed more Meloxicam and Metoclop which she had been on since the dental procedure, changing the dose a little for the Meloxicam.
Back at home, I kept trying to feed her everything I knew she liked. A bunch of fresh grass from the garden, hay, pellets, etc.
And then things changed... for the worse. Her hind legs started to appear weaker and weaker. She was still hopping around when needed but I could see it was a bit off. She would prefer to remain hidden under the footstool she uses to sleep with her boo, Haru, and she would eat just bits and pieces. The sores by this point had healed so it didn't make sense for her to not eat. She was also passing droppings (at least that's something) which was a big change from the week before.
Over the weekend things, again, got a bit worse and I had to wait until Monday to go to the vet. By this point, her hind legs were MUCH weaker and the vet said that there might be some pain because Yuki flinched twice while checking her legs and hips. So another round of Buprenorphine which I wasn't too keen on because it meant at least 12 hours without eating again because she was too out of it and I was starting to feel like it might be FRS. The vet sent me home with a course of Panacur in case it's EC. I asked about Vit E but she pretty much dismissed me.
Here's the thing. I'm currently going through health issues myself, unemployed and on benefits so I had to go to a PDSA hospital to get her treated rather than my usual vet so obviously they can't do all the tests on her. But her symptoms seemed to be either EC, activated by the stress of the procedure, pain, (especially the night before the treatment; or FRS because she has the typical frog legs, she still tried to get away from me when she is annoyed by me hovering. There is no head tilt, no disorientation, she knows exactly where she is and what is what. So I'm more inclined on it being FRS which would also make sense considering the lack of nutrition she went through during the first week. I tried, really tried to make her eat things, but like I said, recovery/Critical care food would just end up on the floor despite me me giving it to her in tiny bits through a syringe. I feel guilty about it, because I think had I insisted and forced her she wouldn't be where she is but on the other hand I could have caused her a heart attack with all the handling.
It's now the 12th. She has been on Panacur since the 9th and I started her on Vit E myself yesterday afternoon, so she had two doses already. But nothing in her strength has changed. I would like to think that it's too soon to see any changes. She eats bits and pieces (today was a bit less than yesterday), She only ended up having some herbs about 4 hours after I put them in front of her. Banana is always welcome (cheeky thing), pellets were okay-ish about 2 hours ago. Critical care is still a no-no, still ends up everywhere except her mouth. Absolutely no hay, but some grass from the garden at least.
She does try to move when she wants to which gives me hope, but I feel so sorry for her because it's so exhausting for her that she ends up needing to rest for a long time after just trying to move for 5 seconds.
Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to explain the whole story.
Anybody who had a bunny with FRS that made a recovery some time after starting to administer Vit E by any chance? Anybody who needed to make the tough decision that I don't even want to think about because I'll just cry more than I already am?
Yuki was never one to be cuddled too much, she liked her space. But for the first time now, every time I help her stay a bit upright to give her some relief she ends up licking my hands and it both melts and breaks my heart. She never licked me and I think she uses my hand to kind of groom herself because she can't do it with her own front paws. She ends up rubbing her face gently against my hands after a few licks, bless her.
For what it's worth, unless she tumbled over somewhere while I was sleeping, she didn't break her spine or anything. They spend the night with me in my attic bedroom, large enough for them to still do zoomies if they wanted to, so I didn't hear anything.
This is the first time I post here, but I have been a lurker for years now to find any information I could when I needed it. It's always been very helpful.
Unfortunately I'm facing a tough situation with my little Yuki (snow in Japanese). She is a minilop, turning 5 this year.
On the 25th of Feb, I took her to the vet because she had stopped eating and was showing signs of pain. I figured it was GI stasis but it turned out that she had dental spurs, and to make matters worse, they had hurt her tongue and cheek. So we scheduled the procedure for the following morning, but that same evening, things got worse and she was in too much pain (I won't go into details about how she expressed it because I'm still suffering trauma from seeing it) that I took her to out of hours vet where they gave her an opioid (Buprenorphine) which of course knocked her out all night long. I pretty much spent all night awake with her in my bed to make sure she wouldn't stop breathing.
Come the morning, took her to the vet and left her to get the procedure done. At 4:30pm I got the call that everything went well and that I could pick her up. She was still a bit out of it, subdued. They clarified that they sedated her and didn't use any anaesthetic.
As expected, she wasn't eating for the first few days on her own because of the sores in her mouth. Tyring to give her Critical care/Recovery food has always been pretty much useless with Yuki because she ends up spitting it out cheeky little thing. She would have some mashed pellets though but not enough to nourish her enough clearly. Bananas were still very much accepted at least so she was obviously looking for soft foods.
By the 3rd of March there wasn't any improvement so I got even more worried. She also had clearly lost some weight as I could feel her little spin more than ever. And yes, she had lost a little less than 100 grams during that week poor thing. Vet prescribed more Meloxicam and Metoclop which she had been on since the dental procedure, changing the dose a little for the Meloxicam.
Back at home, I kept trying to feed her everything I knew she liked. A bunch of fresh grass from the garden, hay, pellets, etc.
And then things changed... for the worse. Her hind legs started to appear weaker and weaker. She was still hopping around when needed but I could see it was a bit off. She would prefer to remain hidden under the footstool she uses to sleep with her boo, Haru, and she would eat just bits and pieces. The sores by this point had healed so it didn't make sense for her to not eat. She was also passing droppings (at least that's something) which was a big change from the week before.
Over the weekend things, again, got a bit worse and I had to wait until Monday to go to the vet. By this point, her hind legs were MUCH weaker and the vet said that there might be some pain because Yuki flinched twice while checking her legs and hips. So another round of Buprenorphine which I wasn't too keen on because it meant at least 12 hours without eating again because she was too out of it and I was starting to feel like it might be FRS. The vet sent me home with a course of Panacur in case it's EC. I asked about Vit E but she pretty much dismissed me.
Here's the thing. I'm currently going through health issues myself, unemployed and on benefits so I had to go to a PDSA hospital to get her treated rather than my usual vet so obviously they can't do all the tests on her. But her symptoms seemed to be either EC, activated by the stress of the procedure, pain, (especially the night before the treatment; or FRS because she has the typical frog legs, she still tried to get away from me when she is annoyed by me hovering. There is no head tilt, no disorientation, she knows exactly where she is and what is what. So I'm more inclined on it being FRS which would also make sense considering the lack of nutrition she went through during the first week. I tried, really tried to make her eat things, but like I said, recovery/Critical care food would just end up on the floor despite me me giving it to her in tiny bits through a syringe. I feel guilty about it, because I think had I insisted and forced her she wouldn't be where she is but on the other hand I could have caused her a heart attack with all the handling.
It's now the 12th. She has been on Panacur since the 9th and I started her on Vit E myself yesterday afternoon, so she had two doses already. But nothing in her strength has changed. I would like to think that it's too soon to see any changes. She eats bits and pieces (today was a bit less than yesterday), She only ended up having some herbs about 4 hours after I put them in front of her. Banana is always welcome (cheeky thing), pellets were okay-ish about 2 hours ago. Critical care is still a no-no, still ends up everywhere except her mouth. Absolutely no hay, but some grass from the garden at least.
She does try to move when she wants to which gives me hope, but I feel so sorry for her because it's so exhausting for her that she ends up needing to rest for a long time after just trying to move for 5 seconds.
Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to explain the whole story.
Anybody who had a bunny with FRS that made a recovery some time after starting to administer Vit E by any chance? Anybody who needed to make the tough decision that I don't even want to think about because I'll just cry more than I already am?
Yuki was never one to be cuddled too much, she liked her space. But for the first time now, every time I help her stay a bit upright to give her some relief she ends up licking my hands and it both melts and breaks my heart. She never licked me and I think she uses my hand to kind of groom herself because she can't do it with her own front paws. She ends up rubbing her face gently against my hands after a few licks, bless her.
For what it's worth, unless she tumbled over somewhere while I was sleeping, she didn't break her spine or anything. They spend the night with me in my attic bedroom, large enough for them to still do zoomies if they wanted to, so I didn't hear anything.
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And the colour of her urine looks healthy as well, she does pee normally, without even soiling herself.I can see her fluffy pompom lifting while she is laying down which tells me that she has peed in her frog like position.
, she is an angel. What a gorgeous girl. You must be devastated. 
