Millie: Lump of fur on her back / Arthritis treatment

[a reader of books]

Oh, that's wonderful to hear that the herbal medicine is working so well for Millie! She's doing fast zoomies again, aww. And a lot less tooth grinding is definitely a great thing. There's devil's claw in the store-bought arthritis drops one of my arthritic bunnies gets as well, so it's nice to see that that's a helpful one according to the vet. I think keeping her moving is an important one, so that's really nice that Millie has already been doing the physio exercises on her own. What a good bunny. I hope you'll find the infrared wand helpful for her as well.

 

[joey&boo]

The herbs she's having in her water are ashwaganda, devil's claw, prickly ash and milk thistle. The first three are anti-inflammatories (I actually take devil's claw myself for joint pain) and the milk thistle is largely to support her liver with dealing with the metacam. All are tinctures and I burn off the alcohol by pouring boiling water onto the drops and waiting for it to cool before I give it to her. I do recommend seeing a herbal vet before using tinctures as this mix was designed specifically for Millie and I've been warned of contraindications and possible side-effects (the side effects are on higher doses than I decided to give). It's important to have the rabbit examined and get the dose right. I don't know what concentration Millie's are as they were on prescription and made up for her. I've also been given a list of dried herbs for her which I intend to buy separately as they are quite expensive when packaged together here https://www.hoptoforage.co.uk/product-page/senior-support-mix. Her new joint support tablets are from Sherwood pet health. Yes, it's about avoiding all sugars which aren't healthy in general (though there is a compromise with the metacam as she needs it and it does make it tasty enough that I can put it on her tablets). I found the herbalist here: https://herbalvets.org.uk/find-a-herbal-vet/.

I love that Mouseypie changed like that. Millie was the same, so shy with me when she had Archie but she's turned really soppy now. I suspect her of sitting on me just to prevent me from getting up and going away. It's great being an honorary rabbit, isn't it?

Thank You. Yeah, don't worry - I'll not be copying the tinctures made up to Millies specifications (had you mentioned a herb I could forage I'd have definitely tried that)

It was a real honour

 

[InspectorMorse]

Update: I started Millie on the herbal medicine a few weeks ago and I'm pleased to say she's become a more active bunny again. I've been trying to watch her hop to see if she's using the rear of her spine more but the truth is that she's zooming around so fast now it's hard to process! I was sent physio exercises and discovered she's already doing them (there's a lot of stretching for treats) though I was also told it's good to have a variety of different floorings for her which I haven't yet sorted out. I'm also yet to introduce the recommended dried herbs. Just started with the infrared wand (which I'm told her insurance will pay for) so can't really comment on that yet. She's still mainly grooming her front areas but I have seen her licking her hips a few times now since being on the herbal medicine. She's also teeth crunching a lot less. She does still lie down but then if I make a move she's immediately up and dashing towards me just in case I had the thought of giving her something tasty. She's a lot more bonded to me now having lost Archie, she's a really sweet bunny and I'm so pleased everything is easier for her.

I have been speaking with my Vet about the Vets listed on the site you linked too. My Vet is very pro complimentary herbal treatments and she noted how many of the Vets on the site are German. My Vet is part German and fluent in the language. Her Mum is German. Anyway, my point being that apparently Herbal treatments in Vet med is a lot more popular and widely used in Germany. My Vet has referred a few clients to a Veterinary Herbalist too. Whilst my Vet has some experience with it she hasn’t got the official qualifications. So she said she prefers to refer on. It’ll be useful for her to know of some other qualified Veterinary Herbalists to contact and/or refer to

 

[bunny momma]

It sounds lovely that you are Millie's honorary rabbit friend now that Archie is gone.
You must be overjoyed that she is zooming around again.

 

[tulsi]

How brilliant that she has so much mobility again. Lovely to read and very interesting re herbal treatments.

 

[Moonstone]

I have been speaking with my Vet about the Vets listed on the site you linked too. My Vet is very pro complimentary herbal treatments and she noted how many of the Vets on the site are German. My Vet is part German and fluent in the language. Her Mum is German. Anyway, my point being that apparently Herbal treatments in Vet med is a lot more popular and widely used in Germany. My Vet has referred a few clients to a Veterinary Herbalist too. Whilst my Vet has some experience with it she hasn’t got the official qualifications. So she said she prefers to refer on. It’ll be useful for her to know of some other qualified Veterinary Herbalists to contact and/or refer to

Apologies for belated reply. I'm glad you found the list helpful. I agree that the Germans are more advanced in vet herbalism, they're also more advanced in human herbalism, I guess the two go together.