Quick hello and a bit of a sad update

Scrappy's Little Helper

Scrappy's Little Helper

Mama Doe
Apologies for not visiting the forum for a while. I hope everyone and everybun is doing well.

I just wanted to share some news on Fudgie. She was sadly diagnosed with a thymoma back in August and is currently under the care of an exotics specialist. Given her age (she's estimated to be around 11, almost 12 years old) I didn't think it would be right to put her through aggressive treatments such as surgery or radiotherapy. I felt that palliative care would be the better option for her and she's since been on a course of daily steroids. We started her off on a high dose but have tapered it down to a maintenance dose due to the risk of infections from a compromised immune system.

So far she seems to be doing well. She's eating well (and has regained the weight she'd lost when she was initially diagnosed) and is still pretty active. She's still running around lots and has been busy with her DIY projects. Fortunately she's been very good with taking her medication. It took a bit of trial and error but I found she takes it very willingly if I mix it with apple juice and put a tiny bit of mashed banana on the tip of the syringe. Not the healthiest, but I figured it was a lot better than having to stress her out every day by force feeding.

Long term, the prognosis is of course not good and the specialist has said she is unlikely to survive more than a few months. In the meantime, I'm just going to try and keep her comfortable for as long as possible.
 
Really sorry to hear about Fudgie, but glad she's happy and doing well, hope that continues for as long as possible. Sending nose rubs for her x
 
I'm so sorry to hear of her diagnosis & that her future time with you & Scipio is time limited :( I'd have opted for palliative care too. Sending her lot of love & nose bumps. Really hoping she stays active & happy for a good while yet.

i've missed you on here Scrappy. Hope life is otherwise treating you well x
 
I am sorry to hear your sad news, I think that you are doing the best thing for her. Sending lots of vibes xx
 
I am sad Fudgie was diagnosed with the thymoma, yet it is good to hear she regained weight, takes her meds well, and is still enjoying life. May she continue to well with your loving care.
 
Thanks for the (sad) update <3 I hope she remains well for as long as possible :) I've got two elderlies and I'm loathe to overstress them with care that won't really help too, but thankfully were not at the medication stage yet (annual checkup & vaccs tomorrow might mean otherwise!). Big hugs and best wishes xxx
 
Thanks very much for your kind words everyone xx

I'm glad you agree that palliative care is the right option. To be honest, it was a very straightforward decision. As she's an elderly bun, realistically she likely hasn't got a lot of time left anyway, and at this point quality of life is the overriding priority. Any surgery or radiation therapy would be pretty brutal on her but with no real longterm benefit. If anything, it would likely cause her a lot of needless suffering.

The vet and I have discussed the best way to manage her condition. It's likely that the steroid dosage would need to be tapered up and down. It's a bit of a balancing act between keeping the tumour under control for as long as possible while mitigating the effects of the steroids.

J&B, I was really sorry to read that you lost Boo 😔 She was such a huge character, defiant to the end and she is very sorely missed. I've been reading your bonding thread and it's giving me horror flashbacks to bonding my own PITA boys! I'll pop over there now with my two cents...
 
It is so hard when they are ill and elderly. My 12 year old, Snowflake is now on daily loxicam for his arthritis.
 
Scrappy's Little Helper said:
Thanks very much for your kind words everyone xx

I'm glad you agree that palliative care is the right option. To be honest, it was a very straightforward decision. As she's an elderly bun, realistically she likely hasn't got a lot of time left anyway, and at this point quality of life is the overriding priority. Any surgery or radiation therapy would be pretty brutal on her but with no real longterm benefit. If anything, it would likely cause her a lot of needless suffering.

The vet and I have discussed the best way to manage her condition. It's likely that the steroid dosage would need to be tapered up and down. It's a bit of a balancing act between keeping the tumour under control for as long as possible while mitigating the effects of the steroids.

J&B, I was really sorry to read that you lost Boo 😔 She was such a huge character, defiant to the end and she is very sorely missed. I've been reading your bonding thread and it's giving me horror flashbacks to bonding my own PITA boys! I'll pop over there now with my two cents...
Click to expand...
Are the side effects things she is experiencing or potential risks? I'm glad you've got such a good vet supporting her.

I remember Scipio had similar challenges with handling to Eddy too🤣 Did you write your bond up anywhere? I'm interested to hear how they found love amidst all that chasing. What method did you use? Sorry to bring up more traumatic memories

Thanks so much for your lovely words about Boo 😍 I am so grateful to have had her in my life for so long. I'm really pleased I catalogued so many of her stories on here as I get loads of comfort reading them
 
Thanks J&B. The side effects are more potential risks. Specifically, the steroids suppress the immune system and so she'd be more susceptible to infections. The vet has said that as a female bun, UTIs are the biggest risk. When she starts to show symptoms that the thymoma is re-growing (such as if her eyes start to bulge again) we'll have to increase the steroid dose to get it back under control. We only want her on the high dose for the shortest period possible as the higher the dose, the more her immune system will be suppressed and the greater the likelihood that she'll succumb to an infection. If that does happen, she'd be given antibiotic cover. To be honest, I really don't want to give her baytril as that'll undo all my hard work with getting her to willingly take her meds with the syringe! As I mentioned, it's a very delicate balancing act!

I did write my bond up. It's on the Behaviour and Bonding sub forum and I found it on page 13 ("Bonding Take 2"). Once I restarted the bonding on the second attempt, I kept them together all the time from that point. I'd say that it took about 6 months for Fudgie to completely relax around Scipio. The main problem was that he was a real sod for nipping! Fudgie did manage to get a few retaliatory nips in herself though. Scipio would have the nerve to look really hurt and confused when she did it. He was all "I can't believe she would do that to me 😥". He could dish it out ok, but couldn't take it back!

One thing I would say is that from reading your bonding thread, Chinook doesn't seem as nervous of Eddy as Fudgie was of Scipio. Scipio was also very young (about 6 months old) when I bonded them so we were dealing with a stroppy teenager. I think Eddy and Chinook will settle down a lot more quickly than Fudgie and Scipio did.
 
I'm sorry to read of this sad update on Fudgie. I think you've made the right decision to give palliative care. Sending so many vibes for Fudge.
 
Scrappy's Little Helper said:
Thanks J&B. The side effects are more potential risks. Specifically, the steroids suppress the immune system and so she'd be more susceptible to infections. The vet has said that as a female bun, UTIs are the biggest risk. When she starts to show symptoms that the thymoma is re-growing (such as if her eyes start to bulge again) we'll have to increase the steroid dose to get it back under control. We only want her on the high dose for the shortest period possible as the higher the dose, the more her immune system will be suppressed and the greater the likelihood that she'll succumb to an infection. If that does happen, she'd be given antibiotic cover. To be honest, I really don't want to give her baytril as that'll undo all my hard work with getting her to willingly take her meds with the syringe! As I mentioned, it's a very delicate balancing act!

I did write my bond up. It's on the Behaviour and Bonding sub forum and I found it on page 13 ("Bonding Take 2"). Once I restarted the bonding on the second attempt, I kept them together all the time from that point. I'd say that it took about 6 months for Fudgie to completely relax around Scipio. The main problem was that he was a real sod for nipping! Fudgie did manage to get a few retaliatory nips in herself though. Scipio would have the nerve to look really hurt and confused when she did it. He was all "I can't believe she would do that to me 😥". He could dish it out ok, but couldn't take it back!

One thing I would say is that from reading your bonding thread, Chinook doesn't seem as nervous of Eddy as Fudgie was of Scipio. Scipio was also very young (about 6 months old) when I bonded them so we were dealing with a stroppy teenager. I think Eddy and Chinook will settle down a lot more quickly than Fudgie and Scipio did.
Click to expand...
Sorry Scraps. i read your reply & dived off to find your bonding thread & forgot to reply. When you say take 2, what happened in take 1?

That's really interesting how the steroid doses are worked out. Do they suggest anything dietary or supplement wise to support her immune system. Its a funny thing with infections, how some beings seem really susceptible to them whilst other seem so resilient, like my Joey who never showed any sign of infection & so never had any cause for antibiotics. He never showed any signs of EC either, despite living with wives who had active infection. I really hope she doesn't succumb to any infections & the steroids carry on working well for her. how is she doing today? i've always admired Fudgie for her ability to keep you in you place 🤣 Sssssshhhhhh, careful now
 
Thanks very much again everyone for your kind words and support.

Sadly, Fudgie isn't doing very well now. She had started to dip over the last two to three days: her eyes have started to bulge again again, she started eating less and wasn't as energetic as she had been. So I made an appointment with the vet to review her medication.

Sadly she has gotten worse since yesterday afternoon. She is eating, but only in small amounts, she's also pretty much staying in the same spot and her breathing is starting to get more laboured. She's now presenting worse than when she was first diagnosed.

I agonised whether to try and get an emergency appointment with the specialist to see whether we could turn it around. However, I have a very strong gut feeling that this wouldn't be right for her. It really seems to me that her spark has gone and I think she's reached the point where she's had enough. I decided instead to make the very difficult decision to let her go. A vet is coming here first thing tomorrow morning to help her pass peacefully.

When she was first diagnosed, I had decided that I wanted to let her go earlier rather than later. This was because I wanted her to have a peaceful passing at home rather than at the vet as that would be so much more stressful for her. Unfortunately, because bunnies go downhill so quickly, we rarely have the opportunity to do this for them. I really wanted to be able to do this for Fudgie if I could. I've tried my best to make sure she's had a happy life and this is the last thing I'll be able to do for her.
 
I hope she's comfortable for the night. This is exactly how I'd want to play it, so hopefully it all works out for you. Massive hugs xxx
 
Such a heart wrenching update
Its a beautiful thing you are able to do for her. All those years together and youve always met her needs, no matter how quirky. I shall be thinking of you all xx
 
Thank you very much for your kind comments everyone, I really appreciate it.

Fudgie slipped away very peacefully at home this morning. The vet who came round was incredibly kind and compassionate. There was no rush and he gave me and Scipio plenty of time to say goodbye to her.

She had some treats this morning and some dill, which was her favourite herb. I spent some time with her stroking her and reminiscing about her adventures over the years as Scipio was cuddled up to her.

I remember when I first met her at the rescue. I'd brought Snoopy along so he could chose his new friend. He was very grumpy about the whole thing, but she was instantly smitten with him. I could see the lovehearts jumping out of her eyes. She clearly went for the brooding James Dean type!

She was always a big bundle of energy and very feisty. I'm almost certain she was part Nethie, at the very least she had the nethie attitude. I still laugh when I think about the time she stayed in the hospital for a bad stasis episode and one of the nurses referred to her as a "little moo". She was a little moo at times. She bossed me and both her husbuns around, but she was also very gentle and sweet. She adored both Snoopy and Scipio and would give me regular nose bumps to tell me that, as far as humans go, I wasn't too bad.

I'm glad that in the end she was able to have a peaceful passing at home. I know that it was the right time for her to go, but I do miss her terribly. I keep expecting to hear her come thundering down the landing. For a little bunny she was quite heavy of foot. I'm going to miss saying "Oh it's you, Fudgie. I though it was a stampede of wildebeest!".
 
I'm glad Fudgie went peacefully, with dill in her belly & her loved ones by her side ❤️

She knew what she wanted & lived the best life. I used to laugh so hard when she sent you out herb shopping.
Sweet dreams beautiful girl xx

The biggest of hugs to you Scrappy, & whatever condolence Scipio will accept. I hope he copes ok
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

M
U/D PTS 💔 Advice for 'paralysed' rabbit
2 3 4
Replies
68
Views
2K
Babsie
B
L
Behavior issues with female mini lop
Replies
6
Views
132
Shimmer
S
H
Chronic GI stasis, keep getting reinfected for 3 months
Replies
5
Views
187
InspectorMorse
InspectorMorse
Back
Top