Usagi_Chan
Well-Known Member
Thumper hasn't been quite well lately.
She's an 8 1/2 year old mini-rex. I feed her hay, some fresh veggies, 2 tbsp pellets and a bit of fruit. She also has taken a liking to salt-free pretzels, which I give her sparingly. She seems to waste most of her hay.
She has been weighing in at about 2200 grams at each of her last 5 annual exams. On Sept 25th she appeared lethargic and I initially though it was mild ileus, which she has once or twice a year, I have always been able to fix that with simethicone. This time when I picked her up she seemed light and more bony than usual. I weighed her and was shocked to find that she weighed only 1664 grams, a 1.3 lb loss.
At noon I called her vet and they said they could see her right away but that it would cost $90 or I could take a 4:30 appointment for the usual fee of $54. I reluctantly opted for 4:30.
They examined her and confirmed the weight loss. Neither they nor I know if the loss was sudden or gradual. I told the vet that I felt she was dehydrated and needed fluids. Suspecting kidney/liver problems, the vet took blood, checked it in their in-house lab and found no problem.
I was then sent home with orders to force-feed her Critical Care and give her Meloxicam. A few hours later she was weak and started trembling. I was certain (and still am) that she was about to die. I rushed her to the Emergency Clinic in town. She was in my lap wrapped in a towel all the way and she looked at me as though she knew this was the last she would ever see me, that she was going to die. They took her temperature, found it was 97 and told me she was dehydrated and hypothermic. I know how to give subcutaneous fluids. They offered that option but advised that I leave her at the clinic overnight. I left her. They gave her a warm IV drip and in a few hours when I called to check on her they told me she was better and even eating some greens, a rather speedy an unexpected recovery. I had expected to hear hat she had died. The next morning the vet at the Clinic told me that animals usually don't do very well when their temperature drops that low. She was subtly telling me that she had initially expected that Thumper might well die.
Needless to say, the first vet is no longer going to care for Thumper or any of the rest of my rabbits. First they missed the obvious, dehydration and did nothing for it. Worse, they didn't even take her temperature and missed the hypothermia as well. It's a fairly well-known fact that if you keep a rabbit hydrated, you can pull them through many things, especially ileus. So I also now need a new Vet.
Three days ago Thumper repeated this, no appetite and the usual anti-social behavior that she exhibits when she's sick . The Clinic had given me the remainder of the IV bag which was nearly full and the rest of the paraphernalia to give subcutaneous fluids. So I gave her 50 ml, simethicone and some meloxicam. By morning she was fine.
She repeated this behavior again last night. This time I just gave her the Simethicone amd Meloxicam. She got better and today is okay (so far)
So, she is obviously underweight. She is often okay for many hours or days. When she's sick I can confirm it because she will refuse a slice of banana which she usually devours with extreme relish. She also seems to get relief from the Meloxicam and Simethicone so I suspect she's having some pain.
I'm a bit lost. Good care is expensive and the first vet is considered to be one of the best in the area. They only treat exotics. I wonder if their problem is that they treat ALL exotics and are losing sight of rabbits.The Emergency Clinic was $412 and worth it since they most likely saved Thumper's life. However I can't keep shelling out that kind of money if she's going to be sick every few days.
I do feel that she likely has some sort of chronic condition that needs to be diagnosed properly. Randy lives fairly close to me. I recommended that he join this board a few years ago and he did. He's listed as "on vacation" on another site he frequents and not due back until December 6. I'd love to hear his opinion.
I'd also love to hear any other opinions from any of you.
She's an 8 1/2 year old mini-rex. I feed her hay, some fresh veggies, 2 tbsp pellets and a bit of fruit. She also has taken a liking to salt-free pretzels, which I give her sparingly. She seems to waste most of her hay.
She has been weighing in at about 2200 grams at each of her last 5 annual exams. On Sept 25th she appeared lethargic and I initially though it was mild ileus, which she has once or twice a year, I have always been able to fix that with simethicone. This time when I picked her up she seemed light and more bony than usual. I weighed her and was shocked to find that she weighed only 1664 grams, a 1.3 lb loss.
At noon I called her vet and they said they could see her right away but that it would cost $90 or I could take a 4:30 appointment for the usual fee of $54. I reluctantly opted for 4:30.
They examined her and confirmed the weight loss. Neither they nor I know if the loss was sudden or gradual. I told the vet that I felt she was dehydrated and needed fluids. Suspecting kidney/liver problems, the vet took blood, checked it in their in-house lab and found no problem.
I was then sent home with orders to force-feed her Critical Care and give her Meloxicam. A few hours later she was weak and started trembling. I was certain (and still am) that she was about to die. I rushed her to the Emergency Clinic in town. She was in my lap wrapped in a towel all the way and she looked at me as though she knew this was the last she would ever see me, that she was going to die. They took her temperature, found it was 97 and told me she was dehydrated and hypothermic. I know how to give subcutaneous fluids. They offered that option but advised that I leave her at the clinic overnight. I left her. They gave her a warm IV drip and in a few hours when I called to check on her they told me she was better and even eating some greens, a rather speedy an unexpected recovery. I had expected to hear hat she had died. The next morning the vet at the Clinic told me that animals usually don't do very well when their temperature drops that low. She was subtly telling me that she had initially expected that Thumper might well die.
Needless to say, the first vet is no longer going to care for Thumper or any of the rest of my rabbits. First they missed the obvious, dehydration and did nothing for it. Worse, they didn't even take her temperature and missed the hypothermia as well. It's a fairly well-known fact that if you keep a rabbit hydrated, you can pull them through many things, especially ileus. So I also now need a new Vet.
Three days ago Thumper repeated this, no appetite and the usual anti-social behavior that she exhibits when she's sick . The Clinic had given me the remainder of the IV bag which was nearly full and the rest of the paraphernalia to give subcutaneous fluids. So I gave her 50 ml, simethicone and some meloxicam. By morning she was fine.
She repeated this behavior again last night. This time I just gave her the Simethicone amd Meloxicam. She got better and today is okay (so far)
So, she is obviously underweight. She is often okay for many hours or days. When she's sick I can confirm it because she will refuse a slice of banana which she usually devours with extreme relish. She also seems to get relief from the Meloxicam and Simethicone so I suspect she's having some pain.
I'm a bit lost. Good care is expensive and the first vet is considered to be one of the best in the area. They only treat exotics. I wonder if their problem is that they treat ALL exotics and are losing sight of rabbits.The Emergency Clinic was $412 and worth it since they most likely saved Thumper's life. However I can't keep shelling out that kind of money if she's going to be sick every few days.
I do feel that she likely has some sort of chronic condition that needs to be diagnosed properly. Randy lives fairly close to me. I recommended that he join this board a few years ago and he did. He's listed as "on vacation" on another site he frequents and not due back until December 6. I'd love to hear his opinion.
I'd also love to hear any other opinions from any of you.
ray:
