Very thin bunny... awaiting tests - RIP

Hey guys,
My bunny has lost a lot of weight. He also has a permanent wet bum, which has resulted in losing all fur on his tail and bum. We are in the process of doing a stool test. In the mean time we have been told to help him gain some weight.
He is currently only 1.95lbs :'( he is very very thin. He does eat and drink like his brother, who is on the chubby side.
Is there anything I can feed him that will help?

Normally I could recommend adding alfalfa hay, but with the symptoms your rabbit has, there could be a possibility of kidney disease and alfalfa hay wouldn't be good for that. If your rabbit isn't sensitive to carbs or sugars in the diet, and doesn't have problems with stasis or mushy poop, you could try adding in a small amount of regular oats. You want to make sure to introduce any new food gradually.

Has your vet done blood and urine tests, to check for kidney disease or e. cuniculi? Weight loss and urinary problems are both symptoms of those.

http://www.rabbitnetwork.org/articles/kidneys.shtml
http://www.woodward-vets.co.uk/information/Encephalitozoon%20cuniculi.pdf
http://www.disabledrabbits.com/urine-scald.html

What are you feeding him now and what (if any) other diagnostics has your vet either done or at least recommended? A fecal is a good idea to check for parasites but the "permanent wet bum" problem makes it sound like there are urinary issues as well.

JBun said:

Normally I could recommend adding alfalfa hay, but with the symptoms your rabbit has, there could be a possibility of kidney disease and alfalfa hay wouldn't be good for that. If your rabbit isn't sensitive to carbs or sugars in the diet, and doesn't have problems with stasis or mushy poop, you could try adding in a small amount of regular oats. You want to make sure to introduce any new food gradually.

Has your vet done blood and urine tests, to check for kidney disease or e. cuniculi? Weight loss and urinary problems are both symptoms of those.

http://www.rabbitnetwork.org/articles/kidneys.shtml
http://www.woodward-vets.co.uk/information/Encephalitozoon%20cuniculi.pdf
http://www.disabledrabbits.com/urine-scald.html

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The vet wants to do the stook sample first, and then if that shows nothing he will blood test.
He is also very bloated and is on Zantac and metacam to help with it. He's also on babys colic drops.
The vet also said he could have incontinence which would explain the wet bum but hasnt suggested any treatment etc of yet.

missyscove said:

What are you feeding him now and what (if any) other diagnostics has your vet either done or at least recommended? A fecal is a good idea to check for parasites but the "permanent wet bum" problem makes it sound like there are urinary issues as well.

Click to expand...

Alfie is on greens, then pellets at night. He has access to hay all day.

ray:

quick update for anyone that was interested.
Alfies stool test came back clear and was booked in for blood tests today at 11.
I went to feed him this morning to find him dead in his cage :cry2
I am so heart broken. His brother wouldnt let me near him for a while.
Now I will never know what was wrong with him.

Thankyou for your replys though guys. :bunnyhug:

I'm so sorry to hear that, CrazyBunny. :{

It sounds like you did the very best that you could for your little fella. He couldn't have asked for someone more caring.

I'm so sorry for your loss
Condolences.

For the future if you notice a rabbit getting thin try hulled sunflower seeds or mix a liquid horse coat supplement in to the pellets. Sunflower seeds don't have the carbs of oats and have a ton of kcals and fat soluble vitamins. Far more than any grain or pellet. Horse coat supplements are often soy, flaxseed, and sunflower seed oil.

However a truly sick rabbit also needs a lot of fiber. I think everyone with a herbivorous pet should keep critical care on hand. http://www.calvetsupply.com/category/s?keyword=critical+care Instead of water you can mix it with an oil supplement like I mentioned or bought from a grocery store (something better than unspecified "vegetable" oil though), unsweetened fruit juice (I use blueberry naked juice, similar to odwalla, or puree a banana), pedialyte, or gatorade. All depending on what you need to get in to the animal. Energy, electrolytes, or just to make it more appealing so they'll eat more.

You can dissolve pellets and use that instead of critical care but it's not as good. Critical care is pretty invaluable when you have a sick guinea pig or rabbit. I used it a ton when doing gp rescue, have fed rabbit kits weaned at 2 weeks on it (used goat kid formula instead of water to mix it), and am currently feeding off a spoon every few hours to my rabbit with a bacterial infection leading to head tilt, snotty nose, crusty eyes, an ulcer in one eye, and a huge abscess we lanced. She was already septic and starting to lose body temperature when we found her with the abcess.

I'm so sorry for your loss.

RIP baby bun. I'm very sorry for your loss -hug-

We're so sorry to hear you lost your little man, Alfie. Sometimes life just isn't fair. Rest in peace little man and binky free.:bunnyangel:

CrazyBunny said:

quick update for anyone that was interested.
Alfies stool test came back clear and was booked in for blood tests today at 11.
I went to feed him this morning to find him dead in his cage :cry2
I am so heart broken. His brother wouldnt let me near him for a while.
Now I will never know what was wrong with him.

Thankyou for your replys though guys. :bunnyhug:

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I'm so sorry! Poor little guy... sometimes even when we do everything we can, we lose them anyway

If you really want answers and still have his body, it's possible to get him necropsied (animal version of an autopsy) through the vet... though ideally, you would've wanted to have the body refrigerated if it couldn't be taken immediately. It may still be possible to determine a cause of death even if his body hasn't been kept cool.

I lost one of my sugar gliders very suddenly last June, which also caused us to lose her first joey who was 4 weeks along in her pouch (they stay in for nine) a couple minutes before we got to the emergency vet and I had her necropsied (which is considered an absolute must in the glider world if you lose a pedigreed glider that was part of a breeding program - a necropsy could potentially reveal a genetic issue that other breeders (who have related gliders) need to know about). Tabitha's COD was a liver infection, which raised as many questions as it did answers... but at least I was able to learn that there was really wasn't anything I could've done differently.

On a side note, if he and his brother were bonded, then it's good that his brother was able to see the body - it helps them understand why their companion is suddenly gone, which aides the grieving process. When I lost Tabitha, I made sure to show her body to Lemmy (her mate). He grieved as hard as I did, often clinging to the side of his cage and barking in the middle of the day (they're nocturnal)... calling out for his missing family. I felt SO bad for him! Of course, I felt a little less bad for him once I took him out of his cage to keep him company and he took advantage of the freedom to be a little b*stard, lol.

For everyone at RO, our rabbits are a HUGE part of our lives and our families; we all feel your pain over discovering that poor Alfie had passed away, as it makes us think about having to face the same heartbreak some day with our own bunns. Bunnies are so much more to their owners than "just an animal" - they've got personalities far too huge for such tiny bodies and are often better company than most people! I hope you and Alfie's brother are able to give each other some solace in your time of mourning - having another bunny to snuggle with won't make it all better, but it'll surely help a little to know that you're not going through all this alone.

Binky free, Alfie - may you be free of your health issues on the other side of the rainbow bridge! :rainbow: